Greg Doucette WRONG about 1 Set to Failure ( 

TRY my evidence based, 1 set to failure system HERE www.goldenerasystem.com

When I started working out I did ten sets of ten on almost everything 6 days a week. I was 18 years old 160lbs and gained about 5 pounds of muscle in a year and plateauing for the next three years. Because of work I cut back to 3 sets of 10 four days a week. I gained 15 pounds and my strength shot up massively. My schedule at work got even busier so, I cut back to 1 set of 10 , three days a week and gained 20 pounds the next 4 months and got very strong! Now I’m 53 and still gaining (very slowly) on one workout a week. It seem the bigger and stronger I got, the less I could train and still make gains.

One set to failure, IS all one need. The key is to perform it correctly (slow as mud), and to proper failure. As you say, the issue is that most people do not understand what real failure is...they have not been there...

A big reason for the skepticism: people pay quite some money for their gym membership and feel cheated if they only have to spend 2x20 minutes there per week. So to „maximize“ their investment they overtrain.. 🙈

Coach Greg has the right idea, "train Harder than last time". Except that without proper rest/recovery periods between last time and next time would lead to over training. Train to failure, write every set down on a journal, rest and recover, beat your numbers from last time and repeat.

Keep in mind everyone... anybody who uses a professional bodybuilder as an example has lost the argument right off the bat. These are genetically gifted individuals with anabolic steroids who can tolerate and will actually see benefit from more volume compared to a *non drug enhanced individual with average genetics. It is an irrelevant comparison since MOST of YOU will not be using anabolic steroids and MOST of YOU have average genetics. We're NOT talking about "elite populations" here. (Which are rightfully excluded from properly conducted exercise science research). We're talking about NORMAL people...

Yooo. Been training like a normie for years, but I’ve actually put on a lot of muscle. 6’1, 210, 9%bmi. When I saw Jay at first I didn’t believe. I’ve been doing 3 15min workouts a week and I’m getting huge….and very strong. Even my dunks have gotten better from my quick(but brutal)leg day. Don’t listen to Greg, unless it’s about gear 💊

I just started HIT last month. Bro I’m in love with it. I have a masters in ex. sci. The training principles make perfect sense and are very logically sound

I've been in the gym for 45 years since I was a teen. Only after finding Jay here on RU-vid and taking his advice to the letter, training one set only, have I seen visible improvements at every visit to the gym. All through my prime years, 20s and 30s, I didn't improve as fast as I am now I'm in my 60s. I've never looked better. Gutted I didn't find jay years ago, but better late than never.

As I've got better at these workouts, I do alot of rest pause sets as well as drop sets. The gains keep coming.

The system only calls for 1 set per exercise but it's not just 1 exercise. Dorian did up to 4 per body part if i remember correctly

I do one set but doing it just for maintainance to keep what i have got at 70 years old and been training 55 years works for me

Greg's argument doesn't make sense. He's essentially contradicting himself, he's telling people to train harder while keeping volume up?? If you actually train that hard then you will need much fewer sets to get an appropriate stimulus.

One set to failure on all exercises is just too hard for a lot of people, they don’t want to know they are pussies. They want to look in the mirror and play with their phones rather than punish themselves. 😂

I am training with machines 3x a week one set , its working I am done in 20mim to 30min per session. I do reps until I can not move the weight. Pec fly Chest press Row Lat pull down Shoulder press Lateral raise Bicep curl Dip machine Tricep push down 10sec up and 10sec up Than 1x a week legs and Ab I practice one set of pullup and pushup

I started at 14 with an Orbitron weight set and a bench. I was told to lift as much as I could. I did. I probably weighed 140 lbs. 3 years later. I started at 130 lbs. The summer I turned 17 I lifted at a Nautilus studio. Twelve exercises, 1 set to failure. In three months I weighed 150 lbs. For the most part I have used HIT since. As I am 2 months from 60 HIT/Super Slow works best now.

