Building Muscle Isn't Hard. It's Misunderstood

Summary

The presenter argues that muscle growth is easier to troubleshoot by checking three training factors: technique, effort, and weekly set volume. These factors act as multipliers: doing more of one may not make up for another that is holding you back.

Technique

Use technique that targets the muscle you want to grow.

• Train through a full range of motion you can control and your joints can comfortably handle.
• Choose a weight that lets you keep the movement consistent.
• For back exercises, try thinking, “Elbow down first, then drive the arm down and back,” to help shift the work from your biceps to your lats.

Effort

Make hard sets genuinely challenging.

• Don’t stop just because you’ve reached a planned rep count. Continue until you can’t complete another rep with consistent technique.
• The presenter says muscle growth can be stimulated when you finish a set with 0–3 reps in reserve. Learning to judge that effort takes practice.
• He personally favors taking sets to failure to help people learn what failure feels like, but says it isn’t necessary every time.
• For safety, avoid taking free-weight squats or bench presses to failure when training alone. Machines such as a chest press or pushdown may be safer options.

Weekly volume

Find a weekly volume you can recover from.

• More sets can contribute to growth, though the benefit of each additional set tends to diminish.
• The presenter commonly starts at about 10 sets per muscle group per week, counting indirect work as fractional sets. For example, a bench-press set may count as one chest set and half a triceps set.
• Give more sets to priority muscles and fewer to muscles that are already well developed or are less of a priority.
• Adjust volume based on recovery, energy, sleep, and available training time. If recovery is poor, reduce sets, starting with the exercises that cause the most fatigue.
• Keep added sets controlled and effortful. Aim for the greatest volume you can recover from and fit into your schedule.

Suggested order

1. Improve technique.
2. Push sets harder.
3. Adjust weekly volume.

Presenter and source

• Kevin Lieberwirth — presenter and coach.
• Video: “Building Muscle Isn’t Hard. It’s Misunderstood.”