Ramping Up Once Already Warmed Up?

Get the numbers up over time. IF you bench 315 for 6 and fail, and you stay at this weight forever, you are just doing HIIT.

To ramp up on subsequent exercises, especially for a similar exercise, should be done carefully, in my experience. That is another whole discussion though…whether or not there is any benefit at all for redundant exercises. I don’t see how anyone can do justice to multiple exercises with the same general movement pattern if the first was taken to a level of great fatigue.

Bench, then DB bench, then fly, then cables. or for upper arms, curl, then ez curl, then db curl…etc

are you gaining is size, strength, or overall lean muscle weight? What is your training experience like?

[quote]jp_dubya wrote:
Get the numbers up over time. IF you bench 315 for 6 and fail, and you stay at this weight forever, you are just doing HIIT.

To ramp up on subsequent exercises, especially for a similar exercise, should be done carefully, in my experience. That is another whole discussion though…whether or not there is any benefit at all for redundant exercises. I don’t see how anyone can do justice to multiple exercises with the same general movement pattern if the first was taken to a level of great fatigue.
[/quote]

Good post.

i stopped going to failure as often on squats/legs now i probably ramp to one or two sets to failure(not complete failure) and ill do one or two back off sets after that . usually the weight i used for my second set assuming i did four sets. i’m not Proffesor X or anything though lol.

I only ramp up on heavy compounds, like Squat, deadlifts, weigthed dips ect, for the rest I do inverse pyramiding, starting with a top set…

[quote]jp_dubya wrote:
Get the numbers up over time. IF you bench 315 for 6 and fail, and you stay at this weight forever, you are just doing HIIT.

To ramp up on subsequent exercises, especially for a similar exercise, should be done carefully, in my experience. That is another whole discussion though…whether or not there is any benefit at all for redundant exercises. I don’t see how anyone can do justice to multiple exercises with the same general movement pattern if the first was taken to a level of great fatigue.

Bench, then DB bench, then fly, then cables. or for upper arms, curl, then ez curl, then db curl…etc

are you gaining is size, strength, or overall lean muscle weight? What is your training experience like?[/quote]

great post,satisfaction!!!
I have to say that when I joined T-Nation I felt myself a little bit confused…I mean,my training is pretty short,I woulkd say simple, basic compounds excercises,two rest pause sets or 3 sets inverse pyramiding,of course I ramp up to top set but…after the third sets to failure I’m toasted 110%,the loads between first and second RP set gos down about 30%,the same for inverse pyramiding…Vampire gave me a tip of FST7,I did my first two session with it,well,after my 3 sets I just did 4 (not 7) sets of 12reps with light weights -unbelivable pump-and i’m full of doms now.

and I will continue to use FST7 because the 7 sets ,in my opinion, are not “working sets” but “finishers” to do -after heavy sets- with 110% of effort but with light weights I -never-for the sake of God want/can do 10/15 sets with my real 80/85% of my 1rm…
so I have a lot of respect for boaders who use 3/4 different excercises with a lot of volume but it don’t work for me…

" or for upper arms, curl, then ez curl, then db curl…etc"???
after one dead concentration curl RP set my bis burn like hell and -just for joke- I tried to do a set of barbell curl ,after 3min, just with the empty (no loaded) barbell; 6reps,no way to go further…

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:
Alright so its safe to say that once warmed up, one lighter set to “feel” is ok.

BONEZ-How many sets, on average, do you recommend taking to failure for each exercise?[/quote]

Exercise?

I take 1-2 sets to failure per MUSCLE GROUP. [/quote]
I don’t get that. How is that considered good intensity? I had a forum a while back and people were suggesting that I need to up my intensity in the gym, and I do way more than 1-2 failure sets per muscle group. Obviously you know what works for you due to your physique, but how is that enough? I would feel like I’m half assing if I stop the majority of my sets with more reps in me (not saying you half ass workouts)[/quote]

So do what you want?

This is not a ‘right vs wrong’ issue. If you like how youre progressing then dont worry about anyone else.

