I’m pretty sure this question has been done to death on here, but I’m looking for specific input. I’m wanting to know whether there’s really any benefit in doing one rep maxes if the goal is to just get bigger. To me it makes no sense that I’m going to be spending weeks injured now because of a fucked up rep-max especially if it doesn’t benefit hypertrophy as much as say 5+ reps. The reason I said specific input is because I’ve seen ebomb in his logs doing one rep maxes but I’m unsure as to whether they are more of a hindrance than a help?
For fun
Heavy weights reinforce technique, makes you mentally tougher. Not really seeing a downside if you slide it in now and then.
[quote]thazgeetsqat wrote:
I’m pretty sure this question has been done to death on here, but I’m looking for specific input. I’m wanting to know whether there’s really any benefit in doing one rep maxes if the goal is to just get bigger. To me it makes no sense that I’m going to be spending weeks injured now because of a fucked up rep-max especially if it doesn’t benefit hypertrophy as much as say 5+ reps. The reason I said specific input is because I’ve seen ebomb in his logs doing one rep maxes but I’m unsure as to whether they are more of a hindrance than a help?[/quote]
1 rep maxes are mainly to see how you have improved in strength. It does absolutely nothing for size. Zero. Nada. Even 5 reps is to low. The time under tension is far to low for decent gains in size. Im not saying you won’t gain any size at all, but far from max gains. you want the best gains in size, stay in the 8-12 rep range. never go below 6 reps.
[quote]roguevampire wrote:
[quote]thazgeetsqat wrote:
I’m pretty sure this question has been done to death on here, but I’m looking for specific input. I’m wanting to know whether there’s really any benefit in doing one rep maxes if the goal is to just get bigger. To me it makes no sense that I’m going to be spending weeks injured now because of a fucked up rep-max especially if it doesn’t benefit hypertrophy as much as say 5+ reps. The reason I said specific input is because I’ve seen ebomb in his logs doing one rep maxes but I’m unsure as to whether they are more of a hindrance than a help?[/quote]
1 rep maxes are mainly to see how you have improved in strength. It does absolutely nothing for size. Zero. Nada. Even 5 reps is to low. The time under tension is far to low for decent gains in size. Im not saying you won’t gain any size at all, but far from max gains. you want the best gains in size, stay in the 8-12 rep range. never go below 6 reps. [/quote]
And yet there are a ton of guys that train mainly in the low rep range and carry huge amounts of muscle.
Different muscle fibers need different stimulus.
I think pretty much everyone should incorporate a variety of rep ranges.
I don’t think Ronnie Coleman’s deadlift double of 805 a few weeks from a show was holding back his muscularity.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]roguevampire wrote:
[quote]thazgeetsqat wrote:
I’m pretty sure this question has been done to death on here, but I’m looking for specific input. I’m wanting to know whether there’s really any benefit in doing one rep maxes if the goal is to just get bigger. To me it makes no sense that I’m going to be spending weeks injured now because of a fucked up rep-max especially if it doesn’t benefit hypertrophy as much as say 5+ reps. The reason I said specific input is because I’ve seen ebomb in his logs doing one rep maxes but I’m unsure as to whether they are more of a hindrance than a help?[/quote]
1 rep maxes are mainly to see how you have improved in strength. It does absolutely nothing for size. Zero. Nada. Even 5 reps is to low. The time under tension is far to low for decent gains in size. Im not saying you won’t gain any size at all, but far from max gains. you want the best gains in size, stay in the 8-12 rep range. never go below 6 reps. [/quote]
And yet there are a ton of guys that train mainly in the low rep range and carry huge amounts of muscle.
Different muscle fibers need different stimulus.
I think pretty much everyone should incorporate a variety of rep ranges.
I don’t think Ronnie Coleman’s deadlift double of 805 a few weeks from a show was holding back his muscularity.
[/quote]
you show me one bodybuilder that does the majority of his training in low rep ranges. I doubt you will find any. I have seen Ronnie Train online, in his videos. He does 8-12 reps per set. from what i saw. Sure, sometimes, he might do low reps, for whatever reason. But im sure, 98% of his training as is with all other pros or any really big dude, they train in higher reps.
[quote]roguevampire wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]roguevampire wrote:
[quote]thazgeetsqat wrote:
I’m pretty sure this question has been done to death on here, but I’m looking for specific input. I’m wanting to know whether there’s really any benefit in doing one rep maxes if the goal is to just get bigger. To me it makes no sense that I’m going to be spending weeks injured now because of a fucked up rep-max especially if it doesn’t benefit hypertrophy as much as say 5+ reps. The reason I said specific input is because I’ve seen ebomb in his logs doing one rep maxes but I’m unsure as to whether they are more of a hindrance than a help?[/quote]
1 rep maxes are mainly to see how you have improved in strength. It does absolutely nothing for size. Zero. Nada. Even 5 reps is to low. The time under tension is far to low for decent gains in size. Im not saying you won’t gain any size at all, but far from max gains. you want the best gains in size, stay in the 8-12 rep range. never go below 6 reps. [/quote]
And yet there are a ton of guys that train mainly in the low rep range and carry huge amounts of muscle.
