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In the realm of fitness and bodybuilding, repetitions, often abbreviated as reps, are a crucial component of any training regime. They form the foundation of your workout, determining the overall volume and intensity of your training. This post will delve into the significance of high repetitions in multi-joint exercises, their role in strength and hypertrophy development, and the best practices for incorporating them into your routine.
Repetitions represent a fundamental parameter in any training regimen. Coupled with the time under tension (TUT) of each rep, they contribute to the total training volume - one of the three pillars of the overall training load, alongside intensity and density.
Modulating these three factors can yield different, complementary training stimuli. This modulation can be more or less beneficial depending on your specific goals. Therefore, logically varying the number of repetitions is an essential practice in training planning, always keeping in mind the attributes you aim to enhance.
Learning new motor patterns can be a complex process, especially when it comes to correcting improper ones. To facilitate technical learning, it's crucial to maintain mental clarity and minimize interference or complications. High repetitions with low overloads can be an effective way to learn technically challenging exercises or correct poor execution.
However, if the functional issues arise from an imbalance between synergistic muscle groups or stiffness of an antagonist, strengthening one or lengthening the other may become necessary.
In bodybuilding, reps are considered high when they reach a count of at least 13 or 15. Assuming a medium-sized TUT of about 3 seconds per rep, 15 repetitions will yield a total TUT of 45 seconds per set. This level of fatigue stimulates a short-term increase in resistant strength, leading to sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
This effect can also be achieved by increasing the TUT of the reps instead of their number. Slowing down the eccentric phase or incorporating an isometric pause can result in the same time under tension with fewer reps. Both methods are equally effective for increasing sarcoplasmic hypertrophy; they're simply different and complementary.
In the context of bodybuilding, exercises that push your muscles to failure are ideal for high reps. These typically involve single-joint movements like leg extensions for the quadriceps or front pull-downs for the latissimus dorsi and teres major.
However, multi-joint exercises can also benefit from high repetitions. Exercises performed on isotonic or cable machines, such as leg press or chest press machine, can be more prone to failure and thus are suitable for high rep training.
While the above insights are based on well-established principles, they should not be taken as absolutes. Strength and hypertrophy are the result of numerous interactions and variables, including muscular, metabolic, hormonal, nutritional, neural, and psychological factors.
Therefore, it can be beneficial to incorporate high repetition cycles into your annual training program, even for multi-joint exercises. The purposes could range from active unloading and technique improvement to metabolic stress and lactic acid tolerance.
However, it's also important to remember that deviating from traditional methods doesn't always guarantee better results. The key is to keep your training regimen dynamic and versatile, preventing the onset of routine and psychological limits that can hinder your progress. After all, variety is the spice of life, and the same holds true for your workout routine.