The Mechanical Advantage: Part 2

How to build a bigger lower body with only one set.

- Vince Del Monte

I know what you’re thinking: “There is no way you can build bigger legs with just one set.” And that’s exactly what I thought myself. But for the past eight weeks I’ve been employing a very specific technique that has made my legs bigger and stronger with just one all-out set per workout per bodypart.

The technique is called “mechanical advantage drop sets” or MADS. Before diving into MADS, let’s give this subject matter some context so that you don’t think this is some sensational clickbait type of article. For everything to make sense, we must discuss an important issue.

In my opinion, the number-one mistake that natural lifters make is doing too much volume. The key is to trigger muscle protein synthesis and then stop training. When done properly, this can sometimes be done in as little as one to two sets per bodypart. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s exactly what I’ve been doing in my latest training cycle with amazing results. I’ve been hitting every bodypart three times per week with only one to two sets per bodypart and a lot of you have noticed some decent changes in my body if you follow me on Instagram (@vincedelmonte).

When you do too much volume, you have a big disparity between protein synthesis and protein breakdown. The more volume you use, the more you break down protein.