Varying Rep Ranges During a Workout
My question is...Is my work out routine useful for mass or is it completely wrong?
For quite a while, I followed a routine where I would start with 3 or 4 sets of a tough excercise and heavy weights I could rep maybe just six times each set. Then on the next excercise of 3 or 4 sets I would move to medium weight I could rep at least eight times each set. Last, I would do 3 or 4 sets of a lighter excercise with omething like 12 reps on each set. For example, for chest I would go heavy on the bench, then do the medium weights with dumbell presses and then finish with peck deck.
I know that there are supposedly optimal rep ranges for mass and I was maybe slightly stepping out of that optimal range on either end of the workout, but I somehow had this idea that I need to go really heavy while I am still full of energy at the beginning and take the muscles to their strength limit (still within something we could consider a mass building rep range), then the middle I would consider the golden core of the workout and the lighter weights at the end I would consider something like a pump up excercise.
I know some people go exactly the opposite way and start lighter and increase loads as they go, but I just find I get exhausted too early on some easy stuff and the when I need to really work, I am half dead already.
Generaly there are tons of different load progression methods...but could anyone give me a qualified answer as to what is really good? (again my priority is mass)
Thanks
(2)2 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
I presume all of your exercises working out the same body part? If so, you are essentially using the technique called "pyramiding down". This means you start with a heavy weight and back off from there. It's a perfectly legitimate way of working out, though you will of course find its proponents and opponents. With your priority being mass, going as heavy as possible when you're fresh is arguably the best way to lift the heaviest, which will in turn induce a need to be bigger in your body the best.
Like many things with physical fitness, nobody really knows as an empirical fact. The reasoning behind your workout is not bad, though, just be careful to warm up thoroughly so you have an idea of your relative strength that day. The last thing you want is to jump in and abruptly figure out you're not feeling quite right, leading to an injury!
What you do is train both rep ranges for hypertrophy and strength within one training. That's OK, many guys do that, so you can go on with that but I just want to show you a training that worked insanely good for me.
It's called Jim Stoppani's Shortcut to Size training and I gained 5-6 kg within the 12 weeks of the program. I didn't take all the supplements he recommended because that's just insane in my opinion. Just make sure you eat enough because the training is tough and remember you want to build some so you have to eat big.
The idea in this training is to focus each week on either hypertrophy or strength and become overall stronger and heavier. Let me know if you give it a try, I absolutely fell in love with this workout routine.
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.