THAT REP THING - PART II

Both in keeping with my high-rep theme AND in recognition of the WINTER
GAMES, I thought a picture of Eric Heiden would be in order. The dominant
male in the world of SPEED SKATING during the late 70s and early 80s, Eric
trained his legs with grueling FIFTY-REP sets in the squat with relatively
heavy weights. It worked for him.

As mentioned in PART I, I've always seemed to be able to move up indefinitely
when using reps in the 20 - 40 range, and I've often wondered how high that
form of training could take me. But alas, I don't seem to have the IRON WILL
to stick with it for months at a time. My mind starts playing tricks on me
and planting little seeds of doubt, even while I'm STILL PROGRESSING JUST
FINE. But I do know two thing: First, I'm never forced to abandon this form
of training due to injuries, because there are none. And second, almost ALL
OF MY STRENGTH GAINS realized after the age of 50, even low-rep-heavy-
weight gains (remember, I never do max singles) have been due to higher
rep training. I'm the first to admit, however, that this may be because the
real heavy stuff is always cut short by some sort of strain or inflamation
in one of the involved joints. I actually PROGRESS BETTER with the low rep,
heavy stuff; it's just that it's always aborted prematurely.

One approach to higher rep training that has always worked especially well
for me is the "20-20-18-16" method. This involves picking a weight you are
capable of handling for 28-30 reps and doing, instead, an easy, FAST first
set of twenty. Rest exactly one minute then do a second, KINDA HARD set of
twenty. Rest another minute and do a HARD-FOUGHT set of eighten. Rest one
more minute and do a final, SHAKEY-HARD set of sixteen. There seems to be
slightly MORE CARRY-OVER to commensurate gains with heavier weights
using this method; but for me it's hard to face for very many workouts in a row.

Nevertheless, it does work well -- just remember to ADJUST IT DOWN for
exercises with a longer range of travel such as curls, where the bar traces
an arc and thus travels farther than a straight-line, up-and-down motion,
like a row or a bench press. 16-16-14-12 works better there.

Good luck and keep doing SOMETHING!

THAT REP THING - PART I

It is generally believed that using a weight that allows more than 30
reps does VERY LITTLE towards building REAL STRENGTH - in ANY
exercise! Judging from my own experience, I'm not so sure that's true.
While there is definitely NOT a one-to-one CORRELATION between
a 30 rep increase in strength and a ONE REPETITION MAX increase in
strength, there is SOME. For the older trainee who may not be willing
to spend the time on the extensive warm-ups necessary for LOW-REP,
HEAVY WEIGHT TRAINING, this is good news. The following are some
observations regarding the heavy-or-light dilemma garnered over my own
FIFTY YEARS of weight training. This is the way things WORKED FOR
ME, so all statements should be regarded as "FOOD FOR THOUGHT"
rather than as universal truths:

1) I definitely make better strength gains in deadlifts, quadriceps
strength and ANY PULLING EXERCISE INVOLVING THE LATS
when I keep the reps above 20. The strength gained in those bodyparts
involved DOES seem to CORRELATE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT
with gains in strength with heavy weights and low reps. In other words,
if I increase 25 lbs. in my 20 rep max in, say, the deadlift, I can be
sure I'll be up 25 lbs. in my 5 rep max as well. I don't know how
these higher reps might affect my ONE REP MAX simply because
I never do maximum singles.

2) For all pressing motions the correlation only seems about half
that close. In other words, an increase in what I can seated press
for 20 reps might only give me a 5 lb. -- OR LESS -- increase in
my five-rep or three-rep max. But the thing is . . . it's STILL AN
INCREASE; and I'm able to obtain it without all the shoulder and
elbow DISCOMFORT AND STRAIN that the heavier, lower rep
training VIRTUALLY GUARANTEES.

3) No matter what exercise or bodypart I apply higher rep training
to, I can continue to move the weight up for many, many workouts
in a row, while heavy, low rep training stalls out and "STALES
OUT" after only five or six workouts - ALWAYS. This may be a
psychological thing, but I also think it has to do with the constant
strain on 62 year-old joints and tendons. The above illustration,
by the way, is a very accurate and NOT EXAGERATED depiction of
Gustav Fristensky (1901??), who did an above-average amount of
high rep training as well as the heavy stuff.

More on this in PART II.