MORE VOLUME = MORE GROWTH. PERIOD.

[@WolfCoaching]

Thank you for having me! 🙏🏻 Full in-depth video on this new volume study is coming to my channel as soon as the paper is out. Stay tuned!

[@CrazyLikeChris]

I'll let you spit in my mouth. Also good science

[@jackskellingtron]

Did that study also include strength effects, and will you cover them? Thanks for the great content!

[@steveb6718]

no gains..... but all the science in the world.... volume vs intensity... you can do three sets to 2 reps before failure no problem.... but if you do 1 set to failure + 2 forced reps, you won't give a shit about another 2 sets.

[@Ssjgnolan]

Love a Milo and Mike colab. When you say 20 sets or more per week. Should this be split into more workouts ? Can I just increase the number of sets for a given exercise . Example for biceps instead of trying to do 4 workouts and like 2-3 sets would it be better to just do 2 workouts at like 6 sets ? Just a thought I had.

[@christophegroulx7816]

In your upcoming video could you please talk about what they found with regards to strength?

[@Schmuddel]

I saw a comment that said Dr. Mike blinks with full ROM and now that's all I can think about when I watch these videos.

[@abebabetb771]

LMAO

[@rodrigozanabria2978]

Fuck it's true, I can't unsee it now.

[@SavageSairung]

Damn you! I won't ever unsee this.

[@cringusmoss9937]

Holy SHIT

[@kurtrillion]

I hate you.

[@trayer1733]

Dr Mike's jokes are like if tourettes made full sentences

[@alexlalov7152]

really accurate

[@Brk_Lifts]

Hahahaha. It’s true tho

[@josephohrablo4866]

🤣 love the blinking twitch

[@jmcb5215]

Even his eyelids do full range of motion​@@josephohrablo4866

[@RobertGallifrey]

As someone with Tourettes. I find this comment to be fricken hilarious

[@Hugo.Pearce]

Time for an 8 hour arm workout.

[@gruja9704]

Rich is watching us!

[@wonvon8625]

16 hours for both arms correct. Then just got to work

[@TheMightyOdin]

Protein shake every hour

[@totallyfrozen]

🤣

[@estuardo2985]

what a godly forearm you have!

[@garrettshouler9348]

Glad to see Dr Mike still taking his jokes to failure, and beyond.

[@thomasressler]

Hah! That was awesome! 🤣

[@yhp99]

His recovery time is alarmingly fast as well

[@izm4life]

Facts lol

[@KingOFFLINE]

hahahahh

[@michaelwatkins5404]

Mike, I have been training for many many years and I’ve never heard all of this explained so succinctly and clearly. Thank you for this information. It is extremely helpful.

[@ActionPhilip]

I'm glad we're finally getting a look at the infamous RP casting couch.

[@Inzane8]

Wonder what all Milo has been through on that couch 😢

[@lewieanderson6579]

Harvey weinstein is insanely jealous

[@skadragon]

Nice. This guy has a sexy beard, but when he talks... oy...

[@rektl2036]

@@Inzane8 50 sets on the couch at least

[@GSK3]

It looks very wipeable.

[@PoorlySoup]

I cranked up the volume, but now I just have tinnitus.

[@Narcrotic]

Funny I get bursitis

[@shaunfishman1244]

I thought you were referring to the sound of the video 😂

[@RumoHasIt]

I love this 😂😂

[@kmarshall131]

youre learning from Mike. Excellent joke

[@kneewizard6246]

WHAT?!!👂🤚

[@tkskater1]

This is completely free, excellent content. What a time to be alive!

[@totallyfrozen]

You ain’t lyin’! 20 to 30 years ago, you couldn’t even find books with this stuff. Now these guys do the hard work then come on here and tell us what they learned free of charge.

[@KUYA_AUSTIN]

You pay with your eyeballs and ad revenue

[@dumpsterdiverdetector]

Dr Mike is basically just copying Coach Greg's Harder Than Last Time LMAO

[@mann8098]

Yes Sir!

[@donjuantrumpetajohnson]

Jesus that's pathetic. "What a time to be alive"?? because of theory on how to get bigger arms? That's your peak? This info is also bullshit and made for entertainment and clicks which equals income for these channels. Check how long bodybuilding has been around and how those guys trained. Nothing has changed. They were all huge and no steroids neither! That's all that's all that has changed today. Now men have become pussies and need steroids. You get a pass if you are a pro and are competing. Anyone doing steroids just to show up pumped up at the club or beach is a moron.

[@LostSoulAscension]

Mike is such a nice guy. Milo continued to ask Mike to hit him, but he never once showed a single flinch to oblige. Utter kindness.

[@arifsevimli4324]

Every time I give long breaks or even go to a short holiday and come back I lift much much heavier I believe the magic happens during rest days.

[@RedfishCarolina]

Yep, fully agreed

[@dar540]

Well that's why deloads are programmed into any good programme. Usually between 4-8 weeks is very effective

[@Johan.223ddfcs]

Mohammad should have waited for ayesha a few more years

[@dar540]

@@Johan.223ddfcs Segway 😂

[@Vanpotheosis]

​@@Johan.223ddfcs Technically should have waited at least twice as many years as she was alive. But he died by the time she got that old. Oof

[@ArinKambitsis]

Dr. Mike is the only guy I know whose shoulders get 5 O’clock shadow.

[@shred9475]

😂

[@Skunkus_Munkus]

Hi. Nice to meet you. 2

[@gabriellarsson9029]

"To be complex: more is more." Sounds about right to me

[@Postermaestro]

as if noone has tried to jack up their volume and completely stagnated

[@BaneTrogdor]

@@Postermaestro Exactly my thoughts!

[@Usario321]

Haven’t watched the video yet, hope it was just clickbait. Cuz more volume definitely doesn’t automatically means it’s better

[@Postermaestro]

@Redacted-r5p Dunning-Kruger.

[@useraiaj234mp]

I stalled for YEARS doing high volume. I train 3x a week for 8 sets per muscle max and I'm bigger than ever

[@madhusudan]

Just decided to add a 4th set to all my exercises. Glad that this information supports that.

[@John-wx9pe]

I'm 46. I lift hard - to failure or 1rir on almost every (working) set. Every year since turning 40, my body's ability to recover from anything more than 8 working sets per body part per workout has decreased significantly. Volume is great until your joints start to break down. I'd rather do 8 working sets and have healthy elbows or shoulders or knees than 16 sets and have those joints feel like they are falling off as I try to play basketball with my son or swing a golf club. I guess that's just where I am in life. It's not fun but it is what it is.

[@jayrichardson221]

Try adding collagen to your diet and perhaps drink bone broth !

[@muellernikolai8630]

maybe it's cause you shouldn 't be going to failure every single set?

[@winbombs6117]

Lower your weight, increase ROM and improve your form. 0-3 RIR actually grows more muscle. I bet if you do that, you will grow more and have less injuries. Clean form lower weight>bad form and higher weight.

[@jtyree0226]

Try adding GH to your diet 😊

[@John-wx9pe]

@@winbombs6117 why do you assume I use bad form? I’ve been lifting for 30 years . . . I have the form thing down by now.

[@jasonshults368]

So the Rich Piana arm workout is actually gold. I knew it, of course. Science is so amazing.

[@thor498]

It is not because nobody can recover from that shit in weeks

[@pogboy6940]

🤓☝️​@@thor498

[@jaxsparrow_12]

​@@thor498 As a natural its hard to recover . It takes me 3-5 days to not feel sore. You can also feel the difference without taking creatine and protein shakes recovery time is slower.

