ross, how to do feel about using three sets. whenever havent been able to stay in the gym consistantly untill a little bit lately bu every time i go i always find my self doing 5 sets of the bigger exercises like bench, mp, etc. i use three for the smaller ones. do you feel like you get a good workout from doing three sets? im thinking about just doing 3 sets with some stuff and just bumping the weight up because i want to focus more on cardio type stuff like running stairs. i guess you can call that HIT

I've been thinking the same thing monsta. I'm going to increase my pull ups. I might just start doing 50. Just as many as I can in a set...and keep going until I hit 50. The fact that I haven't been able to get into the gym much is really why I've been thinking about increasing volume.

Tomorrow I think I'll be doing some more volume. I might switch it up to 4X8-12. I have been getting a great workout doing 3X8. It's still basically the same number of reps as a 5X5. I'm starting to become conditioned to the 3X8, so I might switch back to a 5X5 for a few weeks (just with bench press). The 3X12 I did on squats last Friday was AWESOME. It sucked so bad...I LOVED it. I am loving 3X8 for military press also. Overall, I'm just trying to get out of the 4-6 rep range. And 5X8-12 is a lot of reps. So I'm thinking I'll try to stay at 3-4X8-12. I do such a long warmup that my first set is always very heavy for me. I'm still exploring a bit...I think that's really the only way for me to find out how I respond to different rep ranges and sets.

oh aight cool. i was just wondering. im thinking about doing some stuff with 3 sets so i can get out of the gym a little bit faster

Give it a go. I really liked going from 5 sets to 3 sets. It's different anyway. I've been doing ramped sets also. I don't know how much difference it makes if you do same weight vs ramped weight.

is ramped weight pyrmaids. if thats the case i love doing pyramids more than anything. i start off light then work my way up and go back to the first ligth set and rep out

Kind of. I've been increasing my weight when I do the 3X8. An example for squats doing a 3X12 might be 225, 235, 245.

oh aight cool. when i did something like that. i would do start off with like 245 and 12 reps. then increase the weight by at least 30 pounds and decrease the reps by 2 then 4 then 6, etc. my big set was always more than a 30 pound jump though. then i went back to 245 and repped out. i like doing stuff like that but it takes up so much time. i was doing it with everything for a minute

I remember you mentioning that somewhere. It sounds good. I might give that ago the next time I decide to change my rep pattern.

yeah you just have to know where you want to start. you may not want to take a 30 pound jump though. 20 should be cool

Bench press - 1X6, 1X8, 1X6 185
Pull ups - 2X7
Lat pulls - 1X8 120, 2X8 135
Flat DB press - 2X8 70, 75
Squats - 3X12 205, 225, 245
Arnolds - 3X8 55
Deadlifts - 1X8 225

Weight - 173

I have lost a LOT of strength. Inconsistency with my workout schedule is why. Pisses me off...I am going to make it to the gym no matter what...even if it means getting up at 5:30 and going. I hope I will gain the strength back quickly. The diet has been mediocre when I'm away from school, but it's spot on when I'm here.

I combined Wednesday's workout with Friday. Super high volume for me. I ate decently...1.5 cups of whole grain cereal, and 1/3 of a cup of yogurt an hour before going to the gym. Then I had an electrolyte drink with 10g of BCAAs mixed in while I worked out. Then a shake with 50g of protein and 80g of sugar. Then some chicken 30 min later. And I will have steak, pasta, and broccoli at 4:00. And eat twice more after that. Can't keep losing strength and weight like this...