Should I really count sets?

Why not just keep performing until tired?

I'm also curious about this, bump

>why keep to a structured plan lel am i rite guise
>just work out as much as you feel like xDD
>imma just throw on some random sets in the middle of my workout, swago!
>I'm so tired I'll only do two sets of ohp today :((

But what if I go:

A->B->C x3

Instead of:

AAA->BBB->CCC

That way all of my exercises are balanced

I think something like diminishing returns. by your 10th set of curls, the set might not be worth the energy you could put into another exercise or doing curls again sooner

"tired" is malleable and changes with your mood, time of day, work schedule etc.

"3" is not.

Those are called super sets and are fine/recommended for accessory exercises, not so much for the big compounds. As you might have noticed you are still counting the number of sets you do each exercise, which is not what OP asked.

That conflicts with the idea of tiring, damaging your muscles in order to grow. Also finding particular weigth for tiring your muscles in 3 sets is harder than general thought.

hnnngg

It does not.

>Also finding particular weigth for tiring your muscles in 3 sets is harder than general thought.
Again it is not. It has less to do about you being tired and more about the muscle being worked. You select a weight that you can lift for 10 reps for 3 sets. If you feel you have several reps left in the tank you can up the weight a bit on the last set. If you fail before 10 reps you keep going on the same weight till you can complete the sets before adding on weight.

The point here is that you gradually overload your muscle. If you eat, sleep and train right your goal is to lift more weight each exercise, either at a higher intensity or a larger volume. Doing more reps increases volume (80kg x 8 reps = 640kg moved, 10 reps = 800kg moved etc..) and adding on more weight for less reps increases the intensity.

Tiring isn't the same thing as damaging. You have 5 pound weights at most places for incremental changes. The point of a set is to keep a structured plan that gives you a concrete trackable goal. When you feel tired but you have a whole set ahead of you, if you have the mental fortitude you keep pushing and pulling regardless of your state. This tendency to overcome your base desires and defy yourself is the fundamental component of manhood and spiritually invigorates you. God himself only grants you the body of a warrior when you put yourself in insurmountable situations and defy them regardless. If you have trouble doing things outside your comfort zone, go spar in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, where the exercise demands you continue in spite of your personal state.

I do it and it works. However, I've noticed the weight has increased at a lower rate, but hypertrophy is through the roof

You can do 5 sets of 10 easier than you can do 1 set of 50 and you get the same results from both of you do them properly. It's about time under tension, not counting a certain number of reps. If you over-train, it takes a longer time for your Central Nervous System to recover. You're supposed to do a certain amount of reps at a certain weight because that's generally what will make you tired and what will result in the highest time under tension without over training and burning out your CNS. If you're not tired by the end of you're routine you need to increase the weight.

Question: how do I know I over trained?

>You can do 5 sets of 10 easier than you can do 1 set of 50 and you get the same results from both

have you actually lifted weights before or do you just come here to shitpost?

You'll lose track over time. We keep track so we have an idea how to progress

sets OR reps Or weight aka volume

the whole idea is PROGRESSION

>jack off for 500 reps
>arm weighs 10 kg, that's 5000kg total volume
>get swole as fuck

how else will you autistically track your progress?

I don't keep track of sets, only reps.

I do keep track of time tho. I'll do about 50 sets of 8 reps per hour, workout for about 3.5 hours,
ends up being around 400 reps.

The above is great for accessories, solid hypertrophy. Only thing you need to do is make sure to keep rest times short, and also throw in some heavy compounds so you don't lose too much strength.

>walk up 200 stairs a day
>weigh 90kg
>that's 18000kg total volume
>literally the same result as squatting 450kg for 4 reps

Well you're suppose to work until muscle failure so I suppose this is correct

>Why count calories, just stuff yourself with food until you're fully satiated
>Why count rocks when building a house just dump an arbitrary amount of rocks in a pile and hope things sort themselves out
Retard

>3.5hours
isn't continuing past about 60-70min not doing much?

...

The longer you've been training, the more stimulus your muscles need to grow.

