A couple of years ago, I wrote a book called Strength Training Capacity, An Individualized Guide For How Many Sets. The book is based determining how many sets you should perform according to your individual capacity to repeat sets while remaining at full strength. It is my belief that your strength training efforts will be more effective if you stay within your capacity to train a muscle group while it is fresh and strong, instead of weak and fatigued.
Extremes in Capacity
If you want to look at the extremes, some lifters may only be able to perform one full set at full strength. At the other extreme, the most sets that I have ever seen a lifter perform for the same exercise while remaining at full strength for every set is a total of eight sets. We’re talking the same number of reps and the same rep speed from set to set for all eight sets. While this is impressive, I must point out that there are elite lifters who have a high capacity for sets, and elite lifters who have a low capacity for sets. There are world record holders who only needed one hard set per workout to get strong, so train within your own capacity whether high or low.
Normal Capacity
From my observations, when lifters stick with the same weight from set to set, the majority of them can perform two to four sets at full strength. If they continue beyond that point, they will start losing strength, which will show up in the form of decreased rep speed, or a decrease in the number of reps that can be performed for each set.
Can You Increase Your Capacity?
For years I believed that most lifters will not experience a significant increase in capacity in terms of the number of sets they can perform at full strength throughout their career. With the right type of training, they may improve in terms of their ability to tolerate a lot more sets without feeling wiped out. In other words, a bodybuilder or powerlifter may develop the ability to do 20 sets for a muscle group and still feel energetic and strong the next day. However, this is not the same as improving the ability to do more sets at full strength. A bodybuilder or powerlifter may do 20 sets, but only be at full strength for three or four sets out of the 20 sets that they performed.
A lifter will also develop the ability to use much more weight at full strength. For example, if they could only squat with 100 pounds for 3 sets of 10 reps as a beginner, and they improve to the point where they can squat with 300 or 400 pounds for 3 sets of 10 reps, they have tripled or quadrupled the amount of weight they can use, but they still may only be able to do three sets at full strength. Lifters may be able to change a little bit in terms of how many sets they can do at full strength, but it is my belief that they will not change a lot.
Even though I believe that the number of sets a lifter can perform at full strength will not change much from training, I only believe it to be true in the context of full sets. What do I mean by “full sets?” A full set is a set in which a lifter pushes at least to the point of doing as many even paced reps as possible. For example, if a lifter can bench press 250 pounds for 10 reps, and he does all 10 reps, he is performing a full set. However, if the same lifter only does 5 reps, even though he has the ability to do 10 reps, he is not doing a full set, he is really only doing a half set. Under these conditions, I believe a lifter can develop the capacity to do more half sets of five reps while remaining at full strength from set to set. I believe this will be even more pronounced when using weights that are below 70% his single rep max.
How to Increase Your Capacity
Why do I bring this up? Because some of you may want to use a volume phase in your training. Many lifters try to accomplish this within the context of full sets which I believe will limit the number sets and total reps you can perform within a workout while remaining at full strength. If you will cut the number of reps that you do per set in half, you may find that you can do more than twice as many sets without weakening. If you can do over twice as many sets without weakening, then you will be able to perform more total reps with the same amount of weight without weakening. This will give you the ability to increase your total workload without overtraining.
Let me give you an example decreasing reps per set in order to increase the total number of reps for your workout. We’ll assume you are in a volume phase and you want to get in plenty of reps for your squats. Your initial plan is to do 4 sets of 12 reps, which would equal a total of 48 reps. You could alter this plan to enhance your training volume by splitting up your sets and do 10 sets of 5 reps for a total of 50 reps, which would slightly increase your volume. However, by reducing the number of reps per set, you may find that you can do as many as 12 sets of 5 reps for a total of 60 reps without weakening or feeling over-trained. With continued training, you may increase your capacity to do even more than 12 sets of 5 reps.
The Bottom Line
If you want to get in plenty of volume without overtraining, don’t do high reps for a few sets, do low reps for a lot of sets.
Russian Strength Training
If you look at some of the Russian systems for powerlifting, you will notice they avoid high reps. Rarely do they go above five reps, and a lot of times they only do 1, 2, or 3 reps per set. This is true even when using weights that are as low as 50% of their single rep max. The Russian systems tend to be very high on training volume, but they derive their volume by doing a lot of sets with low reps.
Increasing your capacity for high volume training is not instantaneous, it is developed over time, but the Russians don’t develop it with the use of full sets, they develop it by increasing the number of sets with low reps. They do include heavy lifting, but a lot of their lifting is done with 70% or less of their single rep max in conjunction with low reps per set. If you want to develop strength with high volume training, take your time and gradually increase the number of sets with low reps in order to increase your capacity for high volume training.
Phil Heath
Even Phil Heath (Mr. Olympia) does some of his training without coming close to doing full sets. No doubt, there are occasion when he pushes very hard and heavy on some of his sets, but there are other occasions in which he repeats several sets with the same weight without pushing very hard on his first sets. As he continues to repeat sets, fatigue will accumulate so that the sets become harder as he continues, but he is a long way from going all-out on every set. If you want to use this method, watch how Phil trains in the following video: He does 7 to 8 reps per set with 225 pounds for the bench press and inclined press. If he were going to failure with 225 pounds, he could do over 40 reps, but he is patiently accumulating volume without overtraining.
Phil Heath Does one set of 46 reps with 225 lbs when going for max reps
Phil Heath: sets of 7 to 8 reps with 225 lbs.
If you want to increase your capacity for to handle more training volume, do it the right way; stay at full strength and do more sets with low reps. Best of training to you.