Gain Size, Strength, and Muscle with a One Set Weight Lifting Routine

One set weight lifting routines are often neglected because people think one set weight lifting doesn't require enough work to stimulate muscle growth. The idea of multiple set routines is the standard in weight lifting but it's not necessarily the best way to build muscle. With a one set weight lifting routine you can work force and finesse muscle growth to gain size and gain strength.

First let me explain how muscles are built. Building muscle is a form of evolution. You put your body in situations where it needs to lift more weight so it becomes bigger and stronger. It does this by increasing the size of muscle tissues so they can bear a larger load. The average multiple set routine will start off with the first sets being performed to a pre determined number of reps holding back to leave some power to complete all your sets and lifting to failure on the last set. By doing this you are not putting your body in a position to have to adapt. In the first sets you are performing a task your body is already capable of doing and by your last set your body is fatigued and even though you are lifting to failure you are still doing even less reps than you did in the previous sets, so the adaptation your body makes will be focused on giving you more muscular endurance to perform more reps on your last set as opposed to gaining strength and muscle size.

Here's how the one set weight lifting system works. When doing one set to failure you must be prepared to fight hard. Do not go into the set thinking of doing as many reps as you can and moving on. You need to think about getting every rep up. Your body will only adapt by pushing it. If you stop when your body is capable of completing more reps you will not tap into your body's full weightlifting potential. I can't stress how much you will need a spotter for this routine. When you know you can't get in another rep you have to fight until there is nothing in the tank. This will force your body to adapt to lift that weight. We are going for strength so you should use a weight that you can lift no more than 6 reps with. Once you progress to 7 reps move up to more weight. If you are not lifting enough weight your body will adapt for endurance instead of capitalizing on your body's weight lifting potential.

Before performing this routine make sure to warm up your muscles with some light activity and stretching. This will help avoid injury. Staying injury free is the biggest key to gaining size because if you hurt yourself you won't be able to push your body to have to adapt.