Will you build muscle on low rep high sets

I posted about this way of training but I wannted to ask will you build muscle

I’m using 8*2 etc on ohp and squats will I gain muscle?

Lifting weights is an awesome way to build muscle

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yes.

now try it and find out

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Just out of curiosity:

  • All sets with the same weight?
  • What is the most reps you could do with the highest weight where you are doing 2 reps?

I built the vast majority of my muscle in my mid 20s doing high sets, low reps.

Is it the best way?
Who knows.

Did it work for me?
Yes.

It comes down to your personality ultimately and what will continue to keep you motivated to progress. That being said I only trained this way on 1-2 main technical movements each workout. All accessory work with DBs, cables or machines I stuck with high reps anywhere from 8-50.

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I’ll do 10x3 every now and then.

It’s fun and I’m lifting heavier than normal doing those, so I don’t think it’s bad to have in your toolkit.

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Do eight sets or two

Then seven sets of 2 and 1 set of three

And work your way up till you can do eight sets or three every session adding 1 rep

I’m only using it on my ohp and squats, ohp is the hardest to get up and when the squats get heavy and I’m on the last set I cut depth

So I want to work getting stronger and maintaining form on squats

And just get my ohp up

Then do regular bodybuilding stuff

Theoretically the low rep/high set work by itself won’t build a lot of muscle.

But the bodybuilding style work will build a lot of muscle.

And the low rep/high set stuff should improve your “energy transport mechanism” or some shit. Like you develop better conditioning and more mitochondria in your muscles. And this should make your bodybuilding workouts better. Possibly maybe more mitochondria and better energy transfer will mean sarcoplastic hypertrophy.

Science dudes also say that the low rep / high set “powerful” lifting will help convert transitional muscle fibers to Fast Twitch fibers. In theory the fast fibers should grow bigger and easier and this should also make your bodybuilding more effective. Maybe.

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I would tend to agree with this.

IMO, the greatest benefit of high sets of very low reps improves CNS recruitment percentage on the early reps. That would improve your 1 rep max without the need to add muscle tissue. (I am not saying low reps don’t add muscle. I just don’t know and never tried to find out with my body. That is, I have no experience to reflect upon.)

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Just 1 part of the Holistic Muscle Building approach.

For what it’s worth, my shoulders were at their biggest when once a week I’d do 7-10 sets of OHP for singles and the occasional double. I was doing a more traditional rep range at another point in the week, but I always felt the progress on the singles day was what would carry the hypertrophy day.

As mentioned, doing singles really helps you fire that CNS better, and most people struggle with that on OHP. That first rep can really break a set I believe. I actually found my singles would consistantly get better even within the same session.

The low rep sets on their own? Probably a slower way of doing things. Using the strength to carry over into the more commonly used rep ranges for hypertrophy? More weight on the bar for those = more muscle.

Singles of OHP are much easier to recover from than the obvious other exercises though. I don’t think I’d want to try to replicate this on many other compounds.

Dudes have been figuring work a rounds.

My hero Matt says if you want to gain mass with low reps/high sets you should slow down the eccentrics so you get more muscle focus and time under tension.

Other guys like Josh Bryant and Swede Burns are using more of a Cluster approach, with slightly higher reps but still short breaks, finished by a bunch of reps. Like 3 x 6 or maybe 4 x 4, doing as many reps as possible on the last set. So you still get pretty heavy weights and pretty short rest but more reps per set.

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I mean grinding out ohp can’t really be good , surely doing low reps high sets is better. Morning I’m going all out just to add one rep and weight in normal hypertrophy rep range inthen going backwards a week after

Squats surely heavier squats will build muscle 82 adding on rep you getting the same amount of reps as two 8 reps sets and when you reach 38 your getting the same reps as 8*3

It’s just my ohp sucks and heavy squats I kinda cut depth

So I’m looking for something to help me out while still getting gainz

Why not?

Cuz you end up stuck on the same weight week in week out

Using everything you have just to get a shit rep

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Why would you do that?

I made some of my best progress grinding out reps. Check out THESE grinders

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I’m only posting these questions and I don’t really know what I’m doing

So if you can recommend me any articles I could read, I would consider myself a early intermediate

Full body Three days a week is what I do which I really enjoy, while everything else is going up and I’m enjoying it. My ohp I’m struggling to get it to go up

And when I do heavy squats in the 8 to 12 rep range I end up cutting depth due to being fatigued and the 3*5 rep range I could go back to

So if you could recommend me any articles to read that would be much appreciated. As I’m still in the learning process because before I was just doing a linear progression program where you would slap weight on the bar every session then I switched to adding one or two reps per session

And I love lifting stuff overhead like the ohp just frustrating when it doesn’t go up.

So if you can recommend me any articles to read to update my knowledge and learn a little more programming or even recommend me a program that would be much appreciated.

Cos currency right now I’m doing one exercise per body parts three times a week for a full body workout plan and then winging it lol :rofl:

Also after work I’m gonna get the tnation+ somi can learn some more stuff as my knowledge is not good

And I’m really just winging it to be honest but it worked as all my lifts keep going up like rdls, bench , skull crusher, chin ups etc

That’s a wonderful start. Have you considered reading some published authors and their works as well?

Do you do any sort of conditioning?

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First off, stop cutting depth when you are fatigued. It’s impossible to measure progress efficiently if you are not standardizing your form. Just when you think form needs to break down, stop the set. (and work on conditioning if strength isn’t the issue)

Back to the OHP stuff. Whilst grinders can help you progress, I wasn’t talking about doing 7-10 sets at 100% of 1RM. 90%+ and focus on keeping form tight and exploding the rep up (move it as fast as you can). You’ll probably experienced the bar moving faster with the same weight pretty quickly. If you get to a point where you are grinding, it’s no bother as long as you are recovering and progressing week to week.

Although reading your other posts here, you’re better off just getting on a program and being stricter with your form so your reps are actually measurable.