How Many Exercises Should You Do Per Muscle To MAXIMIZE Growth?

Summary

ドクター・マイクは、筋肉トレーニングのセッションで1つの筋肉群あたり何回のエクササイズが必要かについて解説。科学的には3セットから12セットが最適とされており、12セットを超えると無駄なトレーニングに陥る可能性がある。また、筋肉の構造に応じて1～3つの主要な機能的な要素に分類され、それぞれの要素に的確なトレーニングを提供するエクササイズを選ぶことが重要。トレーニングは1週に2～4回行い、1回のセッションでは1～2のエクササイズで十分。エクササイズを少なくすることで、より良い筋肉感覚を獲得し、効率的なトレーニングが実現できる。

Takeaways

• 💪 トレーニングの質を高めるためには、筋肉群あたり1～3つのエクササイズを1回のセッションで行うことが望ましい。
• 🔢 1つの筋肉群に3から12セットのトレーニングが最適とされており、それ以上のセットはオーバーキルとなる可能性が高い。
• 🏋️‍♂️ 多くの筋肉群は1～3つの主要な機能的な要素/角度からターゲットできるため、多くのエクササイズが必要とは言えない。
• 📉 3セット未満のトレーニングは成長を妨げる可能性があり、より多くのセットを行うことで成長を促進できる。
• 🎯 特定の筋肉群を効率的にトレーニングするためには、その筋肉群の主要な機能的な要素に焦点を当てることが重要。
• 🚫 同じ筋肉群を同じセッションで多種多様な角度からトレーニングする必要はない。1週間の中で異なるセッションに分けてトレーニングすることで十分。
• 🤸‍♀️ トレーニング中は、エクササイズを変更するたびに勢いとモメンタムを失うため、同じエクササイズを続けることがより良い刺激を与える。
• 🏋️‍♀️ 重複を避け、同じ筋肉群を同じセッションで何度もトレーニングすることで無駄なストレスと負担を増やさない方が良い。
• 🧘‍♂️ トレーニングの質を向上させるために、エクササイズを始めた後も徐々に技術や筋肉感覚を向上させ、最適な刺激を得る必要がある。
• ⏱️ ジムでトレーニングする際には、マシンを何度も変えることで時間を無駄にせず、一度マシンを使用開始したら同じエクササイズを続けることが効率的。
• 🚧 トレーニングプログラムを実行する際には、エクササイズを多くするのではなく、1～2つのエクササイズに焦点を当て、その中でのセット数を増やすことが良い。
• 🔄 トレーニングの変化性は重要だが、同じエクササイズを長期間行うことで飽和する前に新しいエクササイズに変えることで、より良い結果を得ることができる。

Q & A

ドクター・マイクはトレーニングのセッションで筋肉グループあたりどれだけのエクササイズが必要だと思いますか？

ドクター・マイクは、筋肉グループあたり1つのセッションで3から12セットが最適だと言っています。これに基づいて、平均的なトレーニングでは10セットを目標にするのが良いでしょう。

エクササイズを増やしたことで筋肉の成長が向上すると思いますか？

12セットを超えると、過剰なトレーニングになり、刺激が弱まり始めます。逆に3セット未満だと十分な成長を得られない可能性があるため、適切なバランスが重要です。

1つの筋肉グループにどれだけのエクササイズを組む必要があると思いますか？

1から3つのエクササイズで十分です。それぞれのエクササイズに2から6セットを組むことで、筋肉の異なる機能的な部分に刺激を与えることができます。

胸筋をトレーニングする際、どのようなエクササイズが最適ですか？

胸筋をトレーニングする際には、プレス運動、インクラインプレス、フライエクササイズなど、3つの異なる角度から刺激を与えることが最適だとドクター・マイクは述べています。

背中をトレーニングする際、どれだけのエクササイズが必要ですか？

背中のトレーニングでは、ラットスを刺激するエクササイズ、背骨筋を刺激するエクササイズ、そしてミッドバックや上背中を刺激するエクササイズの3つが適切だとドクター・マイクは説明しています。

大腿部をトレーニングする際、エクササイズは如何选择されますか？

大腿部をトレーニングする際は、膝関節の拡張機能に重点を置く1つのエクササイズから始めて、必要に応じて大腿四頭筋の上方部分を刺激する別のエクササイズを加えることができます。

エクササイズを増やしたことで得られる利点は何ですか？

エクササイズを増やすことで、トレーニング中のモメンタムを保ち、マインドマッスル接続を向上させ、より良い刺激と疲れ目の比率を得ることができます。

トレーニングセッションを効果的に計画するためには、何が必要ですか？

効果的なトレーニングセッションを計画するためには、筋肉グループごとに1から2つのエクササイズを選ぶこと、そして1週間に2から4回のセッションを行うことが重要です。