I have one movement per muscle group that I focus on strength gains and explosive concentrics. Thats the movement I take to failure. Its usually the second movement for the muscle group. All the other movements I focus on stimulating the target muscle to best of my ability.

If you do things another way, great. [/quote]
Gotcha. How did you figure out that not lifting to failure as often was more benefical for you?

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:
Alright so its safe to say that once warmed up, one lighter set to “feel” is ok.

BONEZ-How many sets, on average, do you recommend taking to failure for each exercise?[/quote]

Exercise?

I take 1-2 sets to failure per MUSCLE GROUP. [/quote]
I don’t get that. How is that considered good intensity? I had a forum a while back and people were suggesting that I need to up my intensity in the gym, and I do way more than 1-2 failure sets per muscle group. Obviously you know what works for you due to your physique, but how is that enough? I would feel like I’m half assing if I stop the majority of my sets with more reps in me (not saying you half ass workouts)[/quote]

So do what you want?

This is not a ‘right vs wrong’ issue. If you like how youre progressing then dont worry about anyone else.

I have one movement per muscle group that I focus on strength gains and explosive concentrics. Thats the movement I take to failure. Its usually the second movement for the muscle group. All the other movements I focus on stimulating the target muscle to best of my ability.

If you do things another way, great. [/quote]
Gotcha. How did you figure out that not lifting to failure as often was more benefical for you?[/quote]

By learning about what other successful body builders do.

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:
Alright so its safe to say that once warmed up, one lighter set to “feel” is ok.

BONEZ-How many sets, on average, do you recommend taking to failure for each exercise?[/quote]

Exercise?

I take 1-2 sets to failure per MUSCLE GROUP. [/quote]
I don’t get that. How is that considered good intensity? I had a forum a while back and people were suggesting that I need to up my intensity in the gym, and I do way more than 1-2 failure sets per muscle group. Obviously you know what works for you due to your physique, but how is that enough? I would feel like I’m half assing if I stop the majority of my sets with more reps in me (not saying you half ass workouts)[/quote]

So do what you want?

This is not a ‘right vs wrong’ issue. If you like how youre progressing then dont worry about anyone else.

I have one movement per muscle group that I focus on strength gains and explosive concentrics. Thats the movement I take to failure. Its usually the second movement for the muscle group. All the other movements I focus on stimulating the target muscle to best of my ability.

If you do things another way, great. [/quote]
Gotcha. How did you figure out that not lifting to failure as often was more benefical for you?[/quote]

By learning about what other successful body builders do. [/quote]

this is very true but (un)fortunally all we are alittle bit different.if you compare last 3 MO (well,just 3 long strings lol) you got:

Dorian,HIT,low volume,very high intensity,low frequency
Ronnie,big volume,high intensity,high frequency
Jay,medium volume,medium intensity,high frequency

as I’m in the group of people that don’t think (top) bbers are stupid when comes in hypertrophy field what if Dorian trains like Jay and Jay trains like Dorian?
very probably both of them didn’t have the same number of MO victories…

[quote]buzza wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:
Alright so its safe to say that once warmed up, one lighter set to “feel” is ok.

BONEZ-How many sets, on average, do you recommend taking to failure for each exercise?[/quote]

Exercise?

I take 1-2 sets to failure per MUSCLE GROUP. [/quote]
I don’t get that. How is that considered good intensity? I had a forum a while back and people were suggesting that I need to up my intensity in the gym, and I do way more than 1-2 failure sets per muscle group. Obviously you know what works for you due to your physique, but how is that enough? I would feel like I’m half assing if I stop the majority of my sets with more reps in me (not saying you half ass workouts)[/quote]

So do what you want?

This is not a ‘right vs wrong’ issue. If you like how youre progressing then dont worry about anyone else.

I have one movement per muscle group that I focus on strength gains and explosive concentrics. Thats the movement I take to failure. Its usually the second movement for the muscle group. All the other movements I focus on stimulating the target muscle to best of my ability.

