Failure on every set

[Negan]

Thanks @Zuespas - I am doing a variation of this system and I am OCD about form and slow negatives (scared of injuries as nothing is more frustrating than making progress and you are on the sideline doing active recovery). Slow progress as in progressive overload and will take off 4-5 days soon for a full recovery. To date, it is working but it is no walk in the park - I don't take long breaks, extra 2 reps once I hit failure (no spot for forced reps), with a quick 3 second break and a few quick breaths to get an extra rep or two, and then a long stretch. It is perfect - nope, but it is different and a change.
I have been doing this long enough to know when it is time to call it quits and walk out of the gym. I used to push through the pain and be out a week or two with an injury. I push it everyday and guaranteed every few weeks, I feel something and tell myself it isn't worth it. So far (knock on wood) - nothing more than a minor strain. It's worth mentioning I don't ego lift - I could care less how many plates are on the bar. I do exercises specifically that you can not cheat on with body roll.
Whatever works but I recall reading your post one day and taking a deep dive into this type of training (which I do not follow exactly). If I did, I would have to give up the other sports I want to do weekly.

Good stuff. I've been training like this for a couple years the last year with lower volume leaving 1 to 3 rir and no injuries at all. I recently started increasing the volume, really focusing on a deep stretch and I stopped locking out my movements, still usually training with 1-3 rir. I'm seeing new meaningful growth in the last few months on lower dosages. Don't get me wrong I really wish the low volume high intensity worked but all the modern studies suggest that high volume does more and from my own anecdotal experience the literature is correct. My ffmi increased from 29 to 30.1 in the last 4 months, that's a huge improvement that I can see I can't wait to see how much further I can push it.

 

[klhsx]

I trained failure on every set most of my life, its just a martial arts mentality. I must say I wish I tried the reps in reserve approach along time ago. I feel like I am growing rather than hurting myself now when I workout. Looking at the top guys you see a mix of both, but overall the best I think tend to train high volume, and reps in reserve, kai greene, phill heath, jay cutler, they all lift so light their first rep looks same as their last from what I have seen.

When I first heard jay cutler say 12 reps three sets, I found it very strange. I kept thinking, he must not be trying very hard if he can do the same number of reps on set 3. Because never in my life was I able to do that. I always dropped reps drastically from set to set because I went as hard as I could at all times. That was my goal. I also never got pumps, or felt a stretch. So I was missing half of it in retrospect.

That said you can also try to switch between these every 3 months, or as a plateau buster to change it up!

 

[Negan]

I trained failure on every set most of my life, its just a martial arts mentality. I must say I wish I tried the reps in reserve approach along time ago. I feel like I am growing rather than hurting myself now when I workout. Looking at the top guys you see a mix of both, but overall the best I think tend to train high volume, and reps in reserve, kai greene, phill heath, jay cutler, they all lift so light their first rep looks same as their last from what I have seen.

When I first heard jay cutler say 12 reps three sets, I found it very strange. I kept thinking, he must not be trying very hard if he can do the same number of reps on set 3. Because never in my life was I able to do that. I always dropped reps drastically from set to set because I went as hard as I could at all times. That was my goal. I also never got pumps, or felt a stretch. So I was missing half of it in retrospect.

That said you can also try to switch between these every 3 months, or as a plateau buster to change it up!

I agree about the 3 sets of 12. If my first set is to 12 my 3rd is probably for 9 but I don't do a ton of volume like Jay. Watching his old videos he did something like 18 sets for a muscle. Lee priest was the same nothing looked difficult but he did a ton of volume, which is cool if you have a lot of time for training.

 

[klhsx]

I agree about the 3 sets of 12. If my first set is to 12 my 3rd is probably for 9 but I don't do a ton of volume like Jay. Watching his old videos he did something like 18 sets for a muscle. Lee priest was the same nothing looked difficult but he did a ton of volume, which is cool if you have a lot of time for training.

Yeah so I started to pick weight were 12 on set one I have some in reserve still, and by set 3, I can do the 12 still, its just hard by the end .
I also realized that momentum/ speed, on the negative used carefully can help me stretch at the other extreme. But its a fine line between that and not controlling the negative. Took me a really long time to figure this out.

Its almost like fighting the direction change on a fast rep, has become a new form of stimulus, that I just did not know about before watching Jay Cutlers " sloppy" momentum form.

