Rest MORE for MORE ‘GAINZ’...?
- Geoff Neupert
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
If you want to see similar results to Sal, grab a copy of ‘THE GIANT’ here.
If you need help with your technique?
Use this for single KB exercises.
And this for double KB exercises (different rules than the singles). https://salutis.kartra.com/page/strong-ts
And if you have great technique and still crave "hardcore"?
Use these programs. https://cart.chasingstrength.com/hard3b
If you’re like many of us, you probably have some kind of “hardcore” background or “bent” to your mindset when it comes to working out (training).
Football gassers… Wrestling “shark tank”... Boot Camp…
And as a result, we measure our workouts by how “tough” they are…
How tired they make us.
And the Iron Sports?
Same thing.
“Go Heavy or Go Home.”
“Go Hard or Go Home.”
“One more rep!”
“It’s ALL YOU, BRUH!”
You get the idea, right?
For many of us, it’s pretty hard to change our viewpoint.
It’s like we’ve been brainwashed into thinking a certain way.
But reality, especially when we’re 10… 15… 20+ years out from “the trenches” requires we adopt a new, and more scientific mindset if we’re truly serious about developing a stronger, leaner, healthier, better conditioned body.
For example, in his book, The Science and Practice of Strength Training, Dr. Vladimir Zatsiorsky (Chief Biomechanicist for all Soviet Union teams from 1980-1988) states that secret to great strength is this:
“Train as heavy as possible, as often as possible, as fresh as possible.”
Most of us are unaware of that last part -
“As fresh as possible.”
And that’s because FATIGUE makes you weaker.
It:
[X] Decreases your ability to produce force
[X] Alters your exercise technique for the worse
[X] Exposes you to potential injury
So, with that background, let me share a common question I routinely get. This time it came from Sal -
Sal asks why just bumping his reps up from 6 to 8 is so much more aerobically taxing and why his total workload decreased by 12 reps when doing sets of 8 versus sets of 6.
This is perfectly normal when using a fixed load and basing your training off a RM.
The higher the reps, the greater the percentage of effort you’re using in relation to your RM.
For example, if you’re using a 12RM, 8 reps is 66% effort in relation to your RM, whereas 6 reps is only 50% effort.
So, with 8 reps, you're using 16% more effort per set than compared to only using 6 reps.
And that means you’re increasing fatigue.
And that means you need to rest longer between sets, so you can still produce enough force to get that next set of 8.
Said succinctly:
More reps per set relative to RM = More fatigue produced = More rest between sets
Said differently:
Sets of 8 are harder than sets of 6, when using the same weight/load. As a result, you need to rest more between sets.
Remember -
“As fresh as possible.”
The other thing I want to address is Sal’s question about changing his technique and seeing a performance decrease.
It’s not only possible, but probable that since he changed his technique, he might have “lost” a few reps in the short term.
Or, rather, his current reps took more out of him.
This is perfectly natural and normal.
When you change your technique to become “more efficient,” you are training / engraining new neural pathways.
And that takes more energy, until it doesn’t.
Often, it presents itself this way:
The first few reps of a set actually feel easier, and the last few reps feel heavier.
And that’s because your body is using more of the “right” muscles at the “right” times (usually the bigger, energy-sucking prime movers)...
And less of the “wrong” muscles at the “wrong” times (usually the smaller stabilizer muscles).
This takes more energy to use the right muscles at the right time and it’s fighting switching over to the old, “energy efficient” wrong neural pathways.
Eventually, all the reps will feel easier as your body continues to fortify those new neural pathways. As a result, you get stronger and more muscular.
Assuming you respect the fact that fatigue interferes with force production, you need to rest more between sets.
So, at the end of the day, resting less between sets doesn’t make you tougher or more hardcore. It just robs you of your “GAINZ”.
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.
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