+ 3 Forget about the numbers
We are accustom to a determined number of reps in a set. Anywhere from 5(strength based) to 12(hypotrophy based) Those are well established principles in the world of weight lifting. A practical starting point when beginning the lifting/muscle building journey. But what about when we have been lifting day in and day out..time to adjust in a way which throws "adjusting" out the window....
We all have abided by the routine one way or another while lifting weights. I know I have! I'd choose the amount of weight for the lift I would be performing and from the jump have a pre determined number to end on. I stuck to it whether or not there was still gas in the tank on that set. Basically short changing my progress due to following the guidelines.
Now why would I stop on 12 reps when 16 reps would of been the actual stopping point? Yes those 4 reps following that 12th one might not have been strict form but those 4 reps were the crucial reps in the set that amount to growth! The way I see it is the reps done with strict form are the ones the body "can" do. The ones the body is accustom to. Well we dont want the body to beat us at this game! So why not focus on the reps the body "can't" do!
What I've learned...and felt...is during a set the initial reps seem too easy...too uniform. I'ts executed largely by muscle memory. They are going through the motions if you will. Even though I'm utilizing t.u.t. When the reps start to get a little shaky and downright ugly...thats when the magic happens! Thats when the mental breaks down and the body reacts with life preserving measures! Physical measures to "survive"
Listen to your body while lifting but ignore the mental "warning" signs while lifting. That is your bodies last resort arguing that, in natural circumstances all this lifting is unneccessary! Well we are'nt in a natural setting...are we. We are trying to push past what is genetically possible! That should be your mindstate each and every session...busting through what is genetically possible! No pre concieved number is going to determine where my workout ends! Lift until you absolutely cannot lift the weight you are repping, then acknowledge the number only to make damn sure you never set the weight down in the future performing that lift during the next go around! Reach that point in a set where you HATE every thought of one more rep...then LOVE the fact that you will rep it! Knuckles
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danariCount when it hurts
I take every set I do to failure. I may have a preconceived rep range in mind which is basically just a guide for me to know how much weight I want to use. I may be shooting for 10 reps with a given weight but sometimes I'll get 12 and other times maybe only 8. Even though I may not have hit the target reps as long as it was to failure to me is what matters. Some days you just have more in the tank and other days you don't. I do like to keep a log of reps/weight though. If I see I am consistently falling below the reps I did previous workouts, then I know something is wrong and needs to be changed. It also helps to let me know if I am progressively overloading the muscle.
Most definitely keeping a log helps. Even adding to it what you might have eaten on a day you were firing on all cylinders and maybe what you did or didnt eat on a day you felt off etc.
What you're talking about is auto-regulation and all of the big guys I know use it in some kind of way. Consciously or unconsciously...you often hear people say Go by feel
This is what they mean. You always want to get the most/or least amount of work your body needs for that day. Depending on how you feel.
In the realms of powerlifting and weightlifting RPE (Rate of perceived exertion) is used often as a term for autoregulation.
There's no powerlifting meet coming up for me, so that's why I take the time to work on my physique but still I implement autoregulation.
Ie.
I do an exercise (as an example)
3x8-10reps @RPE9, meaning I'll choose a weight I could do for 9-11 reps and always stop 1 reps shy of failure.
Great feedback! So in a sense we have reached that place where what is standard becomes a typical hurdle. Exerting the amount of potential the body has for any given day and surpassing it in a sense that we lined up for one step shy, yet passed it! Yes sir!
Its not about how much you move it. Its about how you move it. I lift Dennis james style focusing on the positive and negative and focusing on volume. Time under tension. Pounding the blood in there , breaking down the tissue and then getting the proper nutrients throughout the day. More blood=more breakdown=which equals more growth if the diet is there.
True bodybuilding.
Best reply ever, also Dennis James is as good as it gets in my opinion.
The absolute key like you say brother to all of this!..."feeling" the lift on those reps! It must result in a punctuated stress on the muscle! What you, I, or the next feels is the plateau, is personal. 12 reps was my suicide...I was never blood engorged on the main stay amount! Once I focused on my blast off moment, disregaurding the rep number, is when progress happened. Then followed up with the nutrients necessary to facilitate the breakdown...voila! As you said...true bodybuilding! Knuckles!
The last few years I do every set to failure, even my warmups. I usually start around 30 reps and work my way down to 5-6. Absolute waste using light weights and leaving 20 reps in the tank imo.
Exactly right. We are so incline to "follow". You have established YOUR starting point then worked the sets in YOUR favor. What gasses brother dudebro may be more or less than brother X...