I do a SuperSlow Big5, to failure, (+assists to negs & isos if time's short). 2nd sets?: Ridiculous. I'd need to reduce load50%, *_&_* take a 30min break to move the load at all.

on point video👌how epic would it be to see Jay taking Greg through a HIT session

Greg has a point. Most people will not have the will power to make that one set hard enough. It isn’t comfortable, and 95% would fail. But training 4 sets with 10 reps, with 1-2 minutes pause in between sets, is obviously very inefficient. The first 5-6 reps of each set is junk volume. It’s only the last hard reps that really count. The middle ground is rest-pause sets. It eliminates the junk volume at the beginning of ordinary sets.

"just because you paid a college to teach you utter nonsense does not mean you know anything" .. classic ! actually, it means your fooliah

Love it ! I’ve been training Mike Mentzer way since the 80’s , average genetics here , natural , and this just works 👍👍

Me and my brother have been on GES for 2 months now, my brother was skeptical at first, and within a month of seeing his progress he swears by 1 set to failure now as well. People give us some funny looks at the gym, but when they see the sweat, hard breathing, and the extreme exertion out of us the funny looks soon turn to looks of intrigue and interest

I’m a video, Please post your 7 years of client photo body transformations for us. Filing cabinets of workout charts doesn’t show us much. 50-70 sessions per week for 7 years. Doubt it. Unless these are 30 min sessions. Post the transformation pics. Ppl will be more likely to believe your claims.

Jay, can you talk about why your workout looks very different than watching Dorian Yates workout, both being a HIT workout ? Thx !

congrats on 20k subs, don't forget us when you're at 200k 😉

I like Greg overall but his opinions on certain things has always made me think twice about what he says because for someone with a kinesiology background as well as his experience, he says some extremely outright falsifiable stuff. I think he was reasonably correct in his assessment though that I think intensity is such a mitigating factor in the single set protocol. And many people simply can’t channel that.

I think there's a major point that's missing, what is the fitness goal? Greg does mention that one set to be healthy is enough. Is being healthy your fitness goal, or is it competing in a weightlifting competition? Competing in the Olympics? 2 entirely different goals that require significant differences in training.

Another aspect of training to failure is to have the most valid record-keeping. If you stop at 8 reps, & do 10 next time, did you improve by 2, or could you have done 10 the 1st session?

Much appreciated for teaching me this method of training..I first saw you on a vid with Elliot Hulse, it has spared so much , much needed extra time, with excellent results.. so thank you for busting the myth about training I used to believe

the thing is most people who do sets after sets won't even give the 1 set properly to failure a try. so why do they say it don't work I have been doing this for about 2 years after years of so called volume training and got way better results doing it this way. keep up the good content bro 👌

At first I thought that greg knew a lot about exercise, as it turns out, he knows almost nothing about exercise 😂

Greg, just proved everything you said 😀😀😀😀

Gotta stop putting everyone under one umbrella. One set may work for some not for everyone

Very good comments, thanks!

Seems like it comes down to how you perform the reps. If you are banging out your 10 reps quickly you will definitely need more sets to fatigue the muscles properly. But if you are doing grueling max failure sets you don't need any more

All that is needed is just enough to elicit an adaptive response.

Like Mentzer said, our bodies physiology is all the fucking same. We need intensity to stimulate muscle growth, adequate recovery before growth even happen. Why is there even an argument about how many sets. I guess it's different when you're on the roids and volume and shit form can work ..a little.

Greg misunderstood. He thought the other guy said one set per muscle, which is why he said 3-5 sets per muscle twice per week is what research showed. Also, 2 sets for an exercise can be more productive depending on the context. Depends on the individual's recouperative ability.

Although you are incorrect with the belief that only training 1 set to failure is optimal, I feel most people need to apply a lot of the concepts. A vast majority of people do not train nearly hard enough. Junk volume is everywhere and you will get more out of 1 set to failure, than 4 of just going through the motions.

Tom Platz would train legs once a fortnight! Most of it based around 1 hard set of squats (maybe a drop set as well; he might have done leg extensions and curls as well).

dorian yates in his training videos does explosive concentrics and controled excentrics, but you recommend slow af concentrics, why?

I agree. I also like to do on biceps for range of motion real slow, at the end half reps, even baby reps, and sometimes to extend the set a drop set. on other movements I lift normally until I start to slow down then I do the kind of reps you were showing here. On the big lifts I like to do two sets I like to do a back offset because I like the way it feels after I just did The heavier set

You should talk to Bart Kay and/or look at his videos he is an exercise physiologist.

