Rules of the Rep

I find it amusing that the term repetition is commonly used in weight training when most people do not repeat anything.  Their reps look more like snowflakes, each with a distinct speed, distance traveled, and body positioning.

If you are having trouble making consistent gains from weight training, your repetitions probably need some work.  Follow these 5 rules and your reps (and therefore results) will improve dramatically.

1)   Maintain body positioning- I frequently see people sit down on a machine and just go until they can no longer move the weight by any means necessary.  There is no regard for how the machine is set up, nor do they seem to care whether or not they work the intend musculature.

Now a days, every machine is equipt with a full set of instructions on how to position yourself before you begin.  Do yourself a favor-READ THEM.   Once you are in proper position, only use the intended muscles to move the weight, changing your form to do more reps is not more productive (it is less) and increases the likelihood of injury.

2) Always use a full range of motion- Bring the weight all the way from the starting position to the point where the muscle is in full contraction (without locking the joint), pause for a count and return all the way to the starting position. 

Every repetition is to be performed in full range.  Yes, partial reps have their place, but until you master full range exercise the benefit of partial reps is lost.  I would also argue that performing partial reps leads to flexibility issues in the long run so any small benefit they may have is probably lost to the long term problems they present.

3)   Control repetition speed- Next time you perform an exercise, count in your head how long it takes you to get from the starting position to the point you reach full contraction.  It should take you a minimum of 2 seconds.  Pause for a full count, then return to the start position in 4 seconds.

Why so slow?  If your goal is to work your muscles, you have to keep them under constant tension.  Moving any faster allows your muscle to rest while gravity and momentum take over.

Pay particular attention to your speed as you approach the starting position.  This is the point where tension and form are most frequently broken, especially when you are nearing full muscle fatigue (when you break tension, you kill the exercise).

4)   Stay focused- This is a topic that rarely gets discussed in exercise, but is probably the most important.  To ensure good reps you have to stay focused.  The goal is to make every rep as painful as possible.  Do not forget that.

Today’s gym environment is filled with loud music, people on cell phones, and attractive people wearing next to nothing who are breathing heavy and moaning.  I’m not saying it is easy, but if you ignore all that and stay focused your reps will improve dramatically and so will your results.

5)   Always go to failure- You must push yourself to muscle failure.  This means doing as many reps as you can without changing your body position, range of motion, or repetition speed.  To violate these rules in order to get to some numeric goal is pointless.  Your real goal is to get stronger and look better.  This takes disciplined repetitions to failure, every time.

Why weights?

With exercise, our individuality lies in how quickly and strongly we adapt to it.   As for what works best, resistance training is all you can do.  Whether you categorize it as cardio, strength, or stability it is all resistance training of some sort, ie force acting on the musculoskeletal system.  Weight training is just by far the most direct, efficient, and effective way to exercise, period.

Just to be clear I have nothing against cardio or recreational activities.  I actually believe that recreation is the most important thing one can do for their mental health.  But this can be a simple as walking the dog for 15mins, which is much more exciting than the elliptical.

What I am against is the prevailing believe that it is physically necessary to exercise so often and for so long as many people do.  What successful individual has the time?  Look it, you are not a professional athlete.  If you have the time to train for a triathlon or marathon and you enjoy doing them more power to you.  But do not think that the training is going to make you loose weight, or that you are missing out if you do not try one.

What men want is to be as muscular as possible and as lean as possible (women want the same thing, whether they realize it or not).  Every human will look their best when they are strong and lean, so you must train for strength to look super fit.

“But I don’t want to get big and bulky!”  If you are not now you never will be, and if someday you think you are, you are not, you are just fat.  Trust me on this one, or just cross the too big and bulky bridge when you get there.