[@Brieftime244]

​​@@thor498you may be able, but use a lot less weight and eat and drink carbs while training. And taking at least 30 minutes rest every two hours and I still think for most people will be impossible 3:31

[@Yeeyu77]

​@@thor498shhhhhhhh

[@Girthquake9]

19 minute mark is the caviat we have all been waiting for. High volume is for low frequency gym goers. You cant just add 20 more sets of quads to your program if you're already pushing your limits. Thank you for clarifying as this helped my mental pretzel on the situation

[@BrofUJu]

Nice. I basically go 5 or 6 times a week, to me adding more volume for the level of fatigue while also being a normal human with a job just isn't worth it lol

[@Gn3rd]

Mike's other tidbit on the subject also clarifies a lot: you can't do extremely high volume for everything all the time. So if you're looking to focus on a specific muscle group for a while, crank up the volume on that one, and dial it back for the rest.

[@bengreenbank]

Exactly. Anyone who’s ever actually been strong knows 30-50 sets per muscle is a complete joke If you’ve got say a 4 plate squat then there’s absolutely no way your body can handle 30-50 sets to failure of quad work every week forever. Nevermind you’re also expected to do that for every other muscle too. Complete nonsense

[@Elcanario91]

Also training intensity. I can assure you that the people in these studies are not training hard anough or close enough to failure… if you are really training hard it’s even hard to do more than 5-6 sets per session

[@Elcanario91]

@@bengreenbankexactly. These people don’t train hard enough. If i do 3 sets of heavy hack squats to failure I’m fried for 4 days. My leg days are 4-6 sets per muscle. I have experienced incredible growth lowering my weekly volume when i though i had reached my genetic potential (I’m talking close to 10lbs in the last feelw years of training low volume high intensity)

[@SlurMaster9000]

Not buying it. I've been giving it 5+ sets every day since I was 15 and I'm still stuck at 5.25 inches (5.75 bone-pressed).

[@justin_6381]

You aren’t progressively overloading bro, I’ve grown from 4in to 7in (fully erect, bone pressed) in just 5 years

[@theupson]

most chicks dont like it that big around anyway bro

[@hooktraining3966]

had me in the first half

[@tomf0olery]

​@@theupson is that what they say to you? xD

[@minciNashu]

Lose that final layer of fat to bone.

[@gcaj85]

I really like the pace of this. I was hesitant to want to set aside almost 40 minutes for a video on seemingly a simple concept in the title, but after 22 minutes in I realized just how complex the variables are for communicating the facts in a duly diligent manner. Very high level dynamic analyses; thanks for this to both of you.

[@denali9455]

I’ve always done low volume, high intensity and have had amazing results. high volume has always just left me sore, weak, and tired for my next workout

[@gardeningniceperson]

Anecdotal

[@sen0lis]

Same.

[@JamesFernandez-q8d]

I use to do two body parts a week . 8-12 reps , 4 sets per muscle . I changed last few years to low volume and sets to failure or 6-8 reps . I grew with this easily this year

[@youtubesucks8024]

That’s funny because for me the exact opposite.

[@Okami400]

Complete opposite for me, I would do low volume high intensity. Switched to high volume and I’m growing much faster now.

[@ryry5249]

You 2 racked up some huge lines on that table prior

[@patricktallent9]

It's creatine I swear

[@harrisonlorens3585]

The longest slopes I’ve ever seen 😂

[@totallyfrozen]

Pre-workout, bro.

[@BuckySwang]

more is more

[@jimnorris3227]

🤣🤣🤣

[@FitDadMD]

In brief, if you need to focus a certain area of growth you could ramp up volume to as much as you could recover from, but you might have to slow down on other muscle groups to not overdo systemic fatigue. You CAN include “fractional sets” such as counting a pull up as a half bicep rep.

[@yellowgooseforge]

By far the best fitness channel. Period. Thanks for everything!

[@oioioi-9942]

22:28 The assumption that natural lifters can continue to do 5 workouts per week, each with 20-30 sets of compound exercises is ludicrous. Sure, it's possible for a few weeks, but it's simply not possible in the long run. Anyone who does that level of volume is simply not lifting very heavy, and high volume with low intensity will not result in better gains than low volume with high intensity.

[@PinkeySuavo]

I had biggest gains when I went to gym 5-6 times a week (split upper/lower body) doing around 12-20 sets during a session and thats when I had the fastest and best growth (I also ate more)

[@oioioi-9942]

@@PinkeySuavo I don't think doing 5-6 workouts/week is necessarily a bad idea (if you have the time). I mostly workout from home, and I often go through periods when I workout pretty much every day. However, my opinion is that this level of frequency is only sustainable long-term with a relatively low volume (or low intensity). Maybe 8-12 sets of compounds and 4-6 sets of isolation. Moreover, if you workout away from home in a commercial gym, this level of frequency often becomes very difficult to maintain from a practical point of view.

[@kenmartin2454]

@@oioioi-9942 I mainly train isolation and i do 14 to 20 sets per session. i work 6 days a week and im tinking about raising volume

[@oioioi-9942]

@@kenmartin2454 If you don't have some particular reason to focus on isolation exercises, my recommendation would be to do more compounds. If you do, you'll probably find that 12-20 sets per session is plenty.

[@kenmartin2454]

@@oioioi-9942 i actually dont. But i feel like compounds dont grow me. So if peopel do CHEST TRICEPS. I do chest on .onday and triceps on the next day so they are fresh. I train all my muscles separetly on different days

[@CaptainCorobo]

Finally a video where they mention the caveat that these studies were not done while the participants were doing full body workouts! If you're already doing 20 sets per muscle per week, and on top of that add another 30 to your legs, youre most likely gonna have a lot of trouble fully recovering

[@plwadodveeefdv]

but add 10 or 5. they also talk about how difficult it is to overtrain, that it takes weeks of cumulative fatigue, and at that point you can deload. most people are just babies, regardless of their 1RM

[@sathinder6421]

Wolf (Dr) howling at the Moon (Mike Head)

[@rockyevans1584]

Whoa.. Dr.mikes head as the moon reminds me of the baby face sun in teletubbies... not sure which is creepier

[@schweppestanica1805]

Beard growth

[@contrasbeatshop]

@@rockyevans1584holy shit i will never unsee this now

[@amberruby4896]

Alternative title

[@thirst-to-be-awaken]

Poetry

[@tbohacker]

Mike is spot on as expected. The caveat of systemic fatigue is usually not mentioned or considered in a lot of these studies and any takeaways always need that asterisk. I think specilization is a necessity for anyone with 5+ years of "good, hard" training. I've had my best growth when thowing 8 muscles at maintenncae volume and 2 muscles (usually 1 large, 1 small) at higher volumes for 4-6 weeks.

[@jaymesrads9969]

what are your thoughts on HIT and is their any studies like this on it?

[@felixden3306]

That's smart but it requires pretty good tracking and also mentally when you're at maintenance your brain just tells you you're not doing enough so it's kinda tricky

[@felixden3306]

​@@jaymesrads9969dunno about studies, this is just my personal anecdote so obviously it doesn't hold up against a study but I found that doing hit 5x/6x a week with a alot of bodyweight variants gave me some decent results over the course of a year

[@robbertag808]

What is maintenance volume for you?

[@tbohacker]

@jaymesrads9969 There are studies on HIT but I think most of the evidence suggests that higher volumes are better. Higher being very subjective with your own recovery and proximity to failure. As always trial and error for you as an individual produces best gains.

[@nates5703]

The stuff on fractional sets was fascinating. We need a full video on this.