I use to do 3 -5 hard sets and now I do one set with no pauses and muscles constantly loaded until true failure and I'm smoked!!!! I swear in one week I can see the difference!!!

One set training led me to bodybuilding contest wins and to have competed in the 2008 Natural Olympia. Trust me this works

what if I do high volume but everything I do is to failure or a drop set (repeated constant drop sets constitute volume)???????

It’s highly unlikely that a new trainee will have the necessary skill set to carry a set of anything to failure in those first few weeks , especially learning the squat .

Last week I did introduce a friend to workout. I did teach him how to perform a good set with proper technique and doing slow reps ect. He did understand everything immediately. He said that it was logic and that he got surprised about how most of the people that he was seeing in the gym, was doing fast reps, using momentum. He told me that he thinks that machines are better than free weights for getting muscle failure because of that he doesn't need to worry about stabilizing the weight, you only need tu push in the correct place and form. He is a person that wasn't exposed go fitness industry, never watched a RU-vid fitness influencer, never read any magazine... Hes mind is not poisoned by bad advice, marketing and all the believes that involve fitness industry. That's why he could get to those conclusions mostly by himself, because I didn't told him that much.

I like the Nick Walker approach. 3 sets: Warm up, Main set, drop for blood flow set

I think the key emphasis to HIT isn't really one set to failure. It's working the muscle and then giving them time to recover. The latter of which is often not the case. Whether you use one set, two sets, or more. The point is to trigger an adaption response and then allow that response to happen.

jay vincent doesn't like youtube drama lol

Even if high intensity only produced the same results at volume training its still much better because it takes far less time!.

You are both right to be fair both styles work but not for everyone. I’ve done every split going mostly high volume I’ve just recently started HIT and I love it. I’ve recorded all my workouts for years and high volume work I tend to plateau quicker and at times when I get stuck I used to put the weight up and add more exercises and reps and sets and I even started to go backwards so it’s true that the more you do the worse off you can get for me anyways. But with HIT my reps and weight are going up and have been each week I’ve even got to the point where I am litterly doing one set to failure after the warm up phase. And the sets and weight are going up that tells me it’s working. I’ve trained with a few people tho who have been doing similar programs it’s based on Dorian Yates not Mike there is more volume then mentzers and it’s not working for them. They’ve went back to higher volume programs and there growing again 🤷. This is why it’s essential to track your progress which I’m surprised a hell of a lot of people don’t do when they go to the gym they just wing it.

I've seen Brad Schoenfeld's idea of 'failure'. In his case, *_of course_* , do another set; the first one was BS. If a 'top trainer' like Schoenfeld doesn't know what failure is , how can we expect the average novice to ever train properly? The fact: When you start to bog down, the rep's become SuperSlow no matter how fast you tried to go, & your discomfort's telling you that this was a mistake, *_the next rep's when the most progress is stimulated_* . If you can do another set, you faked the first one.

The only thing I’m not sure about are the super slow reps Vincent. Slow negative yes , but I think a more powerful 1-2 second positive is needed to maximise gains?

My sets last about 70 seconds. Anything beyond one correctly preformed all out set is a junk set!!!

You seemed more polite in this video. No name calling no insults. Are you taking a new approach to critiquing others? Regardless keep them coming.

Great content. And sound logic. Maybe for the next video you could include some client progress pictures.

Great content Jay…kudos on the video editing…excellent!

I’m trying to figure out if I’m being punked by Greg or not. Nothing like a baseless chart with zero evidence and missing a lot of key information to start the day off…

Why is Greg using helium every time he is on cam?

Can these principles be also applied to weighted chin-ups and dips?

Someone told me to never take advice from a roided up bodybuilder with merch to sell

I'm a don't knock it till I've tried it type of guy... I done programs like super squats one working set 20 forced reps and it's brutal... So I'm trying HIT just to change it up a bit...I find that drop sets are taking me passed failure... For example weighted chins to bodyweight chins to band assisted chins to negative chins one working set...

One set per exercise but how many exercises per muscle ?

I agree i think intensity is the xfactor.. i do 5 pushups dips and pull ups in-between every set i do and i can tell you i surpassed so many of my buddies at the gym in strength because i never take rest in-between sets

Your messaging/delivery has improved a lot. Great job.

