Posted by Ryan A on December 19, 2005, 5:21 pm, in reply to "Re: the single set - newbie confused" In any case, bodybuilders pound for pound are usually much weaker than powerlifters. Bodybuilders can get big muscles by performing higher reps with sub max weights. Powerlifters can get strong without doing this and by only moving maximal weights for lower reps. Obviously there is some cross over between the two but the goals are different and their training is therefore different. "Strength" is a learned thing. Much like shooting a basketball or throwing a baseball. Bodybuilding is wasteful in terms of how you train, you get a lot of muscle that can not really do a whole lot but it looks good, akin to practicing shooting a basketball just by taking a lot of shots but not paying attention to how you shoot the ball. Powerlifting(atleast the lower weightclasses) is very efficient in terms of how much muscle you add and how much weight you can lift. This would be like only shooting a few shots but making sure everyone you shot was perfect. Thus by only learning correct movement patterns you get better at shooting. For powerlifters, by only moving max weight, they get very good at lifting max weight. --Previous Message--
71.142.251.177
Ok well I will let Scott explain the multiple set stuff. I do know of some research supporting multiple sets being superior so I am not sure what this site is doing still supporting the 1 set stuff.
: Okay, this is confusing me now. On the exrx site I have been
: reading to inform myself. I have read the following on the web
: page
: http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/LowVolumeTraining.html :
: "Many scientific studies demonstrate one set is almost
: effective as multiple sets, if not just as effective in strength
: and muscle hypertrophy (Starkey, Pollock, et. al. 1996)."
:
: "By performing an additional set (50% to 100% more sets)
: only 0 to 5% more progress will be observed."
:
: In the weight lifting section this site recommends 1 warm up set
: at 50% rep max and one set in the 8-12 rep range at about 80%
: 1rm.
:
: Scott writes: : Adding multiple sets (up to a certain point)
: increases your
: gains tenfold than just stopping at one set.
:
: Okay, so in one reference more than 1 set gives me a 0-5%
: improvement, and in Scott's reference I see multiple setts give
: 10-fold gains. Confusion!
:
: Also, I thought that strength corresponded pretty much with size
: of muscle, so wouldn't building the biggest muscles give the
: greater strength? Or are bodybuilders weak as kittens, and are
: powerlifters the strongest around? Curious minds want to know!
:
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