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I've read a lot about size gains vs strength gains, where the difference is substantial and where size is certainly not linear to strength.

  • Strength appears to come from low reps with very heavy weight.
  • Size moreso from high repetitions.

Lately I've been trying out 2 sets for size and 2 sets for strength. So for example for barbell curls I might do this:

  • 8-10 reps of 8kg.
  • 8-10 reps of 10kg.
  • 4-6 reps of 16kg.
  • 4 reps of as heavy as I can (failing on the 4th).

Is this type of training effective, or should I just stick to one thing at a time (like weekly rotation between strength vs size)?

I seem to be breaking past a lot of plateaus in terms of the weight I was able to lift, but I am starting to think I may have slowed my size gains down.

With a goal of mass gain specifically, would this approach put on more size through being able to lift heavier weights in the high rep range? I found it hard to add extra weight each session sticking to 3-4 sets of 8-10. Then again I'm not sure if the much slower progression of weight I am able to lift while sticking to 4 full sets of high repetitions will actually benefit me more over time.

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What are your goals? Are you training for strength or are you training for size? As with all training, specificity is key. You can certainly train for both, but you will not get as much gains in both as you would singly training for one or the other. – JohnP Feb 11 at 1:40
@JohnP The goal is size. In fact, the main reason that I am bothering with breaking it up to include strength stuff is that I figured to gain more size I'll eventually need to lift more weight. – Marty Wallace Feb 11 at 2:05
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Usually I sequence my programs one for strength (8 weeks) one for size (8 weeks) and so on. – user981916 Feb 11 at 12:33

1 Answer

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I think to make it easiest for yourself, you should just follow one of those popular programs like a Wendler 5 3 1 or Starting Strength for at least 6 months and see how you like the results. Starting Strength is a good way to learn the big lifts that give the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to getting strong and big. Both of these programs teach you how to progress and how to customize your workouts to get the desired outcome, like size in your case.

For example, Wendler 5 31 has the main strength component that is based on your current strength levels and then assistance exercises that you can customize for your desired outcome. "Big But Boring" prescribes doing 5 sets of 10 at 50%+ of the training max of your main lift of the day. So for example, on squat day, you do your squats at the prescribed weights and then you do 5 set of 10 squats at a lower intensity.

I would recommend both of these programs for the sake of learning how to do the main lifts and having a program you can just plug and play. You can find them via google.

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I'm not sure that this is answering anything. I'm familiar with and capable of performing those lifts, the question is asking whether breaking sets of those and other lifts into 2x heavy weight low repetition and 2x lower weight and higher repetition sets would be beneficial to a longer term goal of size gains, or whether I should alternate biweekly rather than halfway through a set for maximum results. – Marty Wallace Feb 12 at 7:09
While everything in this answer may be true, it doesn't really answer Marty's question. – Kate Feb 24 at 8:25

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