 

[Pippyhippy]

I agree about the 3 sets of 12. If my first set is to 12 my 3rd is probably for 9 but I don't do a ton of volume like Jay. Watching his old videos he did something like 18 sets for a muscle. Lee priest was the same nothing looked difficult but he did a ton of volume, which is cool if you have a lot of time for training.

Volume doesn't agree with my wrists elbows shoulders hips and knees at all basically ligaments joints and tendons. HIT was a game changer for me. Shock the muscle with as little effort duration as possible.

 

[klhsx]

Volume doesn't agree with my wrists elbows shoulders hips and knees at all basically ligaments joints and tendons. HIT was a game changer for me. Shock the muscle with as little effort duration as possible.

What rep change are you working in, and how many moves are you doing in a day? ( I am about 4 moves 12 reps a set 3 sets, 4 days a week, I used to do push pull , 3 moves 4 sets, 3 days a week 6 rep max first set)

 

[torauntjemima]

What rep change are you working in, and how many moves are you doing in a day? ( I am about 4 moves 12 reps a set 3 sets, 4 days a week, I used to do push pull , 3 moves 4 sets, 3 days a week 6 rep max first set)

You and I are in a similar situation. I usually do 3-4 exercises per muscle, 3 sets of each. I do 5 days a week but one of those is really just a fuck around day where I do a full body pump day more than anything.

12-15 rep ranges, always failure.

 

[Pippyhippy]

What rep change are you working in, and how many moves are you doing in a day? ( I am about 4 moves 12 reps a set 3 sets, 4 days a week, I used to do push pull , 3 moves 4 sets, 3 days a week 6 rep max first set)

1 ( bis tris shoulders calves) movement or 2 ( chest lats legs) for 2 sets 2nd set all out. Everything once a week max. Seems minimalistic but at 60 it's plenty and gains come steady.

 

[Pippyhippy]

Between 7-12 reps never more than 15 even on the warm up set which is what the first is. And never less than 6 reps.

 

[klhsx]

My chest and back are separate days, and they only get hit once a week. But arms I hit twice a week, both bicep and tricep and shoulders.


I do two bicep moves on day, and one tricep, and the other day I do two tricep, and one bicep sometimes.

Tuesday
wide pull down
bent over barbell row
seated row
TBar Row

Wed
shoulder raises
Bicep curls front facing
Bicep curls extension single arm
Tricep behind the head with DB
deadlift or squat alternates each week

Thursday
Incline bench bar
Dips
Flat Bench dumbells
fly dumbells

Friday
Shoulder press bar
close grip bench press
shoulder raises
bicep curls front
bicep curls extension
Tricep over head extensions
tricep rope extensions

trying to keep between 10-12 reps, upping weight to knock me down to 10, 10, 10, , when I can do 12, 12,12, for like 4 workouts, then I go up to knock me down to 10, 10, 10, then work back up.
I am really taking my time even though im hitting 12,12,12, to try to increase the intensity on the possitive, and stretch more on the negative, that's my progression for a few weeks, rather than upping weight. That or try adding another move in for the body part. Seems to work better adding another move, rather than going to the crushing low rep zone.

Keeping reps in reserve, and not gassing myself till last set. Focus on lifting fast with intensity, and stretching on the negative also kind of fast.
Explode, stretch, explode stretch, trying to get those closer together with less time in between. That's my focus.
I used to focus on slow negatives, and super long rep, but not currently.
( you can argue about slow being harder, and in a way it is, but if you also do enough reps fast, it will pump the muscles up more rather than fatigue your energy of your CNS, or so I seem to think anyway)

I used to do
mon push
flat bench
Shoulder press
Squat

wed pull
wide pull down
Seated row
Deadlift

Fri push, next week alternate
sets looks like
6,5,4,3 total 15 min, up when total hit 20

I got strong this way, but it was harder to progress, and if you were tired or over did it you went backwards or plateau easy.
My Range of motion with this was also shit, because I didn't understand, pretty much reversed it now. When I do bench im down touching my chest and going up half way, its all chest, no tricep, which was reversed before when I was lifting too heavy.

plateu buster was move change, but it never made sense to me, because I would loose strength in that move from not doing that move for 3 months. I think it makes more sense to keep doing all the moves like I am now.

I did try to take the basic push pull routine, in the low rep range, and add one move to each, then another, but it was not sustainable. I tore my chest, couldn't maintain the lifts. So dropped the extra moves, before going to high volume.

If I do high volume, and then flex, the muscles blow up stupid huge, it doesnt really seem to be that way flexing after low volume.