How Rep Chasing Hurts Your Gains

[@zooner7256]

Week after week I try to make my reps as difficult or more difficult than the prior week. Rep quality is everything.

[@iamtheonewhoknocks4288]

At a point you can't make it more difficult...then you must increase reps

[@RedDeltaProject]

You can always make it more difficult, there's always a harder variation out there (*evil chuckle*)

[@ce1474]

yeah tbh i dont even count reps week to week. Nor do i really track progress (I know I know, every guru tells you to keep up an excel spraadsheet) . My singular goal is a weekly volume target of a tough intensity.

[@ydiabO]

@@ce1474 but how will you know if you're actually progressing without knowing if your reps(strength) isn't increasing??

[@ce1474]

@@ydiabO Overall my philosophy is to trust the process and check for plateauing. I do look out for plateaus, so if I sense that I'm plateauing on a movement - then I'll look to shake things up on that movement - start adding slow negatives, more sets at a lower intensity, etc. Again, not something I track on a day-by-day basis, but if I go a couple workouts and I'm doing roughly the same routine and its not feeling any easier and its roughly the same reps/sets, then I'll shake things up and reassess. I'm not a professional athlete though. Even if all I do is maintain my current strength, there is still a benefit gained. If I was doing this professionally, I'm not sure if I'd take such an unstructured approach.

[@williamtomkiel8215]

An 85 y.o. man at our dance last night asked me , only 75, about my own regimen, i recommended your site for some sanity and usable info and added a riff on your own sagacity. Don't depend so much on the count of your reps. Depend more on the reps that count. so much wisdom . . .

[@davidwagner9644]

I do both both calisthenics (weighed/weighed) and lift weights. At the gym people look at me funny because I make traditional exercises difficult. For example, on the bench press I will lower the bench press for a 3 count, then pause for a 2 count, 2 inches off my chest and then I will explode up for a 1 count. You have eccentric lowering. Isometric pausing and concentric explosion. On my deadlift I do 5 by 5 second not reps. On the concentric phase I lift for 5 second and on the eccentric phase I lower for 5 seconds. On the squat I will lower half way, pause. Lower to parallel, pause and then lower to full squat (ass to grass) pause then explode up. Dallas Diamond Page and hid DDP yoga had what he calls 10 second push-ups. Lower for 10 seconds. Pause for 10 seconds. Raise for 10 second count. He is like 65 and can do 30 of them.

[@duanesnow424]

Very interesting. From a physio of 32 yrs. I tend to agree . Exercise is a science and details really matter...Most clients dont take the exercise part seriously , when its actually everything! Nice job explaining.

[@IlyasMouhaddab]

Your videos never cease to amaze me. Simple, yet rich in meaning and straight to the point. Thank you so much sir!

[@FireFox64000000]

So basically we have two methods of adaptation working contrary to one another. And if we're wanting physical adaptation to win we need to use the "dumber" idea which forces our body to solve the problem rather than our brain. You know that also explains the stereotypes of being mentally strong but physically weak and vice versa.

[@miggysmallzzzz]

So right now, my routine is trying to do 200 Diamond push-ups, 60 ring dips, 60 pull ups, 200 squats, 200 calf raises, and 100 hanging leg raises. I separate this by a push day and pull day. My goal is getting this rep count to the lease amount of sets possible. For example, push-ups I’m at 16 X 12 and would like to aim for 8 X 25, then possibly less sets. Can I still build muscle with this routine? Thoughts or Advice?

[@ydiabO]

I'd choose a harder variation of each exercise you mentioned and aim for 8-15 reps with controlled tension and you will build muscle.

[@miggysmallzzzz]

@@ydiabO Why tho? What’s the difference? I’ve done the variations route before, but for some reason I feel like I’ve seen better progress with the goals I mentioned.

[@ydiabO]

@@miggysmallzzzz if it's working for you then by all means continue doing them because you know yourself better than anyone else. I prefer high intensity low volume which is why I said to go for a harder variant. It doesn't matter that much tbh. All that matters is time under tension.

[@miggysmallzzzz]

@@ydiabO Okay, that makes sense. I appreciate your insight. I’m always open to different views and different styles of training.

[@timmtoons4458]

Awesome concept! „You do more reps because you became stronger and Not the other way around „ I think Kai Greene said he isn‘t after lifting the most weight but making the smallest weight as hard as possible… It’s always boils down to understanding principles and what you want.Thanks for your content Matt!

[@peterjaimez1619]

Sooo true! I can cheat doing push ups in several ways, the result more reps! The problem is that we want an easy solve, and my friend: there is no free lunch! Cheers

[@AlexMercerFR]

Hey Matt, I've had a bowel problem for a year now. Since I can no longer eat what I want as much as I want I've lost 6kg (I'm more of a burner type of guy, 6 kg is a lot for me) I wonder if this holds back my gains, or worse, am I bound to lose muscle, what do you think? Is there anything I can do about it?

[@RedDeltaProject]

it can certainly make things more challenging, but certainly not impossible. You'll need to adjust your diet to work with your condition for sure, and then just make sure you can eat enough with those adjustments

[@AArmstrongC]

Reps for me (a noob) are just a way to measure strength and then be sure that I can progress between exercises. Only if I can reach X amount of reps and sets doing jackknife pullups, only then I try pullups.

[@tiagopiresabud4154]

Yes, reps are a good metric, as long as you keep doing quality reps. That's what Matt is talking about. If you are doing a lot of low quality reps of jack knife pullups, it will be difficult to progress to standard pullups.

[@AArmstrongC]

@@tiagopiresabud4154 yep! always quality over quantity

[@AArmstrongC]

@@tiagopiresabud4154 thanks!

[@kristoffersevillena7657]

I only count reps after two months of workouts.

[@isagiyoku]

You flipped the sword.😊