トレーニング中はなぜ、同じエクササイズに続けてセットを重ねることをお勧めしないのですか？

同じエクササイズに続けてセットを重ねすぎると、モメンタムを失い、技術やマインドマッスル接続の質が下がる可能性があるためです。新しいエクササイズに切り替えることで、新たな刺激を得ることができます。

トレーニングで多様性を持つ利点は何ですか？

多様性を持つことで、飽和状態を避け、新しいエクササイズに慣れる時間が得られます。また、ジョイントの負担を分散させ、慢性的なけがのリスクを低減する効果があります。

ドクター・マイクは、筋肉の肥大を促進するためにはトレーニング量を最小限に抑えるべきだと述べていますか？

はい、ドクター・マイクは、筋肉の肥大を促進するためには、エクササイズの量を最小限に抑えるべきであり、1から2つのエクササイズで筋肉グループを十分に刺激できると述べています。

トレーニング効果を高めるためには、どのようなアプローチをとるべきですか？

トレーニング効果を高めるためには、筋肉グループごとに1から2つのエクササイズを選ぶこと、複数のセットを通じてそのエクササイズに集中し、技術やマインドマッスル接続を向上させるアプローチをとるべきです。

Outlines

00:00

💪 筋肉増強のエクササイズの最適な数

ドクターマイクは筋肉を最適に増強させるために必要なエクササイズの数について解説。昔のプロボディビルダーのトレーニング方法が一般的に4～5つのエクササイズがよいとされていたが、研究によると筋肉1個あたり1回のトレーニングセッションで3～12セットが最適。12セットを超えるとオーバーキルになり、3セット未満は十分な成長を得られない。セッションあたり10セットが目安とされ、エクササイズを少なくすることで質の高いトレーニングが可能になる。

05:01

🏋️‍♂️ 筋肉の構造とエクササイズの関係

筋肉の構造が複雑であれば、多くのエクササイズが必要になるが、実際は1～3つの主要な機能的な要素に分けられる。胸筋肉の例を挙げ、3つの異なる角度から攻撃することで意味のある肥大を引き起こす。背中はさらに複雑だが、ラッツ、背骨エレクトル、ミッドバックの3つの機能的なグループに分かれる。それぞれのグループに1～2つのエクササイズで十分であり、同じ筋肉を2つのエクササイズでトレーニングしてしまうのは無駄である。

10:01

🦵 大腿四頭筋とハムストリングのトレーニング

大腿四頭筋は膝関節の拡張のみで、1つのエクササイズでチェックできる。ハムストリングは膝関節の屈曲と髋関節の拡張の2つの機能を兼ね備えているが、1つのエクササイズで十分であり、同じセッションで両方を行う必要はない。適切なエクササイズで十分な成長が見られる。

15:02

🤸‍♂️ 1回のトレーニングで必要なエクササイズの数

1回のトレーニングで必要なエクササイズの数は少なくとも3つ未満から6セット程度までで、エクササイズを続けるごとに技術や筋肉感覚が向上し、トレーニング効果が高まる。一方で、エクササイズを頻繁に変更すると、その勢いが失われ、心理的な疲れが増す。

20:03

🍽 トレーニングのバランスと栄養の例

1回のトレーニングで全ての角度から筋肉を叩く必要はない。栄養の例として、1軒のレストランで全ての料理を頼む必要はなく、1日の中でバランスの良い食事を心がける。同じ理由で、1回のトレーニングで全てのエクササイズを行う必要はなく、週を通じて筋肉の全ての機能的な部分をバランスよくトレーニングする。

25:03

🚴‍♂️ エクササイズの継続性と効率

エクササイズを継続することで、暖かい状態を保ち、トレーニング効果を高められる。一方で、エクササイズを頻繁に変更すると勢いが失われ、トレーニング効果が低下する。1つのエクササイズに集中することで、より効率的なトレーニングが可能になる。

🎂 トレーニングのバリエーションと長期的な計画

エクササイズを限定することで、より集中的にトレーニングが可能であり、定期的にエクササイズを変えることで新たな刺激を与えることができる。これにより、長期的なトレーニング計画で効果的に筋肉を増強することができる。

Keywords

💡フィットネス

フィットネスは、身体的な健康や運動能力を高めるためのトレーニングや活動を指します。このビデオでは、フィットネスを通じて筋肉の成長と発達を促進することがテーマとなっています。特に、トレーニング量やセット数、運動の選択肢などについて語られており、それらがフィットネスの効果にどのように影響するかが解説されています。

💡筋肉成長

筋肉成長は、筋肉組織の増加を意味し、フィットネスや筋トレの最終的な目標の一つです。ビデオでは、3セットから12セットまでの範囲で筋肉を最適に成長させることができるとされています。また、トレーニングの質と量のバランスが重要であることが強調されています。

