Starr on low rep training

[Grim83]

very good article, and even gives a nice little template

Low-Rep Lowdown | Iron Man Magazine | www.ironmanmagazine.com

[BendtheBar]

Thanks Grim. I am going to read it and post some good quotes from the article.

[Grim83]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Thanks Grim. I am going to read it and post some good quotes from the article.

have fun, if i tried to do it, i would have had to quote the whole thing lol

[BendtheBar]

Low vs. High reps...

The contention is that low reps are a great deal riskier than higher reps on any exercise. That isn’t true. In many instances, in fact, higher reps pose a greater degree of risk than lower ones. When athletes attempt to do, say, 10 reps on an exercise and are handling as much weight as possible, they typically tire as they reach the eighth, ninth and 10th reps. When they become fatigued, they begin to use faulty form and can get hurt rather easily if they persist in doing the movement incorrectly. That’s especially true in the early stages of training, before they have built up a solid strength base.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Grim83

have fun, if i tried to do it, i would have had to quote the whole thing lol

I'm only going to quote 2/3rds...in small chunks

[BendtheBar]

I should just put the new article RSS feed in the forum. I have all T-nations articles appearing here.

[BendtheBar]

Bodybuilders and low reps:

Many of my athletes who have finished their eligibility have told me that they’re no longer interested in pure strength work. They just want to maintain a certain level of overall fitness and keep a decent build. Bodybuilders tell me the same thing. Keeping the joints protected from injury, however, is critical to everyone, not only to those playing sports. We need strong ankles, knees, hips, shoulders and backs throughout our lives. Bodybuilders need to understand that the process of getting larger muscles is directly linked to strength. High reps are excellent for shaping muscles that are already there, but to obtain them in the first place, they need to make lower reps part of the program.

[BendtheBar]

So Starr is saying that low rep work strengthens joints and protects from injury which is the opposite of what is generally preached in a good portion of muscledom.

[BendtheBar]

Incorporating lower reps:

On the subject of bodybuilders, let’s say an aspiring bodybuilder wants to pack more muscle on his shoulders and arms, which is always high on anyone’s wish list. So he does a variety of exercises for his biceps, triceps and deltoids using no fewer than 10 reps and sometimes as many as 20. If he works hard, he will indeed achieve a higher degree of definition in those groups, although nothing much in size. The muscles will be better shaped but still small—not what he wants. That’s because the attachments haven’t been brought into the mix.

Our bodybuilder needs to select a few primary movements for his arms and shoulders and attack them with lower reps. That will make those bodyparts considerably stronger. Exercises such as overhead presses, flat benches, incline benches and weighted dips would work well. At the same time he should be gulping down protein shakes and getting lots of rest to help those abused muscles and corresponding attachments grow. Once the desired size is obtained, he can go back to the higher reps to sculpt the new growth. From there specific exercises—different angles of curls, triceps pushdowns, straight-armed pullovers, lateral and frontal raises—will produce the effect he’s seeking: large, well-defined shoulders and arms. That’s the way it’s always been done and the way it has to be done—that is, unless a person is willing to go on the juice, which is not only foolish but proof positive that he’s too lazy to follow the difficult route to success.

[BendtheBar]

More...

One of the main reasons I put lower reps into routines is that they force athletes to concentrate harder on using correct technique; form has to be more precise than with higher reps. They also require a higher degree of determination. For many athletes it’s the very first time that they’re placed in a position where success or failure depends entirely on them. It’s an individual effort, not a team event. So they’re forced to reach deep into their fortitude department and find out how much grit they really possess. Learning to apply themselves 100 percent to moving a heavy weight through a range of motion without any assistance is a rewarding experience, and while that’s especially true on a max single, it also applies to doing heavy triples and doubles because there is no margin of error. Miss or make: It’s all up to you.

Winning the battle with a new number for a triple, double or single is extremely motivating, and that’s why so many strength athletes become addicted to the discipline. There are few situations in life when people are in complete control of the outcome of what they’re trying to accomplish. Weight training is one of them.

That’s yet another reason I don’t like high-rep routines. You don’t get the same satisfaction in moving an exercise for 10 reps that you get when you break a personal record for a single, double or triple. Saying, “I benched 225 for 10,” doesn’t have the same ring to it as, “I benched 300 for a single.”