[@jraiderguy]

Would love a cheat sheet or spreadsheet to start counting fractional sets

[@juanm2192]

😅​@@jraiderguy

[@domninin]

I've thought about this before. Theoretically, if we had a huge dataset of workout plans with sets reps intensity and days trained for every given exercise and hypertrophy over that given time, one could mathematically easily figure out what the optimal training plan is, as long as there are enough unique training plans inside the dataset. The question is if there is some dataset like this

[@papaspaulding]

@@domninin To many variables in play when it comes to each individual. so such a training plan would yield different results for different people, some better some worse

[@domninin]

@@papaspaulding sure, but with enough data it would average out and with even more data one could even develop a model to determine the ideal training plan for certain personal criteria

[@Atavist89]

"We finally have a peer reviewed meta analysis indicating that the dog does, indeed, go woof-woof" 👆🤓

[@joshua.r999]

😂😂👍🤣

[@TheRexPerkins]

The “more is more” is really all I needed to hear 😂

[@dpall38]

If you rest 3 minutes between sets for 200 sets that’s 10 hours a week of rest not including the time to perform each set, set up the equipment, warm up. Do these people work, have a family? Have a life? I believe the evidence and I am sure it works but I have shit to do.

[@scottmurray7283]

Drop sets, myo reps are our freinds (only freinds...)

[@dpall38]

@@scottmurray7283 Super sets, drop sets, and myo reps need more rest in between. Its hard to make new friends if you are spending 3 hours plus a day working out. I guess I just don’t want it that bad.

[@warren010h]

As someone who gets burned out of people a lot, it works great lol. But then, I'm 32 with no family / kids and work from home. On top of loving working out, it's like the escape I need from home sometimes.

[@scottmurray7283]

@dpall38 You're doing it wrong. They are literally all ways to make your workouts shorter.

[@gavinharbin9903]

Understand, and agree with your point, and the cumulative number would still be high, even if reducing the minutes. That said - 3 minutes between sets seems like a long time? I’ve been targeting 1.5 mins-ish between sets.

[@therepairsloth]

Yes. Always a good time when a new RP Strength video is up. I love learning new stuff.

[@Iron.Historian]

Just another day in Volume City

[@Alfred5555]

Is the takeaway that, you should just always go till failure?

[@HeistFPS]

@@Alfred5555You need to be close to failure, 1-3 reps away. Going to failure will have a tiny bit more benefit but a big fatigue cost.

[@Alfred5555]

@@HeistFPS But youre not just going to do one set. Let's say you're doing push-ups. You do the 1st set to failure. Then you're going to do the 2nd set, logically your failure now will be less reps than the first set. It's very hard to truely know when you're 1-3 reps away from failure, its even harder to keep tracking that irrational course as you do more sets. When I say failure I don't mean total absolute failure as in, that you literally can't do one more push up without waiting like 30 minutes. I just mean while doing a set, you get to a point where you could continue but with awful form struggling, but in reality you're failing at that point. I think failure shouldn't just mean not able to do the movement, but that you can't maintain the form and good speed also. I'm not a bodybuilder, but I'm athletic and mostly did calisthenics, and in my days of properly trying to exercise, I'd almost always just go to a point of comfortable failure, and then do a different exercise. For my weight I was always ntoivabke stronger than average, and for things like swimming and rock-climbing I just had a significant edge over comparably sized people. I can only credit it to my amateur style workout routine.

[@HeistFPS]

@@Alfred5555 I agree that failure can be recognized as a massive drop in speed/velocity and or loss of good form. If you get to that point your target muscle should definitely be feeling fatigued. As long as you are at that point or close to it each set you should be fine.

[@Michael_eagle99]

15 reps? Not failure you got 50 more

[@ebrahim9705]

recent studies show more volume = more gains and the thing is we dont even know where the cap for max volume even is, no denying that but then where does the whole junk volume concept factor in with these newer studies because the junk volume thing and more volume thing directly contradict each other. Would appreciate an explanation, great video btw

[@chandansimms9167]

For everyone it varies. Let’s say person A and Person B train their biceps person B volume ceiling could be 24 sets per week whereas Person A’s ceiling could be 30 for everyone it depends I’d say everyone needs to experiment but if you’re making gains with low volume there’s no need too double it maybe just add 5-10% more sets to your training programme.

[@Angry_Lion]

Intensity is the factor

[@Scrubsgetrekt]

13:37 (as a true elite, The sheer timing.) Dr. Mike sneaking in some ASMR.... Anabolic Scratching for Muscle Recovery.

[@OurMadUniverse]

I enjoyed the scratching sound. Thanks 😊

[@grandis_]

XDD

[@4-Months]

I was having a discussion about this topic with someone on the Ronnie shorts, of why not too much volume is good. My prayers has be listened 🙏

[@mattphipps997]

@17:40 I really relate to Dr. Mike's comment here. Not every set is equal. A set of squats is much more fatiguing than a set of bicep curls. Thus, a set of squats with a big strong guy is more fatiguing than a similar RPE set with a much smaller guy.

[@majorfallacy5926]

11:51 "I think the alternative stance is stronger" is a level of diplomatic I did not know was possible

[@D_Huckins]

It was also incorrect in practice. I’m certain with Mike on this one when it comes to real life vs and study

[@LukeMarut]

Wow what an amazing video. The most insightful video on training volume I have ever seen!

[@mmisiak9779]

Dr Mike - your monologue was fascinating, I was totally absorbed. Thank you for that!

[@feelingthislife]

This channel is so great I love you all. Sitting here counting my sets now and realizing I don't do enough compound movement sets I do a lot of iso. I really think this channel is invaluable for me. My time is the most important thing to me and maximizing it is something that is of utmost importance to me. Keep up the great work!

[@tbidzzzz]

I took some shrooms once that looked EXACTLY like Dr. Mike's skin in the thumbnail.

[@harrisonlorens3585]

Same 💀

[@StevenSantaCruz-ix9is]

Hey that checks out

[@user-mr6ep2tg6i]

That’s check out brother sometimes I’ve seen myself younger or just and older version of myself in the mirror at least it looked like it lmao

[@regharman1]

Good to see Anatoly on the show again 😉

[@JamesJMcNett]

Explains the changes I saw when switching to PPL. It’s a general increase in volume with “half” sets twice a week as well. Good stuff Dr. Mike!

[@Dulc3B00kbyBrant0n]

Since going with the mike mentzer literaly 3 day rest between workouts ive been getting better results and less discomfort and better strength gains

[@justwannabehappy6735]

But this isn't about strength. It's about hypertrophy.

[@thandosocikwa]

Ay man same. Once I toned down the volume and just focused on getting higher quality sets in closer to failure my progress took such a leap forward. You can show me all the studies in the world but I’m gonna stick with what worked for me personally 🙏🏾

[@shararm]

Do you do full body and then 3 day rests or body part splits with 3 day rests

[@m4andi0ca]

@@justwannabehappy6735 they are correlated

[@cumquat8320]

​@@justwannabehappy6735 same thing dumbass If we're talking about an individual who uses consistent good form, if he gets stronger he will get bigger. Like this is common sense at this fuckin point like come on genuinely stupid bastards

[@djitobi]

What if all these videos are BSing us so he can get all the gains?🤔

[@j.e.t.v4016]

Gains arent a pie lol 😂. Him making more gains doesnt take them away from you

[@gregquinn7817]

Zero sum gainz

[@ryuthe6th]

Lool

[@harrisonlorens3585]

@@gregquinn7817🔥🔥😂

[@fotis3v480]

​@@j.e.t.v4016It does. The only reason I'm not 225 10% bf year round is because Ronnie Coleman took all the gains pie back in 98 when i was born. 😂😂😂

[@Vasilischerinov]

I've been training for 6 years now, my peak physic was at 85 kg 7.9% bodyfat at 175cm tall as natural but kinda genetically gifted person(27yo). To be honest I was hitting the gym 6 times per week, doing 180 sets per week for the whole body. splitting (legs) - (chest trics) -(back bics) and throwing shoulders here and there, doing this 2 times per week. I got to admit that I was in my best shape of my life and many that didnt knew me from an early age thought I was on gear and frankly that was the best compliment. But after 8-9 months of grinding, while my sleep was on point and my caloric intake could sustain this way of training( around 2600kcal per day) my nervous system broke down. I deloaded for a week and then got a week off and thats it, i didnt hit the gym for like 3.5 months. What i want to point out is that high volume training felt great for me and my body responded amazingly good BUT my nervous system couldnt handle it for that long. I consulted some gymbros who also have the RP app but it was mostly bro science and we concluded that to sustain this sht needs GEAR. A natural athele that takes gym seriously cannot handle 170-180 sets per week for an extended period of time from my experience. Peace!