Why does Greg always come across like a proper Nugget??

All the little fools on saying 1 set is a fake, it works great, as many including myself have got great results from 1 set to failure,

What sort of personality wants to spend full-time doing weights? What sort doesn't? . If one is continually resistence training, how much energy can the body have left for muscle building? . How many serious sets do these bodybuilders actually do (as opposed to what their publicity suggests)?

Hi Jay. I corrected your shifty technique a while back. Hope you have stopped tucking your chin bending your neck !

Exactly 💯 mike menzer was the very best , I so wish he was still with us . Love you Mike and thank you

So i actually like both of you very much. I get the titles are to capture attention; i would appreciate if you both got together and did a crossover...you do his typical workout and he does yours. I think your audiences would appreciate...and i hope given his notoriety in the youtube space at the moment, he isnt "too high and mighty" (doubt he is but hard to know). There are good takeaways from both! would love to see it and thanks again for the knowledge.

For refined routines it's a great tool to use at least

I don't know where Greg gets this magical number of 5 sets from. He says 10 sets are better than 5 if you are half assing your sets but fails to see that logic taken further would lead to 1 set instead of 5 sets

You’re getting torched from 20 different directions. LMAO along with most everyone else with a shred of common sense. “Evidence Based” from the early to mid 20th century. Yep, that’s why I still smoke a carton of cigarettes every week. Everyone knows smoking is good for you.

One set might be all you need. But many earth HIT converts suggested 2 sets -including Arthur Jones. It’s extremely uncomfortable and taxing to push a set to absolute failure.

I am currently recovering from multiple strains and injury. I usually don't listen to anyone who says my way is the only way and everyone else is wrong. Millions of people have built great physiques with high volume. I know and athlete who lost size and strength doing HIT. Everyone has different responses...no one size fits all...sorry Jay. But I am gonna try this style for 3 months because it seems.appropriate for me at the time. I am recovering... short on time and need a joint friendly program since I am 57. We shall see. I start today

Mentzer is my idol but I prefer 2 sets with less time under tension because I hate very slow reps

How many reps should I be hitting, or does that depend on the exercise!!?? Also I'm using lighter weights to try work on my form first, I have an incline bench with dumbbells and a barbell, the point I'm making is, do I need a gym to hit all body parts??!!

Jay....quick questions for clarity: Let's say that 12 -15 reps is my goal to failure. Now, does that mean that the weight stays the same throughout the number of reps to that failure? OR what if I get to failure at 10, do I take off the extra weight or get a spotter in order to achieve the full 12? If so, should I then have the spotter remove additional weight so I can make it to 15? Technically, if the spotter removes more weight at 15, I could keep going to 30 to reach "failure"...so when is "failure" actually reached? Please clarify. Thanks a million!

It would be amazing if you guys collaborated with stuff. Same with Derek from More Plates More Dates. I mostly just wanna see you guys shit all over Mike O'Tren

i would like to see you react to any mike isreatel video about training, seeing as how he is someone who actually conducts studies on hypertrophy

Greg Doucette is probably already filming

Both arguments are strong but before I pick a side I would like to know who? If any took the mRNA vaccine? And will there be an answer?

Good video Jay! I just wanted to ask would it be counterproductive to do a warmup set before one set to failure?

The fitness industry on RU-vid is basically all the idiots that hang around the gym posing and buying the latest pre workout , Jay has just established his alpha male status

1 set per exercise makes a lot of sense if done correctly according to the research. Also, one set to muscle failure is possible with 1 set just as Greg explained by "breaking in" the client. Of course, you wouldn't have an elderly client perform squats to failure with their own body weight. You gradually break them in with lower weights (preferably machine squat) you can adjust for the client. Eventually, the client will have progressed to bodyweight squats.

Warm up the muscle Sith 2= 3 easy short sets first

If greg responds , and 99% He does cause you're brillant, I feel we have a long serie of back and forth right there lol

Only two workouts per week? So gow should we do the One set per exercise? Do full body each WO?

Henneman's size principle actually held up to scrutiny as well. They've tested it over and over and the result always supports the theory.