💡セット数

セット数とは、トレーニングで1つの運動を繰り返す回数です。ビデオでは、1つの筋肉に対して3セットから12セットが最適であるとされています。セット数が少ないと成長が不十分で、多くになると過剰な疲労が生じる可能性があると説明されています。

💡ジョイント・ストレッショーム

ジョイント・ストレッショームは、関節にかかる負担やストレスを意味しており、トレーニングの負荷が関節に与える影響を指します。ビデオでは、トレーニングの量や選択肢によって関節への負担が変わり、慢性的なけがのリスクがあることが触れられています。

💡マインド・マッスル・コネクション

マインド・マッスル・コネクションは、精神と筋肉の結合を意味し、意識的に筋肉を動かすことでトレーニング効果を高める技術です。ビデオでは、同じ運動を続けることでマインド・マッスル・コネクションが向上し、より良いトレーニング効果を得ることができるとされています。

💡スタミナ

スタミナは、持久力や耐久力を指し、トレーニングで長時間活動できる能力です。ビデオでは、適切なトレーニング量によりスタミナが向上し、より多くのセットをこなすことができると説明されています。一方で、過度のトレーニングはスタミナを低下させる可能性があると警告されています。

💡エクササイズの選択

エクササイズの選択とは、トレーニングで行う運動を選ぶことを指します。ビデオでは、1つの筋肉に対して1～3つのエクササイズで十分であり、同じ筋肉を刺激する複数のエクササイズを繰り返すよりも、質の高いエクササイズを選ぶことが重要だとされています。

💡トレーニング・ボリューム

トレーニング・ボリュームは、1回のトレーニングセッションで行う運動の総量を意味します。ビデオでは、筋肉成長に最適なトレーニング・ボリュームが3～12セットとされ、それ以上のボリュームは必要以上だとされています。また、ボリュームの調整が筋肉への刺激と疲労のバランスを保つ上で重要です。

💡ジム

ジムは、フィットネスや筋トレをするための施設です。ビデオでは、ジムでトレーニングを行う際のマシンの使い方や、他の利用者との時間を被らないようにマシンを使い続けることが、効率的なトレーニングにつながるとして触れられています。

💡トレーニング・プログラム

トレーニング・プログラムは、トレーニングの計画やスケジュールを意味します。ビデオでは、1週間に筋肉を2～4回トレーニングし、1回あたり1～3のエクササイズを選ぶことが最適であるとされています。また、トレーニングプログラムを定期的に変えることで、新しい刺激を与え続けることが重要だと強調されています。

💡ストレスと疲労

ストレスと疲労は、トレーニングで身体や精神的に感じる負荷を指します。ビデオでは、適切なトレーニング量と質を保ちながら、ストレスと疲労を最小限に抑えることが求められます。また、トレーニングの質向上によって、より効率的な筋肉成長を実現することが可能だとされています。

Highlights

The optimal number of exercises per muscle group per session for muscle growth is between 3 to 12 sets.

More than 12 sets is considered overkill, leading to what's called 'junk volume'.

Fewer than three sets may not stimulate enough growth, suggesting the potential for more sets.

For chest training, focusing on one to two compound pressing movements, one incline pressing, and one fly movement is sufficient.

Most muscles have one to three main functional elements or angles to target for meaningful hypertrophy.

The back, being a complex muscle group, can be effectively trained with three exercises targeting lats, erectors, and mid-back.

Quadriceps primarily function in knee extension, which can be sufficiently trained with one or two exercises.

Hamstrings can benefit from exercises that emphasize hip extension and knee flexion, with a focus on full range of motion.

It's unnecessary to train all muscle angles in one session; spreading them throughout the week is more effective.

Training hard with fewer exercises can lead to better results than doing many exercises with less intensity.

Switching exercises too frequently can disrupt the groove and momentum of a workout, leading to less effective sets.

Using fewer exercises allows for a better mind-muscle connection and more efficient use of time in the gym.

When an exercise becomes stale, having a variety of exercises available allows for a fresh stimulus without overcomplicating the routine.

For biceps, performing four sets heavy and two sets light of the easy curl can provide an excellent stimulus without the need for multiple exercises.

Stiff-legged deadlifts, when performed with proper technique and intensity, can be a highly effective standalone exercise for hamstrings.

The key to hypertrophy is not the number of exercises but the quality and intensity of the sets performed.

By focusing on a few exercises and periodically changing them, you can maintain a high stimulus to fatigue ratio and prevent boredom.

Limiting variation and intelligently using it can lead to significant muscle growth without the need for complex routines.

