Hey fellas. I was watching some bodybuilding videos and realized that a lot of the really strong pros don't really do a lot of volume that the magazines say they do. For example.
Ronnie coleman is known for doing a lot of volume in his workouts but when I watched his video called Ronnie Coleman the unbelievable, it looks that he really only does 1 heavy work set then moves on to the next lift.
He doesn't even really train to failure but instead has a set number of reps he shots for and if he gets his rep goal he stops even though it's obvious he could have done more reps.
It seems like before Ronnie evens gets to his real set he just burns through so many reps with his warm up sets then when he gets to his real main set he does the same number of high reps as his warm up sets. This is cool an all but why not just say you did 1 working set instead of counting your warmups as real sets to. It's not like the warm ups are stimulating a muscle growth. They are just warm ups.
For example. In the his barbell shoulder press goes like this.
(set 1) 135 pounds x 15 reps
(set 2) 225 pounds x 15 reps
(set 3) 275 pounds x 12 reps
(set 4) 315 pounds x 12 reps
What doesn't make any sense to me is he calls it 4 sets but it's obvious that the only real set that meant anything was the 315 pounds for 12 reps. The fact that he did 315 for 12 means that the 275 for 12 was just a warm up. And it can't be considered pyramiding because with pyramiding the reps are supposed to get lower as the weights get heavier but Ronnie's reps stay the same as he works his way to his top heavy set which is the one that counts.
Another example is his barbell row lift. His poundages look like this.
(set 1) 225 pounds x 15
(set 2) 315 pounds x 10
(set 3) 405 pounds x 10
(set 4) 495 pounds x 8
Now obviously with Ronnie barbell rowing 495 pounds for 8 reps, this means that the 3 previous sets where just warmups. so it's not 4 sets but just 1 real working set.
Even on Ronnie Coleman's cost of redemption video, here is his stats on the incline benchpress.
225 pounds x 15 reps
315 pounds x 12 reps
405 pounds x 10 reps
Now obviously if he did 405 for 10 reps that means that the previous sets were just warmups so why does the magazines call it 3 sets like he actually did 3 working sets???
I've noticed this with a lot of pro builders that are strong, they only do 1 real working set for an exercise but the magazines count there warm up sets as working sets, making it look like the pros are doing more volume then they really are.
It would seem to me that most of the pros training methods are not that much different then Dorian Yates method of just doing 1 working set per exercise. The only difference is Dorian calls it 1 set and Ronnie Coleman and others count there warm up sets as real sets even though they are not.
They all seem to work up to one heavy main working set. It would seem that a lot of the top pros don't really use a lot of volume but the magazines lye and say they do by calling there warm up sets real sets to foul the reader into thinking the pros are doing 30 plus sets when they aren't.
Let's here some opinions on the matter.
Ronnie coleman is known for doing a lot of volume in his workouts but when I watched his video called Ronnie Coleman the unbelievable, it looks that he really only does 1 heavy work set then moves on to the next lift.
He doesn't even really train to failure but instead has a set number of reps he shots for and if he gets his rep goal he stops even though it's obvious he could have done more reps.
It seems like before Ronnie evens gets to his real set he just burns through so many reps with his warm up sets then when he gets to his real main set he does the same number of high reps as his warm up sets. This is cool an all but why not just say you did 1 working set instead of counting your warmups as real sets to. It's not like the warm ups are stimulating a muscle growth. They are just warm ups.
For example. In the his barbell shoulder press goes like this.
(set 1) 135 pounds x 15 reps
(set 2) 225 pounds x 15 reps
(set 3) 275 pounds x 12 reps
(set 4) 315 pounds x 12 reps
What doesn't make any sense to me is he calls it 4 sets but it's obvious that the only real set that meant anything was the 315 pounds for 12 reps. The fact that he did 315 for 12 means that the 275 for 12 was just a warm up. And it can't be considered pyramiding because with pyramiding the reps are supposed to get lower as the weights get heavier but Ronnie's reps stay the same as he works his way to his top heavy set which is the one that counts.
Another example is his barbell row lift. His poundages look like this.
(set 1) 225 pounds x 15
(set 2) 315 pounds x 10
(set 3) 405 pounds x 10
(set 4) 495 pounds x 8
Now obviously with Ronnie barbell rowing 495 pounds for 8 reps, this means that the 3 previous sets where just warmups. so it's not 4 sets but just 1 real working set.
Even on Ronnie Coleman's cost of redemption video, here is his stats on the incline benchpress.
225 pounds x 15 reps
315 pounds x 12 reps
405 pounds x 10 reps
Now obviously if he did 405 for 10 reps that means that the previous sets were just warmups so why does the magazines call it 3 sets like he actually did 3 working sets???
I've noticed this with a lot of pro builders that are strong, they only do 1 real working set for an exercise but the magazines count there warm up sets as working sets, making it look like the pros are doing more volume then they really are.
It would seem to me that most of the pros training methods are not that much different then Dorian Yates method of just doing 1 working set per exercise. The only difference is Dorian calls it 1 set and Ronnie Coleman and others count there warm up sets as real sets even though they are not.
They all seem to work up to one heavy main working set. It would seem that a lot of the top pros don't really use a lot of volume but the magazines lye and say they do by calling there warm up sets real sets to foul the reader into thinking the pros are doing 30 plus sets when they aren't.
Let's here some opinions on the matter.
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