A few months ago I was reading the DeLorme and Watkins 1951 book Progressive Resistance Exercise as historical research for the book I’m working on, and found the following statement about single versus multiple sets:
Pages 27-28
“Three sets of exercise in which the resistance is increased after each set offers the advantage of warming up the muscle but probably does not contribute toward increasing the muscle strength. By doing 10 repetitions only with the 10-RM strength increases would be approximately the same as when three sets are performed. In fact, if it were not important to set the physiological stage preparatory to a maximum exertion, only one set of 10 repetitions would suffice. This has been demonstrated time and again in the clinic in the treatment of injuries in young athletes. The validity is also attested to by the fact that many of the strongest strength athletes never perform more than 10 repetitions for any one exercise. Incredible as it may seem, many athletes have developed great power and yet have never employed more than five repetitions in a single exercise.”
According to Bill Hinbern, David Willoughby said nobody used “sets” prior to World War II, although it was common to perform two or three different exercises per muscle group. Decades of research and in-the-gym experience show the single-set approach is just as valid today as it was back when our grandfathers and great grandfathers might have started lifting weights.
Comments on this entry are closed.
Interesting. I had previously thought Arthur Jones was the progenator of single sets. If what David W. says is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, why did Arthur train utilizing three sets before his discovery of SSTF? Since this information has been around for so long why is HIT still unpopular? I can understand why it isn’t ever going to be embraced by the general public as it is simply too hard of a workout. But I would think the people that are into training would embrace this. Why is it scorned so much?
I probably asked this before but is there any advantage to adding sets of an exercise. I read so much conflicting stuff. For instance I read that 1 set is great up to a point then it will stop working and then more sets are needed to keep progressing. For me I blast a muscle with 6-10 reps at a controlled speed then I add a few partials followed by a static nagative. After this im shot and cant to another good set. Is it possible that less intensity and more sets could work better. John Christy who I have read alot about latley says he doesnt even recommend going to failure. Whats your feeling on all this conflicting B.S. Thanks again
John,
I believe the answer to that is a complicated one and that there are numerous reasons people believe multiple sets are required. Much of it the fault of the bodybuilding magazines as well as certain strength and conditioning organizations who’s training philosophies are rooted in competitive lifting, where the line between strength training and skill practice is blurry.
Brad,
The majority of research shows no significant difference in strength or size increases between single and multiple sets for the majority of people. However, there are some circumstances where multiple sets may be beneficial. Beginners are typically incapable of training intensely enough to overtrain using multiple sets if the overall workout volume is not too high, and would benefit from the additional practice while learning proper form. In some rehab situations several warm up sets may be required prior to performing an intense work set. Some research has shown that some individuals may do better with multiple sets, typically those with poor neurological efficiency or a higher percentage of slow twitch muscle fiber, among other things.
For most people, one set per exercise is just as effective as two or more for stimulating muscular strength and size increases if performed with a high enough level of effort.
Arthur Jones started out doing 4 sets to failure PER exercise. He hit plateaus quite frequently and got frustrated.
Later, he noticed when he had to cut his workouts short for whatever reason, he would break past those plateaus. It got him thinking that he was doing too much. He cut his sets per exercise down to 2. And then eventually down to one. Where he made his best progress. That’s why his final recommendation was only one set per exercise.
What was cool about Arthur Jones is that he experimented on himself with what works in regards to resistance training. He walked the walk. And therefore, his advice holds a lot of water.