Transcripts

hey folks it's doctor mike from

renaissance position as always and

today's color is purple

would you look at that

brilliant

let's get into actually learning things

instead of suffering through my painful

dad jokes how about that great how many

exercises do you have to do

per muscle group per session in order to

get the best response and there's such a

thing as too few

especially for today's topic is there

such a thing as too many so for example

if you're going in and you want to train

your chest

how many exercises do you need to do in

that one session let's say you may train

chest and then biceps and the triceps

that day

for just chest how many exercises do you

need now a lot of the times the answer

from many of the ways pro-bodybuilders

have trained in the past and of course

that trickles down through the rest of

fitness oftentimes the answer for many

people is well you know

four or five exercises for a muscle is

generally a good thing you'll have

probably memory of this in your own head

having visually experienced it yourself

hopefully not from your own perspective

you're just watching other people do it

i'm sure as hell done this myself you

the ultimate college freshman year of

college chest workout you do

say it with me now

flat barbell bench incline barbell bench

that's two so far decline of course how

do you hit the lower fibers if not a

decline then you want to get some outer

pec uh outer lower pec you do some dips

and of course you end up with a drop set

of cable flies at the end if not even

doing two different kinds of flies

because yeah the cable hits you well but

what about the pack deck different

stimulus we're up to six exercises

chest fully developed

is that necessary well let's take a look

and see what science has to say here's

the deal

the research is getting clearer and

clearer about this every few months when

a new study is added into the total

publication list of how many sets per

session per muscle are optimal and it

seems like anywhere between three

at the low end and 12 at the high end of

sets per muscle per session like sets of

chest on monday between 3 and 12 total

sets for chest not per exercise seems to

be right where most people get their

best muscle growth much more than 12

sets is probably overkill it's too many

you're so weak by then you're barely

stimulating shit it's actually called

junk volume anything fewer than three

sets is like well if you did more sets

you could have gotten more growth pretty

open and shut so

that all of a sudden if we understand

let's say make a simple number out of

this 10 sets at most is what an average

will be doing

10 sets all of a sudden if you're doing

six exercises

that's like

one to two work sets per exercise or it

sounds kind of curious as to why you

wouldn't just do fewer exercises and get

more time spending uh high quality work

on each separate exercise we'll get to

that in a second there's another concern

here

it's that we could say okay we could do

a lot of exercises per muscle precession

if there was a really big benefit if the

muscles were architecturally very

complicated had very distinct and

numerous sub-regions we have to at this

part then we have to this part then this

part this is known as the nipple area of

the chest maybe that's an area you can

hypertrophy with weights turns out

that's not the case what is the case is

that most exercises

and sorry most muscle and muscle groups

have between one and three main

functional elements or angles that they

can be targeted from that actually

differentially cause meaningful

hypertrophy so for example your pecs

have charitably maybe three

different angles of attack there's the

sternal pectoral which is the main part

of your pecs your lower pecs and mid and

most of your upper actually then there

are the clavicular pecs which is the

upper pecs so maybe you do some pressing

movements that go normal for one maybe

you do some incline pressing for the

other and then lastly there may be some

small benefit on occasion to including a

fly that hits the fibers maybe closer in

especially if you cross your hands or

pause at the top at the end which if you

don't do a bench you don't really get

all that full contraction so potentially

you have two kinds of compound pushing

incline and horizontal or two kinds of

fly movements and then just one kind of

fly on top of that so at most

if you have three let's say monday

you're doing chest and i see you're

doing a flat pressing movement an

incline pressing movement and a fly

movement in any angle i would say

anything more than that is almost by

definition overkill so why are you doing

that why would you do for example

incline barbell and then incline

dumbbell when it kind of hit the same

part of the pecs unless you need more

work the question is how much more work

well if you're doing a total of 10 sets

and that's a lot for pecs 10 sets that's

towards the end of a plan usually not at

the beginning

if you do

five sets of incline barbell work maybe

you'll do five sets of incline dumbbell

work if you really just want to hammer

the upper pecs maybe you just do five

sets of flat pressing of some kind and

then g wiz you're kind of out of volume

and that's really all you need to do to

hit the whole chest anyway it's not like

there's small components of the chest

that require very specific exercises

let's look at the most complex muscle

group that's termed one group generally

from a training perspective in the human

body in bodybuilding or just fitness in

general the back when people say i'm

hitting back today you could

intelligently surmise hold on a second

that's a lot of stuff you know because

if someone says to you like you know

they're running over to the tv in a in a

in some kind of lounge area at a school

and you're like hey like come look at

the tv there's war in asia like on the

way to writing tv you could be like

fuck

where in asia

russia's in asia kazakhstan's in asia

azerbaijan is in asia

technically the entire middle east is in

asia and also

japan is in asia there's the southeast

wait hold on a little bit more specific

so the back is kind of like asia in this

regard it is quite complicated and has a

