The Pump can tell you allot.
Here is a guide I use to determine an Ideal Number of Sets. Taken from JReps.
1. A faster muscle pump means a greater percentage of worked muscle fibers, and the faster it
pumps and the more muscle fibers that work, the greater and faster the fatigue that will
develop in the muscle. Now, greater the fatigue that develops during a set will cause greater
internal muscular friction, and an increase in muscular friction will accelerate muscular
fatigue. Together, these factors affect exercise performance, neuromuscular communication,
and the ability to sustain hard, quality work.
2. The quality of muscular contraction, i.e., the ability to contract a muscle hard or maximal
(not simply contract it, but do so very well and for it to feel intense) begins to diminish once
a full muscle pump is realized, which factor affects neuromuscular communication, i.e., the
ability for the nervous system to invoke a maximum number of muscle fibers.
3. As a pump diminishes with subsequent sets, this is a sign that the muscle (fibers) are losing
force output, i.e., unable to contract hard enough to sustain its current blood volume.
Remember, the more muscle fibers activated, the more the muscle is working, and the harder
it works, the greater the muscle pump. As fewer muscle fibers work, because of fatigue
within the muscle, the pump will diminish accordingly or sustain at best.
Now, based on those three points, here is a recommendation for an ideal number of sets
1. Stop exercising a particular muscle when it feels very pumped. You will notice after a few
workouts that the pump does not seem to increase into the next set; at that point, cut back.
For example, if 4 sets for a muscle produces a maximum pump, and you notice that the 5th
set does not improve the pump, then 4 sets likely is ideal, and certainly not more than 5 sets
now and again.
2. Coordinate the feeling of being able to contract the muscle hard, and use that as a partial
gauge to determine your ideal number of sets. You will notice that having a full pump will
make a muscle feel bloated and sluggish, and the ability to squeeze it hard becomes
hampered. The reduced feeling of hard contractions during exercise is a sign of superfluous
sets since fewer muscle fibers are being worked.
3. Based on the first two points, I have found this phenomenon to remain relatively constant in
the advanced trainee, in that if 4 sets are ideal for a muscle, for example, then it will remain
as such. (This is true unless the trainee previously was used to minimal sets and a deconditioned
system, as with ‘consolidation’ training.) Consequently, if and when you
experience a diminished pump in a muscle from its ideal measure (e.g., 4), then there is a
possibility that the muscle is not recovered from the last workout, and that you may be
overtraining locally (the muscle) or generally/systemically and will need to re-evaluate your
overall training strategy in regard to frequency, interspersed rest days/lay-offs, etc.
4. The optimum number of sets for a muscle also depends on the arrangement of a workout.
For example, suppose chest, shoulders and triceps are trained in a workout. You will find
that fewer sets for shoulders and triceps are required because of the cross-over pump
achieved from training chest; and the more sets performed for chest, the more of an effect it
will have on shoulders and triceps.
Pumpchaser
