He did do one work set to failure. Yes, he did a warm up set or two if needed. No one at his strength level just does one work set to failure without a warm up. Even at my modest strength level I usually do a submaximal warm up set prior to an all out set. If you truly do one set to failure there is no way you can come back and do a second set at the same intensity. If you did a set and failed at 10 there is no way you can rest 90 seconds and get another 10 reps. If you can you weren't truly at failure at 10 reps for the first set.
I have trained with one set to failure or two sets for over 40 years. If I used two sets per exercise there usually was a warm set then one set to around 90% failure then the second work set to 100% failure. Using the one set to failure model is brutal. It's very hard on the mind to go all out for that one set for every exercise.
Having said all the above I think for the majority of trainers and even my self would do better with multiple sets. The muscular endurance method of lifting works. Doing something like 5 sets of 12 works amazing. If using the same weight the first set is to 12 but you could have gotten 20 reps if you went to failure. The second set of 5 sets of 12 you stop at 12 reps but could have gotten 17. The third set you stop at 12 but could have gotten 14 reps. The fourth you stop at 12 but could have gutted out 13 reps. The fifth you fail at 10 reps. This is a very effective way of training.
The best part of doing one set to failure is how it fits in a busy life. When I do a Dorian split three of the workouts take about 45 minutes and leg day one hour. I don't know how guys drive say an hour to work then work 8 to 10 hours coming home to a family to hit the gym at night for two hours. Even if one set to failure was only 85% as effective as a volume routine it's a no brainer for a guy with a family and a real career.
Incorrect. Let's take his old back routine from a 1986 mag. It went like this
Weighted chin ups 3 work sets
Bent rows 3 work sets
Cable rows 3 work sets
Deadlifts 4 sets of 10 8 6 6 pyramiding up the weight.
He did chest and shoulders along with back so his workouts far exceeded that of the 45 minutes that he claims to have done.
Yates did conventional methods to build up. Not one set to failure hit guff.
When he switched to the one set method, not hit though, he also upped the dosage of his drugs. He was a hyper responder to the large cocktail of roids he was on that he probably could get way with just one top set.
The narrator in the blood and guts vid states that Yates did "a few warm up sets then does one set to failure and beyond" but in the vid he did anything but. First, he's using pyramid sets, nothing new there. Then he does his last set with a bit of assistance from Leeroy. But did he do any forced reps? Rest pause? Drop sets? To go beyond failure...no he did not. On some exercises he didn't even go to failure so how is that hit? It is not.
No. Yates trained conventionally for the most part. His method is no different than many of the pro's and amateur bodybuilders who have come and gone over the years,
Blood and guts is not a training manual. It is just for entertainment purposes and nothing more. You really think Yates trained like that day in, day out with leeroy shouting at him? It's all done for cameras. It's all for entertainment.
Yates is just another old former champion hyping himself up by telling stories and making out he took very few dosages of roids. Yeah, right.
He has to stay relevant because what else has he got? Nothing. He has no real qualifications or other work experience. His life has been bodybuilding. He's going to keep selling the HIT kool aid until the day he dies and the hit clan are going to keep lapping it up. It's very misleading and very dishonest.
As for hit being good for those that claim they don't have time (they have time but make up excuses) it certainly is time efficient but it will not yield good results at all.
