Comments on: The Best Way To Gain Muscle Mass

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 08:19:05 +0000

@Michael. Well 95% is pretty high anyway. But how do you know that your lifts wouldn’t have improved even further by going to max intensity? Would have been interesting to see what sort of physique you could have produced if you had have taken a full-on bodybuilding approach back in the 80’s.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 08:14:17 +0000

@Vla. Simply not the case; in fact the opposite is true. Only those blessed with super bodybuilding genetics can get away with sub-maximal lifts and still grow. Overtraining can be defined as doing too much work, i.e. VOLUME, to reach a certain goal. It can also be defined as exercising again before the body has had a chance to make the adaptations stimulated by that workout e.g. working the same body part 2 days in a row. Think of it like picking a scab before it has had a chance to heal. Taking a set to failure is far from overtraining, in fact, it’s necessary for the vast majority of ordinary people.

By: lord paleo

lord paleo — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 07:47:19 +0000

You can use dumbells so no bar will tangle when you drop it. also plant a stool behind you to catch you if you drop. I did that until I outgrew my dumbells. Then I joined a gym and use a smith machine. Then all you have to do is twist the bar forward to catch in the hooks.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 23:23:18 +0000

Thanks for the article. Im not sure you are quite right, though. My own experience: In the eighties I was training primarily for athletics (throwing events) and every strength session was a supplement to the “real training” and was supposed to never, ever interfere with throwing technique, plyometrics and sprinting. I mostly did squats, cleans and snatch with supplemental exercises (and a little benchpress now and then). My coach never allowed me to overdo things. After a couple of warm-up series, I went to 85-90 -95% and did very few reps. Never going for broke because I was doing technique work afterwards. The keyword was always quality. And I was ballooning from 85 kilos to 110 in 18 months. I ended doing 187 kilos in the cleans and 120 in the snatch at a bodyweight of 112 (which I find to be almost insane today, but luckily it was witnessed by the right people). And believe me there were no illegal substances involved. So you see – I am not sure you always have to train to failure to grow or be stronger.

By: JC

JC — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:51:16 +0000

Travis – you could do front squats. Or let go of the bar, or lean back and fall over… it’ll hurt, but not like being pinned in the throat would. Just a thought. Mark probably has better suggestions.

By: Travis

Travis — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:31:30 +0000

Training to failure and all is great when you have a spotter but how can I train to failure while doing squats alone? The last thing I want to do is get stuck at the bottom of my rep…

The statement about doing sets with the same weight really caught my attention. I’ve never looked at it that way before (the first 4/5 or 2/3 sets being wasted if you don’t go to failure).

Looking forward to the book.

By: Vlad

Vlad — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:55:17 +0000

not true… only works for the ones with good genetics.. Before i also belived that way but i realized after 3years of training that this was the thing that stoped me to become bigger and stronger.. THIS IS OVERTRAINING!! (don’t get me wrong.. i’m only talking for the ones with average genetics and hardgainers)

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:44:31 +0000

@David. That’s a good point and something I discuss in the article about the Anabolic Window…
https://musclehack.com/the-power-of-the-anabolic-window/
Experience has taught us that very low rep ranges aren’t optimal for muscle growth. You will increase in strength, and in size to a lesser degree.
When creating THT I had to recommend the rep range that was optimal for hypertrophy. Growth is the number 1 goal of my program. A power lifter, for example, would be better off practising 1 rep max’s.
A natural lifter wanting to get bigger and look good will opt for THT.

By: David

David — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:29:56 +0000

Awesome – totally makes sense and I started training like this – let’s wait for the results!

One question: If training to failure is all we need, why would we do e.g. 8 – 10 reps? Why could we not increase wait until only doing e.g. 3 reps?

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:22:31 +0000

@Cliff. What I’m saying is that it has been proven that 1 set to failure does stimulate size and strength increases. However, in my opinion it is also true that multiple sets to failure will stimulate more growth but if you engage in higher volume training, the inter-training rest periods must also be longer to allow the body the make the adaptation. This is because it takes longer to recover from a higher volume workout.
So you 2 options…
Whole Body Workout | 1 Set Per Body Part | 2 or 3 Times A Week…or
1 or 2 Body Parts Per Workout | 5-9 Sets Per Body Part | Once A Week
The latter being a 5 day split.
I elaborated on this in this article…
https://musclehack.com/targeted-hypertrophy-training-new-volume-cycle/
The new TA book is about BOTH these workouts. You will revolve or cycle them over and over. At the moment, the TA book only includes the whole body cycle, and the 5 day split can be found at the above link – my advice is to do both.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:15:08 +0000

@Malcolm. I wish there was an easy answer to this but it seems to be different for everyone.
Anecdotally there seems to be a cyclical nature to strength and size gains for some people. They gain strength like crazy for months with little size gains. Then all of a sudden to pack on size in a short amount of time – it’s as if the size catches up to the strength every few months. This could be true in your case.
Keep training!

