Hi, Love your channel! and great video. I have a bit of an issue with videos that compare strength vs. hypertrophy vs. cardio. I know some might say this is nitpicky, but I’ve seen people take the wrong message from these! Like a friend of mine who's a bit overweight and sedentary. He watched a lot of Dr. Mike's videos and said, “Dr. Mike says I have to choose between strength or hypertrophy, but since I’m a beginner, I can do both, but I want to get back into playing basketball, but Dr. Mike said cardio kills gains.” So I asked him, “Do you want to be a professional athlete?” and he said, “No.” So I told him “Then just go play basketball!” I know this may be obvious for some! but my point is that the whole "you need to choose between hypertrophy and strength unless you’re a beginner" thing can be misunderstood by some viewers. Of course, if you’re aiming to be a bodybuilder or strength athlete, it’s important to focus on the right type of training. But for anyone who just wants to: look good, play sports, have good cardiovascular health, have basic strength, etc - you can have it all!! You can be a “pro” at being a functional active human being.
started lifting in 1969. Only information available was Bob Hoffman's magazine Health and Strength. Discipline and commitment gave me my initial gains. But it wasn't until 1978 when I met Paul Wren, a world champion powerlifter that I learned about volume training. I also learned that the world didn't revolve around 3 set of 10 reps. I am still a fan of resistance training, working mostly for longevity rather than ego. At 67 yrs of age I cycle my training to shorter heavier sets in the fall and winter, and lighter longer sets for conditioning in the spring and summer. This seems to give me what my body needs. Really appreciated the video. I enjoy the heady nature of training as much as the physical part of it.
How many reps sets those short and heavy sets. And did you have some.injuries. my knee was.litlle hurting long time until it recovered. I dont think heavy lifting is good for long term when you get in old days it will catch you up
@@henrykjohn78 I am more powerful than strong. Went to regionals for shotput. I actually find now, it is irrelevant what rep range I train in. Literally all work the same way as long as i am progressive overloading
@@henrykjohn78 Hypertrophy is mostly rom and volume. You can technically make the same gains from 4-5 reps as you would from 8-20(30). I'm not saying you aren't right, hypertrophy is just not nearly as closely related to strengthsports as it may seem.
No reason not to throw in high reps, you will never know what works for you and what does not without trying things, google cannot tell you what works for your body kiddo
I shouldn't question HOOPER as he is an accomplished Strongman, BUT I have found that I seem to do better for all around performance and strength gains when I mix up rep ranges. I've done nothing but 2-4 reps on compounds for weeks and got stronger. I've done weeks of nothing but 8-15 reps on compounds and GOT STRONGER also. When I do low reps high weight I just do not leave the gym satisfied or feel like I got a productive session in. My favorite thing to do is do 3-4 sets of heavy 3-6 reps and then 2 back off sets of 12-20 reps on the same movement. I just don't feel the muscle activation on low reps, but I know they are building strength even though im not "feeling" the pump.
If you wanted to take it to another level do hybrid calisthenics and gymnastic rings. This along with your existing routine you will be stronger than you have ever been guaranteed, especially if you can graduate to the gymnastic rings you will be a god. I love you revelation and workout💪🏾👍🏾
@@Sevensliders Sometimes I think we all over think this stuff. I'm just a weekend warrior at this point. I don't plan on competing or anything just like to stay fit and healthy. Doing pretty much any exercise is good. Im gonna do a white coller boxing mach soon so gotta focus on cardio over the next few months.
Plenty of elite lifters from Culver City to Columbus got crazy strong using conjugate training, using both high and low reps concomitantly. It doesn’t have to be one or the other exclusively, nor does it have to be separated by mesocycles or blocks or even undulated
I used a tip from Squat Sempai to make breakthroughs in squating. Regular 5x5 with decent amount of rest in between sets and then 3x10 with 1 min rest in between. Weight for 5x5 is around 80-85% of your max, it should be hard reps that almost break your form and last rep is pure grind. But you keep form for all of that. And then for 3x10 you drop weight to 50% of your max and just go nuts. Hardest part for that - breathing. Maybe my core is now the weak link but breathing was really hard. Legs have a lot of endurance and can tolerate more reps than the rest of body.
