Whether you think it is optimal or not doesn't matter. The facts speak for themselves. Although we are all physiologically similar, our variance in recovery speed and stimulus and motor fiber recruit differ. Comon, this is so obvious, don't try to convince yourself otherwise, it's basic physiology.
Thanks for the lecture, professor.
Try working out with high intensity for 12 sets. If you can, you aren't really training hard. There is an inverse relationship between duration and intensity. This could probably be classified as fact -a good example is sprinting. Sprint as hard as you can until you collapse. Notice how you eventually collapse? That's because your body can't maintain gut busting intensity for more than a short duration of time.
Now get up. Do it again, until you collapse. And again. And again. After the 3rd or 4rd set you're slow, in a lot of pain, feeling lactic acid burn, and puking your guts. Of course, if you do this every day, not only will you not progressively get faster, you'll probably be sick and lose a great deal of muscle.
Nicely you ignored my point about intensity.
Clearly if you aren't working out hard you can do a lot of sets and still not be grossly overtrained. This is a pump method, what a lot of bodybuilders can do on huge amounts of juice to get bigger without doing anything really hard relative to their capacity.
Whether you think it is optimal or not doesn't matter. The facts speak for themselves
What are the facts again? I must have missed them. The fact that we all have similar physiology but um, different neurological activation patterns or something? That we have different recovery rates? I know that, but one in a million will be able to progress and benefit from vast number of sets at TRUE HIGH INTENSITY, without steroids.
I agree, people who pump somewhat mindlessly with no true methodology can get away with a lot of sets. But they probably won't progress that well (or OPTIMALLY well), unless they are on steroids.