It is commonly thought that you need to do many sets of an exercise for it to be effective and that is not true. According to the August 26, 1998 article of Sports Medicine, many people believe that at least 3 sets of each exercise are required to elicit optimal increases in strength. However, most of the studies that reported the results of training with single versus multiple sets do not support this idea. Basically, the benefits gained by doing one or 2 sets of an exercise is very close to to the benefits gained by doing more than two sets, so if you’re a busy person and don’t have the time to do multiple sets, you don’t have to, and you can reap almost as many benefits. Besides the benefits of saving time, having only 2 sets of an exercise is good for people in their mid 30’s and beyond, because there is less wear and tear on your body and joints, allowing you to reduce the chance of being injured, and increase your chance of being able to lift heavy amounts of weight until late in your life.
The fact that you know that there is a limited opportunity for you to do your heavy sets, helps keep you at maximum intensity, or another way of saying it is, you only have a couple of chances to blow off some steam – it makes you want to really hit it for those two sets. When you lift, it’s a great time to get mad and take all your frustrations from life out on the weights. In this situation, rage works.