[@keithianlocke]

Exactly what I found doing PPL split twice per week. What I've done is split muscle groups into 4 workouts. With 2 single days off. This means a muscle group gets repeated every 5th or 6th day after previous, depending on whether 1 or 2 rest days fall between the workouts. I've found this workout I can do 9 hard sets per muscle and don't burn out. I do 3 exercises per muscle, 3 sets per exercise. All to failure using: Set 1 = 8 reps at 80% 1RM. Set 2 = 12 reps at 70% 1RM Set 3 = 16 reps at 60% 1RM. load goes up every 3-4 weeks, sometimes takes a few more weeks because the Set 3 may be extremely taxing and becomes a myo rep Set for a couple weeks.

[@tedstersscience1637]

So on short, even though its not sustainable long term, that extreme volume and intensity is going to provide better gains short term?

[@rockyevans1584]

How'd you settle on such an absurdly specific bf? Those calories seem really low to get to that weight, I'm 5 10 and to get over 190 I need 4500, the push over 200 takes 5000, do you have a sedentary job? Anyways, none of this should be surprising. Cycling volume is recommended by most, implementing functional overreaching is a common tactic, and to be frank this read as a strange attempt to humble brag. Wish I could grow on such few calories, money for food is no small factor these days up in canada

[@JaximusDecimus1]

@@rockyevans1584 If you actually need 5000 calories a day to get over 200 pounds, you have a serious medical condition that needs treated.

[@NolanTheOtherOnly]

I like any disease where the cure is more pie. ​@@JaximusDecimus1

[@ConnorP94]

Very interesting listening to this and showed me a lot about myself. I’ve trained on off for about 13 years. I started going gym 6 days a week about a year ago. Took me about 2-3 months of consistent training before I was hitting 25-30 sets per muscle per week (along with a very physical 8 hour job) and was recovering in time. I did a lot of research while training, including listening to a lot of these studies about over training, hitting that peak of the u. Never really realised that these studies was done on people that wasn’t into the gym as much as I currently was, so I thought that maybe I was over training. I was getting ample gains and should have been proud of what I was doing rather than doubting myself. The moral of the story is believe and trust your natural feel you have in yourself, turns out you’re more of a badass than you realise ❤

[@nikos.1644]

Damn, this Milo Wolf guy talks like he's writing a paper :D What a distinguished lifter... Love it!

[@coldshivery]

0:03 You can taste mike's "I can train twice a day so you lazy" right there

[@seta_samuli2759]

Or its just a joke bro

[@grademployment]

with 10 reps in reserve you can train even 3 times a day sometimes

[@evernew23]

@@grademploymentgood job he says 2 reps in reserve then my boy

[@JamesSmithTexas]

Yet he has zero accomplishments in bodybuilding. All the guys winning shows train once per day.

[@evernew23]

@@JamesSmithTexas how many times do you think Arnold trained?

[@cvm6854]

So glad there’s research that talked about half sets. I’ve never understood why some people didn’t count a row as a set for back AND biceps as if their biceps didn’t do anything. I guess it allows for more sets if you don’t count it but I don’t feel like being in the gym longer than I have to.

[@rockyevans1584]

Calling a row a half set of biceps seems generous. Vertical pulls, sure.

[@MHNK77]

​@@rockyevans1584 also depends on the grip Supinated or pronated? wide or close? All make huge difference for the biceps

[@rockyevans1584]

@MHNK77 sure, makes a difference. I can do chin ups where my biceps feel like the limiting factor though, rows it's always back musculature. My opinion is colored by my experience like anyone else I guess

[@xTheNameisEthan]

I was just thinking about this the other day after I did my rows and pulldowns and my biceps were pretty significantly pumped already

[@michaelbarletta1024]

8:32 I knew it had to be important! I’m so glad you and Milo are discussing this. I’ve posed this question on both of your channels before. Thank you for going over it!

[@tomruopp1247]

This is amazing content. Thank you to both Dr.s for taking the time to put this kind of stuff out for free. The nuances of how science is conducted (and on what populations) is extremely underrepresented in the mainstream. Along those veins, would it be possible to post links to the studies mentioned? At least the main meta analysis mentioned? I think that is the only thing that could make this video more complete.

[@Greasiest_weasel]

A workout program that is sustainable. Doesn't matter how well it works if it only works for a short time. I appreciate this point being made

[@Mark-ks9jj]

What is the standard "set" being discussed? If volume = sets x reps x weight, without knowing the other components in the equation how do you derive any conclusions?

[@TBIRD0625]

I was wondering the same thing, the keep talking about sets and yet nothing about reps. Like does 4 sets of 4 reps get you more growth than 2 sets of 8 reps? Is it the same? Does more time under tension from the 8 rep sets give you more growth? Still so many variables

[@josephforrest4911]

The thinking is it doesn't matter about weight and reps, as long as the sets are hard. This is for hypertrophy, so reps between 5-30 per set, and it doesn't matter as long as those sets are hard, close to failure. You wouldn't be able to do lots of sets all the way to failure. A hard set of 5 is just as growth promoting as a hard set to 30, so sets is the most reliable way to change volume

[@alaaentabi7879]

They talked about this with helms actually, if you're doin sets of 5-8 its same as 15-20 taken to failure, lower end will have better mechanical tension and strength gains, higher end will get more time under tention and metabolite work and more endurance, both will result in same size

[@user-lj8ep9yc4u]

Volume here is being discussed in terms of sets per week. Sets x reps x weight is volume load, which is seldom discussed because it's too relative to each individual.

[@The_Limon]

@@TBIRD0625you’re right. Too many variables unknown. Number of sets, max rep 1 set, RIR, etc… I’m doing at least 15 reps 1set with 3 RIR. Example: 15, 12, 9, 6 for 4 sets. Sets per muscle, per week ~ 25. I think I can do better. I will tweak my plane in a couple months.

[@jfriedman028]

Dr. Mike beautifully explained why the current research is essentially useless. Yet set till believes in it.

[@KevinLuWX]

It's not useless, if you're an athlete prioritize a specific group of muscles over others, then this approach will take you further.

[@The_Legend_Himself]

This is why lay people shouldn’t speak when they are clueless a limitation does not make an area of research useless.

