I remember in high school reading countless articles to
figure out what rep range I needed to use to build more muscle. As a skinny kid
that couldn’t put on size, that is all I ever wanted to do and I struggled
doing so.
I enjoyed training in the low rep range and didn’t know any
better so I always stayed with that just thought I wasn’t working hard enough.
I used to watch so many YouTube videos on exercise and one
of the videos talked about these brutal and grueling 15-20 rep workouts and how
it made their skin want to explode. I had to try this!
I tried out this method and holy shit I gained some muscle. For
a kid who struggled putting on any size at all this was the best thing ever. I
abused this rep range until it stopped working, even until I struggled to keep
muscle on.
I saw some good results for the first few weeks and then I
couldn’t seem to get these high reps to work for my body. I had stalled and
began to venture back to the low reps, and what do you know, I saw even better
results than before.
At the time I had no idea why this was happening other than the fact that I was “confusing” my muscles.
Now I see so many people fall into this trap of doing the
same things over and over again. Some people just enjoy that style of workout
and don’t have interest moving away from it. Other people saw results like I
did and get stuck in that range for much longer than they should have.
There are studies on this, about which rep range builds the
most muscle. Effects Of Low- Versus High-Load Resistance Training on
Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Well-Trained Men
So many of these studies have been conducted on this topic
and most of them conclude that high rep ranges build more muscle than lower rep
ranges.
This makes it hard for trainers to get people to buy in on
moving to new rep ranges. These people saw great results at one point using
high reps AND the studies prove that it is superior. So why would they listen
to me when I have no study backing up my theory?
WHY WOULD
YOU TRAIN ANY OTHER WAY?
The problem with these studies is that they are only carried out for 4-8 weeks. The studies are quite conclusive that during these short periods higher rep exercises WILL build more muscle.
The studies do not look at the long-term effects of doing
the same workout styles over and over for weeks on end.
The body adapts to certain stimuli within a 3-6 week window
and that is true to exercise as well.
So let’s say that the studies lasted a full year. Some subjects stay on a high rep routine for 12 months while the other subjects utilize low reps, high rep, and maybe add in some tempo work. The results would show the high rep group would have plateaued very early and would not even come close to the same results as the other group (who phases their routine).
Rep ranges in
exercise are not an end all be all, one is not better than the other. They are
all beneficial if used in the correct way!
WHAT REP
RANGE SHOULD YOU USE
Whatever rep range you are not doing is the rep range you
will see great results.
If you are always taking HIIT classes and just can’t seem to get the same benefits you used to, try a strength phase with low reps and long rest periods and you WILL see exceptional results.
The same goes for the person who always trains for 1-rep
maxes and takes a 5 minute rest. Try out a high rep hypertrophy phase with some
60-second rest periods and see what it does to your body.
You should be able to utilize all these different stimuli to make sure your body is not hitting any plateaus. Change out of a phase before the plateau hits and you can experience constant, steady progress.
JNHealthAndFitness@aol.com
