High vs Low Rep

[Guniang]

What the significance of doing High or low rep???

[Hardcore]

I love this question.. heard about it 1 million times..

when you perform reps lower than 6, it does make you stronger as time goes, but the gains come from the adaptations in the nervous system; but the muscle fibers do not hypertrophy, thts why when you see certain powerlifters they can be real strong but they dont look as strong as they are.

whereas, if you train medium reps, for example 6 - 12 range; it is more metabolic and cellular; but moderately neuro.. thats why if you realise in bodybuilding the rep range is always 6 - 12 reps thats why bodybuilders always look stronger than you think they are... compared to powerlifters..

if you train real high rep range, for example 13 onwards; this range promotes mostly metabo.ic and endurance; a small degree of hypertrophy

this is real quick summary.. if you need more info just post more

[Guniang]

what if u train wif a mix of high reps to low reps

[Hardcore]

Guniang said:

what if u train wif a mix of high reps to low reps

is good to switch around as shocks to your body cause gradually your body will get use to your way of training

[hermanchauw]

Hardcore said:

I love this question.. heard about it 1 million times..

when you perform reps lower than 6, it does make you stronger as time goes, but the gains come from the adaptations in the nervous system; but the muscle fibers do not hypertrophy, thts why when you see certain powerlifters they can be real strong but they dont look as strong as they are.

You can have hypertrophy by doing low reps also, just up the volume by doing more sets. This way you get strength as well as size and not the fatigue.

Read Pavel's Power to the People for more info.

[Toycar]

Heavy weights with low reps are the best for hypertrophy and strength gain. In fact im trying a routine, 3 reps x 10 set. The fast twitch fibre has the most potential for hypertrophy. But they barely lasts 10 secs. Therefore heavy weights and low reps is optimal for such short peroid of time.

[Greentea]

hermanchauw said:

You can have hypertrophy by doing low reps also, just up the volume by doing more sets. This way you get strength as well as size and not the fatigue.

Read Pavel's Power to the People for more info.

Yes . agreed with the point here , muscle hypertrophy can be achieve by high sets(volume) with low reps , it's better than low sets and higher reps .
for
eg.
eg 1. 8sets of 120kg bench - 3-5 reps
instead of 3 sets of 70kg bench press with 10-12 reps

[Everlast]

Greentea said:

Yes . agreed with the point here , muscle hypertrophy can be achieve by high sets(volume) with low reps , it's better than low sets and higher reps .
for
eg.
eg 1. 8sets of 120kg bench - 3-5 reps
instead of 3 sets of 70kg bench press with 10-12 reps

Wat would be the resting time in btw the sets?

[Toycar]

1 to 2 mins, depends on how heavy

[panda]

;D
All of u guys hv ur own points. Personally, i feel that is no wrong or correct ways of training. All research and text infos we can find are guidelines. At times, u will see contrasting comments from professionals. Guess the most important is SELF. We should be fully aware on which program works for us. Be sensitive to our progress and when training, the key thing is the correct "feel". But is a known practice to practice periodisation on a yearly basis, like 1st two months on hyperthrophy, then on endurance etc....

[Greentea]

Everlast said:

Wat would be the resting time in btw the sets?

I would choose less than 1 minute between each set to train your nerve how to prepare for heavy sets.
Reason for this high volume less rep is that , muscle hypertrophy depend on the tension given and the time under the tension .

Eg 1 . If you do 3 sets of 12 reps with a tempo of 3 seconds eccentric , 1 second pause and 1 second concentric , the time under tension is 1min .

Eg.2 if you decide to do heavier rep , let's say , 3 sets of 4 repeition with the same tempo , the total time understand tension will dramastically decrease even though tension has increase .

Conclusion of both , for the first example , time understand tension increases , but tension decrease due to decrease weight just to increase rep range .
the second example , the tension increase but the time under tension decrease .

So what will be a better choice ?

Instead of 3 sets of 12 reps , do 12 sets of 3 reps . with this , both tension and time under tension is kept high , thus provide a better training . rest interval must not be long .

[Greentea]

panda said:

;D
All of u guys hv ur own points. Personally, i feel that is no wrong or correct ways of training. All research and text infos we can find are guidelines. At times, u will see contrasting comments from professionals. Guess the most important is SELF. We should be fully aware on which program works for us. Be sensitive to our progress and when training, the key thing is the correct "feel". But is a known practice to practice periodisation on a yearly basis, like 1st two months on hyperthrophy, then on endurance etc....

Quite true

[Everlast]

Greentea said:

I would choose less than 1 minute between each set to train your nerve how to prepare for heavy sets.
Reason for this high volume less rep is that , muscle hypertrophy depend on the tension given and the time under the tension .

Instead of 3 sets of 12 reps , do 12 sets of 3 reps . with this , both tension and time under tension is kept high , thus provide a better training . rest interval must not be long .

I think taking less than 1 min of rest for lifting 85% or 3RM of ur personal best is much too strenous for the natural lifter. Lifting heavy load w/o enuff time for adequate recovery could led to fatique and breakdown of form which could increase chances of injury.

Dunno abt the rest, personally when using perimeter of 8x3 reps, i usually need >= 2mins to recover sufficiently for my next set.

[jonathan]

By the way, for anyone who wants to try this low-rep-high-set-heavyweight program, here's some advice.

A training programme may call for 10 sets, but it's not necessary to start off immediately with 10 sets. Begin with 5 or even 3 . Use 5 or 6RM instead for weight. Rest for 3 minutes or more if necessary.

Think of 10 sets of 3 reps using 3RM weight with a minute or two of rest per set as a goal to work up to rather than an immediate starting point.

[lok3]

doing more sets and heavier weight is actually much more intense compared to low sets lighter weights..
Imagine workdone for is WD=FxDxRepsxSet
Assume distance is constant as p therefore if u were to do a 100kg set(200kgxPx12x3) compared to going heavy(250kgxpx6x6), ur pushing much more reps per exercise thus possibily leading to either a more intense workout or overtraining which is more probable.

Thus if u assume that u are puting in the maxx effort in every rep during the 12x3 set, doing the 6x6 (with effort as a constant), the set will kill u ;D

So if u argue that u can pull off both at the same time, ull probally do better sticking to either high reps or low reps.