[@bradseidl357]

With all the research on volume and Mike's mesocycle suggestions I've been running 6 week cycles with each week increasing the volume and the last 2 weeks really cranking it up before the deload. It's been working well so far. Here's an example with some prioritization included. Note, I'm keeping legs at around maintenance as I'm working through an injury. This allows me to have these volumes. The last 2 weeks are brutal but awesome at the same time. Also, a lot of the volume for chest, back, biceps, and triceps is done with compound movements such as chin-ups, dips, and close-grip dumbbell presses. This allows me to save time with all the volume. *Week 1* chest - 12 sets back - 12 sets bicpes - 12 sets triceps - 12 sets side delts - 12 sets forearms - 12 sets calves - 12 sets quads - 6 sets hamstrings - 4 sets *Week 2* chest - 12 sets back - 12 sets bicpes - 16 sets triceps - 14 sets side delts - 14 sets forearms - 12 sets calves - 12 sets quads - 6 sets hamstrings - 4 sets *Week 3* chest - 12 sets back - 12 sets bicpes - 18 sets triceps - 15 sets side delts - 15 sets forearms - 12 sets calves - 12 sets quads - 6 sets hamstrings - 4 sets *Week 4* chest - 12 sets back - 12 sets bicpes - 20 sets triceps - 16 sets side delts - 16 sets forearms - 12 sets calves - 12 sets quads - 6 sets hamstrings - 4 sets *Week 5* chest - 15 sets back - 15 sets bicpes - 25 sets triceps - 20 sets side delts - 20 sets forearms - 15 sets calves - 15 sets quads - 6 sets hamstrings - 4 sets *Week 6* chest - 18 sets back - 18 sets bicpes - 31 sets triceps - 24 sets side delts - 24 sets forearms - 18 sets calves - 18 sets quads - 6 sets hamstrings - 4 sets

[@justwannabehappy6735]

31 sets for the biceps ? You sure that's safe ?

[@bradseidl357]

@@justwannabehappy6735 Remember, that's the last week before the deload. Week 1 is only 12 sets, gradually increasing volume over the cycle. Since I started this training, I gained about 5 pounds of muscle in 7 months. I'm 43 years old and have been training for over 20 years. I feel like a newbie again and I'm going to milk these gains for all I can lol.

[@justwannabehappy6735]

@@bradseidl357 but is this safe ? Wouldn't it be less taxing to focus on increasing reps and weight ?

[@aboveaura4817]

And how do you know youre making progress in any of these muscles? Theres no way youre progressively overloading regularly with that amount of volume.

[@bradseidl357]

​@@justwannabehappy6735 I also do focus on increasing reps and weight. I forgot to mention that I start week 1 at about 4 reps in reserve (RIR). Week 2 is 3 RIR. Week 5 is failure week. Week 6 is failure and beyond week (myo reps, etc). As far as being 'safe', my performance is continually going up and I feel great. Honestly I think I could handle more sets but I just don't have the time. According to the latest studies, up to 50 sets per week for a muscle still showed to stimulate hypertrophy. So the volume limit per week on average is way higher than we all thought. The only way to find out is to try yourself. Start small and work your way up. Listen to your body. The key here is that I start the cycles with lower volume and lower intensity, and end on high volume high intensity, then deload. It wouldn't be sustainable for me to do my week 6 work all the time.

[@ryanhartwig108]

I may have missed this in the video... But how do you define/count what is a "set" in the context of rep ranges? Considering the 5-30 rep range for hypertrophy, it would (obviously) be much more feasible to hit 30 sets of a muscle at 5 reps to failure per set, vs 30 reps per set.

[@stevehaverly5283]

The thing I see that never gets discussed in conversations about volume is reps. Example: A 50% increase in set volume is certainly not the same for a 6-8 rep range training as in a 15-20 rep range training. In my mind, reps are a crucial factor in a volume discussion. Assuming the same amount of RIR.

[@andrewmorissette229]

If you're doing 20 rep sets, how many reps were actually hard reps? Some muscles or people do better than others at higher or lower rep ranges, but i think how tough the set was overall is more important than how many reps were in that set. Find the rep ranges that work best for you for the muscle you are working or exercise, then adjust the number of sets up slowly until you are doing more than you can recover from to find the sweet spot.

[@chandansimms9167]

@@andrewmorissette229I agree; unless you are training around and above 75# of 1 rep max you won’t be activating your higher threshold motor units. So with a 20 rep max maybe only the last 5 reps would be the most stimulative

[@plwadodveeefdv]

it doesn't matter. scientific literature shows 5-30 reps are hypertrophic. do what you like

[@AnergizerReacts]

Your new casting couch looks badass

[@davidevans3736]

I want to see a study compare 3 groups all going to true failure on: Group A) 9 sets of preacher curls, 1x per week Group B) 4 sets of preacher curls on one day, 5 sets a few days later Group C) 3 sets of preacher curls, 3x per week To see if Volume is truly independent of Frequency, at least on a weekly level

[@limitisillusion7]

But what is true failure. There are people who dig deep and find 3 more reps when others would have simply not dug as deep and failed earlier. It's so hard to equate effort between people.

[@razzy9896]

I would believe that Group C will see the most gains. Because you are hitting your muscle 3x when its recovered and you will probably do more reps in total compared to the other ones.

[@oneluv11]

hitting 2-3 times a week for each muscle group shows its better than hitting once a week with higher volume....higher volume on single days leads to more fatigue and effects your lifts...when spread out with high volume u have time to recover and lift better next time u hit that group in the week

[@davidevans3736]

@@oneluv11 Theoretically it makes sense, now I'd just like to see it demonstrated via scientific inquiry.

[@nates5703]

Great question. Often wondered this too. Is there an ideal minimum threshold per workout? Does 3 sets in session trigger growth? Or do you need to hit 4-5 sets to really kickstart that stimulus? Or more?

[@Lacuna1122]

I like HIT. I have 3 young children and work about 70 hours a week, also I am the main house keeper.

[@brendanosullivan2484]

I've made the most gains from training HIT. Volume just doesn't make sense to me if you are not hitting muscular failure. Is volume the total amount of sets/reps performed or total amount of weight lifted in a session?

[@Lacuna1122]

@@brendanosullivan2484 sets

[@83Tephros]

Invaluable video on volume management/optimization! Thanks so much!

[@andrewdvries4048]

This video just assured me that I haven't been over training for the past 10 years thanks

[@Jane_Friday]

I want to see people doing 30 sets of RDL per week. 😅

[@m4andi0ca]

literally impossible unless u have infinite RIR or unemployed

[@TheNietzschian]

There is no galaxy where anyone who is even remotely large can recover and adapt from 200 total sets lmfao. unless they are all 5 rir.

[@cruxlife1109]

Thank you. I said the same thing

[@darknuance_ix]

true that would be insane

[@joojotin]

Time not to trust anything these 2 say, both FULL of bs, only doing it for the money, unless they are just very stupid

[@philosophyandhappiness2001]

200 across: Calves, biceps, triceps, delts, chest, Lats, upper back, traps, quads, Hamstrings, and forearms? That's less than 20 sets per muscle group. It's a stupid high amount, but if you mitigate your physical stress outside of the gym (such as having a desk job or someone who does barely any physical work) then it's achievable.

[@TheNietzschian]

@philosophyandhappiness2001 yeah dude try that out when you're actually strong and let me know how it goes. Especially doing like 50 sets of back lmao

[@corismsyn]

I've been increasing my jelq jerk volume but haven't seen any growth just chafing. 1:14

[@Fuq2]

Jelqing is dangerous, invest in a pump or clamp.

[@mihaelh6783]

I usually do prostate trigger point release 1 set until failure, once a week because of high volume.

[@laminking01]

Fascinating as ever. Many thanks Drs. Mike and Milo. How about a video on ‘over training vs. overreaching’?

[@LeanAndMean44]

This really makes sense. I know a guy whose only hypertrophy work for years (he used to bodybuild 20 years ago) has been calisthenics like pull-ups chin-ups etc. which he has done for one year now. His biceps are insane especially compared to the rest of his physique.