few different parts but not that many

parts

there are the lats you can do exercises

to target the last specifically and

again as soon as you've chosen one to

two exercises to target the lats any

more than that is kind of overkill

because there's only so many high

quality sets you can do

and

then there are the erectors the spinal

erectors they're the muscles of your

back that allow to arch your back and

keep it rigid against a heavy load okay

that's another functional group we could

have exercises that bias the erectors

and then there's what people call the

mid-back or the upper back which is

composed of the rhomboids the teres

major teras minor and the mid and lower

trap muscles uh upper traps usually

aren't included in back but they get a

lot of work anyway the those the

rhomboids terra's major and the mid and

lower traps they really all

do something very similar which is

anytime you're doing some rowing and

you're having a peak contraction or a

deep stretch those muscles are heavily

involved so at the end of the day it's

like

vertical pulling and lat work horizontal

pulling to hit the

rhomboid stairs major lower traps those

are one exercise each

and then like a lot of times if you do

especially like a barbell movement or

dumbbell movement not a chest supported

movement for rows or if you even arch

and retract and round over on your rows

you can hit that erector

check with just two exercises right

so if you were saying well i need an

exercise separately for rhomboids

another one for mid lower traps then i

got my lat focused movements then i've

got my erector focus movements a lot of

times one or two exercises will condense

that into everything you need so yeah

for the back you can see how three

exercises for example we'll get to some

examples later you can see how three

exercises make sense but as soon as you

insert a fourth exercise notice we have

lats erectors and then sort of upper

back

upper mid back as functional groups like

if you have a fourth exercise it's just

going to be doubling up on one of those

or another and remind you there's tons

of crossover anyway you say let's say

you do lap prayers to hit your lats and

then you do some rows to hit your

erectors hold on a second yeah you did

hit your erectors with those rows but

they also hit your lats again also and

they hit the shit out of your mid-back

so

what exercise would you add to that well

you could add another rolling movement

you could have lat movement but after

that third exercise gee we're double

checking multiple boxes there's only so

much work your back can take some point

it's just overkill or superfluous

lastly something super super uh or sorry

second to last super straightforward

what are the functions and the

components of the quads like not

charitably we could just say knee

extension that's it if you do squats and

or leg presses and or hacks watts you've

already checked the box with one

exercise but maybe you could say okay

okay fine there's that whole thing with

you know the middle part upper part of

the quad uh you know the rectus femoris

is ostensibly maximally hypertrophied

when the hip is not in flexion you know

when the hip is mostly extended that

muscle works better so maybe we could

have some kind of leg extension or

seated back like ascension to attack

that that's understandable but that's

really picking at really tiny tiny

particles at that point so the quads

have one to two functions charitably two

so how many quad exercises do you need

to do

as far as making sure the exercises are

different not just as a way of getting

more sets so we'll talk about that in a

bit but as you get bored three four five

sets of an exercise you can just switch

exercises that have the same functional

requirements still same

knee extension component but they're

just a different exercise slightly

different angle mostly to counteract the

boredom of having to do something and to

keep the sfr really high but outside of

that gee whiz you know one quad exercise

may be enough of a correct answer

certainly two take care of everything

with three it begs the question of well

you're really doing 12 sets for quads

and if you are i'd like to see your

program because if you see any of our rp

training videos where we train people

really hard that are super jacked a lot

of times one quad exercise is all the

trick they need they do one and a half

they do some leg presses and hacks and

they do half of an exercise worth two

sets of squats and then they collapse

and blood comes out of their eyes so you

don't actually need a whole lot of quad

work same with hamstrings hip extension

and knee flexion although if you train

knee flexion at an extended position

something like a seated leg curl you

really get both of those functions if

you do the hip extension only like a

stiff leg and deadlift 90 some percent

of your hamstring grows a ton anyway so

you don't actually have to do both of

them in the same session

and obviously that means you know five

to ten sets of hams covered by two

exercises is absolutely mostly overkill

but certainly enough for almost everyone

to get some growth out of now here's the

kicker i keep saying well you know you

have incline work and flat work but you

don't need to do both of them hold on

why not because you don't need to do

everything you need to do that week in

one session right it's possible to go to

a restaurant and have chicken and rice

for lunch and then same restaurant and

have some beef and pasta for dinner you

don't need to show up to that restaurant

at lunch you'd be like i need chicken

beef pasta and rice all mixed together

they're gonna be like all right that's

gonna be weird you're like shut up you

don't know nutrition that's not how it

works if there are some nutrients you

get from the beef and the pasta later

just over the day getting those

nutrients means you don't have to get

all of your nutrients all in one meal

that's not how that works but some

reason people seem to think that's the

case with training oftentimes they'll

show up to the gym and be like i need to

hit my chest from every single fucking

angle brother and i'm like i got you