If you do things another way, great. [/quote]
Gotcha. How did you figure out that not lifting to failure as often was more benefical for you?[/quote]

By learning about what other successful body builders do. [/quote]

this is very true but (un)fortunally all we are alittle bit different.if you compare last 3 MO (well,just 3 long strings lol) you got:

Dorian,HIT,low volume,very high intensity,low frequency
Ronnie,big volume,high intensity,high frequency
Jay,medium volume,medium intensity,high frequency

as I’m in the group of people that don’t think (top) bbers are stupid when comes in hypertrophy field what if Dorian trains like Jay and Jay trains like Dorian?
very probably both of them didn’t have the same number of MO victories…[/quote]

What in the world are you talking about

and what does a loose description of 3 random Mr Olympias training style, during their Mr O reign specifically, have to do with what I said?

None of what you posted says anything about the percentage of sets one does to failure.

I also dont know what the relevance of a Mr Olympia’s training style is in regards to training to failure as huge amounts of drugs DRASTICALLY change the rules, IMO.

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:
Alright so its safe to say that once warmed up, one lighter set to “feel” is ok.

BONEZ-How many sets, on average, do you recommend taking to failure for each exercise?[/quote]

Exercise?

I take 1-2 sets to failure per MUSCLE GROUP. [/quote]
I don’t get that. How is that considered good intensity? I had a forum a while back and people were suggesting that I need to up my intensity in the gym, and I do way more than 1-2 failure sets per muscle group. Obviously you know what works for you due to your physique, but how is that enough? I would feel like I’m half assing if I stop the majority of my sets with more reps in me (not saying you half ass workouts)[/quote]

So do what you want?

This is not a ‘right vs wrong’ issue. If you like how youre progressing then dont worry about anyone else.

I have one movement per muscle group that I focus on strength gains and explosive concentrics. Thats the movement I take to failure. Its usually the second movement for the muscle group. All the other movements I focus on stimulating the target muscle to best of my ability.

If you do things another way, great. [/quote]
Gotcha. How did you figure out that not lifting to failure as often was more benefical for you?[/quote]

By learning about what other successful body builders do. [/quote]

This.

And how about trying things out for yourself, BB takes time and patience.

You ask opinions in a public forum you get multiple responses, this is why you need to try things and give things time.

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]buzza wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:
Alright so its safe to say that once warmed up, one lighter set to “feel” is ok.

BONEZ-How many sets, on average, do you recommend taking to failure for each exercise?[/quote]

Exercise?

I take 1-2 sets to failure per MUSCLE GROUP. [/quote]
I don’t get that. How is that considered good intensity? I had a forum a while back and people were suggesting that I need to up my intensity in the gym, and I do way more than 1-2 failure sets per muscle group. Obviously you know what works for you due to your physique, but how is that enough? I would feel like I’m half assing if I stop the majority of my sets with more reps in me (not saying you half ass workouts)[/quote]

So do what you want?

This is not a ‘right vs wrong’ issue. If you like how youre progressing then dont worry about anyone else.

I have one movement per muscle group that I focus on strength gains and explosive concentrics. Thats the movement I take to failure. Its usually the second movement for the muscle group. All the other movements I focus on stimulating the target muscle to best of my ability.

If you do things another way, great. [/quote]
Gotcha. How did you figure out that not lifting to failure as often was more benefical for you?[/quote]

By learning about what other successful body builders do. [/quote]

this is very true but (un)fortunally all we are alittle bit different.if you compare last 3 MO (well,just 3 long strings lol) you got:

Dorian,HIT,low volume,very high intensity,low frequency
Ronnie,big volume,high intensity,high frequency
Jay,medium volume,medium intensity,high frequency

as I’m in the group of people that don’t think (top) bbers are stupid when comes in hypertrophy field what if Dorian trains like Jay and Jay trains like Dorian?
very probably both of them didn’t have the same number of MO victories…[/quote]

What in the world are you talking about

and what does a loose description of 3 random Mr Olympias training style, during their Mr O reign specifically, have to do with what I said?

None of what you posted says anything about the percentage of sets one does to failure.

