Considering a new approach to strength and hypertrophy by implementing high rep training

[brohoho]

Recently, I’ve become fascinated with extremely high rep training after watching some YouTube and researching the topic.
Plenty of world class athletes like Mike Tyson, David Goggins and Herschel Walker, guys in the street workout scene, convicts and eastern block fellas have subscribed to this style of training and have seen awesome results. I’m sure many of you are familiar with this approach to calisthenics and I also realize that athletes like Tyson are genetically gifted and will look great and benefit from perhaps any form of training (dude bench pressed over 200 lbs untrained at age 13) HOWEVER, the validity of high rep calisthenics has been proven and it is common knowledge now that muscle mass can be achieved ahead of and beyond the magic 8-12 reps most people train within.

A few hours ago I decided to try it out myself.
I did 30x5 pull ups followed with superset push ups (30x10) and very short rest periods.
That’s 150 total pull ups and 300 total push ups I did in a timely manner and I finished up with some isolation and core. Not only did it deliver a solid pump, the conditioning was good too.

I’m considering alternating between an upper(a) workout identical to the one above where I steadily increase reps and an upper(b) workout which is much less volume with an emphasis on strength and skill moves. I’ve mostly been balancing strength and hypertrophy in the same workout but this seems like a fun experiment and a chance to progress skills rather than just muscle mass. I’m unafraid of junk volume or overtraining because I’ve already become accustomed to a high degree of volume as it’s been my primary form of progressive overload.

I’m really interested to hear some opinions on the matter, especially from those of you who train or have trained in a similar fashion. Tips, suggestions, ulterior advice and even criticism is appreciated, thanks.

 

[akdk1210]

@brohoho Used to train like this out of lack of knowledge. Stopped training like this and I was finally able to break all my plateaus, get really cool bodyweight skills, and my gains drastically increased. It wasn't just the high reps though, I also stopped doing some other mistakes.

 

[brohoho]

@akdk1210 Could you elaborate on how you trained instead and what your goals are/were? I haven’t been training skill moves at all up until now, I’ve only been putting on mass.

 

[joshuasamuelquiroz]

@brohoho First let me say, train however you choose and have a blast doing it.
Second, OP, don't underestimate the role of genetics in different training outcomes. That's an unpopular opinion in many fitness conversations because the main takeaways should generally be "train hard, eat well, sleep, and you will see results." But unchecked positivity can also lead to unrealistic expectations. Without diminishing the importance of mental toughness, there's more difference between Goggins and regular folk than just discipline. Training like Goggins or Tyson won't turn anybody into those guys. They started out genetically with a higher ceiling of what was achievable from training. You could also try training like a sprinter, but odds are you will never be compared to a gold medalist. Train like a monster. I hope you get monster results. Most importantly, train how you enjoy. If that means high rep programming, then by all means, smash it. Some people plateau and adjust to hit certain goals. It doesn't matter, as long as you keep moving.

 

[anth987]

@joshuasamuelquiroz I don’t know man. Goggins makes a point of emphasizing that he’s not any different than everyone else other than his mindset

 

[joshuasamuelquiroz]

@anth987 He'd be kind of a dick to do otherwise, and I trust that it's 100% his honest opinion, anyway

 

[whit]

@joshuasamuelquiroz That's a really good post.

 

[akdk1210]

@brohoho My goals were getting stronger and more fit, and doing cool calisthenics skills. My workouts were sorta circuit like but not always, and would look something like this:

5 times:
30-40 push ups
10 pull ups
15 dips
abs exercise

They weren't really programmed well, and I was sort of improvising. Sometimes I'd do some different variations of push ups, sometimes I'd finish a workout with some 7 minute plank or a bring sally up.

 

[brohoho]

@akdk1210 Seems your training was actually a little more different than you initially lead me to believe. I suppose I see the similarity in simplicity. The level of volume you did is not quite to the same extreme extent.

 

[akdk1210]

@brohoho That was just a random example I picked. Do note that I was a lot stronger with pushing than pulling, hence the low pull up numbers. I did have workouts that summed up to be 200-300 push ups, 100 or so pull ups, or 200 lunges. I remember one tedious workout that I ended with 150 jump squats, man I couldn't walk up the stairs for a week after that. I also used to do sets of around 40 dips.

If you're already very strong and you're talking about an extreme level of volumes (350+ reps of a single exercise) then I truly have no experience with that.

 

[brohoho]

@akdk1210 Hm.. well in that case I take back what I said. Your experience may be something to learn from. I suppose also at the end of the day, we are all different people with different bodies and what is optimal for one person is not as much so for another. I’m going to give it a try at least and see how it affects me. Thank you for sharing!

 

[akdk1210]

@brohoho Also I'll just mention again that I made many mistakes in the way I programmed workouts, and it wasn't just the high reps thing. I'm a big fan of trying many things out, so go out and try this style of training. If you're looking for gains though, I would advise you that regardless of the rep range, try to get at least somewhat close to mascular failure on your sets. Perhaps not very close, but don't start with a set of x reps when you can do 4x in an all out set.

So maybe if you can do around 60 push ups on a good day, perhaps do sets of 50, and just take long rests in-between (3-5mins). This is obviously just an example, I do not know your true strength level or which exercises you wish to perform.

Either way, good luck on your journey man

 

[dawn16]

@brohoho I think it’s more time under tension than high reps that work. Have you done any periodization training?

 

[dawn16]

Metabolic stress is the cause of hypertrophy at high reps

 

[coffee777]

@dawn16 Don’t overlook this^ people

 

[brohoho]

@dawn16 Time under tension is a great rule of thumb and historically one of my most utilized method of mechanical tension. It is however not the only way to train or to improve one’s physique. I have done periodization training and one could argue that’s the entire goal of what I’m proposing.

 

[anne97]

@brohoho High reps are just a way of increasing time under tension. Menno has a video talking about the factors for gains and to summarize it's basically mechanical tension and amount of total reps (TUT), and the literature on intrarep time is really variable, with some showing longer eccentrics (4s) at lower loads may benefit hypertrophy similarly to higher loads with shorter eccentrics. For strength i don't remember a large difference.

 

[dawn16]

I agree, I'm doing high reps with the resistance bands+ a bar... I don't think there's a proper name for It I just call It the X3 bar based on the fitness device it's modeled after (expensive AF)

It lets you hit many high reps, once you can do 40 slow push/ pull workouts under tension it's time to move onto a higher band

So far I've only been through 2 bands I'm still young at building muscle, this third band is like 80lbs at max resistance

The really neat thing is you only feel resistance at the max stretch of the band so you're able to commit to failure in a single set, only resting to do different exercises

So the entire workout can be a super super set!!!

Also its easier on the joints since you are arent lugging around heavy material, and because of this you can get a good pump going everyday, permitted you eat protein to repair

 

[sarangapani]

@brohoho Personally I get much better strength gains from high weight training. Like 3 to 7 reps. You can really feel your brain recruiting every muscle fibre it can.

From high reps (like >20 push ups) I just get a burning sensation in my muscles and need >4 minute breaks to recover.

For exercises like squats I also lose focus and tension and form when I just quickly do 30 of them.

 

[brohoho]

@sarangapani No doubt about lower reps for strength gains, only a fool would argue against that. I suppose the overall thought process behind training in such a high rep range is that not only does it provide conditioning, it could potentially provide the stimulus to both types of muscle fibers after performing many reps and fatiguing your type I fibers. Eventually, you reach a point where you struggle to do say 10 push ups which for most of us is only a mere fraction of what we’d perform in an all out set to failure. It is agreed upon overall that the biggest contribution to muscle growth is training to or near failure regardless of rep range.