2-2-2 method

It definitely makes sense for us older guys, especially if you also have injuries. I am just getting back to training after 1 year down from a broken foot and I will do something along these lines. I don't know if I will use a A/B pattern, just upper, lower, rest, upper, lower and a catchup day. So 5 days a week. I found a really good video from Lyle McDonald, who's been around for decades. He makes a good case for 1 to 2 sets to failure, then moving on to the next body part. Dorian Yates is promoting this, too. I have a list of his 10 exercises to do. Let me know if you want to see it.
 
This type of training has been around for quite a while on the internet. In the past, they called it HIT popularized in the 1970s by Arthur Jones, the founder of Nautilus. What we saw over time was that no one was really getting the great results they promised. Here is the conclusion from the study used to promote this:

Conclusions​

These findings suggest that single-set routines can be a time-efficient strategy for promoting muscular adaptations in resistance-trained individuals, even when transitioning from higher-volume programs. Training to failure in single-set routines may modestly enhance some measures of muscle hypertrophy and power, but not strength or local muscle endurance.

What this study didn't compare to is more traditional high volume training results.
  • FAIL group: Trained to momentary muscular failure on all exercises
  • 2-RIR group: Trained with 2 repetitions in reserve (submaximal effort)
Anyway, try it and see what you like. We are all very individual so these canned programs don't always work so well for everyone like they claim. I have tried all fo this stuff over my career and low volume, high-load work great for strength sports like powerlifting, high volume 85% loads work great for bodybuilding. If you are just trying to stay in shape, anything will work, short of sitting on the couch. I transitioned from decades of powerlifting to more a bodybuilding type routine. Tried everything to see what works best, and over and over,r I have found that high volume 85% training with a minimum of 10-15 total reps per body part works the best. I am in and out of the gym is less than 45 minutes, 5 days a week. I am 70+. But then again, we are all individual.

This falls right in line with the low-weight high reps stuff that has been pushed for us old folks. Tried it and lost size and strength so fast it was scary. Some of these things are good to throw in for 2-3 weeks as a change, but for me, it is not enough to stimulate growth in my body.

Here is a very good META ANALYSIS that needs to be read

They found that found 10+ sets per muscle per week elicited greater hypertrophy than <10 sets. The findings indicate a graded dose-response relationship whereby increases in RT volume produce greater gains in muscle hypertrophy.

Volume Categories: When sets were categorized per muscle group per week:
  • <5 sets: 5.4% muscle growth
  • 5-9 sets: 6.6% muscle growth
  • 10+ sets: 9.8% muscle growth
Higher vs Lower Volume: Studies comparing higher and lower volumes within the same study showed a 3.9% greater muscle growth advantage for higher volumes (P = 0.03).

Bottom line: There is no “best” muscle-building program; only a best program for a given individual. This complies with the law of individuality.
 
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