to grow the fastest...?

i read this in a site on the net...

"...Heavy low rep weight training causes the greatest amount of degradation but unfortunately the total amount is limited due to the small number of times the weight is lifted. Stereotypical bodybuilding loads of eight to twelve repetitions causes moderate levels of degradation but because of the slightly higher volume end up causes the greatest amount of total degradation.

Finally low load/high volume training has little protein degradation per unit, and even though the volume is high the resultant is still smaller than moderate load and volume training - i.e. your three sets of ten styles.

Considering this information it's obvious that the best results will be to use a heavy weight and perform a large volume with it. Unfortunately you are limited in how many repetitions you can perform with a heavy weight or we would all be performing sets of ten reps with close to our one rep max. As such the answer is to use a heavy load and perform multiple low rep sets in order to try to achieve an overall high degradation to the fast twitch fibers...."

basically what this says is that heavy load,(reps in the strength range) and low reps but high volume will yield the best results for weight training and to cause myofibril hypertrophy... what do you guys think about this???

and what kind of program could you come up with to put this theory to use??? I'm thinking 10x3...

That's assuming each person has the exact same ratio of fast/slow twitch muscle fibers in the same exact places all over the body.

That is far from reality, which is why it's key to experiment to find what works best for you. Some do better on low reps, some on much higher ones, it depends how your are "made".

~SC~

so Swole, would a "hardgainer" want very low reps?? is that what you mean?

a hardgainer that can't build muscle so easily would have slow twitch fibres in greater abundance than fast twitch, so higher reps with lighter weights would theoretically suit better for muscle growth, so instead of doing 8, try 11 or 12 but not much higher. High reps of 20 will create a burn and a pump and some muscle growth but you'll soon find it will halt progress and will not create enough fibre damage.

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Originally Posted by Captain_test

so Swole, would a "hardgainer" want very low reps?? is that what you mean?

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Hardgainers are usually dubbed such because of fast metabolisms, not solely because of muscle fiber type. (to some degree though, yes, but it's a combo of both w/more emphasis on the former) I've seen "hardgainers" who do better on high volume and some who do better on lower volume, reps the same as well.

~SC~

with me, I work better with a powerlifting approach. Working with boards, or just a high volume low rep scheme; but, as swole said, everyone is different and they have a different fast/slow twitch muscle fiber makeup

i respond well with very heavy typed training and made alot of gains from it ,
but i find that u can't train that way for extended periods of time, and while u should be switching your training style up anyway , i find droppiing the weight for a few weeks and increasing the reps helps me to recover neuraly.

is there anything wrong with mixing it up thru-out your routine? for ex. pyramid up to a max then back down to 8-12 rep working sets. seems to me you are getting best of both worlds.

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Originally Posted by bobofet

is there anything wrong with mixing it up thru-out your routine? for ex. pyramid up to a max then back down to 8-12 rep working sets. seems to me you are getting best of both worlds.

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Some people say it sends confusing messages to the muscles, and in part this is true. The nervous system will have a harder time adapting (recruiting more muscle fibres your next workout and coordinating them) because you have performed a very varied exercise routine. However, in terms of the effect on the muscles its great, you cause more damage.

I would say that its ok to mix it up throughout your workout to a degree, but you don't want to be doing it week in week out. Do it as a shocker for a while perhaps, just my view...