Check out Poliquin’s “training with maximal weights”.
Also check out in the little black book of training methods the “1,6 method”
Adam Marshall
Don’t get me wrong. I understand that low-reps are needed to get used to lifting the heavy weights especially if you compete in Olympic or Powerlifting. I just thought it was interesting that the author thought that lifting with heavy weights for 8-10 reps was better for building strength than low reps. Mike, like you said, it takes many, many sets of low reps to elicit a strength and/or hypertrophy response. I do own and have read Poliquin’s book Modern Trends in Strength Training where he addresses low-rep lifting. I just found the article interesting, and true to a certain degree. The author was writing the article in reference to Olympic lifters who always train with heavy weights and low reps, and do very little bodybuilding movements. The author thinks this is a mistake mainly because many of the Olympic lifts don’t have you lifting your maximum weight (in certain lifts/positions). This was in a recent article in MILO. I think it holds true to a point. Especially as Mike said, to build a solid base and strengthen the tendons and joints.
Find this post interesting. King states that the higher your training age, the lower the rep range you should be in to see growth. Some posts above are too generic. You can’t add 5 to 10 lbs every w/o. The cns trick was in a Chad Waterbury article. Don’t remember which one though. Look at it this way, every time you get stronger after a strength phase, shouldn’t you be able to lift a lighter weight more times? It’s getting late, I think I just contradicted myself. Original post makes sense, some others here do not.
You can add 5-10 lbs every workout, but that does not mean you will lift it.
But if you keep trying eventually you will. You will however, eventually stall, and then you need to change the routine. I find that I see gains for about 4-6 weeks, then stall.
I get your point and agree with it. I was commenting on Jack Dublin’s posts. For the same reason as you I change my program every 3-4 weeks. Have you read Staley’s warm up in one of the hard copies?
Yes, this is a common belief. There’s just a lot more to it. None of us are training to be common. The longer you train, the more you will realize we all have a lot to learn.
I did the same thing about a year ago with my dips. I had for the longest time a stick point of only 10 dips. No matter how I was going the 10th one I would stop. So I started stacking weight on and did as many dips as I could with the weight. Always trying to hit 10 if possible. After a few weeks I did the dips again with no weight and was easily able to push my self up to 16 dips.
I never tried that method on anything else. Ill have to give it a try. My question to all. If in your bench you keep on adding weight to your one rep max as some said. Does form count ? What I mean if it gets heavier and heavier I’m not sure at all I’ll be able to bring it down as deep as I would with other weight. Is that ok since all your trying to do is get the muscle use to the heavier weight.
I did something similiar to that with squats. When I was done with my squats I would toss on a good amount of weight more just so my shoulder and my body would get use to the heavier weight. I would either do a partial squat or just stand there with the weight and get a “feel” of it.
Is that the approach I should go with also on the bench and even deads?