Monday, August 13, 2007

Forced Reps do not help.....

Art DeVany had a post a while back about - Fight or Flight - Working out like your life depends on it

The model was of a work out as a life or death struggle. I exploit the evolutionary male idea, but I add the environmental challenge that such a male would face. He has to fight for his life or escape in flight about once a week. Do that and you will have muscle and the right body composition.

The post is an interesting and motivating one.

I was reminded of this when I read this abstract: Increased Number of Forced Repetitions Does Not Enhance Strength Development With Resistance Training


The research found that "when repetition failure was reached, neither additional forced repetitions nor additional set volume further improved the magnitude of strength gains. This finding questions the efficacy of adding additional volume by use of forced repetitions in young athletes with moderate strength training experience."

That makes sense in a "fight or flight world" If you fail....then you lose! Training yourself to fail and even trying to go beyond it just seems wrong. If you fail in the wild then you have lost the fight, you have been eaten by the predator. Train hard, but stop before you reach failure....

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