08-15-2018, 12:18 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-15-2018, 12:20 AM by Dahmkooler.)
I was hoping to get some feed back on pump set execution. I've done a search, but haven't found anything that gets at my question exactly. Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere!
When I do a pump set, particularly for lower body exercises, I am rarely able to go to true 'failure'. In other words, I think I could always grind out another rep or three on leg press, for example, but it just hurts so freaking bad that I can't get it up. I know a lot of the intention of pump sets is to autoregulate and individualize, but I'm curious how common my experience is to others? Interestingly, I don't seem to have this problem with many upper body excercises...
Part of the reason I ask is an article I read by Eric Helms discussing the utility of high rep sets. He was very skeptical of their utility unless taken to true mechanical failure, and not simply the point where you can't take the pain any more.
Scott (and others) - do you think I am leaving a lot on the table stopping a pump set at 'metabolic failure' (for lack of a better word!)? Or is simply accumulating an excruciating metabolite build-up accomplishing the goal here?
(As an aside, Helms argues that it's likely that sets performed in a study are almost certainly taken to true failure, since there is always a team of grad students screaming in their ear during the set, and he's skeptical that most lifters are able to take their sets to true failure; therefore, he argues that they may not be able to replicate the muscle growth seen with high reps in some of these studies. I find this somewhat hard to believe, considering the low level of training of most lifters in studies, that they would be able to push harder than an experienced lifter with 5+ years of hard training.)
Thanks!
When I do a pump set, particularly for lower body exercises, I am rarely able to go to true 'failure'. In other words, I think I could always grind out another rep or three on leg press, for example, but it just hurts so freaking bad that I can't get it up. I know a lot of the intention of pump sets is to autoregulate and individualize, but I'm curious how common my experience is to others? Interestingly, I don't seem to have this problem with many upper body excercises...
Part of the reason I ask is an article I read by Eric Helms discussing the utility of high rep sets. He was very skeptical of their utility unless taken to true mechanical failure, and not simply the point where you can't take the pain any more.
Scott (and others) - do you think I am leaving a lot on the table stopping a pump set at 'metabolic failure' (for lack of a better word!)? Or is simply accumulating an excruciating metabolite build-up accomplishing the goal here?
(As an aside, Helms argues that it's likely that sets performed in a study are almost certainly taken to true failure, since there is always a team of grad students screaming in their ear during the set, and he's skeptical that most lifters are able to take their sets to true failure; therefore, he argues that they may not be able to replicate the muscle growth seen with high reps in some of these studies. I find this somewhat hard to believe, considering the low level of training of most lifters in studies, that they would be able to push harder than an experienced lifter with 5+ years of hard training.)
Thanks!