[@marcoaguiar3226]

Jeff nippard showed studies where the peak gains on the graph curve were 10 to 12 sets per muscle group per week so which studies are right and which are wrong? What that tells me is that it depends on each person. Each to their own so I do 10 sets 2x a week per intended muscle groups and thats it works wonders!

[@ImCorey40K]

Yeah it seems like there’s not a perfect method, just depends on the lifter

[@DjDolHaus86]

If you look at the data there are always outliers (those who don't fit the average). Aim for what the data is suggesting is best as a starting point but monitor your own progress and never discount the possibility you might be one of those outliers whose results go completely against the data.

[@animaniacs538]

Probably this one is right, because it was a meta analysis

[@razzy9896]

In which video did he say that? I found one video where he talked with another researcher and he said you could probably go from 20 to 30 sets per week.

[@blaydecarosone3448]

Jeff nippard is tiny and corny

[@ccraig4399]

Since i started the Mike Menzter heavyduty protocol i grown more than ever! I dont care what anybody thinks! I works for me! Im natty btw.

[@GarageDwellerPat]

Works for me too. Especially as I get older into my forties. Junk volume is terrible for my joints.

[@warren14567]

Thats me! at 58 years of age i can lift heavy and stand tali then young adults although natural

[@DanielFernandez-h3l]

Muscle adapts to intensity. Adding volume is nonsense.

[@NatersACCOUNT-zo2yk]

Same here high volume is a load of bs all you need to achieve is muscle stimulation to stimulate growth not anything more

[@obligatoryidiot]

@@NatersACCOUNT-zo2yk lmao "high volume" is not bs you're just not pushing hard enough during all of your sets so they become junk sets. high volume only works if each of your sets actually go to 0-3 RIR. this is coming from someone who goes to failure every set. (the reason i do that is because i only work out ~3 days a week and so i don't really care about the excess fatigue to stimulus ratio i produce, but for optimal training, slightly higher volume and staying a couple reps away from failure is just objectively better for hypertrophy for the VAST majority of the population.) mike mentzer was wrong about most of his single set to failure advice. just objectively wrong, the data, logic, and science is completely contradictory to what he said on the matter. don't be a mentzer glazer, think on your own and find out the actual data, it isn't that hard to find on google scholar.

[@ididthemath5567]

I’m gonna try the 200 sets per week throughout the winter till mid April and see how it works and how I take it systematically and then go on a cut and train maintenance.

[@guapoluca]

28 sets per day (if you train all days of the week)? How are you gonna accomplish that Just curious

[@ididthemath5567]

@@guapoluca I’m gonna have two sessions a day AM/PM each 15 sets, some of em will be supersets in order to save time. I’ll be doing this 6 days a week and on the 7th I’ll only do an AM session. In total 13 workouts with a total of 195 sets. It’s gonna be D1 AM Chest/Abs, PM Shoulders/Tri. D2 AM Back/Bi, PM Quads/Hams/Calves. D3 AM Tri/Chest/Abs PM FA/Shoulders. D4 AM Bi/Back PM Hams/Glutes/Calves. D5 AM FA/Chest PM Shoulders. D6 AM Back/Abs PM Arms. D7 AM Glutes/Quads/Calves. PM rest. The intensity and focus of the workout is in the order of the stated workout. So D3/4 I’ll start and focus more on Arms and use on Chest/Tri/Back exercises that involve least triceps, so like flys, pullovers, side/rear deltas and such. I tried it one week so far, it’s very tiring and even after taking a 4 day break my blood work (CK value) was still above 1000, meaning I was not able to fully recover. I’ll keep adjusting with more RiR and moving around small secondary muscle groups like Forearms, Arms, Traps, Calves and so on while trying to maintain at least 160 sets.

[@guapoluca]

@@ididthemath5567 crazy, are you a professional athlete? Or do you work and have family ecc?

[@ididthemath5567]

@@guapoluca No, I’m just a regular. Currently my work just allows me to try out this schedule, so I’ll be doing it till April/May.

[@alexmair4904]

This is such an awesome question, answered really well - total life saver

[@JohnTCampbell1986]

Man i really wish there was a channel like this but specialised on strength and powerlifting.

[@SeuOu]

This was great. I'm surprised Milo was so quick to discount the idea that very strong lifters accrue so much fatigue because of those extreme loads that lower volume training becomes a necessity because of recovery limitations.

[@bengreenbank]

Guy is DYEL. Who cares what he thinks, he’s never actually lived it

[@taylorhillard4868]

Do you have the general time for that part? I missed it. But also I was always wondering why Dr Mike always said that because it never made sense as to why it would. If anything I would expect tiny untrained muscles to be the most quick to accrue fatigue since prettymuch any time you train a new muscle for the first time, you're sore for 7-10 days, no exceptions. Most of us are pretty far from the start of our lifting journeys l, but I can still remember it, and I have never accrued that much soreness and fatigue at any point after getting bigger, more trained muscles. Maybe it's a U shaped curve where brand new beginners and extremely saucy advanced lifters both get sore and fatigued easier than intermediate lifters, but I still can't imagine the mechanism for that other than just that the big guys are pushing thier capacities to thier furthest limits, much like brand new lifters (whose limits are basically on the floor)

[@thisguyhasaname534]

​​@taylorhillard4868 about 11 minutes in

[@naasking]

It's more likely that strong lifters are just going closer to failure, and that's why they're more fatigued and can't support more volume. That's what I took from the discussion.

[@williamvanderscheer4327]

Yea I think Milo is probably right, and the real reason is that more advanced lifters dont actually train at lower volumes anyway, and if they do because they are more fatigued its cause they finally learned to actually go hard. If a beginner trained with the experience of an advanced lifter there might be very little difference. Although as he contents, theres little research on that.

[@p.e.4442]

As a HIIT trained person, I have no idea what these people were talking about, and I'm proud of that.

[@JoeyBeeFit]

I take every set to true failure and train 6 sets per muscle group twice a week for a total of 12 set a week per muscle group. Each set is 12-15 reps each. By the time I'm done with my training I've gone from 12 reps max to possibly seven max due to exhaustion. How to be possible to add in another eight sets and still recover properly to reach the suggested 20 sets per week that they are talking about in this video? It's impossible. If you give each set your all, You're likely not going to be able to do all this volume that they're talking about within 1 week. **Just re-watched the video and realized that the studies were done on specific muscle groups, not on people training full body. This makes sense because they have more time and more energy to do what they need to do to get their sets in**

[@chandansimms9167]

Not true. For example I normally do full body workouts and would do 8-10 sets of weighted pull ups 3-4x per week ( one rep max is 62.5kg at 78kg body weight) I really get sore even for shoulders I used to do 32 sets a week and saw gains but the thing is there’s individuals that need less volume than me and individuals that need more, in addition to that the more frequently you train the less sore and the more you’ll adapt to the stimulus that previously left you sore, the repeated bout affect is very powerful

[@JoeyBeeFit]

@@chandansimms9167 well, it's true for me.