I also dont know what the relevance of a Mr Olympia’s training style is in regards to training to failure as huge amounts of drugs DRASTICALLY change the rules, IMO. [/quote]

"By learning about what other successful body builders do. "

so, if I watch 3 successful bbers I discovered that all 3 train in 3 different ways.
what I learnt? 3 different ways of training that work for 3 people (not ME,3 different people).
re-read carefully while breathing; 3 different ways of training that work for them.
not for ME.

same in other sports,I can blast a 5oz lead well over 800ft (more than two football fields) ande for years I was told from “gurus” that my style was wrong,lost a lot of time (and distance)to try to learn the “right” style.
well,right style don’t work for me.
my style works for ME.

that’s all,folk.

[quote]buzza wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]buzza wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:
Alright so its safe to say that once warmed up, one lighter set to “feel” is ok.

BONEZ-How many sets, on average, do you recommend taking to failure for each exercise?[/quote]

Exercise?

I take 1-2 sets to failure per MUSCLE GROUP. [/quote]
I don’t get that. How is that considered good intensity? I had a forum a while back and people were suggesting that I need to up my intensity in the gym, and I do way more than 1-2 failure sets per muscle group. Obviously you know what works for you due to your physique, but how is that enough? I would feel like I’m half assing if I stop the majority of my sets with more reps in me (not saying you half ass workouts)[/quote]

So do what you want?

This is not a ‘right vs wrong’ issue. If you like how youre progressing then dont worry about anyone else.

I have one movement per muscle group that I focus on strength gains and explosive concentrics. Thats the movement I take to failure. Its usually the second movement for the muscle group. All the other movements I focus on stimulating the target muscle to best of my ability.

If you do things another way, great. [/quote]
Gotcha. How did you figure out that not lifting to failure as often was more benefical for you?[/quote]

By learning about what other successful body builders do. [/quote]

this is very true but (un)fortunally all we are alittle bit different.if you compare last 3 MO (well,just 3 long strings lol) you got:

Dorian,HIT,low volume,very high intensity,low frequency
Ronnie,big volume,high intensity,high frequency
Jay,medium volume,medium intensity,high frequency

as I’m in the group of people that don’t think (top) bbers are stupid when comes in hypertrophy field what if Dorian trains like Jay and Jay trains like Dorian?
very probably both of them didn’t have the same number of MO victories…[/quote]

What in the world are you talking about

and what does a loose description of 3 random Mr Olympias training style, during their Mr O reign specifically, have to do with what I said?

None of what you posted says anything about the percentage of sets one does to failure.

I also dont know what the relevance of a Mr Olympia’s training style is in regards to training to failure as huge amounts of drugs DRASTICALLY change the rules, IMO. [/quote]

"By learning about what other successful body builders do. "

so, if I watch 3 successful bbers I discovered that all 3 train in 3 different ways.
what I learnt? 3 different ways of training that work for 3 people (not ME,3 different people).
re-read carefully while breathing; 3 different ways of training that work for them.
not for ME.

same in other sports,I can blast a 5oz lead well over 800ft (more than two football fields) ande for years I was told from “gurus” that my style was wrong,lost a lot of time (and distance)to try to learn the “right” style.
well,right style don’t work for me.
my style works for ME.

that’s all,folk.[/quote]

Did I say that Ive copied any one person’s training style?

I know english isnt your first language. But I also know that some people take a reference to a language barrier as an insult. Im not trying to insult you. But I dont think you understand what Im saying. So whatever.

edit

and dont fucking tell me to re-read anything. Your first reply has fuck all to do with the ‘explanation’ you provided. Those two posts could literally be made in threads about completely different topics. It’s a tad ridiculous for someone who clearly isnt fluent in a language to tell someone who is, to re-read something as if reading your post more than once adds anything to its readability.

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:
Alright so its safe to say that once warmed up, one lighter set to “feel” is ok.

BONEZ-How many sets, on average, do you recommend taking to failure for each exercise?[/quote]

Exercise?

