More fun with Recumbent Experimentation – ​​BionicOldGuy

On Thursday I did my upper body strength training followed by an easy walk on my recumbent. On Friday I tested the recumbent with a 28″ rear wheel and a 20″ front. I did a little better on my two local short tests, the digital loop and the “New Morgan Hill criterium” (that’s its name on Strava). These are good trials because they are shorter (one is about a quarter mile and the other half a mile) and easy to get to, so I think I will be going to speed trials in the future. Thursday’s upper body workout posted herethe ride is here. Friday walks are here and here.

Are multiple sets better than single sets?

On the subject of strength training, at “Sweat Science» column in Outside magazine, Alex Hutchinson reported on a study comparing multi-set vs. single-set training for “hardcores” (people who struggle to gain muscle, like me). It showed that they had better results in multi-set training. He pointed out that this may be important for older adults who may have been inactive until now, so they have lost muscle mass and are trying to regain it. However, this study made the same mistake in comparing one set to a multi-set set that many researchers make: single-set training was done at the same intensity as multi-set training. One advantage of single set training over multiple sets is that you can push yourself harder because you know there are no more sets. Therefore, a proper comparison is between higher intensity single sets vs multiple sets should the single set be higher intensity. Also, there are various tricks such as “failure training” and “slow negatives” that can be used to convince more than one set [1]. So I’ll stick to single set training, which has worked well for me for years, but make sure I push myself pretty hard.

bibliographical references

1. Westcott, Wayne and Tracy D’Arpino, High Intensity Strength Training: The most effective and efficient means of building muscle and strengthHealthy Learning (2015).