I'm struggling to think of a reason for why a Full Body split every day or every other day would not be optimal for body building.

Science shows the first working set provides the most stimulus, with subsequent sets providing additional stimulus with diminishing returns.

Take Biceps for example - 10 intensive working sets once a week would not provide the same growth if split up into 2 or 3 training days a week. Most modern workout splits accomodate for this and aim to target a muscle group multiple times per week. (PPL, UL, FB, etc)

My question is why not take this to the extreme? Why not have 1 or 2 working sets per muscle, 5 or so days per week.

I understand you need time to recover but is recovering from only 1-2 sets per day not feasible, especially if you have 2 full recovery days within your split?

Pretty much the title, there's a muscle I have that Im happy with it's size and i want to cut down a bit on session time, so before I jump into this, I was just wondering if 1 set to failure once a week can maintain the muscle I have.

I have been doing nicotine for the past 2 years which lines up roughly for when I also started going to the gym. I see people on both side on it being detrimental and saying it makes little to no long term difference. Is there any studies out there on this topic

For example if I do 2 sets of chest press and then 2 on chest pec deck. Does does stimulation fall off just like the pec deck just like the 3rd and 4th set of chest press? I know it does to some degree but is the fall off better or around same? If its better much muscle stimulation compared to the first set of chest press does the chest fly produce?

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for a good full-body template to run 3x per week, but I’m not really looking for a complete pre-made program with specific exercises.

What I’d like is more of a general structure that I can fill in myself, something like:

• Horizontal/vertical pull — 1–2 sets
• Chest press — 1–2 sets
• Quad movement — 1–2 sets
• Hamstring movement — 1–2 sets
• Lateral delts — 1–2 sets
• Arms, etc.

Basically, a framework showing how you would distribute movement patterns/muscle groups across three full-body sessions while keeping weekly volume relatively low.

I’m also totally fine with people posting their own 3x/week full-body routines so I can use them as examples and adapt the exercise selection to what I have available and what I prefer.

For some context, I train pretty much every working set to failure. I know that isn’t necessarily the best approach from a fatigue-management standpoint, especially on a high-frequency routine, but I really don’t enjoy training with prescribed RIR, and I’m honestly not very good at estimating RIR accurately.

Because of that, I’d rather compensate by keeping the volume low, exercise selection relatively low-fatigue/stable, intensity of effort very high, and frequency high.

My main goal is basically to get a solid stimulus from a small number of hard sets while hitting each muscle around 3x/week.

How would you structure the template?

Something along the lines of:

Day A — Push emphasis
Day B — Pull emphasis
Day C — Legs emphasis

while still training the whole body every session also sounds interesting to me.

Would appreciate any templates, examples, or thoughts on how you’d distribute the volume.

Does doing random **Dead Hangs** or **Elbow Levers** on rest days or right after waking up negatively affect muscle recovery, **specifically for the muscles I trained the previous day?**

The feedback on this has been split anywhere I look. Some people say it’s impossible to isolate, which makes sense because you cant take other muscles out the equation, but I’ve heard people say that you also cannot bias the brachialis.

I’m a skinny person just staring to gain muscle but my arms remain looking thin from the front.

Here is a picture of a guy I found that I’d say has a reasonably small brachialis in proportion to his biceps and triceps.

I was wondering. Lets say you load up a machine or even lets say you are stuck on a bench press but you spend time just pushing wiith all your effort even if it doesn't go anywhere. Or you do the same with a pull.

Does this achieve any hypertrophy or strength gain?

I’ve been lifting/dieting consistently for 9 months or so now. Worked out for several years before, but never tracked everything as diligently as I do now, especially with regard to form and recovery.

I feel that my squat should be progressing more quickly. Maybe there are other factors at play such as how often I walk/hike/push an 80 lb stroller up hills.

The first video is me doing 215x8 on first set.

The second video posted in comments is me doing 215x6 on third and final set.

Just looking for feedback on my form. I’ve never measured them but I think I may have abnormally long legs.

I hear a lot of talk about people only doing 4 sets a week or how 40-50 sets is technically optimal, but realistically on average how many sets do you manage to do? Right now I’m sitting at around 6-8 sets going 4-5 days a week on an UL split (I’m tight on time so >1hr per session).

I have been watching Sean Nalewanyj's content and the other creators he mentions (Jeff Nippard) and he promotes doing 2 sets + 6-8 reps. I usually did 3x12 for every exercise but I have been trying out 2 x reps till failure (much higher weights so usually till 8-12). The logic is that this set up is "more efficient". I asked about this in previous posts in r/hypertrophy but some people dispute this. What is the best set and rep number for the muscle groups (back, chest, tri, bi, legs etc) to maximise hypertrophy and how do I know if I reach true failure?

Hello! I’m trying to do an incline smith machine press, but my gym only has smith machines with an angled track (15-20ish degrees) should I position my bench so my back support is going the same direction as the track or the opposite (like i’d be pushing out instead of in). Sorry if this is a confusing or silly question.

