I've been following a program that I found works for me. It has a few of the MAX-OT principles.

My lifts are definately going up. But I just don't feel like I'm doing enough! I spend Mondays on chest. A large part of this is on the decline hammer machine. Using a working set of 300lbs I lift it 6 times 2 sets. The 5 lift is almost too much for me, and the 6th I will usually be able to push out, but I definately can't do 7. After my 3 minute recover I am able to do the exact same thing. Usually I only do 2 sets...but it doesn't feel like enough. I can't remember the last time I even got sore. I realize soreness is not an indicator of a good overload. I am making gains but are they enough? Should I add another set in there? (I used this as an example but this applies to all of my lifts. If I wait out my 3 minutes I can do it again. I tried just to see how many sets I could get.

I guess if your lifts are going up you are getting stronger, but do you want to do Powerlfiting or Bodybuilding? Yea, sometimes I don't think that I am doing enough either. Certain bodyparts... like my arms, I feel like they don't get enough quality training. I am currently experimenting with different bodyparts and going on instinctivly how my body looks and feels. I think all this scientific information confuses the muscle building process. When my legs looked the best ever... I wasn't doing squats!! I was doing Leg Extensions, Leg Presses and Hack Squats. All machine work and my legs looked the best. Even though that conflicts with every article you will ever read about Leg training. So I guess I can't knock a guy who does 30 sets for biceps and 30 sets triceps when he has the best arms in the gym? Even though everyone knows that's overtraining, somebody forgot to tell his arms that? I guess I am going on a rant here, but the authority on what is the best muscle building program should be your body. One of Arnold's old sayings was... "People who recite scientific studies are just afraid of hard work." He also said that being sore is a GOOD indicator of having a good tough workout. My legs are uasually sore a good four days after training them... I don't have a good scientific explanation other than they are being forced to grow back stronger from all the stress/overlaod/exaustion/burn... whatever???? And they happen to be my best bodypart visually?? Especially with legs, people will recite any type of data or programs telling them they don't have to go all out on legs. Who wants to be sore, that's no fun?? Lol... yea, really going on a rant here.

So I am taking a new approach and really seeing how my body responds to different training methods. And regardless of what people think, overloading the muscle isn't the only way to build it. I started to read the MAX-OT guide (someday I will continue reading it...lol) and it just sounded very opinionated on this and that. Like a sales pitch for AST (Don't know what there relation is to MAX-OT) and their products. Allthough, it's nice to hear someone else's view on things. But, one of the things they mention is that finishing your last set with a lighter weight is counterproductive to the muscle building process. I always thought so myself... but when I started reading some of my journals from a year ago I was doing this and it said that I looked the best ever!!! And that I was getting complements on how I looked. So somewere along the line I got lost if I didn't continue using this method. For instance this was a chest routine that I was doing a year ago that my journal documented:

Chest
Incline Bench Presses - 4 Sets
135x10, 175x8, 205x6-8, 185x6-8
Flat DB Presses - 4 Sets
80x8, 100x6-8, 95x6-8, 90x6-8
Incline DB Flyes - 3 Sets
45x8, 60x6-8, 50x6-8
Dips - 2 Sets
BWx12, BWx10-12

That flyes in the face of all kinds of scientific data. The bold face print would be considered the heavy set and every thing after would... I guess be considered back reps. I believe this is something called reverse pryramiding or something?? I know some of the older Bodybuilders followed this type of style... a couple that I can think of are Lee Labrada and Dorian Yates (Early in his career, but with less sets... I believe he droped the weight like 20% or so after completing his heaviest and most important set). So I guess I am just trying to say that we should all experiment with different kinds of reps ranges, rest periods and styles to see what works for us. One of my old journals also said that my arms looked the best when I was doing 20 sets for biceps???

I'll have to agree with Weapon X.

Every other week I perform a very intense workout of the legs at 6 sets.

However, on another day, I'll perform 8 "very intense" sets for the biceps!

Both respond well, even though the legs are much, much bigger than the biceps! That's just from my instinct and listening to what your body is telling you.

Some muscle groups respond better to more or less sets. Like for the biceps, I have heard about cutting the sets in half to like 4? I tried that and my biceps looked skinny compared to 8 sets. I tried over 10 sets for the legs, but that overtrained them, which made me rely on the 6 set training and that brought more gains.

I always try to observe or feel, in your mind, how much pump and exhaustion you get from your workouts.

I know that if my biceps get massively pumped up after a workout, but don't feel exhausted, no gains. The other way around though, with endured pump and exhausted feeling in the biceps--soreness and gains.

Jeff