Single Rep Training

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

so for instance… you might just be able to eek out one chin-up. so you try and do a single every time you walk past the bar…

then eventually work your way up to a double.

and stuff…

how about training other stuff like this (with single reps).

heavy deadlift.

heavy squat.

you get the idea.

i’ve found some stuff on ‘single rep training’ via google…

but nothing from this site. how come?

single rep training anyone?

(maybe not so appropriate to the beginners forum but wasn’t sure where to put it. aim is to increase strength).

for a cycle or two, anyway.

2

sounds like an ME day from powerlifting routines.

3

For a long time I would only do 1 rep sets.
I would do like 8-10 sets of 1.
I did it for Squat, Hex Bar, Deadlift, Bench Press, and Log Press.

I got a lot stronger doing this, though I probably wouldn’t ever recommend it to anybody else, haha.

…Man, those were fun times…
I’m totally gonna go max out today now, ha.

4

I would sujest you try and find a copy of Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik.

5

haha bulldog i found some stuff on that on the net - that is what got me thinking on this. i surely will pick up the book as soon as i’m able!

why wouldn’t you reccommend it ivoodo?

ME day… yes. why not make every day a ME day??

*I do understand that one won’t make gains doing the same thing forever… and i also understand that you want to be used to doing max attempts. i’m an oly lifter really so used to max efforts. would like to train max effort for the powerlifts for a bit… see if i can get things moving some before doing something more regular like 5/3/1…

6

if memory serves me correct when louie was putting together the westside methodology he was referencing olympic lifters. they had as many as 80 different variations of the main lifts and would max out several times a week each week without time off all year.

but then i also believe that without the eccentric phase that o lifts allow for you can max out more often with faster recovery. powerlifting has the eccentric phase in 2 of the main lifts and those are the 2 that are commonly trained more so, so recovery takes longer between max effort attempts.

you also have to take into account that a speed day is really everyday for O lifters. so they are pulling maximally with speed everyday. so they do in way get speed work and max effort work daily. kind of like phillipi deadlift routine but for every lift done in a conjugate style.

7

I am on 5/3/1 for squatting and deadlifting, and I test my max for squat and deadlift around once a year.

I could not imagine grinding out a 1rm lift for these exercises like you describe and not end up broken.

I would suggest using a 5rm or 3rm, or preferably using an established strength program like Starting Strength, 5/3/1 or 5x5.

8

I like the idea of low reps, triples and such but single reps take so damn long to workout. If i want 25-35 reps of high weight squat (2/3 of my max or above) which is what I shoot for (and rarely achieve), doing singles is going to take 2. So i mix it up with 4s, 3s and 2s usually. I have maxed three times in the last 12 days and feel perfectly fine. Been lifting 5plus (PL, not just squats) days a week for the last few months with a ton of maxing and no CNS burnout (whatever that is).

I did the same for bench for awhile as well and it definitely helps, especially mentally, knowing the weight won’t kill you. Before I would always be afraid of a max attempt now, I am fully confident, it’s awesome.

DL on the other hand murders me, I am beat for 3 or 4 days (at least) after a max DL attempt.

9

[quote]alexus wrote:
haha bulldog i found some stuff on that on the net - that is what got me thinking on this. i surely will pick up the book as soon as i’m able!

why wouldn’t you reccommend it ivoodo?

ME day… yes. why not make every day a ME day??

*I do understand that one won’t make gains doing the same thing forever… and i also understand that you want to be used to doing max attempts. i’m an oly lifter really so used to max efforts. would like to train max effort for the powerlifts for a bit… see if i can get things moving some before doing something more regular like 5/3/1…[/quote]
Man, everyone always forgets the second “o” haha.
Anyways though…

I wouldn’t recommend training this way for three reasons:

A.) It’s pretty easy to hurt yourself maxing out all the time, you really have to put an extra emphasis on form, which is tough without coaching sometimes.

B.) You basically need either a coach or a capable training partner for all the spotting. I mean, I don’t mind if somebody asks me for a spot in between sets, but if they did it 8-10 times, doing 1 rep each time, I’d be pretty pissed, haha.

C.) I feel there’s a very specific type of conditioning that takes place in higher-rep ME work, I call it sustainable burst, the ability to burst multiple times with max explosion within seconds of each other. I know it sounds like total bullshit, but when I was only training with 1 rep training I was super explosive, strong, and fast, but I couldn’t sustain the amount of force I could produce on an athletic field because I had limited myself so much to one type of training. I could run a route deep, and beat my D-Back, but if I didn’t end up pulling a hamstring, I ended up breathing REAL hard after the play, which in turn negatively effected my sustainability. When I added higher rep days in to my training I got bigger, faster, and stronger, and I could play the way I need to the whole game, instead of three quarters…

Basically, as in most things athletically related, you’ll probably get the best results from a variety of stimuli, specializing in one area usually leads to imbalances and a poorly constructed athletic foundation to build on.