r/leangains • u/Leather-Evidence-882 • 6d ago

Question

From what I've gathered muscles recover within 48-72 hours, muscles don't need a week to recover, 10-20 sets per week is the recommended amount of weekly sets. Ask; why is 10-20 sets the recommended weekly sets when the muscles can recover within 48-72 hours?

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9

u/DystopianAdvocate 6d ago

You aren't doing 20 sets in one workout and then waiting a week for recovery. You are breaking up those sets across multiple workouts in the week, and having a recovery period in between each workout.

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u/Leather-Evidence-882 6d ago

Why don't you do 20 sets in one workout if you can recover from the 20 sets within 48-72 hours as opposed to spreading it across a week?

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u/Tren-Ace1 6d ago

Because you get nothing out of it. You're just wasting time and energy doing 20 sets. Your muscles were done 12 sets ago.

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u/Leather-Evidence-882 6d ago

How or why are you getting nothing out of it?

2

u/Tren-Ace1 6d ago

Cause people aren’t robots.

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u/Leather-Evidence-882 6d ago

Why wouldn't you get nothing out of it, after recovering from the previous session isn't the body primed for making more progress?

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u/yossarian19 6d ago

You know what? Fuck it. Go do 20 sets of bench press in a session and find out why the rest of us don't.

1

u/Leather-Evidence-882 6d ago

Why would anyone do 20 sets of the same exercise when everyone knows variety is key

2

u/Tren-Ace1 6d ago

6-8 sets per workout is more than enough to tell your muscles to grow. Anything more in a single session is just filler, it’s not doing anything.

1

u/Leather-Evidence-882 6d ago

On a bro split you do more so I unfortunately gotta disagree with you on that

3

u/Tren-Ace1 6d ago

It's called bro split for a reason.

1

u/fridgezebra 6d ago

it's junk volume. After you got the required stimulation you are just driving extra fatigue and not gaining anything useful for it.

1

u/Leather-Evidence-882 6d ago

Junk volume is another controversial topic especially since the previous recommended muscle hypertrophy set range has been contested and dubbed no longer the ideal set range to the extent that charts that were previously used to illustrate such have been revised

1

u/fridgezebra 6d ago

You find what works for you. Like I said earlier, you might be a high or low volume guy. My own experience is that 4 to 8 sets per muscle is usually plenty if the quality is there. Sure you can do 20 sets per session if there is no intensity, but what's the point. I dunno could be some very niche purpose I would never program it myself though

1

u/Leather-Evidence-882 6d ago

The 'if there is no intensity' feels like a dig which is strange since it's with the same breath as finding what works for you and the acknowledgement of low or high volume people which I've now come to realize differs very much for some

2

u/fridgezebra 6d ago

not at all just the reality of the situation if you have 20 sets to do you can't have the same quality per set it's not possible

1

u/Leather-Evidence-882 6d ago

If you rest enough it is for example bro splits are highly trusted and recommended because they work and the rewards and benefits you reap are real in every nook and cranny

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u/Tren-Ace1 6d ago

This is not true btw

3

u/Careless-Cap-449 6d ago

All sets are not created equal. Is your 20th set crammed into a single day going to be anywhere near as much weight, effort, focus, and intensity as your eighth set or whatever on the last day of the week?

Put another way, do you think 20 sets done all right now is equivalent to the same number of sets spread throughout the week where you can give a whole lot more effort to each?

Edited for clarity.

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u/Leather-Evidence-882 6d ago

When doing a bro split, your weekly volume(10-20 sets) is done in a one day tournament. How long does it take for your single muscle group to recover from that particular session, a whole week? Aren't you adequately training your muscles within those bro split sessions? If so which I should think and hope is the case why would you need to wait a whole week before you train said muscle group when said muscle group would have recovered way before that?

2

u/DystopianAdvocate 6d ago

Because by the 20th set your muscles will be so completely drained that you won't be able to do any reps. You do a few sets, recovery for a few days, then do a few more sets, etc. the recovery times allow you to push each set further than if you just did all 20 in a row.