***** All things Fitness *****

[SupDock]

Originally Posted by penguinz

I have been reading a bunch about how the idea of starting low and raising weight each set is not ideal way to build muscle/strength. They are saying to do all your working sets at your 80-85% of 1RM and work to failure on each set. Once you get your last set to be failure at 6-10 reps (whatever you set your goal to) then add weight next time and start the process over again.

Idea is to extend your time under max tension and not deal with energy depletion from light/easy reps.

One thing I have done in the past to break a plateau on legs is to throw 135 on the squat bar and try to get to 100 reps in as few sets as possible. just be ready to puke when you are done and walk like your legs are made out of rubber bands.

I thought starting low was more about warming up. I think figuring out where you are in terms of percent of 1 RM is overstated

I can curl 40s with good form and go to failure. I can also curl 30s, go super slow, really focus on contracting hard at the top, and have the same rep range to failure as the 40s.

Focusing on your mind muscle connection, contracting hard at the end of the concentric phase and going slow on the eccentric phase is the most important.

I really don’t pay super attention to my weight, I just want to go to failure.
When I start to get over 10 reps I increase the weight.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by SupDock

Focusing on your mind muscle connection

I've been doing that for chest stuff lately.. lightening the weight on a few things and adding a couple of movements that feel chestier than others.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by penguinz

I have been reading a bunch about how the idea of starting low and raising weight each set is not ideal way to build muscle/strength. They are saying to do all your working sets at your 80-85% of 1RM and work to failure on each set. Once you get your last set to be failure at 6-10 reps (whatever you set your goal to) then add weight next time and start the process over again.

Idea is to extend your time under max tension and not deal with energy depletion from light/easy reps.

One thing I have done in the past to break a plateau on legs is to throw 135 on the squat bar and try to get to 100 reps in as few sets as possible. just be ready to puke when you are done and walk like your legs are made out of rubber bands.

I see that strategy a lot, with lower weight to start, but I've always taken it as a powerlifting thing from guys lifting far more than most.

I'll do a few uncounted reps at the very beginning of my day for a stretch/warm up, but then target 8-12 reps for everything after that. Once I hit 12, I'll up the weight a bit next time.

The drop set thing at the end won't change that, it's pretty much getting in a couple extra sets at the end without the added breaks. A couple of youtubers were mentioning it might help with different muscle fibers given the lower weight, but not enough research has been done.

[SupDock]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I see that strategy a lot, with lower weight to start, but I've always taken it as a powerlifting thing from guys lifting far more than most.

I'll do a few uncounted reps at the very beginning of my day for a stretch/warm up, but then target 8-12 reps for everything after that. Once I hit 12, I'll up the weight a bit next time.

The drop set thing at the end won't change that, it's pretty much getting in a couple extra sets at the end without the added breaks. A couple of youtubers were mentioning it might help with different muscle fibers given the lower weight, but not enough research has been done.

That makes sense to me. As long as you are hitting 10 sets per muscle group per week with somewhere in the range of 6-12 reps and being close to failure you are doing enough. More is better, but there are diminishing returns especially if you are going over 20 sets per week.