I was reading the book “The Cube Method” by Brandon Lilly and he said something that really resonated with me: he said that you should never miss a rep in training. And it got me thinking to the last time I missed a rep on the bench press. I’ll be honest with you I do not remember ever missing a rep on the regular bench press (I might have missed one or two bench from pins, mostly because of a bad set-up). I don’t want to sound arrogant but I can say with almost 100% certainty that I have not missed a single rep of bench press in at least 5 years, probably more.
And it’s not that I do not train hard or use light weights. I have bench pressed as much as 435lbs and did 425lbs for a double several times. But I never miss a rep.
The reason is probably that although I want to challenge myself and always strive to lift bigger weights, I never attempt a weight that I’m not at least 80% sure of getting solidly. That way, the worst that has happened to me is to make a rep with less than perfect form and some grinding.
I think that never missing a rep builds confidence, it develops the habit of succeeding, it reduces the risk of injuries and it prevents the use of cheating/bad form which can easily become a habit itself.
It is my belief that this allowed me at times to use a very high frequency of bench pressing (as often as 5 days a week) without suffering set backs due to injuries.
And to quote Vince Gironda: “Muscle tissue does not grow unless taxed 85 percent but beware, never work to 100 percent because maximum energy output will stop all muscular growth”.
In other words when doing a set you must perform to at least 85% of what you could do with that weight, but shouldn’t go until you can’t lift the weight.
Real life application: Train hard, train to improve, train to get better than you were last time you were in the gym. But do not attempt a set or a rep you are not 80% sure of being able to do in solid form. The less reps you miss in training while going as hard as you can, the stronger, healthier and bigger you’ll end up being.
100% agree. I haven’t missed a rep after starting to follow your programs and I’ve added more strength and size in the past year than the previous 18 years.
Thank you for the concept of the perfect rep, high frequency training and fundamentally changing the way I think about and approach training!
The best results I’ve ever got came from not counting reps that didn’t have perfect technique & form. I love your point about not developing bad habits. That is so true!
discussion point.
surprised there’s not a lot more dicussion going on. Maybe it’s the polar vortex.
It is wicked cold out there. anyway.
never miss a rep? is that different than “completing your stes and reps”?
i’m guessing so. never miss a rep means never needing a spot, yet lifting as heavy as you can.
I believe you once said you never used a spotter, or something like that.
I guess if you are going for a max, or competition, you might miss an attempt.
Aside from that.
I have started the next sentence 4 times and deleted it. So, i will try to come back to it later.
There’s a lot of sides to the coin on this one. Many variables/possibilities to consider.
I also can’t recall the last time I missed a rep, mostly for three reasons. 1) I lift at home since about 5 years ago and have no interest in having to scream for my wife to come down to the basement and peel the bar off me. 2) I stay within my limits so as to avoid serious injury, and 3) Years ago I watched some sort of video of CT doing a bench session and he basically said to never attempt a weight that you weren’t sure you could handle on your own steam (no lift-off from a spotter).
Never missing a rep is the quickest way for me to get stronger.
If I miss a rep in training, sure I learn from it but 99% of the time as a raw lifter any missed rep will be from an over zealous weight increase. If I’m working triples and rep 1 was tough and rep 2 nearly killed me, I’m going to rack the weight because rep 3 wont happen.
Missing reps gets me hurt. Missing reps encourages me to try again. Going heavy, being smart and making lifts makes me stronger.
Unless something magically breaks, I know where I’m going to fail a lift at if I am taking challenging weights and pushing myself. Missing reps is for 2nd and 3rd attempts at meets.
In a non-competition setting, what’s the point of missing a rep? You can get stronger without 105% attempts. You can build muscle without taking a weight to absolute max. It’s a lesson I learned rather quickly, but through much frustration and many missed reps.
[quote]corstijeir wrote:
Never missing a rep is the quickest way for me to get stronger.
If I miss a rep in training, sure I learn from it but 99% of the time as a raw lifter any missed rep will be from an over zealous weight increase. If I’m working triples and rep 1 was tough and rep 2 nearly killed me, I’m going to rack the weight because rep 3 wont happen.
Missing reps gets me hurt. Missing reps encourages me to try again. Going heavy, being smart and making lifts makes me stronger.
