Doing as many reps as possible for the whole cycle.

D

dempsey

Member
What are peoples thoughts on completing as many reps with each weight as possible but still short of failure?

IE find your 15 rep max then work back 5 weight steps as in the normal HST set up but then then do as many reps as possible for 1 set of each exercise, the weight continually increases each session so there is no specific rep range blocks just continual load increase and as the weight gets heavier over the weeks the reps you will acheive naturally come down in number untill you get to your 1rm, or 2rm or 3rm depending how far you want to take it.

EG Squats
75kg 21 reps Monday
80kg 19 reps Wednesday
85kg 17reps Friday
90kg 16 reps Monday
95kg 16 reps Wednesday
100kg 15 reps Friday (15rm)
105kg 13 reps etc
110kg 13 reps
115kg 12 reps
120kg 12 reps
125kg 12 reps
130kg 11 reps
135kg 10 reps
140kg 8 reps
145kg 6 reps
150kg 5 reps
155kg 4 reps
160kg 2 reps
165kg 1 rep

These numbers are completely made up and are not based on any real life strength ratios.
 
Last edited:
Yes, you can do that. Just keep in mind that the extra volume may compromise your recovery. Then again, it might not. You will just have to be very sensitive to how your body is responding to it to prevent yourself from overtraining.
 
Is should be fine in accordance with the principle of progressive loading. However, if you’re talking about doing one “straight set” and stopping just short of failure you will reach a point probably around 15 reps or less where TUT will start getting so low that you will not be getting optimal stimulation for growth or strength increases. You would need to start clustering to get the total rep count or rather TUT high enough for workouts to be productive.
 
I`ve started doing something like this. Fist set @ 8-9 RPE + myo-reps for 15 total reps. I start cycle from ~15RM (just one set) and finish with ~5-6RM (6+3+2+2+2), adding 3-5% each workout (actually, 2,5-5kg)
 
Training using percentages is the method I use so the total number of reps over sessions always varies, with the total reps and sets being based on the estimated maximum possible reps for the weight being used. Under 90% RM the first set is 2 or 3 fewer reps than the rep max for the weight used and then an additional 2-3 sets are clustered to make up 2 x the rep max with a few extra reps added for the lower RM weights. Research has suggested any additional sets over and above 2 failure terminated sets fails to elicit any futher hypertrophic effect so this is why 2x RM reps in total are used. At 90% RM and above I usually switch to a variant of the Prilepin or Verkoshansky tables created by interpolating the original data. You could take a look at my recent post describing the spreadsheet I created to set-up cycles if you are planning to vary the number of reps between each session. As Totentanz has pointed out this scheme has a greater potential to result in overtraining than standard HST, so be careful especially if you are closer to the introverted end of the extroversion/introversion spectrum.​
 
Last edited:
Thanks spillaert, that went over my head a little! lol

So the way I have the set up in my original post the training effect would swing from hypertrophy to strength orientated.
 
Just trying to say it's OK to change the reps per session. As Lol pointed out once the number of reps falls below 15 there will probably not be sufficient time under tension to achieve a full training effect and it may be best to cluster the sets. I personally aim for two times the total number of reps possible in one straight set for the weight being used usually split across 3 sets, so instead of doing 10 reps for 135kgs I would do two sets of 7 reps then one 6 rep set to get 20 in total. Once you are using 90% RM weights and above (148 Kg and greater with your squat example) then it is a good idea to use Prilepins table to determine the best number of reps and sets for the weight used.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top