Copyright 2006 Jonathan Perez

Every pro bodybuilder does only 1 set per exercise to failure to gain muscle mass.....whether they say so or not.

I'm going to answer one of the most asked, most contradicted questions about how to train to gain weight around:

"How many sets does it take to gain muscular size and development?"

Now, I'm referring to sets per exercise.

When you perform a set in a "certain" manner, with the correct amount of weight and for a very "specific" rep range, you will have induced the maximum growth in that muscle.

Anything above and beyond that is just a waste.

The problem today is that when you pick up any bodybuilding or weight gain magazine / book, they all recommend several sets per exercise.

Not only is this very misleading to us average, skinny "hardgainers", but when you see every top pro doing set after set after set, it's no wonder that 99.9% of the average weight training population feels that it takes many sets to get the job done.

Well, to get straight to my point, look very closely at how the pros train, not what they say.

An excellent example is Jay Cutler.

If you ever read his articles, Muscle-Tech ads, or watch his training dvds, you see he follows a very high volume, high set training routine.

He does anywhere from 15-25 sets per muscle!

So, anyone looking at that might say, "Jay's a beast. If he does a ton of sets, then so will I!".

Well, I want you to go and read for yourself an ad that's running in some of the mags, the one titled "A Legacy In The Making".

In there he discusses his training routine.

In there he says, quote, ".....Obviously, you can't train to failure on every set.

I try to put in 100% effort on the last set of each exercise.

For example, if I'm doing chest, I usually do a weight I can handle for 8 to 10 repetitions for 3 sets and maybe a forth set where I go all out........the fourth set is the only set where I go to failure."

So, if he is doing 4 sets for an exercise, the first 3 are pretty much a bunch of warm-ups.

Only the fourth and last set is the one where he goes all-out, 100%, to failure.

As a matter of fact, I remember reading in Muscular Development that he calls these first sets "feeler" sets.

Well, "feeler" sets have got nothing to do with gaining muscle mass, it just serves as a warm-up.

This is the same case with every other pro.

They may say they do 3, 4, 5 sets per exercise, but they only go all-out, to failure on the last set.

In other words...............1 set per exercise to failure.......the one and only set that puts the muscle weight gain wheels into motion.

Observe, my friend, real closely what people do, not what they say, because it can be very misleading.

You may read in an article in a mag and see an individual's training routine, usually inside of a box, containing the name of the exercise, the number of sets and reps.

Well, if you didn't know any better, you would assume that these guys are going all-out, to the max on each and every one of these sets.

That only leads to over-exhaustion, over-fatigue, and overtraining for you and I.