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#1
07-20-2007, 10:58 PM
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Do larger muscles take more work?
Hey all got another question for all of you muscleologists out there(yea I just made that word up sorry).
Anyways my question is do larger muscles require more work (sets I guess) than the smaller muscles to be worked efficiently enough for growth? I was always under the impression that I needed to bust out more sets of chest or more sets for my quads to get them to grow than my biceps. That stated it was always just a conception and when I thought about it I realized I had no idea where I learned that. Im hoping you guys can educate me a bit on this issue! Thanks! 
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#2
07-20-2007, 11:16 PM
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Re: Do larger muscles take more work?
Not necessarily. I do 2 working sets to failure for my quads in a superset. If you take the muscle to failure, you're digging deep inroads and stimulating growth that a further 3rd or 4th set wouldn't necessarily stimulate any 'further' growth. They key isn't how much muscle damage you can do, but how intense of a stimuli there is.
__________________
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...onpaul2008.jpg "Some people call me a fat pig in the off season, but when I step on stage those same people are kissing my @ss" - Lee Priest "That last rep where you're trying as hard as you can and you barely make it! That is what turns on the growth mechanism in your body. That last almost impossible rep where you're bearing your teeth, you're shaking all over, you need assistance! That rep is very special, that rep is very different. There's something special going on inside your body when that happens." - Mike Mentzer
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#3
07-20-2007, 11:23 PM
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Re: Do larger muscles take more work?
I do more sets for larger muscles.
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#4
07-20-2007, 11:28 PM
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Re: Do larger muscles take more work?
From my point of view, no. I do one exercise with one working set for all my muscle groups.
__________________
Stick to the basics.
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#5
07-20-2007, 11:45 PM
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Re: Do larger muscles take more work?
[ QUOTE ]
From my point of view, no. I do one exercise with one working set for all my muscle groups. [/ QUOTE ] Took the words right out of my mouth.
__________________
People ask me how I got so big....my reply: The first three letters of the alphabet. You can train hard or you can train long, but you can't do both. And it just so happens that it takes hard training to build big muscles" - Mike Mentzer
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#6
07-21-2007, 01:17 AM
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Re: Do larger muscles take more work?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] From my point of view, no. I do one exercise with one working set for all my muscle groups. [/ QUOTE ] Took the words right out of my mouth. [/ QUOTE ] Really?... So why does every workout routine that I've ever seen, including this site, involve multiple sets of multiple exercise on each muscle group? I dont want to be spending more time in the gym than is sufficient. Could you post a few routines for both a cut and a bulk that follow this idea? Thanks!
__________________
"Grandma just called and ... said she doesn't want you here when she gets back because you've been ruining everybody's lives and eating all our steak." -- Napoleon Dynamite
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#7
07-21-2007, 01:24 AM
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Re: Do larger muscles take more work?
[ QUOTE ]
Really?... So why does every workout routine that I've ever seen, including this site, involve multiple sets of multiple exercise on each muscle group? [/ QUOTE ] I don't want to get into a whole debate here with others over this like so many times before, but all I will say is that the reason why the majority of workout routines out there advocate multiple sets of multiple exercises is simply because it uses the logic of 'more is better'. However, that couldn't be further from the truth when it comes to the human body. The human body is not a 'more is better' biological machine, and nor does it take a 'less is better' approach, but 'precise is best'. And the precise amount of sets to stimulate growth is literally one hard intense set. The greater the intensity, the greater the growth stimulus. And the more intense and harder you train, the less you can train for. If you've stimulated growth with one set, then doing more sets of the same exercise is simply a waste of time, and it will just create more inroad into your recovery ability (thus prolonging the time it takes for recovery for that muscle). [ QUOTE ] I dont want to be spending more time in the gym than is sufficient. Could you post a few routines for both a cut and a bulk that follow this idea? Thanks! [/ QUOTE ] Then you should look into HIT (High Intensity Training). THere are many forms of it out there: Mike Mentzer HIT, Arthur Jones' style HIT, Ellington Darden's HIT, Doggcrapp training, etc. The idea with all HIT programs is that you do the minimal amount of training necessary to stimulate growth, and keep doing it over and over for fast muscle growth. Time spent in the gym is NOT proportionate to how much you grow. How intensely you train IS.
__________________
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...onpaul2008.jpg "Some people call me a fat pig in the off season, but when I step on stage those same people are kissing my @ss" - Lee Priest "That last rep where you're trying as hard as you can and you barely make it! That is what turns on the growth mechanism in your body. That last almost impossible rep where you're bearing your teeth, you're shaking all over, you need assistance! That rep is very special, that rep is very different. There's something special going on inside your body when that happens." - Mike Mentzer
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#8
07-21-2007, 01:51 AM
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Re: Do larger muscles take more work?
One thing I don't really understand is that you talk about "inroads to recovery" and how doing more work increases the time it takes to recover.
Personally I do somewhere around 20-25 sets for legs on leg days. I leg press 1200 lbs for reps. I still recover from this in 3-4 days. What's the point in doing less work if I'm fully recovered in exactly the amount of time I have between my leg workouts already? If I did 1 super crazy set to complete failure, my muscles would be ready for more work in approximately 2 minutes (maybe up to 5). I can then hit that muscle AGAIN and its not going to change the fact that in 3-4 days I will be doing legs again and be fully recovered or not. I ALWAYS recover in 3-4 days, never longer. Therefore, it strikes me that if I did LESS training but recovered faster yet still had to wait til day 4 to hit legs again (I have a 4 day rotation) it would serve me no good. I might as well do those extra sets, stimulate more muscle growth, and require slightly more recovery time but still be ready for more legs when its leg day again.
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#9
07-21-2007, 02:56 AM
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Re: Do larger muscles take more work?
How did I know that this was going to happen.
Rich, you may have amazing recovery ability. Because if when I do my "super crazy set" for legs, all I know is that even after a 5 min break, I am limping out of the gym. Second of all, to me, the longer you stay in the gym beating the muscle, the more recovery time it needs. So if I come in, hit it with one exercise, one set, I am able to allow that muscle to rest and recover straight away giving me quicker recovery time so I can come back to the gym and hit it quicker (which gives me frequency of hitting that muscle more often, hence more lift, recovery and growth sessions). This is a topic that body builders (volume vs low volume) will never agree on. Let's not turn this in to a "volume works better" and "low volume is best" thread. Let's try to inform others to the best of our ability why we believe each method works.
__________________
Stick to the basics.
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#10
07-21-2007, 06:36 AM
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Re: Do larger muscles take more work?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] From my point of view, no. I do one exercise with one working set for all my muscle groups. [/ QUOTE ] Took the words right out of my mouth. [/ QUOTE ] Really?... So why does every workout routine that I've ever seen, including this site, involve multiple sets of multiple exercise on each muscle group? I dont want to be spending more time in the gym than is sufficient. Could you post a few routines for both a cut and a bulk that follow this idea? Thanks! [/ QUOTE ] Just as Dan said, there are many types of HIT training out there, as well as other low volume routines. Read up on it, then test it out and see how it works for you. Everyone responds differently so analyze your progress and see what gives you the best gains. As for the other argument starting to brew, I'm not touching it. Too many low volume/high volume debates that go nowhere and normally involve the same members each time.
__________________
People ask me how I got so big....my reply: The first three letters of the alphabet. You can train hard or you can train long, but you can't do both. And it just so happens that it takes hard training to build big muscles" - Mike Mentzer
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