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(Datoyminaytah @ Dec. 01 2006,12:13)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(Old and Grey @ Dec. 01 2006,10:06)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I do the reverse.</div>
What is your logic for this?</div>
It is similar to the same logic that people use for increasing the number of sets as load increases to somewhat equalize the total number of reps. If your workout consists of just 1 exercise (for simplistic example only), many people will do the following:
15 Reps...1 Set
10 Reps... 1.5 or 2 Sets
5 Reps...3 sets
The total volume is similar.
This can also be done by increasing the number of workouts per week:
15 Reps...2 workouts
10 Reps...3 workouts
5 Reps...4+ workouts
What you are suggesting is the opposite. That is, decrease the total number of reps as you increase load. Assuming that your rep speed stays constant, the 15 rep workouts will be 3 times as long as the 5 rep workouts. What most people believe is necesarry for hypertrophy is to keep the Time under Tension about equal.
A third alternative to keep TUT constant is to use different tempos. For example:
15 reps...2 sec concentric 1 second eccentric (45 Secs)
10 reps...2 " 2 " (40 Secs)
5 reps...2 " 5 " (35 Secs)
While the above is not perfect, it gets the TUT fairly consistent. The pitfall with the third method is that it necessitates one to work at somewhat lower loads than if they kept the tempo the same. This may not impact hypertrophy but it surely will impact your CNS and, in particular, your concentric strength.
Of course, if you don't believe that TUT is important to muscle growth, the above would not be considered relevant.