I take 1-2 sets to failure per MUSCLE GROUP. [/quote]
I don’t get that. How is that considered good intensity? I had a forum a while back and people were suggesting that I need to up my intensity in the gym, and I do way more than 1-2 failure sets per muscle group. Obviously you know what works for you due to your physique, but how is that enough? I would feel like I’m half assing if I stop the majority of my sets with more reps in me (not saying you half ass workouts)[/quote]

So do what you want?

This is not a ‘right vs wrong’ issue. If you like how youre progressing then dont worry about anyone else.

I have one movement per muscle group that I focus on strength gains and explosive concentrics. Thats the movement I take to failure. Its usually the second movement for the muscle group. All the other movements I focus on stimulating the target muscle to best of my ability.

If you do things another way, great. [/quote]
Gotcha. How did you figure out that not lifting to failure as often was more benefical for you?[/quote]

this is simple. personal experience.

say you train back at the end of your split, and chest at the beginning.

you decide to blast the hell out of your back, taking several sets of compound lifts to technical failure and some sets of isolation movements to absolute failure. you get a huge pump in your lats and mid-back, but the next few days you have DOMS that lasts well into your chest day. you’re unable to keep your lats and lumbar arch tight enough to get a firm foundation for your chest pressing, so you’re unable to get much progress with that chest session.

do that often enough and you can see where your progress can stall.

I’ve been experimenting with different methods in the gym, but wanted to see what works for you guys.

  1. When ramping, do you like to stay in a certain rep range on the lighter sets that precede your top set? Right now I basically do something like this:
  • set 1 for 10 reps
  • set 2 for 8 reps
  • set 3 for 6 reps
  • all out top set for as many as I can get. usually 6-12

I have also done:

  • set 1 for 5 reps

  • set 2 for 5 reps

  • set 3 for 5 reps

  • all out set

  • the second method is used to save a little more energy for the top set and the first way provides more volume.

Basically I’m trying to figure out how important total volume and “fatigue” is or if it doesn’t matter too much. What do you guys do?

[quote]ANIMAL M0THER wrote:
I’ve been experimenting with different methods in the gym, but wanted to see what works for you guys.

  1. When ramping, do you like to stay in a certain rep range on the lighter sets that precede your top set? Right now I basically do something like this:
  • set 1 for 10 reps
  • set 2 for 8 reps
  • set 3 for 6 reps
  • all out top set for as many as I can get. usually 6-12

[/quote]

i do exactly this, as well as a very light set of 12-15 reps beforehand to loosen up and get some blood flowing.

[quote]wannabebig250 wrote:

[quote]ANIMAL M0THER wrote:
I’ve been experimenting with different methods in the gym, but wanted to see what works for you guys.

  1. When ramping, do you like to stay in a certain rep range on the lighter sets that precede your top set? Right now I basically do something like this:
  • set 1 for 10 reps
  • set 2 for 8 reps
  • set 3 for 6 reps
  • all out top set for as many as I can get. usually 6-12

[/quote]

i do exactly this, as well as a very light set of 12-15 reps beforehand to loosen up and get some blood flowing.[/quote]

Yea, doing it this way gets me most prepared for that last all0out set. I’m still messing around a little with the volume to see how much is best for me.

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]eyegainweightbig wrote:
Alright so its safe to say that once warmed up, one lighter set to “feel” is ok.

BONEZ-How many sets, on average, do you recommend taking to failure for each exercise?[/quote]

Exercise?

I take 1-2 sets to failure per MUSCLE GROUP. [/quote]
I don’t get that. How is that considered good intensity? I had a forum a while back and people were suggesting that I need to up my intensity in the gym, and I do way more than 1-2 failure sets per muscle group. Obviously you know what works for you due to your physique, but how is that enough? I would feel like I’m half assing if I stop the majority of my sets with more reps in me (not saying you half ass workouts)[/quote]

Intensity has much more to do with the EFFORT and FOCUS you put into a set than with anything else. Your real focus should be PROGRESS. If your exercise weights are progressing it means that your training is working. I ramp up all heavy exercises because it works