+ 7 How many reps should you do???
I have seen some recent posts and some in the past about how many reps and how long should you rest and how long should you work out and .... etc etc. Well, I am certified through ISSA as a trainer and am currently working at a local gym. I have been training people for over 2 years now and I just wanted to share some of my knowledge based on the information I gained through my studies and personal experience. A lot of you may already know this info but then again a lot of you may not and ISSA's way may be different from what you may have learned through a different course of study and please feel free to share that as well. Everyone i'm sure would appreciate it. OK... here we go.
When you are lifting for power (powerlifting) you are looking to stay within a rep scheme of around 1-4 reps with a rest period of a minute and a half to two minutes. The reason for resting this long is because your goal is simple ... GET THAT HEAVY ASS WEIGHT UP AT ALL COSTS! and to do so you need more rest between sets than the average lifter. The time frame given has been proven to give you adequate amount of rest to gain maximum amount of strength for your next set.
For strength and mass you are looking at a rep scheme of 6-8 reps. now when I say 6-8 reps I'm talking about you not being capable of doing more than that amount of reps in one set. you are reaching muscle hypertrophy at this point tearing your muscles down where they will need nutrients and rest to recover and ultimately heal themselves only to become larger than before. This rep scheme is normally used when someone is trying to bulk and gain a lot of size. your rest period you are looking at is a minute to a minute and a half. this gives you adequate rest between sets as well as keeps your T levels and GH levels spiked.
For lean muscle growth without so much the bulk look you want to keep it at around 10-12 reps with 60 second rest periods in between.. no more... no less. 60 second rests between sets will allow you to not only keep your T levels and GH levels spiked but it will also alow you to keep your heart rate elevated enough to burn some fat as well.
For those interested in fat loss and muscular endurance you want to stay at around 15-20 reps with 30 second rest periods. This keeps the heart rate elevated the entire time keeping you sweating and building your lung capacity up. you will still experience a little muscle growth with this scheme but not as much as the prior 2 we just went over. This type of scheme is used typically by an endurance athlete. but can be incorporated into all work out plans to help performance.
Now with the schemes listed above can you use all of them in one work out ? absolutely! There are benefits to all the above schemes and you can get creative with them as well to make your work outs more enjoyable.
An example of doing this is let's say I was going to do chest. I decide to take 3 of the rep schemes above and incorporate them in my chest routine. Here is my actual current chest work out using these 3 schemes.
Bench press- 4 sets with 2 light warm ups of 135x Pyramiding up and resting 60 seconds seconds between each one. set one 225x 8 reps. set two 245x 8 reps set three 255 x 6 reps and set four 265x 6 reps.
I rest one minute then jump into incline dumbells. 4 sets of 10-12 reps but instead of pyramiding i might stay with like the 50 or 60 pound dumbells and really practice form and useing the upper pectorials.( I still use 60 second rests between sets)
I rest once again one minute then jump into some high rep cable flyes. 3 sets of 15-20 reps with 30 second rest periods. I feel this really polishes off my chest routine with and incredible pump and burn working my pectorials to failure.
(I also do abs and biceps on chest day but that's too damn much to type loll) I change routines frequently to prevent homeostasis (muscle adaptation) and keep the body guessing. Hope some of you found this helpfull. and please feel free to add to this info. I am constantly learning every day and am far from having superior knowledge but just wanted to share what i do know for those who give a shit lol! thanks guys and gals!
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I sort of go after the whole Ben Pakulski style of 40. 40 second sets with 40 seconds rests, it seems to work well but you really start sweating, which is great.
Tempo is at a 4010 so 4 seconds negative 0 rest at bottom 1 second lift and 0 second rest at top. That tempo kills!
Just wondering if this is ok and acceptable to use?
TronNegatives are great bro. And I would say this would be more of a muscular endurance type of training yet you are reaching muscular atrophy because of the negatives and the stress you put on your muscles. I would not ONLY use this method because as I'm sure you know Homeostasis kicks in (Adaptation of the muscles) meaning your muscles no longer grow. That's why I would say you could follow the above protocol you listed but combine it with some other rep schemes in the same work out. A 40 second rest is keeping your heart rate up so like you said you will sweat! and burn some fat as well. I wouldn't recommend this if you are trying to bulk or lift for power. Not to say you can't include this in one of your workouts as long as you are lifting heavy as well to bulk and build strength. Decide what physique you want and set your self up a program of 12 weeks set in 3 4 week mesocycles meaning the workouts change every 4 weeks so you keep growing.
Thanks for the post. I've been reading about this a lot and you really set it out in an understandable format. I started doing something similar to your chest workout and really enjoy how I feel after working out. Especially doing variations with back.
Rep range theory doesnt really have a consensus, at least not scientifically. We can see that fibre recruitment is similar for the rep ranges, and that low reps still stimulate the muscle fibres that high rep sessions do. I think, as with most things, trial and error is important. Something you failed to mention is muscle groups. Surely you wouldnt recommend the same rep programming for reverse wrist curls as you would deadlifts.
TronAnd again the knowledge I posted is what I learned from I.S.S.A. and different programs offer different theories on rep range however, I found them all to be very very similar which leads me to believe and also through personal experience that they do work. And I would for sure not reccomend doing the same rep scheme for reverse wrist curls as dead lifts seeing as how generally the two lifts are used for different results. Low reps for dead lifts and higher reps for reverse wrist curls.
Awesome +1
TronHope it helps man. Thanks.
Awesome read bro. Not everyone knows to change it up every couple months. I see it at the gym all the time. Guy doing the same routine he was doing in January. Wondering why he isn't growing.
TronShit bro..I am on my phone and accidentally thumbed you down..I'll give you a thumbs up to make up for it. But yeah if you don't change things up your body adapts and then you stay at a plateau. A lot of people think they know what they are doing and they let their ego get in the way of taking good advice from anyone else.
Good post, thanks.
TronNo problem bro.
Good read. +1
TronThanks bro.
was planning on doing a similar post tron. I myself hit volume a lot squats and hacks 25 reps and up same with leg presses lots of volume I follow tom platz and lee priests work outs. most of the time its volume but then ill through a few heavy weeks in there just to shock the muscle every now and then. for example if im hitting chest Monday, back Tuesday, shoulders Wednesday , legs Thursday , and then my lagging areas Friday I ll do my volume for 4 to 5 weeks keeping track mentally my reps and weight I learned a long time ago theres no need to write things down I listen to my body mind muscle connection. but then for 2 weeks ill hit it heavy dropping my reps down and jacking up the weight for example instead of using the 70 through 100 for incline chest for 12 or more ill start with 100s and go to 140s for 5 to 8 etc etc . but then when I go back to my volume ill go 5 pounds heavier for every lift of every body part or if the reps are not 16 to 25 ill up the reps a little more. I never ever do 1 rep max because if your trying to bodybuild then bodybuild same with power lifting there is no way to do both because unless you dedicate all your time to one or the other neither will receive the attention it needs that and the food intake is quite different for both.
TronI agree totally with everything you just said and am going to incorporate some of what you are doing in my routine. +1 bro.