brother if i can call you that though of

course or

iron

compatriots that was a pretty good one

so you say hey listen i get it but you

have another chest day thursday right

like yeah like why don't you do like

some of the stuff today

10 sets worth maybe focus a lot on upper

packs but just train your lower packs a

little bit

whereas on thursday you can train a lot

of lower packs and a little bit of upper

pecs you hit both of them through the

week you check all the boxes maybe one

day you do only pressing movements the

other day you do some fly movements to

check those boxes you don't have to have

the ultimate chest or back or leg

workout every session but over the

course of the week if you check the

boxes on all of the functional

components of the muscle the different

functional components that you want to

hit if you want to hit those throughout

the week then you don't have to do every

exercise every day you can have a two

day split monday thursday for chest and

do half of the chest exercises you were

going to one half the other that's two

to three exercises per session for chest

way more manageable way better from a

variety of perspectives than doing five

or six chest exercises every time and

actually creating quite a bit of

redundancy another thing is this

probably benefits you from a chronic

nagging injury perspective

if you incline press heavy

every single time you do your chest you

might start to develop some shoulder

joint irritation from just going heavy

and doing inclines all the time but if

you have one day in which you go flat

heavy incline light the other day you go

incline light flat light and then you

have a moderate fly

the different angles over the course of

the different days that you're

stimulating this issue from make it

likely that one particular part of the

connective tissue won't get so irritated

as to cause you problems so there's

another benefit right there from not

trying to do everything all in one

session

now

all taken together

okay

this implies

that if you do

one to three exercises per session per

muscle for one to five sets each that

should more than cover your bases for

getting everything you need to get done

in a single training session and if you

intelligently arrange your training

sessions through the week prioritizing

one part of the muscle in one

prioritizing the other part of the

muscle in another you can get this

covered no problem

anything else will work

but it requires needless moving beyond

you know from one machine to another

warming up there are a couple of

problems with that i'll get specific as

to what the problems are

there is a situation in which when you

start on a certain machine

up to about three to six sets worth

anywhere from one to two two to three

and three plus to six sets

you actually improve in your technique

in that exercise your mind muscle

connection improves considerably such

that the stimulus to fatigue ratio of

that exercise can actually be really

good and maybe even improve a little bit

depending on how you conceive it

relatively from set to set to set you

guys may have noticed this in your own

training you do first set of hack squats

and you're like all right big pr that

was great result someone's like did you

feel your quads like yeah

but my knees kind of felt a little weird

you do set number two you move your feet

down you push them out a little bit

because that one you kind of we're in

the middle of the set you don't want to

adjust you're like if i put my feet

lower and out more i'd feel this better

you do that and your quads are

pre-pumped anytime you have a pump and

your quads are a little fatigued your

mind muscle connection is going to

improve because you can tell where the

muscle is better where the tension is

you do that second set and you're like

bro that was everything i'm nice and

warmed up my technique is better i'm

putting my feet in the right position

and pushing through the right parts i'm

using the right muscles and everything

is great man i could just keep doing

these sets now they're super productive

the amount of joint stress i'm feeling

is really low the amount of

psychological effort i have to impart is

lower because i'm really in the groove

and the amount of uh you know stimulus

that i'm getting from pumps my muscle

connection etc is really starting to

rack up because i'm just in the groove

making this exercise count i just really

haven't figured out uh i don't know it's

like if you go to a japanese restaurant

you have to learn do chopsticks for the

first time in your life once you figure

it out you're like oh shit here we go

and you can just keep going if you come

back a month later you have to relearn

the whole fucking process so

similar thing happens with exercises

every time

every time i see someone

do like two exercises or sorry two sets

on an exercise and then switch to a

different exercise i'm like you know

that third set if you had just stayed

and done it on that first exercise would

have been maybe the best feeling set of

all of them at the very least stimulus

to fatigue wise you have to compare

doing another set in that same leg press

let's say versus doing the following

finishing that leg press exercise

like a decent fucking human being

unracking all of your weights that's

fatigue that's time

finding the next machine you're going to

do ostensibly you do not train at a

private gym where you have access to all

the equipment and there's nobody around

you train in a regular fucking gym like

damn near the rest of us and you have to

go and watch karen do leg extensions for

five fucking hours while scrolling on

her phone excuse me excuse me she

pretends not to see you you're like

ma'am and she's like yes

like um just how many sets do you have

on that just like you do one of these i

do this all the time just trying to

figure things out kind of hand gestures

and she'd be like um three and you're

like okay could you just like not

just go back into care and mode but

there you go three sets maybe i can

switch my exercises around where i can

do hack squats now and wait for leg

extensions but then maybe like bob over

there looking like he's on the machine

he'll come in and piss away another 15