Different muscle fibers need different stimulus.
I think pretty much everyone should incorporate a variety of rep ranges.
I don’t think Ronnie Coleman’s deadlift double of 805 a few weeks from a show was holding back his muscularity.
[/quote]
you show me one bodybuilder that does the majority of his training in low rep ranges. I doubt you will find any. I have seen Ronnie Train online, in his videos. He does 8-12 reps per set. from what i saw. Sure, sometimes, he might do low reps, for whatever reason. But im sure, 98% of his training as is with all other pros or any really big dude, they train in higher reps. [/quote]
So, he would have been more muscular if he hadn’t done low reps? You are claiming he was wrong to do that?
I never said anything about majority of a bodybuilders training. you said “never go below 6 reps”. Lots of them go below 6 reps.
There are more ways to get overall training volume and “time under tension” than just increasing the number of reps in a set.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
So, he would have been more muscular if he hadn’t done low reps? You are claiming he was wrong to do that?
I never said anything about majority of a bodybuilders training. you said “never go below 6 reps”. Lots of them go below 6 reps.
There are more ways to get overall training volume and “time under tension” than just increasing the number of reps in a set.[/quote]
Why?
Why do people go back and forth with this guy? You’re just wasting energy and bandwidth.
[quote]Explosions wrote:
Not really seeing a downside if you slide it in now and then.[/quote]
That’s what she said?
OP- Hit 1RM’s to gauge strength-related progress. Do it every 14 days, if that.
Don’t listen to roguevampire. Find a good bodybuilding program, and follow it religiously. If it has you doing 5 or less reps, follow it. You can build muscle in a variety of rep ranges, as long as the overall programming is sound. Don’t do your own programming and don’t mix and match if you’re starting out. Consistently following intelligent programming is far more important than working within a specific rep range.
Thanks for the advice guys.
@ bigmac: I’m not a complete beginner in terms of years lifting but in terms of size and strength I’d say I’m by no means an expert. I’m 16, is it possible that my age could influence me getting injured doing lots of 1rm’s or was the other day just bad luck?
Max when you feel you’ve gotten significantly stronger. It’s up to you really, just don’t do it too often that it affects you negatively. In fact, you can do sets of singles or doubles at about 80-90% , resting only 60-90 seconds between each set and that’ll stimulate muscle growth. And us young kids don’t get injured often unless it’s bad form. We don’t lift heavy enough to get injured.
You’re 16, unless you’re a chinese lifter that got sent to a training hall at the age of 9, you’re a beginner.
[quote]bigmac73nh wrote:
[quote]Explosions wrote:
Not really seeing a downside if you slide it in now and then.[/quote]
That’s what she said?
[/quote]
Hahaha 
[quote]thazgeetsqat wrote:
Thanks for the advice guys.
@ bigmac: I’m not a complete beginner in terms of years lifting but in terms of size and strength I’d say I’m by no means an expert. I’m 16, is it possible that my age could influence me getting injured doing lots of 1rm’s or was the other day just bad luck? [/quote]
Sorry if I was condescending, wasn’t the intent. I was just assuming that you were at least new to using real programming based on your OP.
It’s not necessarily your age in a sense of physical development that will lead to you getting injured while maxing out. BUT the fact that you’re 16 means that you haven’t been around the gym for that long does mean that you are probably still learning. Hell I’ve been lifting for about half as many years as you’ve been alive and I’m still learning.
Honestly, based on your age (and the mindset I had at your age even as one of the stronger/more committed kids at my high school), I doubt your form and idea of how much weight to use at various points in a programming schedule are perfect. THAT is how your age could be a problem with 1RM’s- you need to have really good form to go heavy on the big lifts and know how frequently you can go heavy without it hurting your recovery (and thus your progress overall).
I do think you should be backing off on weight and watching a ton of form videos. Perfecting your form on the big lifts is the best thing you can do as a beginner and I wish someone had advised me more on that, because I’d be a lot stronger today. Finding a good program (maybe something like 5/3/1 or WS4SB?) and sticking to it will help you manage the weights you use as you get a feel for how much your body can handle on a regular basis. That’s why I made that recommendation. 1RM’s have their place, but I think you should be worrying about these other things first. Good luck.
[quote]thazgeetsqat wrote:
I’m 16, is it possible that my age could influence me getting injured doing lots of 1rm’s? [/quote]
No, otherwise I’d be dead by now lol
I’m not sure what world you guys are living in, but every article, written by all the top guys say, The best range for muscle growth is 6-12 reps. I never said that lower reps do not produce any growth, just not optimal growth. Powerlifters lift in the low range, thats why powerlifters, though big, are not as big as bodybuilders. They simply do not do enough reps. 1-5 reps is for strength with some size.
I have never seen one top bodybuilder perform low reps, except occasionaly. The vast majority of every pro bodybuilder is in the 6-12 rep range.