You can achieve that partially by making the weights heavier, but for some exercises(eg curls) it is impractical to curl 200 kg, so you increase sets and reps, while decreasing rest times to achieve similar muscular failure with low weight.

It has to do with recovery, progress and fatigue management.

It's not bait he's pointing out why your logic is retarded

2/10 bait
most experts agree you need to use 60%ish of your 1rm to achieve gains
so if you're squat is absurdly low, stairs might actually help

The TL:DR of it is that if you are going for strength and you can do more than 8 of an excercise then the weight isn't sufficient, meaning you should increase the weight on the next set.

>have to pee 10 times a day
>gf makes me sit to show solidarity
>weigh 120kg
>that's 1200kg total volume
>literally the same as deadlifting 300kg for 4 reps

That's a superset. Good to save time on curls and assistance work. Supersetting things like bench and squat is exhausting and basically turns it into a cross fit esque type of cardio. Which isn't bad at all, but your shortness of breath and the distraction of the lactic acid build up will mean you wont be able to lift as heavy. Great conditioning though.

Was considering adding a sort of event day to my routine. A super set of a few compounds for conditioning. Throw in a couple random exercises done traditionally to keep it fun like hack squats 3x8, heavy 1 arm db ohp, cleans, Turkish get up, whatever.

ok, so i definitely didn't fully do it
60%ish for a set that is tiring. if you pee'd sitting down, and then stood up and sat down 20 times maybe
you knew what i meant. most people recommend rep ranges for shit, but obviously if you use weight that's too light you won't be doing much

Cause if you go to failure everytime you'll stay at the gym twice as long. Counting isn't very hard, not like you have anything else to do.

Let me show you the original post >You can do 5 sets of 10 easier than you can do 1 set of 50 and you get the same results from both
Which is wrong, and deserves to be made fun of.

5 x 10 vs 1 x 50 at the same weight you retards

but w-what if you don't know how to count?

t. turk

jesus all this shit info and long answer nonsense.

take EVERY set to muscle failure.
you should barely be able to finish the last rep, once you can do a full 3-4 set with that weight, increase it
6 reps for max hypertrophy
15 for athleticism
25 for endurance
pretty fuckin easy

rest days, deload days, eat food, sleep

working every set to failure is not optimal.

~_~ not optimal?
you serious?
you're trying to train your body/muscles to know they aren't strong enough to handle a workload, EVERY set is taken to failure, unless you're purposefully doing a deload/rest day. sets that aren't to failure when trying to achieve a strength/endurance goal are wasted sets

Sets to failure tire you out much more than regular sets for minimum extra benefit. If you really want to go to failure get a spotter to help you with the concentrics and go to eccentric failure. See how that feels.

You will feel like you're dying and you will be weaker every time you get in the gym

Because how the fuck you gonna know when youre actually too tired to workout without a plan ?

sure, they tire YOU out, but not your muscles. if you work on your muscular endurance before you work for strength you don't experience that. there's a reason you do light weights to failure before heavy weights. you say minimum effort, but i say your muscles won't get stronger if you don't make then fail. you go to failure for your own body/strength, you don't get someone to lift the weights for you unless you are specifically training for certain things. having someone lift the weight so you can do negatives isn't bad, but the only reason you have a spotter lift for your concentrics is so you can GO FURTHER INTO FAILURE on your essentrics, because your muscles can handle more weight in eccentric contraction. however, training in eccentric trains you to drop weight. people don't train to drop weight, but to lift, so you go to failure on the lift, the concentric, every time.

so to answer the OP question, you train till your muscles can't lift the wight, every set is there to take your muscles to failure, your muscles have to fail so they get stronger. like i said, the exception is when you either know what you're doing, or you are resting. i've trained myself and others, those that went to failure saw results QUICKER then just going to a set number when they had more in the tank

>get a spotter to help you with the concentrics and go to eccentric failure.
If I wanted an eccentric failure, I'd look in the mirror.

Ty gonna figure out a routine now

this is actually retarded. you know exactly what OP meant it's just a question to see both sides, you fucking retard