2024-02-01 17:00:43
Should you do long or short sets to promote the development of your muscles? We have all already asked ourselves this question in our gym training course!
Many people think that the longer the series, the more we will “dry” and have visible streaks on the muscles?
All wrong, let’s review the basics.
We generally talk regarding:
- long sets to designate a range of 12 to 20 repetitions with “light/moderate” loads.
- Conversely, short series will consist of a maximum of 6 repetitions with rather heavy weights.
The myth of long series for muscle toning
Where does this idea come from that the longer the sets, the more “defined” the muscles will be?
The concept of “muscle toning” is influenced by two factors, muscle size and body mass percentage.
While high repetitions can contribute to increased muscle size, but there is no direct correlation with the development of more “defined” muscles.
On the other hand, we cannot target local fat loss by working specific muscles, even if we send more blood flow to the muscle fibers used (which creates the gameous “pump”).
In short, it does not translate into better muscle definition in the long term.
You can just build muscle size through resistance training and reduce overall body fat. regardless of the repetition range.
To find out more: Stop wanting to “tone your muscles”, there’s no such thing! Here are the only 2 things to do instead
Advantages and disadvantages of long series
The metabolic stress is a growth factor which manifests itself more on long series and releases growth hormones which will boost protein synthesis.
Add to this that the time under tension will be higher during long sets, which will stimulate the recruitment of slow and fast twitch muscle fibers.
As a reminder :
- fast-twitch muscle fibers are more associated with heavier loads,
- slow-twitch muscle fibers are more associated with lighter loads over longer sets and/or endurance efforts.
The constant tension placed on the muscles during intense repetitions engages both slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscles.
The big problem with long sets is that following a certain number of repetitions, your form of movement will inevitably deteriorate and/or the limiting factor will become fatigue rather than muscular failure.
Simply put, if you’re trying to build muscle with high rep sets, use weights heavy enough that you don’t exceed 20 reps before failure.
Advantages and disadvantages of short series
The heavier loads associated with short sets require the recruitment of a higher percentage of muscle fibers, especially fast-twitch ones.
We also have a great demand on the central nervous systemleading to beneficial neural adaptations such as increased muscle motor unit recruitment and improved coordination between the nervous system and muscle.
Read also: Do muscles make strength? Here’s the difference between strength and muscle mass and how to achieve both
This is why strength gains are greater with short sets.
Hypertrophy will not be left out, lifting ever heavier ensures that you activate progressive overload, one of the main factors of muscle growth.
The problem is that heavy loads mean placing more stress on the joints, therefore more risk of potential injury.
On the other hand, it causes more muscle fatigue.
Finally, on the downside, short sets will not effectively stimulate slow-twitch muscle fibers.
So what do we do ?
Well, as usual: it all depends!
If you are aiming for muscle hypertrophycombine long series and short series to have the best of both worlds.
In practice, you can work in 3 sets of 6 repetitions for 3 weeks, then 3 sets of 12-20 repetitions for 3 weeks.
Either way, make sure to hit the muscle failure card regardless of the format of your sets!
If your goal is performancechoose between the two.
For example, are you aiming for a marathon? It’s a bit pointless to aim for maxes on your squat every session, you’d be better off working with long sets to develop your muscular endurance capabilities.
This will allow you to make better adaptations, particularly in the use of oxygen and the elimination of metabolic by-products.
If your goal is to work on your explosiveness (for example, you play basketball or US football which involves a lot of sprinting phases), then lower your number of repetitions to improve your power and your central nervous system efficiency.
Do you want to be faster, jump higher? Lift heavier!
If your sport is somewhere in between (endurance + intense and explosive movement phases), like football or boxing, then work both types of muscle fibers.
So short sets and long sets, which can be carried out within the same workout.
Example: 3 sets of 5 repetitions of bench press followed by as many push-ups as possible.
Clearly, there are no best ready-made choices, it’s up to you to decide with your INDIVIDUAL objectives
If we had to roughly summarize:
- 1-6 repetitions: power/strength
- 7-12 reps: muscle growth/hypertrophy
- 12+ repetitions: muscular endurance.
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