“Single-set” or “multi-set” training?

“Single-set” or “multi-set” training? A question that keeps coming up. Purely intuitively, you'd think that the more advanced trainees are (the longer you've already been doing strength training), the more effort is needed to trigger the training stimulus (hypertrophy stimulus). In this case, however, intuition doesn't match the scientific evidence.

Firstly, someone who's been doing strength training for a long time isn't automatically “advanced”. Just because someone has been doing something for a long time doesn't mean they're doing it a) correctly and b) successfully.

From a scientific point of view, there's no evidence that so-called “multi-set” training is superior to “single-set” training, provided the muscle is worked to exhaustion within one set. As already mentioned, the muscle doesn't adapt to “single-set” or “multi-set” training as such, but to intracellularly activated signalling cascades (which in turn depend on genetic, epigenetic and other factors). In terms of time, however, the time investment (training effort) is considerably lower with single-set training. With a similar training result, the training therefore becomes more efficient. Given that we want to offer our customers a time-efficient and effective method, we focus on performing the exercises once, CORRECTLY, according to the training principles.

That's why we no longer talk about “single-set” and “multi-set” training either, because it's the quality of the exercise execution, not the quantity, that matters. The trigger for the muscle's adaptation is exceeding a certain stimulus threshold. As an image: triggering a growth stimulus for the muscle is comparable to pressing a light switch: pressing the button once (1 set, until no further full repetition through the individually possible range of motion is achievable) turns the light (growth stimulus) on immediately, not gradually. It's the same with training: either the growth stimulus is triggered, or it isn't. With every repetition, you push the switch a bit further, until the light comes on – after the corresponding effort. Once the switch has been flipped and the stimulus for muscle growth has thus been set, no further “sets” are needed. Pressing the light switch several more times doesn't make the room any brighter, after all. Exceeding the stimulus threshold several times (“multi-set” training) doesn't lead to a bigger training effect. Instead, it puts unnecessary strain on the nervous system (an “overdose”).

The training log (the training card) is there to document progress. Since we want our customers to make progress, we're interested in training slightly above the stimulus threshold. It follows that in every session you should try to train, under standardised conditions, to the point where no full movement through the individually possible range of motion is still achievable. Only then can training progress be documented in a meaningful way (standardisation makes it comparable).

Source: Skript Kraft, Scientifics AG