minutes of my time so if you were just

because once you're already on a machine

you kind of have cart blanches to like

how long you stay on there people come

and go and they say how many sets you

have you can say whatever 2 four

eighteen they're usually just like and

they fuck off or they work in once

you're on a machine you're golden like

nobody's gonna kick you off there but if

you come off of machines every two sets

and look for other ones you're gonna

delay yourself now let's say you get

that machine karen does her two sets

rather quickly gets off the machine you

got to do at least one set of leg

extensions probably to warm up to get

the feel at least to adjust the seat to

where you need it

and then after that you're going to do

multiple sets the latter of which after

two or three sets you're really going to

get into the leg extension groove and

then watch this you got to get off the

machine to go do hack squats and you

have to repeat that whole awkward

process of finding a groove or warming

up finding your groove getting into the

best kinds of set stimulus to fatigue

wise and then as soon as you're having a

great time it's like going i'll give you

a really decent analogy

here we go here we go hum

analogy gods please feed me information

directly through my chakra that's it

here's the analogy it's not a bad one

if you've ever been to like a bunch of

parties with your friends or like a bar

crawl or something

there is an optimality of how many

locations you hit

and the answer isn't as many as possible

for almost the same kinds of reasons

like let's say you get to a bar club

after five minutes you're jiving with

the music like i feel this shit then

after a few minutes you ordered a drink

because it takes some time for you to

order a drink stand in line jostle with

the bartender

after a little bit you you and your

friends find some seats you get comfy

you start chatting people up chatting

with each other everything's going great

you're grooving

you're fucking having a great time the

last fucking thing you want in this

world is from one of your friends who's

asshole no social abilities whatsoever

or just anxious and he's like you guys

want to go under the next bar like

motherfucker no

we just arranged this situation to be

optimal for us having a fucking great

ass time i love it here like when we're

not feeling the flow anymore then we can

leave like you know when you've seen

enough the same people and you're like

this bar is kind of weird and this

drinks fine but it's too expensive let's

go to the next one there has to be a

good reason for you to go to the next

bar now if you're in a dedicated pub

crawl where there's a schedule great but

here we're taking a sort of

auto-regulatory approach we're going our

job is to have as much fun as possible

how do we cycle through going from bar

to club to after party to the hotel

lobby and after the lobbyists the scott

what's the line

hotel lobby and then we go up to our

rooms and

somebody i only listen to the edited

versions because i have virgin ears i

don't want to hear

demonic things so in any case

the correct answer isn't like we like

can you imagine telling someone like hey

man i had an amazing night last night i

went to 18 bars in two hours i'm sorry

what so you basically walked around

tokyo like well yeah like i had one

drink total because as soon as we get in

the bar we have 30 seconds we're gonna

go to the next one that's dumb but

that's how some people deal and treat

with their uh exercises they want

everything at the same time incline

decline flat flies dips like jesus when

do you actually work out versus walking

from machine to machine and warming up

so just the same way as if you want a

fun night out

when you get to a place and the getting

is good the groove is there everyone's

having fun don't fucking leave unless

there's a compelling reason to be like

all right this is enough let's go in an

exercise that tends to happen with three

four five or six sets into an exercise

not one two or three sets into an

exercise so if people who switch

exercises too often they're they're

doing this all this momentum destruction

and momentum rebuilding that just gets

in the way at least for any perspective

one of nuisance and the nuisance

absolutely builds psychological fatigue

and that's not something you want in

your program so

here are some examples of using not so

many exercises to build a really great

session for a particular muscle so for

the back you do four sets of bent rows

three sets of pull-ups and then three

lap prayer sets your back is fucking

toast you say well my rhomboids weren't

hitting enough that's later in the week

you do machine rows that's it three

exercises is nothing to add

chest you do incline barbell press for

four sets in this example and then you

do four cable fly straight sets of just

a regular game flying on an incline

you've hit

flying pressing upper pec lower pack

you've hit it all you're fucking done

that's like 10 sets of chest and if

they're hard sets you're golden until

you come back and hit them again later

you know another time during the week or

two times during the week depending on

how your frequency is programmed for

biceps here's this is descending into

fewer and fewer sad examples biceps you

do the easy curl you do four sets heavy

and then you keep the easy curl bar you

take some weight off and you do two sets

light you don't even have to change

exercises you got six fucking ball of

working sets amazing stimulus to fatigue

ratio and six sets for biceps often

times there's way enough trained biceps

every other day or something those

doing biceps for anywhere between four

and eight sets every other day is much

better than doing biceps for 16 cents or

something twice a week so that wins and

we just had to use one exercise amazing

and imagine how much stress and time

this saves you if you just find the

fucking easy curl bar your busy ass

commercial gym and as soon as you got

your fucking hands on it that's it

that's all i need no fucking take this

away from me people but i don't need to

go to ten machines and work in and spend

two hours trying to get you know three

