# varying rep ranges to target different muscle fibres



## icamero1 (Jul 3, 2009)

I understand that low sets (4-6) of heavy weights is effective for strength training, and high reps (8-12) is good for toning, and in between this range is aimed at generally bulking/gianing muscle... I read that varying the range of reps and weight in your routine is effective in targetting different muscle fibres, thus promoting growth..

e.g ,, i have started doing this for BB biscep curls..

10 reps @ 38kg

8 reps @ 45kg

6 reps @ 45kg

12 reps @ 30kg

I have only recently started this, so cant comment on effectivness, was wondering if anyone trains like this, and what they thought????

Cheers


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

I used to believe in this greatly when training hence my love of drop sets, they hit every fibre and jack intensity up through the roof. I grew like a weed on them.

After your heavy set use the same weight again and if it's bicep curl lay out 3 or 4 sets of lighter ones and work your way down the weight immediately after each time you fail.

On chest I'd go to 4 20's a side for 4 reps then start on 4 20's a side again then get 2 reps, take a disk off each side, as many as I could before failing, disc of each side go again then when the last 20 came off a 10 would go on and rep out as many as I could.

If you can't grow on that, buy golf clubs.


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## moneyhunster (Sep 17, 2011)

Hi, i too like drop sets, i managed to get over the magic 100kg (+bar) with them and since moving to another routine with no drop sets i am struggling to get the weight up anymore.

i was doing

Bench press

110 x 8 reps

95 x 10 reps

75 x 15 reps

should i of been doing a heavy set of 10 before the drop set?

Can i replace my regular 3x8 reps on this routine with a drop set just for chest,? i do miss them!


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## jordan_ (Mar 5, 2011)

Just a little email I receive which I thought maybe interesting on this thread.

Hi Jordan,

*

A week or two back I answered a pretty interesting question that*

one of our loyal readers sent in about rep ranges.*

*

To paraphrase more than a little bit, he asked something along the

lines of: "Is it better to train to train 5 sets of 3 reps with 85% of

ones max or 3 sets of 5 reps with 75%?..."

*

The truth of it is that any combination of sets and reps will get you*

great results, but when -- and only when -- they are performed in

a progressive manner.* If you only learn one thing from all the

thousands upon thousands of emails, articles and pages I have*

ever written, and allll the boos and courses we offer, I hope it is

that.

*

Your muscles don't know even know what 85% of your max is,

all they know is that if the training is that if the demand placed on

them is of a sufficient magnitude then they have NO CHOICE but

to get stronger as they recover.

*

Now, you may be wondering what exactly makes this happen...

*

There are a variety of factors at work here, but one that is*

of particular importance is the tension on the muscle fibers*

themselves. This all happens at an atomic level, mTor pathways

and such and goes far beyond the scope of this email although I

may revisit this at a later time.

*

Fortunately, it is a relatively easy thing to measure time under*

tension in your exercises, all you need is a stop watch and to*

make sure your style of performance is consistent from session

to session. More on this in a bit...

*

So the research on this tension stuff goes back quite a long ways,*

and it is something I always new was important, but it has been*

rarely touched on in all the normal training literature.*

*

Still, there is definitely something "there" which is why I started

paying close attention to it.

*

This got me wondering, I mean, there is a comparatively a lot more

info in the text books on negatives (or eccentric training) but it is

pretty easy to see that "negatives" really don't have any meaning*

unless you are also measuring (ta da!) the time under tension.

*

To give you a pretty obvious case, a negative chinup perforned

in 60 seconds, is a whole lot different than a chinup performed in 40

seconds and 20 seconds etc.* (Of course, this concept can be applied

to any exercise, not just negatives, although it works particularly

well with them)

*

Long story short, and as I mentioned above, I began to measure

the time under tension in my own training, and started to see

some very interesting patterns forming from the data.

*

Over the course of the last 100 workouts or so, I kept track of

my "normal" sets and reps but also measured the time it took to

perform each exercise.

*

What I noticed is that increasing the time under tension on a*

per workout basis essentially guaranteed the ability to come*

back stronger the next time...* and not only that,* when training

with very heavy weights it was possible (and likely necessary)

to increase the time under tension even if the number of*

repetitions decreased!

*

You know how sometimes you get stuck at a certain weight or*

number of reps?* You may actually be getting stronger without*

realizing it, the number of "sets and reps" you do doesn't always

always give the whole story.*

*

Now, I realize that we're dealing with a sample size of one -- me,*

and there is also inevitably some experimental error in the protocol

since I am using the timer on my Ironman Timex wrist watch,

however, whatever errors are present, they are also consistent

in every session,so I don't let it worry me.

*

I did this with high rep schemes, low rep schemes, barbell exercises

dumbbell exercises, machines, grippers -- the modality didn't make*

any difference.**

You may be tempted to ask what the "best" time under tension

is -- hopefully you were paying attention to the first few paragraphs

of this email. *


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## justheretosnoop (Jun 15, 2012)

Extreme said:


> I used to believe in this greatly when training hence my love of drop sets, they hit every fibre and jack intensity up through the roof. I grew like a weed on them.
> 
> After your heavy set use the same weight again and if it's bicep curl lay out 3 or 4 sets of lighter ones and work your way down the weight immediately after each time you fail.
> 
> ...


Doug, can I just pick your brains quickly on this please. You say after a heavy set you'd go with the same weight again then proceed to the drops. Are you saying you'd do one heavy set followed by a standard rest of X minutes then start your next set (which would be the drop set) at the same heavy weight? Or are you saying you'd go heavy, rack it very briefly, go heavy again then proceed straight to the drops as though it was all one big set i.e. heavy/heavy/drops?

If that makes any sense....??!


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

Got it Dorsey, say for example my heavy set on bench press would be 180kg I would load the bar first with a couple of 10kg discs then 3 x 20kg discs and I'd then proceed to do as many as I could before racking it.

I'd now take a standard break between heavy sets before going back to the exact same weight and again doing as many as possible which may only be 2 or 3, even though I may have managed half a dozen the first set at this weight, I then rack it and 20kg comes off each side abd I go again for as many as possible, rack it 20kg off each side and rep out what I can before pulling 10kg off each end now leaving me with an olympic bar with 10kg on each end to rep out as many as I can in the final part of the set.

Make sense?


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## justheretosnoop (Jun 15, 2012)

Yeah, got it. Just wasn't sure if you were doing it as 2 sets as you've now said or one big set with just a very quick breather (say 10 secs max) between the heavy and the heavy attempts. My current training cycle is run similar to the drop-set format although I don't actually reduce the weight, I just pick the bar straight back up and smash more reps out at the same weight before racking it again...and again...

PS who's the bird in your avi?


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## EXTREME (Aug 5, 2005)

.......a friend.


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## DANthirty (Jan 28, 2011)

Extreme said:


> .......a friend.


 Can i be her friend..............!:tongue1:


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## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

jordan0689 said:


> Just a little email I receive which I thought maybe interesting on this thread.
> 
> Hi Jordan,
> 
> ...


brillaint emails arent they dude


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