Unless something magically breaks, I know where I’m going to fail a lift at if I am taking challenging weights and pushing myself. Missing reps is for 2nd and 3rd attempts at meets.
In a non-competition setting, what’s the point of missing a rep? You can get stronger without 105% attempts. You can build muscle without taking a weight to absolute max. It’s a lesson I learned rather quickly, but through much frustration and many missed reps.[/quote]
I agree with this post 100%. Many people ask my how I know what my “max” is when I never use a spotter. I tell them the same thing you outlined. I know when I am going to fail. If my last set was very tough and I almost had to grind the weight then why try for more reps at that weight or try for more weight and do less reps. Most of my work is done in the 80-100% range and am constantly seeing results and progressing.
I would ask for a spot on the bench sets and I’d never need assistance. Finally, I gained the confidence and the self awareness to not need a spot on the majority of the sets. I knew that I could grind out a rep if I pushed it and then I’d stop the set. It really helped learn a bit about auto-regulation.
[quote]corstijeir wrote:
Never missing a rep is the quickest way for me to get stronger.
If I miss a rep in training, sure I learn from it but 99% of the time as a raw lifter any missed rep will be from an over zealous weight increase. If I’m working triples and rep 1 was tough and rep 2 nearly killed me, I’m going to rack the weight because rep 3 wont happen.
Missing reps gets me hurt. Missing reps encourages me to try again. Going heavy, being smart and making lifts makes me stronger.
Unless something magically breaks, I know where I’m going to fail a lift at if I am taking challenging weights and pushing myself. Missing reps is for 2nd and 3rd attempts at meets.
In a non-competition setting, what’s the point of missing a rep? You can get stronger without 105% attempts. You can build muscle without taking a weight to absolute max. It’s a lesson I learned rather quickly, but through much frustration and many missed reps.[/quote]
I agree with this post 100%. Many people ask my how I know what my “max” is when I never use a spotter. I tell them the same thing you outlined. I know when I am going to fail. If my last set was very tough and I almost had to grind the weight then why try for more reps at that weight or try for more weight and do less reps. Most of my work is done in the 80-100% range and am constantly seeing results and progressing.[/quote]
I still push the limits here and there and sometimes I think you have to in order to gauge just how far you can push yourself. As a powerlifter for me it’s about how much weight can I get 2 white lights with. However during the majority of my training I’m “training” and not “maxing” so if I fail a rep I get 0 training benefit from it.
Working in the 80-100 is great and I agree with you on the auto regulation. It does come in handy.
CT: Interesting and thought provoking topic; plus, I always enjoy seeing quotes from Vince G.
Would missing a technical lift such as the Snatch, Clean & Jerk, Muscle Snatch, etc. fall into the same category? For example, I will miss anywhere from 2 to 20 times on the Muscle Snatch before I either finally nail it or simply have to stop before technique/form breakdown and/or from exhaustion.
[quote]corstijeir wrote:
If I’m working triples and rep 1 was tough and rep 2 nearly killed me, I’m going to rack the weight because rep 3 wont happen.
[/quote]
Is this what you mean CT? Or should this kind of weight not even be attempted as rep 3 is a chance of failing?
[quote]domcib wrote:
discussion point.
surprised there’s not a lot more dicussion going on. Maybe it’s the polar vortex.
It is wicked cold out there. anyway.
never miss a rep? is that different than “completing your stes and reps”?
i’m guessing so. never miss a rep means never needing a spot, yet lifting as heavy as you can.
I believe you once said you never used a spotter, or something like that.
I guess if you are going for a max, or competition, you might miss an attempt.
Aside from that.
I have started the next sentence 4 times and deleted it. So, i will try to come back to it later.
There’s a lot of sides to the coin on this one. Many variables/possibilities to consider.[/quote]
Never missing a rep means that once you initiate a rep, you complete it. It doesn’t necessarily mean never missing a set … for example if the plan calls for 3 reps, but you stop after the 2nd one because you don’t think that the 3rd one would have gone up is “missing a set” but you didn’t miss a rep.
[quote]Ricochet wrote:
CT: Interesting and thought provoking topic; plus, I always enjoy seeing quotes from Vince G.