sets accomplished lastly

hamstrings and this is the one that

almost for everyone is the same

hamstring exercise is done right with a

full range of motion emphasis on the

eccentric and the stretch

are so powerful that you may do

something like you know you just have

two sets of stiff-legged deadlifts and

because you're doing them properly your

hamstrings are destroyed and blown away

and then later that week you do four

sets of leg curls and that's it i often

get asked in my own training videos that

i post you know instagram and youtube

and stuff like dr micah you did you did

four sets of leg curls and that's all

you did for hamstrings like motherfucker

come try these sets you do some maya

upsets four sets of leg curls you don't

walk for a day and a half afterwards

your hamstrings are sore for three and a

half days that's all you need

i've seen people's hamstring routines as

ifb pros and shit like that whether i

could start out with stiff legged deaths

four sets of ten i go to lying leg curls

three sets of ten three sets of 15

seated three sets of ten standing one

leg leg curl and then i finish it up by

tying off tying the whole area out with

lunges or whatever like tying it all in

like how the fuck is tying it all in

mean first of all i think you just want

a cool pump to take pictures of your ass

after you're done but tbh if you had

anything like a relative effort that's

remotely close to failure in any of

those sets and your technique was

anything like fucking normal basic

technique on let's say stiff like a

deadlift after four sets of ten of

sniffling deadlifts you would have

rhabdo you'd be vomiting blood out of

your fucking mouth and then you would be

done training hamstrings the rest of

your life you gotta force that anyone

that says

versus outside of a huge training

history where they're used to doing this

anybody can do four sets of ten

hard stiff-legged deadlifts properly is

a bullshit artist they're fucking lying

to you tiny exceptions okay two sets of

ten would have been good enough but i

know if i see one of those programs

something is wrong with the execution

with the effort with the technique and

when you see programs of bodybuilders

that are like five exercises for all

different parts of the muscle tons of

volume like man is this what i need to

do or oh man i just must need to take

drugs to survive this both those answers

wrong those people just aren't training

hard enough or their technique is so bad

that some they need most of that stuff

or if they don't need it they're over

doing it and they would be better off

doing less i know it sounds crazy but if

you can do less and get more god damn

that's actually the best possible thing

so here's the deal to sum this all up

in most cases for most people even those

after the most advanced hypertrophy

one to two good exercises per muscle

group per session with two to four

sessions per muscle per week okay

hammer these

exercises with multiple sets each you

know

one to two good exercises

two to six working sets for each

exercise depending on how much volume

you tolerated over the course of the

multiple weeks you get into a better and

better groove every single set when you

lose that groove on set five or six you

switch exercises and the groove is

reestablished you get a nice fresh thing

to do

if you do this i promise you will not

have to take grand tour of every machine

in the gym every time that you go and

train chester quads or biceps or

whatever and you'll get amazing amazing

results and one of the best parts is

because you're only focused on a few

exercises per week at a time every few

months when you change exercises you

have a plethora of new exercises to

choose from which begs the question of

college you know freshman year college

chess workout guy

he's doing incline barbell incline flat

incline barbell incline barbell flat

barbell decline barbell

some dumbbell presses why not and some

flies and some dips in all in one week

let's be charitable and say it's one

week not work or not one workout

sometimes it is all one workout if one

of those becomes stale or becomes you

know starts to hurt uh the person and

they're not getting good enough groove

or results

where do they go there's no more fucking

exercises to choose from you're gonna be

doing one arm chest flies with a bosu

ball some stupid shit that has no

stimulus and luckily no fatigue either

unless you fall off the fucking bosu

ball

the good thing about using just a few

exercises is that it'll really let you

focus in on mind muscle connection it

really lets you milk as much out of the

exercise as needed it saves you a

shitload of convenience for not having

to switch exercises it does the checks

the box of maximizing hypertrophy and

lastly the bonus round thing is it

leaves you with so much more variation

to tap into when stainless inevitably

temporarily eats up your current

exercises

if you have six or seven good chest

exercises you only per any one week and

thus any one month use one sorry you use

two to three of them

and it only takes a few mesocycles to

refresh each chest exercise it doesn't

take einstein to realize that you can

have an infinity refresh loop that

because you only use two to three chest

exercises at a time you have six or

seven good chest exercises on the docket

they're the highest stimulus to fatigue

ratio exercises that work best for your

body what you can do is do two or three

two or three two or three when you come

back around to the next two or three the

last time you do them maybe six to eight

months ago they may as well be new

exercises they're super fresh your body

super loves them you don't accumulate

any joint wear and tear

at the end of the day you can get super

jacked by limiting your variation and

intelligently using it after you get

super jacked finally you recreate your

eighth

birthday party your eight-year-old

birthday party you invite all the same

people awkward you get cake there's a

clown you put on a funny hat finally

unlike your actually birthday party you

feel at home in your own body you're

super muscular and uh you can die happy

see you next time unless you do that

thing i just said and then enjoy