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What do you prefer? I have done both but most of my training has always geared towards low reps, I am just curious what your thoughts are?

I have usually stuck in a slightly higher rep range since a lot of my training is more geared toward hypertrophy instead of strength, but every once in a while I’ll drop down to do some heavier sets with lower reps. I haven’t ever been one to do a ton of reps with light weights since I don’t think it does much for you, but the 8-12 rep range is kinda my sweet spot.

I agree with the 8-12 for most of my training accessory stuff. I have always used lower rep ranges for big exercises. Squat, Dead, Press from 3-5 and some singles on occassion. Throwing in heavy low reps is nice to push to a different level and a whole different feel of training. I would still like to take a course or seminar or something in the olympic lifts.

i stick with 8 - 12 rep range with my upper body and 15-18 reps with my lower body.. i dont want to build any more mass in my legs. i know the saying its hard for girls to bulk.. i have tried both ways with the same amount of calories, suppplements and cardio and just found that high reps lean me out more..
 
now i have a shoudler injury so i have to just go high reps on my upper body.. it sucks!! i have to use a super light weight and just really focus on form, mind muscle connection and feel the burn

I will talk about a lot of my high school training because I was doing the widest range back then. During season I would stick to anywhere from 8-50 reps. That is WRESTLING season. During football it would be from about 4-8 reps. I wasn’t necessarily trying to build endurance in footbal, only strength and explosiveness. The higher reps in wrestling were because I wss trying to build muscle endurance. I felt most of my strength that was going to be built was built, so, I had to focus on endurnace. It was a lot more cicuit style training.
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Out of season it was always anywhere from 1-12 reps depending. I mean, most of my work was in the 6-12 rep range though. For lower body (power cleans and stuff) it would be lowe rep (3 or below) though.
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That is one of the things that began to get me so interested in strength training and conditioning…The fluctuations my body would go through were amazing and always depended on the season and how I was trainin. Pretty fascinating stuff for me.

did diet have anything to do with your weight??
 
 
for me it it all diet (at least for my goals) so much more then weight training…
 
for wrestling you had to cut weight and clean up your diet.. dont you think that had something to do with it..

I bet his det has something to do with his weight…In the off season he probably had eat more because he didn’t have to make weight. In season (wrestling) he was restricting his calories, so, his weight went down. He had to make weight, which made him change his lifting slightly as well. Either way, the lifting in the off season did facilitate muscle and weight gain because of more hypertrophy type training.
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At least that is maybe how I could see it happening?

mike.. this is what i was talking about.. jared made it sound like his fluctuations were due to his weight training..I was just trying to clear this up…

Absolutely, we are on the same page. Maybe I am going to pick the option that is not on this thread…”Medium Reps” HAha! Somewhere in that 8-12 range I think would count as that. I would say anywhere from 1-6 are relatively low, and anything above 12 is high and for endurance purposes. Most of my workouts are from 8-12, which is probably about the medium rep range.

i am starting to train in this rep range to… i dont stress if i do 12 reps on the first set and 8 reps on the second set.. as long as i give it my all.. i might do a drop set to get to 12 if i really want to push it

I did a set of 20 on the squats today…and…threw up! Omgsh. It wasn’t light, it was maximal. It wasn’t easy, it was one of the mos tpainful things I have ever done. It wasn’t fun, it was horrible. It was not anything I want to do again, it was something I will do again though. It was punishment, it was torture, it was worth it!

Omg… you are insane… i bet y our 20 reps of squats are nothing like my 20 reps… I can breeze through the first 12 reps and then it gets harder… i bet yours are killer from the first rep… How many sets do you do?
 
Pete told me about this once… hahah yeah! Throwing up never sounds fun!
 
Explain exactly what you did starting from warm up sets?
I am just curious

 
I just do something like 2-3 sets of 12 before my working set of 20. Enough to get a sweat going and be thoroughly warmed up. Yes, from about rep 5 on it is very very tough. I am grinding with every ounce of energy and muscle I Have. The whole key to the 20 rep breathing squats is to stretch out your normal max set of 10 to 20 reps by taking more time between reps…You breattheee haha.

good idea on breathing reps.. i guess it is kind of a rest period and helpd you focus.. it just looks brutal.. do you have a spotter?

 
Nope, no spotter. It is too dangerous to have a spotter when doing high reps like this. I can miss at any given time, and, if a spotter is directly behind me the weight will go flying into them without notice. When you get THAT fatigued your muscles simply STOP contracting at a certain point haha. I mean, I hae done 1 rep where it looked like a broomstick on the bar (Say at rep 17), then, take  3breaths do rep 18 and it looks like they added 2,000lbs to the bar. Your body just hits that point of pure exhaustion and you are DONE.

holy hell! this is NOTHING like my 20 rep squat.. that sounds kind of scary.. i could never imagine just dropping the bar on the floor.. i guess you are use to it with olympic lifts.. the thought is nerve racking actaully.. i assume you have to be VERY advanced to do what you do..if i dropped the bar i would go down with it! wow!
i guess that is what make you guys stand up.. i dont reach that level ever with squats

 
Haha yes!! It is extremely scary and only for the VERY advanced lifter. I didnt begin these squats until I was sick enough in the head to try to attempt them LOL. Which meant at that point I had been squatting for quite some time and was pretty experienced.

i love the intesity!!! i dont think i will try it but its motivating to hear lol .. i would be so scared to drop a heavy weight..

One thing I have found to be the opposite on is the difference int he rest periods. People always say to rest 3-5 minutes between maximal lifts (1 rep). Then, they recommend to rest 1-2 minutes between higher rep sets (15+). I find it the exact opposite. I like to rest MORE when doing a ton fo reps (to make sure I can maintain high intensity) and rest LESS when lifting heavy because I am not really breathing hard from 1 rep anyway…YA know? It is just something I personall prefer that is a little bit different.

i totally see your point.. the high reps can really take your breath away… kind of like hiit sprints.. i am sure doing your 1 rep max is brutal and hard however i would think you can recover faster.. unless your goal is to reach a PR.. then i assume you want to be fully recovered..
 
i dont train my one rep max so it does not apply to me

low v high reps
 
I see…Have you ever done 1 rep maxes in the past? I am right in the middle right now in my training. I am staying in the 3-8 rep range. So, not completely maximal strength, yet, not anything big time cardiovascular either. I love this range for hypertrophy and just getting in strength training shape in a general sense. I am also going to start wrestling a lot more, so, that rep range will probably stay the same as I will be getting most of my cardio from thje wrestling room!

I never trained for one rep max… it never was really part of my goals…
 
I stick with the 12-15 rep range. Sometimes 8-10 reps… i likes adding a little cardio vascular endurance in my training… i like feeling my heart rate go up…
One rep max seems kind of boring to me too lol.
 
Are you really going to start wrestling again?? Were?
 
And i think your rep range is perfect for your goals

I know I said I work mainly in the 8-12 ranges, but, recently I have been working in the 10-15 range just trying to get jacked haha. It is summer time baby, gotta get the beach body. Nah, I am just cutting some really good bodyfat and just trimming up some fat around the edges lol. It just feels really good to be able to get more tan and be able to go out on the beach without a shirt. I am loving the mix of cardio and strength training too. I have done some more cardio than usual as well. I have lost like 10lbs, some of it muscle I suppose but I bet 80% of it is fat!

i am jealous of you mike!!! i am having alot of trouble this summer.. every weekend we have been goiing away spending time with people we have not seen in a while..
 
how could you not drink and have a  good time on vacation with friends you have not seen in months????
 
this is a huge problem for me.. it sucks cause i am killing it at the gym!!!