Ive watched all the top guys train, cutler, heath, warren, haney, yates, coleman, arnold, none of them did low reps, except occasionaly. 98% of their training is in the higher 6-12 rep range. YOu can argue and debate all you want. But you can’t debate facts. Do top guys sometimes do low reps, yes, but rarely.
[quote]roguevampire wrote:
I’m not sure what world you guys are living in, but every article, written by all the top guys say, The best range for muscle growth is 6-12 reps. I never said that lower reps do not produce any growth, just not optimal growth. Powerlifters lift in the low range, thats why powerlifters, though big, are not as big as bodybuilders. They simply do not do enough reps. 1-5 reps is for strength with some size.
I have never seen one top bodybuilder perform low reps, except occasionaly. The vast majority of every pro bodybuilder is in the 6-12 rep range.
Ive watched all the top guys train, cutler, heath, warren, haney, yates, coleman, arnold, none of them did low reps, except occasionaly. 98% of their training is in the higher 6-12 rep range. YOu can argue and debate all you want. But you can’t debate facts. Do top guys sometimes do low reps, yes, but rarely.[/quote]
"never go below 6 reps. "
“Do top guys sometimes do low reps, yes”
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
So, he would have been more muscular if he hadn’t done low reps? You are claiming he was wrong to do that?
I never said anything about majority of a bodybuilders training. you said “never go below 6 reps”. Lots of them go below 6 reps.
There are more ways to get overall training volume and “time under tension” than just increasing the number of reps in a set.[/quote]
Why?
Why do people go back and forth with this guy? You’re just wasting energy and bandwidth.[/quote]
I’ll admit, I was very close to responding to RV in this thread; seeing your post made me ask myself the same question haha.
[quote]roguevampire wrote:
I have never seen one top bodybuilder perform low reps, except occasionaly. The vast majority of every pro bodybuilder is in the 6-12 rep range.[/quote]
True. Pro bodybuilders are mostly in the 6-12 rep range. I hear their hands and feet are typically in the 3-500 rep range though.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]roguevampire wrote:
I’m not sure what world you guys are living in, but every article, written by all the top guys say, The best range for muscle growth is 6-12 reps. I never said that lower reps do not produce any growth, just not optimal growth. Powerlifters lift in the low range, thats why powerlifters, though big, are not as big as bodybuilders. They simply do not do enough reps. 1-5 reps is for strength with some size.
I have never seen one top bodybuilder perform low reps, except occasionaly. The vast majority of every pro bodybuilder is in the 6-12 rep range.
Ive watched all the top guys train, cutler, heath, warren, haney, yates, coleman, arnold, none of them did low reps, except occasionaly. 98% of their training is in the higher 6-12 rep range. YOu can argue and debate all you want. But you can’t debate facts. Do top guys sometimes do low reps, yes, but rarely.[/quote]
"never go below 6 reps. "
“Do top guys sometimes do low reps, yes”[/quote]
Ahhhh, I just love the art of taking things out of context. Here it is. If size is your goal, then never go below 6 reps.
[quote]bigmac73nh wrote:
[quote]thazgeetsqat wrote:
Thanks for the advice guys.
@ bigmac: I’m not a complete beginner in terms of years lifting but in terms of size and strength I’d say I’m by no means an expert. I’m 16, is it possible that my age could influence me getting injured doing lots of 1rm’s or was the other day just bad luck? [/quote]
Sorry if I was condescending, wasn’t the intent. I was just assuming that you were at least new to using real programming based on your OP.
It’s not necessarily your age in a sense of physical development that will lead to you getting injured while maxing out. BUT the fact that you’re 16 means that you haven’t been around the gym for that long does mean that you are probably still learning. Hell I’ve been lifting for about half as many years as you’ve been alive and I’m still learning.
Honestly, based on your age (and the mindset I had at your age even as one of the stronger/more committed kids at my high school), I doubt your form and idea of how much weight to use at various points in a programming schedule are perfect. THAT is how your age could be a problem with 1RM’s- you need to have really good form to go heavy on the big lifts and know how frequently you can go heavy without it hurting your recovery (and thus your progress overall).
I do think you should be backing off on weight and watching a ton of form videos. Perfecting your form on the big lifts is the best thing you can do as a beginner and I wish someone had advised me more on that, because I’d be a lot stronger today. Finding a good program (maybe something like 5/3/1 or WS4SB?) and sticking to it will help you manage the weights you use as you get a feel for how much your body can handle on a regular basis. That’s why I made that recommendation. 1RM’s have their place, but I think you should be worrying about these other things first. Good luck.[/quote]
Thanks man, you weren’t coming across as condescending. I see what you mean about knowing what your body can handle. Maybe if I’d known the lift was going to be too much I wouldn’t be missing lifting time because of it.
I had someone watching the lift and he said my form was fine at 160kg but at 170 my back rounded just a tiny bit which probably pushed it over the edge. I guess form can always improve but if my form on the exercise was a recurring issue I’m sure I’d have been injured before now. That’s not to say I won’t do as you suggested and watch some form videos. I appreciate the advice.