After a few weeks of feeling like I was stalled in my training without making gains, I decided to take a close look at exactly what I was doing. My main principles are that muscle and strength are best built with 10-20 hard sets per movement pattern per week, executed with good technique. That’s what I was doing, or so I thought: two to three sets of a push-up variant, a pull-up variant, and a squat or walking lunge per day. I’m practicing paused reps often, so I know my technique is good, and I’m resting as long as needed between sets, and I’m feeling ready to go from day to day. Why am I not making gains?
What are “hard” sets, exactly?
I decided to take a look at intensity, or how “hard” are these hard sets. Usually I say that I take the sets two to three reps shy of mechanical failure. That’s an RPE of 7 to 8. I’m doing 10-20 sets per week with good form. Everything seems to be in the sweet spot. Except this: are my sets really as hard as I think they are?
To test this, I did two things. First, I decided to dial my daily volume back to two total sets per movement pattern, or 14 sets per week. This allowed me to really push it and not worry too much about recovery ability. Second, I decided that when I reached the point in the set where I would normally stop, I would do two more reps. If I really were working two reps shy or failure, then I should fail on the last of these reps. I was particularly interested in performance improvements and fatigue management.
Gains Achieved
What I found was that I definitely did NOT fail on any of these sets. So as I suspected, I had not been working as hard set-to-set as I thought I had. Second, I found that my max reps per set gradually increased. Whereas I was in the low-to-mid 20s for push-ups before, I’m now at 30 (see video).
What About Programming?
These outcomes led me to consider writing a post and making a video suggesting that two sets per movement pattern per day is the best programming. The ideas is that this programming is optimal for allowing intensity and also recovery. That still may be the case, but to be sure, I decided to try a push/pull/legs split with the same focus on intensity. I followed the advice in this video and did five hard sets of a single movement pattern per day. I was particularly interested in whether or not I could keep the same set-to-set intensity and whether I would continue to increase my max reps per set as I had with full body daily.
And as circumstance would have it, I was about to head out of town for a few days. When I travel, I like to continue training but simplify it. Five sets per day of a single movement pattern is a very simple way to train when you are busy or otherwise without access to your usual surroundings.
Which is Better for Intensity, Full Body Daily or a Split?
With five hard sets my main concern was being able to repeat performance set-to-set. My second concern was being able to make gains from workout-to-workout. To make a long story shorter, I was able to do both. But I found that I had to rest AT LEAST three minutes between sets. And the longer I rested, often up to five or six minutes between sets, the more likely I was able to repeat my performance. And my max reps per set DID gradually increase from workout-to-workout. I also noticed that after the first couple of workouts, I felt fatigued and sore for a few days. But this quickly dissipated. So the bottom line here is that you can make gains equally with daily full body training or splits, provided your intensity is consistent and recovery is managed well. And it bears noting that a split will likely demand a single workout per day and will likely require more time per workout if you are resting up to six minutes between sets. On the other hand, a full body daily program will allow you to do pieces throughout the day. For this reason, I prefer full body daily training.
Main Conclusions:
1. You are probably not working as hard as you think you are
2. Full body daily and splits work equally well provided intensity is maintained
3. Time considerations and other logistics will dictate what programming you should choose
4. It’s a great idea to question your assumptions from time to time
5. The formula for muscle and strength gains is relatively simple: 10-20 hard, well-executed sets per movement pattern per week with fatigue managed
Form Is Everything 
Stephen, thanks for these observations and ideas !
Could you please comment a bit on my current program (which is somewhat similar to your split) ?
I am doing three-day split Push+Pull (supersets) / Arms-only (biceps+triceps+shoulders with dbells) / Squats+Core (supersets). I am 50 years old, training daily over a decade, my every workout is reasonably intense and lasts around 20 minutes, no more.
Day 1: Push+Pull supersets
Rest time between sets in Push+Pull supersets is no more than 3 minutes, like so: Push, 3 min rest, Pull, 3 min rest, Push, 3 min rest, Pull, … and so on.
This way I get around 4+ minutes rest per movement (i e. 3 minutes + time doing other movement) and am able to push VERY HARD. Also I have enough time in next two days for resting these movements.
Day 2: Arms-only
I have Arms-only days because I observed that stronger arms contribute quite a bit in Push+Pull movement performance. Arms-only is done immediately after Push+Pull day in order to have recovered arms when starting next cycle of Push+Pull day. One extra day after Arms-day gives me enough time for full recovery of arms.
Day 3: Squat+Core supersets
This is essentially another rest day for upper body and arms (besides core) and I intentionally superset squats with core in order to have additional rest time after doing exhausting 50+ reps/set in air-squats (which drain my oxygen level A LOT). Also, I observed that my legs respond much better to high-volume rather than doing weighted or more strength-focused leg work. High volume makes them grow.
What are your thoughts on this program ? Please comment if possible and criticize it as you see fit. Thanks and greetings from sunny Croatia !
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Hello! Thanks so much for your comment. I like this program a lot, and in fact, I have been thinking about doing something similar. This reminds me of the splits that were common among the Golden Era bodybuilders, who looked the best, in my opinion. I share your view that high volume squats are best (I just finished a squat workout of 10 sets of 20 in 15 min and my legs were PUMPED.) I also agree that direct arm work is a good idea. I started doing this when I included bicep curls as therapy for golfer’s elbow. It worked well, and I found that I couldn’t do bicep work without doing tricep work, so I do both, and have found that push and pull are benefitting. I think this is a great approach.
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