Would missing a technical lift such as the Snatch, Clean & Jerk, Muscle Snatch, etc. fall into the same category? For example, I will miss anywhere from 2 to 20 times on the Muscle Snatch before I either finally nail it or simply have to stop before technique/form breakdown and/or from exhaustion.[/quote]
Not really, there is a difference between a technical mistake and a lift missed because you ran out of steam. A missed lift due to a technical mistake you can learn from (thus improve your technique) and since you didn’t exceed your physical capacities it will not have any detrimental effect on recovery, inflammation etc.
I think that since the “perfect rep”, everyone understood the importance of repetition in itself.
It has changed the way we train, and has allowed us all to make the best progress is about the number of years of training.
[quote]SWAT06 wrote:
I think that since the “perfect rep”, everyone understood the importance of repetition in itself.
It has changed the way we train, and has allowed us all to make the best progress is about the number of years of training.[/quote]
You mentioned in the OP that you had “missed one or two bench from pins, mostly because of a bad set-up”…
I’ve found that when I’ve missed an occasional rep from the pins, during heavy cluster rep sets, that it DESTROYS my subsequent reps and sometimes the rest of the sets for that movement. It seems to really zap my performance! It’s a horrible feeling!
Curious, did it have a similar effect with you?
You mentioned in the OP that you had “missed one or two bench from pins, mostly because of a bad set-up”…
I’ve found that when I’ve missed an occasional rep from the pins, during heavy cluster rep sets, that it DESTROYS my subsequent reps and sometimes the rest of the sets for that movement. It seems to really zap my performance! It’s a horrible feeling!
Curious, did it have a similar effect with you?[/quote]
Yes, it does on everybody. Those reps really gets it out of you and also kills your momentum/focus which makes it very hard to get a good rep after that.
You mentioned in the OP that you had “missed one or two bench from pins, mostly because of a bad set-up”…
I’ve found that when I’ve missed an occasional rep from the pins, during heavy cluster rep sets, that it DESTROYS my subsequent reps and sometimes the rest of the sets for that movement. It seems to really zap my performance! It’s a horrible feeling!
Curious, did it have a similar effect with you?[/quote]
Yes, it does on everybody. Those reps really gets it out of you and also kills your momentum/focus which makes it very hard to get a good rep after that.[/quote]
Its funny you should say that. I had an interesting experience on Tuesday in my new Built for Bad cycle. I had increased my bench weight and I flew through everything to the “1” set, on every lift. After the 2 set, I was feeling like 1 on DL (haven’t done conventional pulls in a while) 2 on BP, 3-5 on SGHP, and 3-4 on Press. I got pinned on the second rep on bench, and only got 2 on SGHP and Press.
[quote]corstijeir wrote:
Never missing a rep is the quickest way for me to get stronger.
If I miss a rep in training, sure I learn from it but 99% of the time as a raw lifter any missed rep will be from an over zealous weight increase. If I’m working triples and rep 1 was tough and rep 2 nearly killed me, I’m going to rack the weight because rep 3 wont happen.
Missing reps gets me hurt. Missing reps encourages me to try again. Going heavy, being smart and making lifts makes me stronger.
Unless something magically breaks, I know where I’m going to fail a lift at if I am taking challenging weights and pushing myself. Missing reps is for 2nd and 3rd attempts at meets.
In a non-competition setting, what’s the point of missing a rep? You can get stronger without 105% attempts. You can build muscle without taking a weight to absolute max. It’s a lesson I learned rather quickly, but through much frustration and many missed reps.[/quote]
[quote]domcib wrote:
discussion point.
surprised there’s not a lot more dicussion going on. Maybe it’s the polar vortex.
It is wicked cold out there. anyway.
never miss a rep? is that different than “completing your stes and reps”?
i’m guessing so. never miss a rep means never needing a spot, yet lifting as heavy as you can.
I believe you once said you never used a spotter, or something like that.
I guess if you are going for a max, or competition, you might miss an attempt.
Aside from that.
I have started the next sentence 4 times and deleted it. So, i will try to come back to it later.
There’s a lot of sides to the coin on this one. Many variables/possibilities to consider.[/quote]
Never missing a rep means that once you initiate a rep, you complete it. It doesn’t necessarily mean never missing a set … for example if the plan calls for 3 reps, but you stop after the 2nd one because you don’t think that the 3rd one would have gone up is “missing a set” but you didn’t miss a rep.[/quote]
thanks