LogFAQs > #979414366

bsp77 posted...

Question - is this the best way?

I just did the same weight, but my sets were 12, 9, and 7. I basically did each set to muscle failure, which I thought increases weight increases faster.

Also, my weight seems to be around 176 now. Yay! Down 5.5 since the New Year without dieting and while gaining muscle.

Out of curiosity, by "failure" do you mean like you're completely unable to finish a rep even if your life depended on it or like you probably can't do one more rep because that last one was such a struggle? Your muscles should be completely done for a minute or so for true failure.

If it's the struggle one, that probably is ideal. What normal people view as until failure is usually still one or two reps in reserve which is actually perfect for our age range. It's something you'll be able to recover from. We old, man.

Another good way to tell if you've actually got more in the tank is to superset into something that uses the exact same muscles to test. If you bench but can immediately do like 5 push-ups without rest, then you probably had another rep or so left in there. If it's only like 2, then that's good.

Also, 12 to 7 is a little more than typical for the drop off in reps. You may want to take a little more rest in between those last two sets and see if you can shorten that gap slightly.

If all else fails, 3 sets isn't set in stone. Try adding another set to see more results. Some people respond better to more stimulus that way. 3 is a good starting point for most people though.

If you're progessing even slightly from week to week, then you're doing great though. No need to fiddle with it. Whatever you're doing is working. You may have to adjust later as your body adapts though.