About low repetitions

[AsianNoob]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum and new to all this muscle stuff, so this is generally what i think and what i feel, and it may not be correct.

Roughly to build muscle mass, you should avoid doing insanely high reps right?
(EG 5 sets of 25). However you should be doing around low reps, such as 1-6?. The thing is, whenever i do 1-6 repetitions, i don't feel ANYTHING at all. If i was doing bench press and i did 4 reps of it, i don't really feel burn/pain/tightness/soreness/anything. I can feel the surge of strength needed to do the bench during the workout but while I'm watching my friend do his set while i rest, it goes away and i feel alright.

I know there's been many posts saying that the burn/tightness/soreness have NOTHING to do with it, but my question is feeling as though nothing much happened correct?

 

[Gazhole]

To gain mass you need to be eating more calories than you are using, leaving some to fuel muscle growth.

To stimulate that muscle growth you need to give your body a reason to change.

To do that, you need to provide enough stimulus over a period of time to invoke that change, which you do through weight training.

The problem is, your body will adapt to anything and everything you can throw at it, which is why you need to progressively overload your training.

This means:

-Add more weight to the bar.
-Reduce rest intervals.
-Increase volume.

Among other things.

Ive gained mass doing low reps (4x4) and doing high reps (one session i did something like 200 reps over 4 exercises on an escalating density program).

Generally though, lower reps are for building strength through neural adaptions (1-4), higher reps can be used for muscular endurance (14-20+), and that bit in the middle where theres a compromise between intensity and volume is what will stimulate muscular hypertrophy (5/6-12/13).

Let me ask you some questions. When you do these exercises and don't feel the burn or whatever, is it difficult to lift? Do you feel fatigued after a session like this? ARE you progressing either putting on some size or adding weight to the bar?

If its a challenge to lift the weight with tight form, then you are taxing your muscles and setting them up for growth.

If you are a bit tired after a session, you have probably had a good workout, burn/tightness/DOMS not withstanding.

If you are progressing, surely theres no need for this question?

If the answers are no or "i dont know" then take the appropriate action and fix your training program.

If lifting weights is no challenge, increase the weight - but make sure you keep tight form, no body english.

If you're not at all fatigued after a session after doing the above, increase the volume either in sets, reps, or the number of exercises. Perhaps you're doing way too many isolation movements? Compared to compound movements, they are easy as shit and not very beneficial - perhaps its time to cut them.

If you're not progressing, or simply dont know, you need to work in some progression into your program. Try the above, or totally change your entire program. Read up on periodization, try some new exercises (i wrote a sticky on that one). Log your workouts also.

It could be just that your program is either stale, or not great to begin with. Perhaps your diet is crap, either through not eating enough/too much depending on your goals, or youre eating unhealthy choices.

Thankfully we have forums for both these problems .

Have you read the stickied topics in both these sections? They contain information thats invaluable.

Hope i've helped.

 

[DaMayor]

High reps are over-rated, and non-productive, IMO.

Burn, Pump, etc. are indicative of physiological 'happenings'. (e.g., increased blood flow, lactic acid build up) and not much else.

Check out the stickies. (Gopro's, Gaz's, et al) Check out Built's blog. (BGB) Most routines call for 6-8 reps (average) per set.You should feel resistance. You should feel fatigue to a certain degree...this, of course, varies from person to person. You may even work to failure...many aim for this, although the need to work to failure has been disputed as far as the effect on your 'progress' (hypertrophy).

If you want to build mass, then eat the proper foods, lift heavy. Not suicidally heavy, but heavy, and don't become obsessed with cardio.



I will now turn this over to a Moderator..

RATHER,

Okay, let me thank Gaz for typing faster than I did.

 

[Gazhole]

Okay, let me thank Gaz for typing faster than I did.

Once i've had my cheerios nothing can stop me!

 

[DaMayor]

Once i've had my cheerios nothing can stop me!

*Throws down his Stetson and kicks the dust*

 

[MUbodbuilder]

i sorta disagree. high rep training every once in a while is a great way to stimulate other muscle fibers and change up a workout. not only that, i cant always lift heavy with 5-8reps every week. i have joint problems from going too heavy for too long. now i do a week of low rep(4-6) the following week 10 reps, and the next 20 reps. always a change and keeps my interest increasing cause each workout is diff

 

[fufu]

Judging from the amount of text Gazhole has I'll leave this thread alone.

 

[DaMayor]

Judging from the amount of text Gazhole has I'll leave this thread alone.

I think Gaz has an arsenal of cut and paste responses.

 

[r00kie]

And be extremely careful while lifting heavy. Without a spot racking and unracking can cause injury (from personal experience )

 

[Gazhole]

Cut and paste indeed, <member name> thats just stupid, you fucking <insult>.

 

[RasPlasch]

There seems to be a countless amount of...."Howcome I'm not getting sore!?" threads. Sad.

 

[AKIRA]

i sorta disagree. high rep training every once in a while is a great way to stimulate other muscle fibers and change up a workout. not only that, i cant always lift heavy with 5-8reps every week. i have joint problems from going too heavy for too long. now i do a week of low rep(4-6) the following week 10 reps, and the next 20 reps. always a change and keeps my interest increasing cause each workout is diff

Since you spoke about change, then you AGREE.

 

[Hoglander]

There seems to be a countless amount of...."Howcome I'm not getting sore!?" threads. Sad.

I'm addicted to sore. It's not over until I can't lift weight a two year old could lift.

I don't want to get bigger, BTW. I want stronger, longer lasting and sorer. I start with low reps for the stronger part. But............

I love high sets!!!!

: )

I do what I want. I eat what I want.

Do what old people say not what they do.

P.S. I'm weird

 

[SnowManSnow]

Lift heavy (but safe) and eat

Honesely, the eating enough is harder for me than lifting right now haha.

 

[Mikey B]

By not feeling anything you mean no pump? You won't get a pump with low reps, but you will gain strength. If you want size I'd stick with 6-12 reps.

 

[KelJu]

Do every rep range. Do low reps, high reps, medium reps, super insane ridiculous reps, and even throw in isometric for shits and giggles.

Soreness, pump, failure, and burn are all meaningless. I repeat, they are completely meaningless.

The only thing that matters is whether you get bigger and stronger. And yes, there sure seems to be a lot of these threads lately.

 

[Gazhole]

Do every rep range. Do low reps, high reps, medium reps, super insane ridiculous reps, and even throw in isometric for shits and giggles.

Soreness, pump, failure, and burn are all meaningless. I repeat, they are completely meaningless.

The only thing that matters is whether you get bigger and stronger. And yes, there sure seems to be a lot of these threads lately.

This, this, a thousand times this.

Why pick one when you can do them all?

 

[Ben dur]

i personally like to choose a weight i can do 10 reps
and then in each following set move up in weight, and down in reps

for me this could mean
db press
75's x 10
80's x 6or8
85's x 4or6

im never "sore" afterwords, but i can feel the stimulus
and the following day my muscles usually feel tender, but not always

and the tenderness seems to be directly effected by my post workout shake

 

[camarosuper6]

I do one to three sets of a given exercise, and I do not believe in pyramiding for bodybuilding purposes.

I use a weight I can control between 4-8 reps.. depending on the type of training I am doing. Sometimes is 4-6... sometimes its 8-10. I never go higher than 10 on my initial workset, unless I have a specific reason for using higher repetitions (injury, weight, endurance training)