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:10:14 +0000

@Moony. I train alone and train to failure all the time. If you’re worried about your bench press, use safety pins if possible. Even when I didn’t have pins, I still bench pressed to failure – only had to do the ‘roll of shame’ a couple of times.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:07:23 +0000

@Johnny552. True. Also, I did a series of articles on ‘mind hacks’ or mental tricks I use to ensure that I am actually using 100% of strength capability…
https://musclehack.com/muscle-mind-hack-1-the-mindset-of-1-more-rep/

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:04:54 +0000

@Jim. If you reach 8 reps to failure on the first set, it’s unlikely you’ll get 8 in the next. You should therefore drop the weight for the next set.
In terms of reps, sets, and so on, this is all in my ebook Total Anabolism, you should download it free. Also, there is a full workout detailed here…
https://musclehack.com/targeted-hypertrophy-training-new-volume-cycle/

By: cliff

cliff — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 04:02:12 +0000

hey mark. awesome stuff man. can’t wait for the new tht book. quick question regarding the last version of tht. if i was understanding it correctly, in that version, you were saying that there is minimal benefit from multiple sets to failure and that one set to failure would be plenty sufficient to stimulate growth. did i understand this correctly? mentally it just seems hard to walk away after only one set. i feel like i’m not getting the optimum benefit with only one set to failure. could you give a quick clarification on number of sets? thanks bro. this site is the best i’ve ever come across! thanks!

By: Malcolm

Malcolm — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 02:52:36 +0000

Hey Mark, Another great article! Been following your program a few months now and have had amazing strength improvement. I have always been skinny but had insane strength. I am 6ft and only weigh 175 pounds. Before I started your program I was 160 pounds. I was wondering how much strength you gain without an increase in muscle size?. I train the same muscle twice a week, increasing the weight by 0.5kg minimum each time, though lately I seem to hardly be able to gain any weight at all. Even with continuous strength gains.

Bicep curl 32kg 70pounds ( one hand )
Dead Lift 300kg 660 pounds
Dumbbell Shoulder Lateral raise 26kg 57.7 pounds

Did some research on neuromuscular efficiency, maybe mine is higher then normal?, thus requiring less muscle to gain strength?

Cheers
Malcolm Calafato from Malta

By: Moony

Moony — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 02:01:33 +0000

Hi nice article
i train alone
so how is it possible to continue beyond failure with no one to help?

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:46:21 +0000

On the psychological end… totally hear you Johnny. Personally, I turn my brain off. Crank my tunes, quiet my mind, think of nothing and focus on my breathing and my form. To each his own, I just find looking at the logs for more than a couple seconds to be mentally disruptive, and this makes it almost like meditation for me–complete with the added benefit of less stress all day long. 🙂

By: johnny552

johnny552 — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:21:49 +0000

I have also found that psychological factors can increase / decrease your failure level. Sometimes you think you have failed, and that causes you to fail.

When you are staring down that middle set, don’t think “oh god 4 more sets”. Visualize yourself completing a goal # of reps, get excited about it, get pumped, enjoy it, do it.

By: johnny552

johnny552 — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:18:26 +0000

Failure is good. Progression is good. Progressive failure = amazing.

Sort of like diet is good. Exercise is good. Diet & exercise = amazing.

By: jim

jim — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:11:41 +0000

i love your work you are the most honest bodybuilder out there and make a lot of sense but how many set and exercise per body part and also after doing the first set and say you get 8 reps and knowing you cant get 8 reps the next do you drop the weight or stay the same weight or is it just one set to failure.
Thanking you
jim.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:52:27 +0000

@Jo. Thanks man. Going up by enough to reach failure at 7 or 8 is absolutely fine. Yes you’ll love that 3.1 workout by the way!

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:47:04 +0000

Yay I finally get to comment!

For one, this site is bloody awesome. Yes the programs as detailed take boatloads of discipline. Yes that OMG-I’m-gonna-puke feeling sucks at first. But avoiding that is why most of us damn Yankees are obese to the point of literally killing ourselves. Yet we eat diet food (aka high carb super processed crap) and buy every pill and supplement known to man (and some that man isn’t sure about) and for what? To stay fat because exercise is hard?

Well… muscle is also hard. So sign me up for some hard stuff, please and thank you. Already gone from obese to healthy. Next up: from healthy to built. And I cannot wait to finish this cycle on TA 3.0 so I can have that awesome feeling of freshly wrecked muscles in the morning 5 days a week on the 3.1 workout!

One question nags though… you finish the set at the current weight, like actually do all 12. You increase the weight the next time you’re at the gym and do, say, 10 or 11. This is as it should be, or the increment is too small? Is there an advantage or disadvantage to jumping the weight up enough that you fail at like 7 or 8 rather than just enough that you can’t do the whole dozen? This annoys me, and I can’t help but wonder if I’d get better results by going in larger increments, or if I’d end up stuck on a plateau that way. If someone knows so I can avoid learning the hard way that’d be awesome. 🙂

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:42:12 +0000

@an00bis. Probably a couple of weeks – no fixed date yet.
@JC. Drop the weight to stay in the same rep range.
@Scott. That’s great to hear. It’s a mental game too. Yes, it seems like the most obvious thing in the world to me but I’m always surprised when people are “enlightened” when I explain the necessity of failure to them. Like it never occurred to them before. It’s even worse when people who DO know wilfully choose an inferior program because it’s easier.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:31:31 +0000

Good article. I’ve been working on my mental focus and intensity at the gym lately. Been forcing out extra reps like never before. In the past, I would do my workouts, never feel sore afterwards, and never see any big results. Lately I’ve been sore and I know I got a good workout. Going to failure seems like common sense. If you aren’t giving your muscles more work than they can handle, your body has no reason to produce more. I love the mental challenge of going for one more rep.