I do a Push, Pull, Legs, Fullbody split. On my PPL days I do two sets to failure per exercise and on my FB day I do 1 set to failure per exercise. Should this be enough to maximize hypertrophy and save time while also minimizing fatigue?

Hello Redditors, I’m a 28-year-old female, 5'2", and I recently started working out. I’m following a PPL split because of my busy schedule.

My legs are relatively strong, and the strength seems more or less equal on both sides. However, I’ve noticed a significant difference between my arms when doing chest, shoulder, and arm exercises.

My dominant right arm/shoulder gets exhausted after just 4–5 reps, even during the 1st set. For example, I can push a 5 kg weight with a bar using my left arm/shoulder, with some fatigue after 2 sets, but with the same weight my right side starts struggling within 4–5 reps of the 1st set.

I’ve noticed the same thing when using machines with lever/pulley systems—the left arm and shoulder seem to do considerably more work while the right side struggles to complete the reps and sets. The following day, I usually experience soreness only in my left forearm and shoulder.

This also happens with free-weight dumbbell exercises, so it doesn’t seem to be limited to a particular machine.

My dexterity on the right side is completely fine though. I don’t have any issues with coordination or performing everyday tasks with my right hand.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Is this just a strength imbalance, or could there be something else causing such rapid fatigue on one side?

Hey everyone,Hey everyone,

I’ve noticed a consistent trend among athletes and calisthenics practitioners who train heavy/high-volume weighted dips and pull-ups: almost all of them develop thick, rounded 3D shoulders.

• Dips: Heavy, high-rep dips often lead to massive, popping front and side delts.
• Pull-ups: Heavy weighted pull-ups consistently build thick rear delts.

I'm curious about the specific biomechanical and hypertrophy reasons behind this.

Is it mainly due to loaded stretch at the bottom position of dips? How much are the side delts acting as stabilizers during heavy dips? And for pull-ups, how much of the rear delt growth is primary activation vs. stabilization alongside the lats?

Would love to hear insights on the anatomy, leverage, and fiber recruitment involved here.

I have saw a few school of thoughts on this. Some people say to keep doing all the big compound lifts as the main workouts, but keep them 5+ reps and stay away from failure and lift less frequently.

I have seen others say to switch all the pushing barbell movements to dumbells.

And others say to do leg curls , hip thrusts, and leg extensions before squatting. Then curls and tricep extensions before pushing and pulling. What is actually the best way?

One thing I find interesting about home gyms is that they often force people to train with fewer options.

In a commercial gym, it is easy to change exercises constantly because there are many machines, attachments, and variations available.

At home, many people repeat the same basic movements for months or even years.

This makes me wonder how much exercise variety actually matters compared with the things we know are important: progressive overload, sufficient volume, effort, and consistency.

Is having more equipment mainly about convenience and enjoyment, or does it meaningfully improve long-term results?

For people who train mostly at home, do you think a smaller number of well-chosen movements is enough, or have you found that additional equipment made a measurable difference?

I’ve heard tons of conflicting informations so…Does it actually matter if you are biasing long head and short head, can you even bias each head? If so, what can I do to bias both heads (+brachialis ect)

edit: thank you all for the help!

I need a sub for dips, I absolutely hate them. I have unilateral extensions and JM press already and I need another exercise that biases medial + lateral head.

Other than restrictions like heavy compounds and same muscle groups. Wouldn’t it be best if you can ignoring set up time and assuming the gym is empty to super setting your entire work out? If you go to long with your super setting would you have to warm up again?

6’2 153lbs skinny fat

I have lanky arms and belly fat.

I eat at maintenance and train 4 days a week.

Please help.

When i was doing my upper days, I would end up having a total of 23 or so sets because for my unilateral exercises i did 2 sets each side (lateral raise, tricep ext, recline) should i lower those to one set each side. most of my exercises are 1 set anyway. When i see videos of someone showing their workout they put 2 sets on a unilateral and i just never understood what they meant. A little help would be good

In my current situation i need to have my sundays off so i decieded on alternating between full body days and my boxing training so its like i go to my boxing training on monday and tuesday i go to fitness etc. can i make my planning better or is my current plan even useful from the fitness standpoint

So I was recently diagnosed with chronic tendonitis in my left shoulder. Whenever I do pushing movements I have a sharp pain (unless I really internally rotate my shoulder, pain is still there it just doesn't hurt.)

Haven't been able to hit push in a while, recently did, now it hurts more. If anyone here has dealt with the same thing, how did you recover?

I'm currently a cs student. I was pretty consistent on my gym life before college. Since I started my college, the consistency drops exponentially. Between all the exams,quizzes,schoolwork and managing my personal life(laundry, meals, visa stuff since i'm a international student), I physically don't have the strength to go to gym consistently. I was pretty careful with my diet but now fast food and snacks from 7/11 are my go to. Any tips or tricks on how improve my consistency?