[@chandansimms9167]

@@JoeyBeeFit as long as it works for you then your routine is perfect

[@JoeyBeeFit]

@@chandansimms9167 yeah but the thing is that in your above comment you didn't actually mention how hard you train. You mentioned that what I stated is, "not true" but of course it is. It must be if you have a majority of the comments on this video stating the same thing. At the end of the day, you might think you're training hard but you may not actually be training as hard as you think. In my statement I left room for a little bit of leeway. I used the word "likely" on purpose because not everybody is the same. But if you're actually taking your sets to failure and beating yourself up, progressively overloading it every chance and so forth (in my opinion and in many other people's opinion who are commenting on this video) it is very unlikely that anybody's doing 32 sets of the same muscle group a week. If you're actually training hard, it's an extreme impossibility. Even Doctor Mike and this gentleman stated that. They specifically said that you would likely have to change your routine in order to accomplish the set range that they are speaking of. They also said that in their trials these test subjects were only doing one workout, not full body. So if your full body training is not pushing you to your actual limits (even if you think it is) you will certainly be able to do 32 sets on one specific muscle group a week. But if you're actually training hard and doing full body routines every week, it's very unlikely for most people. And of course, progressive overload is real. As you go you can certainly do more and more sets but of course it will at some point end up being a diminishing returns situation. I certainly know what it's like to over train. I also know that if you train often the soreness completely goes away. In my above comment I was never talking about soreness, I was talking about recovery. Being able to recover, grow stronger and continue to progressive overload in a healthy and sustainable manner. Anyway, take it easy and have fun training!

[@chandansimms9167]

@@JoeyBeeFit you said “how to be possible to add in another eight sets and still recover properly to reach the suggested 20 sets per video? It’s impossible “ I said not true when referring to that statement. I’m not saying everyone can train high volume but the more frequently you train you will adapt too the stimulus and in future you’ll have less muscle damage and inflammation occurring. Now in regards to my training with pull ups I typically train too rpe 8-9 or you could 1 rir and I know this due to the fact that firstly it feels like if I was to do one more set I’d be destroyed and also the speed slow down of the rep. Most of my body parts I ever train to mechanical failure or until I can’t get a full rom rep. Most sets on smaller muscle groups are taken too failure and the last reps will literally take me 3-6 seconds too raise on the concentric with me putting in all my effort into the rep and it still being a grinder of a rep. Now that being said I do agree that most people can’t train extremely high volume and recover whilst making good gains but there are those out there who are able to

[@mr.t4471]

Love you two together, and how the science is applied.

[@joelhuenink8440]

Best information ever. I'm going to use this to customize my volume to further sculpt my physique!

[@Ericrawnsley]

I feel like it comes down to the individual. For years i did a volume based workout hitting thd gym 5 somwtimes 6 times a week. I was strong and in shape but growing was so hard. I brought that down to 2-3 times a week and my body took off and i was able to add muscle much easier. We are not all the same. Do what works dor you

[@joshp.2872]

Same here. I train once to twice a week (low colume, heavy weight powerlifting) and have done for about 3 years. I am now 227lbs with a visible six pack at 5ft 11in. I am bigger, stronger and carrying more muscle mass than all the guys at my gym who come in religiously 3 to 5 days a week. I even carry more muscle than the majority of enhanced guys I know.

[@reddillon8425]

what actually happened is that you started eating more and failed to mention it in your comment.

[@slumsofcalcutta]

@@reddillon8425 what actually happened he just started training smarter and not spamming useless volume

[@KevinLuWX]

Maybe it has more to do with the reduced frequency than volume.

[@m4andi0ca]

@@slumsofcalcutta most likely

[@corenko]

If you’re doing 20+ weekly sets for any muscle, you need to question your will power and/or intensity.

[@Rob-qn6od]

No, you're just lazy.

[@Han-nk3io]

100 sets of rear delts spam.

[@chunkspiggle3916]

No

[@KdaB79]

@@Rob-qn6od post fizeek and lifts, Robert.

[@Purp4040]

4 exercises with a 5 x 6-8 rep range aint that hard to do with 1:30 or less rest you can get it done in hour maybe an hour and 15 mins.

[@gobic1319]

I’m 78 and i find for me, medium intensity short workouts with dumbbells and kettlebells 3 times a week is enough to increase stamina and strength and some muscle growth.

[@patmone922]

super insightful and scientific and actionable, huberman would be proud. And entertaining on top of this! Thanks for this awesome and free content

[@tomfetter4011]

My 25 year old son's spent a bunch of time around the gym over the years, training for a range of things (from Crossfit to karate to rugby), but never focused on hypertrophy. And never ate/slept enough. So he got much stronger than he looked, but stayed small. Three months ago he started work as a carpenter on a big house reno project - and has spent hours every day stacking tall piles of sheets of plywood, ripping out century old plaster/lathe and carrying it in garbage cans to the dumpster. Moving about 3000 antique bricks out of a basement. So, huge volumes of a big variety of heavy tasks, rarely approaching limit strength. He's eaten, slept like the dead, maxed out his protein, and has put on about 35 pounds - most of it lean. Heavy but sub-max lifting, at high volumes, have been incredible at increasing his mass.

[@narihoxha5251]

This video highlights the gap between academic knowledge and the practical realities of bodybuilding. I'd challenge anyone to follow a training plan with 200 sets a week, resting at least 3 minutes between each, and pushing close to failure every time. It's not even realistic for most people with full-time jobs. The meta-studies often cited show that science and bodybuilding aren’t fully aligned yet. These researchers seem to underestimate what "going to failure" truly means, and using beginners in their studies only skews the results. I'd love to see Mike attempt 30 sets for quads in one workout while juggling the demands of everyday life-work, cooking, cleaning, and more. It’s baffling how many science-based lifters are so disconnected from reality, blindly trusting studies. Simple logic should tell us that more volume doesn’t automatically translate to more gains.

[@GarageDwellerPat]

There comes a point rather quickly where added volume is not worth the return on investment. For example, the difference between 6 and 12 sets might be negligible at best. It could also be worse if intensity diminishes as sets increase. Some study might show SLIGHTLY more hypertrophy in added sets but the time and energy invested is just not worth it. It's inefficient, but according to these guys it is "optimal." I also think about long term results. Take two dedicated weightlifters - all things being equal except one guy hits every muscle once per week, the other guy twice per week. They do this for 25 years. Is there really going to be a difference in the end? I'd argue the one muscle a week guy will have better energy and joint health with great gains over time.

[@charlitoadams777]

​@@GarageDwellerPat Mike Mentzer would agree.

[@brandond5900]

Agree completely. This convo was completely ridiculous. Oh il get more gains by doing 20 sets a week? That’s great until I get hurt.

[@OTHERWORLDLY-x1b]

bravo

[@SuperIce6374]

The point of these studies is not to help Joe Schmo with a wife and 3 kids get my fit, man. It’s mostly for the sake of science itself and professional athletes’ training formulations.

[@Hamburgs]

5:30 so if i am already doing 20 sets per week per muscle group, your saying that if I do 40 set per week per muscle group I get 50% more gains.

[@marcinlisowski137]

Sorry to tell you but regarding volume, they are just spewing nonsense. The studies were not controlling the effort of each set. So obviously if they were doing each set in like 9-10 reps in reserve (which is very probably lol), then obviously doing 40 sets per week will be better than 20 sets per week, because each set was so far from the failure. But if you are doing each set in like 0 - 2 RIR, then your 20 sets per week is already super high, and going anything above that will not give you any benefits, and probably just fatigue you so much, your recovery will suffer

[@shinee8298]

@@marcinlisowski137 Exactly, dr Mike has been trying to push this high volume bs for so long, this video proves nothing, they've gone as far as counting indirect stimulus to any given muscle group as an half set just to say that 20 sets is the way.

[@curtiswashington7721]

50% "relative"

[@DontStandForNothing]

I mean he said 5-35 sets... and it'll be diminishing ofc

[@NotBrye]

My increased volume is utilizing intensifier techniques to increase the stimulus via rest pause, partials, forced reps, drop sets, isometrics, eccentrics, etc. Essentially anything to extend the sets.

