Question to Diesel

[WORKEROUTER]

Diesel, I am confused how you commonly say to go in the 4-8 rep range if you want to gain mass. I want to gain mass, and I am 16. However, I heard that for hypertrophy training you should emphasize 6-12 rep training. What is the story here? Let me give you an example of my typical DB bench press sets:

First Set: 9 reps
Second Set: (same weight) 7 reps
Third Set: (little lighter) 7 reps
Fourth Set (same weight as third set): 7 reps

 

[NEWBIE101]

It really depends on the person. Anywhere from 4-12 reps can be good for hypertrophy(muscle building). However, most people see the best gains with doing compound exercises with the 4-8 range and isolation exercises with the 8-12 range. Anything more than 12 reps is just good for endurance with the exception of 20 rep squats if you do those.

 

[DIESEL]

agreed.. and especially the older you get and the more training experience you accumulate you have to start doing the lower rep higher intensity training to really stimulate the growth.

As to what you posted that seems fine... except weight should be going up each set.... you are shooting your load on the first set it seems... keep a diary so you know where you should be lifting.

maybe I'd throttle the reps down on the last set to the 4-5 range and up the weight - to see how it feels - experiment with that, at the very least I think it will up your strength curve.

let us know how it goes,

D

 

[Krassus]

Wait, so you're lowering both weight and rep count with each set? You should be doing the exact opposite. I do 5 sets per muscle group. My first two sets are 12 reps each, and the weight is of course adjusted so that a 12-rep set with it would only be about half-way to fail. I bump up the third set a bit, but still do 12 reps without failing. Then the last two sets, i bump the weight way up, and fail at about 8 reps both times. Last time i checked, this is the way to do it properly.

 

[NEWBIE101]

Originally posted by Krassus
Wait, so you're lowering both weight and rep count with each set? You should be doing the exact opposite. I do 5 sets per muscle group. My first two sets are 12 reps each, and the weight is of course adjusted so that a 12-rep set with it would only be about half-way to fail. I bump up the third set a bit, but still do 12 reps without failing. Then the last two sets, i bump the weight way up, and fail at about 8 reps both times. Last time i checked, this is the way to do it properly.

That's called pyramiding.

 

[Krassus]

Yep, and it works ever so well

 

[DIESEL]

Originally posted by Krassus
Yep, and it works ever so well

you should be pyramiding in the 4-8 rep range and it would work even better.

 

[Krassus]

Nah, i'm cutting.

 

[DIESEL]

Originally posted by Krassus
Nah, i'm cutting.

all the more reason why you should be lifting heavy. read the CUTTING GUIDE for more info.

 

[Krassus]

I have. And i've had enormous success with a low-carb diet - i lost nearly 50 lbs of fat and gained a considerable amount of muscle. How much i'm not sure, but the fat is gone, my arms are bigger, as are my abs, quads, hamstrings, shoulders, etc, etc. All this while lifting "light" so to speak.

 

[NEWBIE101]

You shouldn't really change your lifting while cutting. Yea, you will lose some strength and your lifts will decrease, but you should still be going as heavy as possible while maintaining perfect form.

 

[Krassus]

Actually, i haven't changed anything I started lifting about 7 months ago and immediately went on a cutting diet. I took several short breaks on the way though, to let my body replenish.

 

[DIESEL]

was this your first time lifting ever (when you lost the 50 lbs) ?

 

[Krassus]

Pretty much. I guess a somewhat different set of rules applies to me because of that.

 

[semag]

yeah.... on your first time lifting, you'll make gains pretty much no matter what you do. I remember in my HS weightlifting class, for the year, if a person worked out with effort, you could expect a bench max to go up 40-60 lbs in like 4 months....