I have been training 1 set to failure for 15 years now. Anyone with the objective of gaining a combination of size and accompanying strength should be training with the 1 set to failure method. Firstly, in studies Adenosine Triphosphate, a molecule found in cells, that is responsible for producing energy are affected for several days after a resistance training session. Secondly, several studies have proven that human growth hormone levels are much higher after a max set versus a set NOT taken to failure. I just did my workout today and thought, I cannot do anymore! I NEVER use machines, so this definitely has an impact on the effectiveness of this type of training technique. My rule of thumb: Use a full range of motion Incorporate a post failure intensity producing technique (e.g. rest pause, drop set, forced reps, pre-exhaust set, superset, or even a compound set etc.) Keep repetitions in the muscle building range, no lower than 6 reps for any exercise. Keep your rest at the minimum, rest just long enough to recover, which should be at least 2 min between sets for all muscle groups EXCEPT shoulders, for shoulders 1.5 minutes should be adequate. When I was younger, I was able to barbell squat 225 pounds for 25 reps, using a slow and controlled pace, think 3.5 - 4 minutes to complete that one set. I'd rest 1 minute and pump out 3-4 more reps, but usually could not get 1 more rep than 4. I'd rest 2.5 minutes and perform a superset of leg extensions + lying leg curls. For the leg extensions I would perform 12-20 reps, moving at a cadence of 4 seconds up, 2 second contraction, and 4 seconds down, so that single set would take at least 2 minutes, but could take around 3 minutes. I would perform partials until I could not move my legs at the end of the set. Then I'd rest 30-60 seconds and perform lying leg curls with the same cadence, though at the end of the set I would drop the weight by 10-20 pounds and pump out 4-6 reps. My legs would be so fatigued by the end of the lying leg curls I could hardly walk. I'd pump out 2 calf raise sets with the same cadence as the leg extensions and lying leg curls. My legs would be so fatigue I hardly could get to the car. It sounds easy until you try it.

I actually appreciated that you let Greg talk here...and interestingly enough he agrees with much of what you have been saying all along...especially at the end..Greg mentions personal preference and 99 percent of the population cant train like Dorian on and on. Also he believes in less sets with more intensity. He is not a high volume guy at all. Great video it would be kool if you could interview Greg or vice versa.

You get DESTROYED

I follow mike mentzers program for 3.months now.. Also my gym friend that have train 34.years 5.days a week.. He didnt belive in this at first but now he do pr in almost every muscle parts training....we do one week slow positive/negative.. Next week only slow negatives whit a pause on the top...people have to know there is not just one set... You start low just to get contacct whit the right muscle.. Then you add weights 2.times or one time so the 3or 4 set is al out to failure slow ones... You shal do the last set 70%of your max capacity... If you do it right you want to die the last set.. Even greg doucette would feel same.. Dorian yates only train 45.min 3-times in week.. He went al out in last set... People that dont belive in this training dont do it right or dont have the mentality strenght to do it... It depends on your goals whit training to... I loved to train 5.days in week 4x12-15 on each body parts.. And you wil grow from tjis to... If you want to the stage. You have to change training to mentzers way to... It gives you mass and strenght.. Dont forgett you are not growing in gym... Your body grow when you rest.. Train different body parts each day is not the same as rest.. Your nervous system your heart and lounges need to rest... To grow.. Good luck out there 💪🙏

Wait.., Greg started training at 10 years old - I wonder if that's why puberty never happened for him. The guy might have had a voice like Lee Marvin if only he'd started lifting at a more mature age.

Greg thinks it’s all about sets. In fact, it’s all about Progressive overload!! So in order to make progress, that person would have to make progress 5x in a row!! Whereas one set to make progress is much more reasonable, and sparing you recovering from the next 4 sets of fatigue (not even stimulating more growth in those sets)

I hope Coach Greg sees this, and this opens a dialogue with you over this, but something tells me he won't 😞 Looking forward to this!

One thing that threw me off at first using this training method was the lack of usual muscle soreness. Ive lifted weights on and off since my 20's and I'll be 59 soon. Ive always done 3-6 sets per exercise and what I would always rely on to tell me if it was ok to lift weights again was the presence or absence of any lingering muscle soreness. I really don't seem to get the soreness using the slow intense method so I have to keep track of the days since last workout so I don't train again too soon.