Any frequency of training not too high to prevent recovery and adaptation or too low to allow decompensation will eventually get an individual to their maximum muscular potential. The ideal frequency which allows one to maximize their potential as quickly as possible varies considerably between individuals and requires some experimentation to determine. Two full body workouts per week is a good starting point and most will require a lower frequency or a reduction in workout volume as they improve and the intensity of their workouts increases.

You don’t need to train full ROM to become bigger and stronger and certain isometric protocols are much safer. I wrote about this in the chapters Motion and Range of Motion in Elements of Form and will be writing about some of the work we are doing with timed static contraction within the next few months.

I switched from SuperSlow to a more moderate cadence years ago suspecting it would still allow for controlled turnarounds and efficient loading and the additional mechanical work might provide an advantage. It did not. Also, I found most clients could not perform reasonably good turnarounds unless they moved much more slowly, and proper turnaround performance is important for both safety and efficient loading.

Any reasonably controlled speed of movement will be effective, but for safety and efficiency it is better to err on the slow side, and a 10/10 cadence is a good halfway point between the fastest most people can go while maintaining reasonably good form (about 5/5) and the slowest most people can go without the movement becoming “stuttered” instead of continuous (about 15/15).

is working each muscle group one time a week enough to build muscle to maximum potential? ex. upper body one day and lower body one day with the other 5 days off

Some people experience this after exercise. Assuming you’re eating a well balanced diet it shouldn’t be due to a mineral deficiency, but if it continues for more than a few weeks try eating more foods containing potassium, magnesium and calcium like various squashes, egglplant, asparagus, cucumber, etc. If this doesn’t help and the twitching continues for a long period of time see a doctor about it.

I am a textbook ectomorph who has been training HIT style for the past 3 months. I have recently been experiencing involuntary muscle twitching in my neck/head. This stated shortly after I began HIT training. I rest 4 days between workouts and have consistent strength gains. What recommendations could you give me?

Thanks

One set, if performed with a high level of intensity, is all that is necessary. Additional sets will stimulate little or no further improvement while significantly increasing the stress the body must recover from. More work is not the answer – harder work is.

Partials do not develop the tendons ahead or independent of the muscles to any degree. If there is tension on the tendons, there is tension on the muscles and both will adapt to the demands placed on them.

Whether they are easier on the joints or not depends on what part of the range of motion you are performing on which exercises. This can be true in some cases, wrong in others.

Just because a person can use heavier poundages during partials does not mean they are placing a greater demand on the muscles. It is not the weight that matters but the resistance, which is the product of weight and lever. If you are able to lift a significantly heavier weight when doing partials it is because you are limiting the range of motion to positions where you have a greater mechanical advantage. This makes the exercise less effective, not more.

The only case where limiting range of motion makes sense is avoiding positions of active or passive muscular insufficiency because of the effects of the length-tension relationship on the load that can be used. Too little overlap of myofibrils in a stretched position and overlapping of myofibrils in extremely shortened position reduce the tension a muscle can produce and the resistance that can be used. Avoiding these extremes only reduces the range of motion near the ends by a few degrees, not so much that strength does not improve over the full range of motion (research shows strength gains are specific to the ROM trained in most of the population, but within a range of about 12 to 20 degrees of the positions trained).

At 62 years of age, having strength trained since my teens, I question this statement. The object of the exercise (so to speak) is to TRASH a muscle or muscle group, allow sufficient time for recovery and growth and then TRASH it again. One set will NOT trash a muscle group as well as (at least) 3 sets for these reasons The first set is a “warm up” set, its purpose is simply to bring blood flow to that muscle group. The second set is to stress the muscle somewhat and prepare it for the third set. Now, the muscle group is metabolically prepared for the stress of an all out effort (to failure).

I do partials exclusively as they are easier on the joints and tend to develop the tendons ahead of the muscle body proper, protecting against injury. The point is to stress the muscle and full range reps simply limit the amount of poundage handled due to mechanical considerations.

As an example, I currently (as of last night) do over 100 reps of 1,000 pounds on the leg sled (on my third set). I have charted my recovery times and now allow 5 weeks for recovery and growth (on legs). I do 50+ reps of 335 on bench and allow 3 weeks of recovery.

My point is that a muscle group cannot be properly trashed before 1 or 2 sets have been completed to metabolically “set up” the muscle for the final effort. You can not “Trash” a muscle with one set, no how, no way…

Again, this was a GREAT post, but this “one set” idea is… In my view… Nonsense.