CC Recs: Question on Reps and Sets

I have been doing what CC recommended recently with my sets and it has really helped-

first set 8 reps (fairly light)
second set 5 reps (increased weight slightly)
third set 3 reps (heavier)
fourth set as many until failure (8-10 usually)

…however I am confused as to how to do this on exercises after I have warmed up… I am obviously not going to do 4 sets on every single exercise…for example:
today I did dumbell split squats, and did the above method…
then, I got to step ups and was confused on how many sets I should do because I was already warmed up, so I did:
set 1- 25’s 5 times (fairly light)
set 2- 30’s 3 times (little harder)
set 3- 35’s 7 times (couldn’t do anymore)

…was this ok? I mean if I am not doing four sets, then how many reps should be in each set? 5 in the first, 3 in the second, and fail on the last?

And if I am already warmed up on a certain bodypart, what exactly is the point of doing three sets if the last one is the only one to failure? can’t I just do one?

I am just really confused on how many reps to do on which set…What do you guys do?

(by the way my diet i good- gaining about 2 pounds a week eating about 3500 + cals a day so don’t think I am a troll if this comes across as a dumb question)

yeah that should be fine. if you do your first set of an exercise and feel thought you could go all out on the next one, do it.

for example.

bench press
barx
12x
8x
4x
8-10 reps or whatever to failure

incline db press
4x
8-10 reps or whatever to failure

db flyes
8x
12-15 reps or whatever to failure

It should ultimately depend on whether you’re ready to go all out. If I hit my rep range easily, i will add another set after that. Or if dont hit enough, say aiming for 8-10 reps on incline db but only get 4 cos you’re not warmed up, dont stop. Do another set, with less weight to hit the 8-10 reps. Hope that helped.

Sorry, it should also depend on whether the weight feels heavy or not, and how big your jumps are.

Again with bench (its easiest).

(im aussie so its all in kgs)
20xbar - to get the blood flowing
12x60 - easy, feels good
8x80 - feels good, but heavier
4x100 - feels a little heavy
2x115 - done because the previous set felt heavy and i need more time to get ready for next set, feels good and feels better than previous set.
8-10x130 - working set

Also if i you find on a set you begin feeling fatigued, the next set, try less reps. So instead of 4x100, ill just do 2x100, then 1x115 and 8-10 reps of 130. Go on feel, if something feels heavy, either do more sets of smaller reps, or just lighten the load that day.

Really sorry if none of this helps, its harder to explain than i first thought.

I’ve been trying it too…

for my last leg workout i did:

(in kgs)

bw 12-15 reps
40 x8
70 x6
100 x5
115 x3
125 x1
140 x9 reps REP PR by 4 reps

leg press

(in plates a side)

5 x6 on all warm ups
6
7
8 x6 (1 short of the weight not going back up) weight PR

leg extension

50 kg 4x15 pump

then ham curls lying ramped

then seated pump

does this sound ok? how would others do it? thanks

What the fuck? Dude you just do as many preparation/warm up/work sets that YOU NEED in order to get ready for your heaviest set. There is nothing written in stone. Stop being so concerned with doing an exact amount of sets and instead concern yourself with lifting heavy and making progress.

Ok so after my first exercise for a specific bodypart, I can just fail on the first set if I wanted to? But then would I do two more sets to failure?

I can not figure out how to start a post so I wanted some advice. I will start cancer treatment (33 radiation and 3 separate chemos) for neck cancer on 2/2. I have been powerlifting/bodybuilding for forty years (56 years old.) I wanted everyone’s advice on working-out during the treatments and the nutrition that will be liquid through the mouth or through a feeding tube. I will try a 3x5 2to 3 days a week and if I can not lift much I may do the century (100 reps) workout for light weight. Please advise…