[@EmilB107]

most of which doesn't produce any significant growth stimulus but gives way more fatigue?? enlighten me pls, anyone.

[@kristians7377]

GD Mike i just lowered my sets/workout from 44 to 30 after your videos, I’m a 3 day a week lifter doing 15-45 second rests until i catch my breath, 3-5 sets. I train hypertrophy Tue/Thu/Sat and train BJJ Mon/Wed/Fri. Tuesday is push focus with a few sets each of pull, hams and quads. Thursday push focus with a few sets each of push/hams/quads Saturday legs focus with few sets each of push/pull

[@bv_benhur2087]

Great video guys. Here are my takeaways from this video: 1. If you double your volume volume for any given muscle group you'll likely see 50% more gains 2. high volume (20-40+ sets/muscle group/week) works in the context of specialization (when you focus just on one/a few muscle groups for a period of time) 3. Lower volumes (~10 sets/muscle group/week) works great for huge and strong guys because they can push very heavy weight and get very close to failure at the same time, and this beats you up.

[@eric-dr8oi]

50 sets per muscle group per week? Is that for people who don’t use drugs too?

[@RenaissancePeriodization]

It is, but it is important to recognize context. Exercise selection can matter here and so too can volume throughout the rest of the body. It is unlikely people can sustain 50 sets per week across all muscle groups.

[@radoslavyurukov20]

​@@RenaissancePeriodizationwhat I hear is a great reason to skip legs in favor of increasing chest and shoulder volume 🤔

[@BUFFALO_cougar_slayer]

@@radoslavyurukov20tried it for years. Doesn’t work

[@qui1766]

@@radoslavyurukov20as someone who skipped legs in Highschool and spent all of college trying to get my legs up to par with my upper body, don’t do it

[@mikebarnacle1469]

It's official, Mike approves of skipping leg day

[@Ghost_of_a_Flea]

Whats worked for me over the years is I adopted and sort of refined for my use the Vince Gironda school of thinking. High Volume, meticulously timed short rest in between sets with a stopwatch (I am more apt to lower rest time each week as opposed to just adding reps or weight), super sets, drop sets, etc. Moderate weights at most. e.g. 10 x 15 @ 30 sec rest timed...controlled reps not pumping them out. High intensity...get in and get out. I tell myself if you cant get everything done in 45 mins or less my intensity is off (and that includes a brief warmup). Im able to hit muscles twice a week with such a short workout duration. That has, by far, packed on more muscle for me than anything else, and ive been doing it for over 20 years and have competed when i was younger.

[@Rob-qn6od]

High volume with short rests periods is best for natties.

[@Ghost_of_a_Flea]

@@Rob-qn6od Ive run many cycles before mainly just an oil based test ester with an oral for the first 2 weeks (bc im impatient lol)...but have trained clean for a good few years now and ive done great with that program regardless. Like, when i was on cycle i just was not happy with how i looked or felt pushing the high weight lower reps. I didnt feel like I was challenging/touching the muscle as I should afterwards, like I should be feeling that complete muscle exhaustion and yet I wasnt. Sure it coulda been my program but hey, its how I got to what worked for me.

[@chandansimms9167]

Yeah I’ve implemented Gironda rest intervals as well. Feels quite nice to be honest I like to either do it with my main lift for a muscle group or a accessory lift

[@trulsrohk1]

Very similar to the type of training Serge Nubret advocated as well.

[@chandansimms9167]

@@trulsrohk1 yeah the only difference that I’d say is quite big is the fact Vince would shorten the rest periods too as little as 15 seconds over time whereas in pretty sure serge kept it at 30 seconds

[@railasvuo]

Idk I do about 12 sets per week. I just train hard. If I try to watch these videos all the time, I always start to wonder if I'm doing enough, etc

[@raypist5938]

I do the same, just stay consistent on what you're doing, if it becomes way too easy in the future then increase volume and intensity

[@KevinLuWX]

If you're making gains, then keep at 12. But if you're plateau for several months, then it's probably time to increase volume.

[@bambostarla6259]

​@@KevinLuWXIt also depends how hard those 12 sets are.. sometimes the answer to break through a plateu isnt to increase the volume, but to decrease it and up the intensity.

[@papaspaulding]

if what you're doing now works well for YOU and you feel good doing such then don't let the science tell you any different as its all very individual. If however you feel you might benefit from more? then over time add sets to each workout and see how you feel, ie trial and error

[@railasvuo]

@@bambostarla6259 All sets to failure. I feel like I should lower the intensity if I wanted to do more sets. Thanks for the tips

[@BahFelix5k]

I'm 46 and more of a dabbler in fitness rather than a dedicated gym type and some of my best gains, at least as far as my chest is concerned, have come from two ST. Jude challenges I did. They were 3000 push-ups in a month. The downside was I developed chronic pain in my right wrist. There are many factors that may determine what works for you ranging from genetics, lifestyle, and time available to train. The sweet spot is where the research and your personal experience meet. That's where you'll get the best results. Not necessarily the most growth you possible can achieve, but growth with little to no downtime due to injury, and without spending all your time in the gym. The key to all things in life is balance.

[@curlybap8671]

Amazing, cant wait for his part 2 , should be a series or film as well

[@jeffreystark75]

Volume doesn't trigger growth,intensity does.The last 4-5 reps of a set (when training to failure)recruit the most type 2 fibers is key,the rest is junk.The hard part is finding out the least number of stimulating reps to trigger growth,the method you use is one that suites you.

[@bearonawall6425]

Intensity is the drug, volume is the dose.

[@yeahna]

Here we go another know it all here to argue with the data 😂😂😂😂 keep it up big dog you're killing it 😂😂😂

[@jeffreystark75]

@@bearonawall6425 Well said.

[@julio4771]

I can't wait for Coach Greg to react to this harder than last time!

[@baronmeduse]

More volume with 9 reps in reserve? You can train long or you can train hard, but you can't do both. If you try you hit a wall fast. Nothing in this discussion overturned this principle. The harder you train the less you can do. It's just churning out content.

[@Soccasteve]

You really only need to train with as much volume as is required to make slow sustainable progress. 8-12 sets should be sufficient for most people in most instances, especially for newer and intermediate lifters.

[@baronmeduse]

@@Soccasteve "8-12" the generally failed prescription since 'Joe Weider trainer of champions'. Why do you think so many kids turn to steroids or stop training? Then the small number of trainees gaining anything on '8-12' are used as the measuring stick. Why not 7-18? Or 9-21? If 8 does nothing why would adding more necessarily be better, rather than going to 7? Beginners should probably do about 3 sets, 8 will kill them off. Certainly they won't be able to put any worthwhile intensity into more than 3 sets. The number of sets should be determined by recovery ability and how hard the sets are. Anyone doing 20 sets (certainly per bodypart) will be doing 20 middle-to-low-intensity sets and just blowing a lot of time trying to reach fatigue. The 'theory' in this video is quackery and entirely 'deniable'.

[@GregQchi]

I love the epistemological precision of Dr Wolf's language here.

[@gabrielburgoskim3403]

Amazing content! Thanks for sharing this. Highly valuable.

[@adamdeforge6884]

Double the sets and don’t go to failure anymore…. Got it

[@John-wf5if]

Appreciate the summary.

[@petersskov5929]

I will wait to see Steve hall make a podcast on this in the revive stronger podcast. This just seems crazy

[@mathias4851]

Why? Volume is god if you know what you do. 80% of people going to the gym are lazy

[@tomf0olery]

​​@@mathias4851or maybe we have shit to do? my whole sessions last about 1 hour each, going to failure or 1 RIR on each set