I’ve been around the game for a long time now, and I always have people coming up to me and asking what they can do to get bigger. They always tell me how much time they’ve been putting in at the gym, how many sets, and what reps they are doing. I think that one of the biggest problems for some people who are really dedicated is that they put in too much time and they don’t get the results because they are doing too much. They will ask me how much time I spend in the gym and always comment that I must live in the gym.
Most people are amazed that I only spend about one hour on strength training five days a week. I have talked to some younger college-aged guys, who tell me they are training two hours a day, seven days a week and wondering why they are not seeing results with all the time they are putting in. I am not saying putting in the time is unnecessary, but sometimes overdoing it will not get you results. Once you lose your pump, I believe you should end your workout. As for reps and sets, for small muscle groups you only need 9–12 working sets and larger muscle groups, 15–18 working sets. I have seen people doing 20-plus sets and wondering why they are not recovering and growing. Also, the best gains I have ever had came after I took time off. After every three months of hard training, I always take a week off. This helps my body recover, and when I come back after that week of I feel refreshed and ready to train hard again. I challenge everyone to try this if you are not seeing results and watch how you grow. My recommendations to grow would be to train five times a week for one hour each session and take one week of after every three months. Here is my leg training routine from hell!
