Splitting reps up

S

stealthboy

New Member
I was hoping someone could tell me if there is any adverse effects splitting the reps up will have on muscle hypertrophy. I have a very low exercise tolerance and find that my cns is already starting to fatigue a week into the first rep range. Even working up from 25%-10% below my rm I can feel the overload building up.
To overcome this I have split my reps up so that during say the 15s I will do two sets, one of 8 and the other of 7 to avoid fatigue and at the end of the fortnight I would still perform my full 15rm. It seems to have fixed the fatigue problem but I was worried it would effect my muscle hypertrophy. Can anyone tell me if it matters?? especially when the overall volume is the same.
Any help appreciated
Cheers -Will
 
Splitting the total reps in such a way will probably have little effect on p38 activity. However, there is a dramatic drop in erk1/2 activity (metabolic work). Since the purpose of the 15's is to induce lactic acid in order to repair tendons and joints , there is no point in performing your reps like this. During the 15's you want increased metabolic work so as to produce lactic acid. This is typically achieved through high rep sets (thus the 15's). If after your 2 sets there is an intense feeling of burn in the muscle then all is ok, but I doubt that you can achieve this through 2 sets of 8 and 7 reps.

Bottom line, during this phase you should rep out until you feel your muscle burning. Most people shoot for 15-20 reps, but they do whatever they can in order to produce the desired effect, e.g. slow down the reps when the weight is very light etc.

I would strongly suggest that you read the pdf version of the FAQ too. Most of your questions will be answered there.
 
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