I agree with Mitchell. I'm 63 and have tried all things. I have been a competitive power lifter. Heavy loads stimulate the CNS in a way nothing else on earth does, with the exception of isometrics. If strength is your desire, you will only gain it by stimulating the CNS. Consider the strongest humans and Mitchell's perspective. He is one of them. He is an expert and has demonstrated it. All strong humans share training in ways that stimulate the CNS. Rock climbers, hanging from your fingertips while inverted or partially inverted demands super human strength. How do they train? Isometric holds-like gymnasts and movement based by climbing and developing skill. Look at a pro arm wrestler, low volume, heavy loads through range and equal focus on isometric holds and in concentric movement under heavy load, they are amazing. My strength has not declined over time. I still deadlift. Heavy. Low reps never more than a 5, usually 2"s-3"s. I do isometric holds with a strap and piece of pipe. Farmer's walks and heavy sand bag carries. When deadlifting I try and get into the CNS and know I'm there when I am trembling, likewise with isometrics. My experience is any effort I wasted on volume definitely took a lot away from my primary goal of getting stronger. I just got tired. If strength is your goal, focus on only that, train appropriately, safely. Everyone should be training for strength. Strength is what enables you to move your skeleton efficiently. When you no longer can, your lifespan decreases dramatically. Training for strength is training for longevity. Everything Mitchell discusses I have experienced. Thanks Mitchell...
Your strength diminishes as you age. You are fooling yourself if you think that your method of lifting will prevent diminished strength. It’s called sarcopenia. Period.
@@Rasplata5sarcopenia is nuanced like all things related to aging. Read about it. Degeneration occurs much faster and more prominently in people with less activity and less muscle mass. There are guaranteed people much older and much stronger than you... And likely also with a much better attitude 😋
This was an excellent informative video. Reading some of the comments I think some people misunderstood what he was saying to a degree. I don’t believe he was saying you should never do more than 5 reps or not even you should never do more than 5 reps on a compound movement. I believe he is generally referring in this video to training compound movements in phases of your training where you are attempting to maximize strength performance it is best to stay below 5 reps as a general guideline.
Great video. Explains my progress over the past year and a half going from a high volume, light load program for fat loss. To your kick start program that combined moderate and higher rep exercises with medium volumes. Strength progressed a fairly well, for me anyway. Based on my performance from that, I imagine a program specifically designed for strength would have made me even stronger if my 56 year old joints could handle the higher loads. Now, prepping for a bodybuilding show in November, I tried to keep a modified version of your program. It went ok for about 5 weeks as I still tried to progress my loads, then I gradually started to miss targets and wound up having to lighten load and increase reps. As a side note. I saw one of your videos where your giving yourself a 50% chance to break the record at the deadlift world championships in Nevada. I don't know man. Your a realist, I get it, but you don't give yourself enough credit. Seems every time I've watch you compete, you push yourself above and beyond. Its higher then 50%.
I've been doing 8-12 reps for 12 years, but last year i hired a strength coach and did low reps. Usually 5 reps. ANd my strength has increased. My max bench so far is 122kg for 5. Before I met him i was only doing chest press with free weights and i only did 30kg in each hand.
You can progressively overload in the 8-12 rep range too. Increase the weight you are performing by 5 lbs every 4-6 weeks and try to maintain that 8-12 rep range at slightly heavier weights.
i used to do 4 sets of 15 reps reverse bicep curls and 4 sets of 2O reps wrist curls and it was too much.Like you i found just 5 curls of them is enough and made me stronger.
@@ObsidianArrowYT I would advise against pushing to failure when progressively overloading. Leaving a rep in reserve or training at RPE 8-9 is better. Get close to failure so that you are pushing yourself hard enough without failing.
@@glegg54 it’s not better, stop listening to science and start listening to real world experiences, if you do is 1 or 2 reps shy of failure your muscles will have no reason to grow
I’m 54 and have no pain anywhere. The key is hybrid Calisthenics because it will strengthen tendons, ligaments and it will incorporate more overall muscle fibers than just lifting weights. Don’t baby yourself as you get older, be smart and go hard and you will be fine.
@@AugmentedDictatorGameswait, people still believe in the myostatin deficiency thing? What year is it? 😅 Seriously though, myostatin isn’t really a major factor. Myostatin-like cortisol-is a GOOD thing. You will literally die without it. It’s only demonized by quacks who don’t understand physiology. The biggest factors in determining who’s a genetic freak for muscle and strength and who’s not is in androgen receptor sensitivity, gene transcription factors in the muscle cells themselves, and IGF-1 levels
i'm training since 16 and now 38. Always natural. I got a nice body and really good definition and mass. Always from high reps. I'm convinced it's very good for mass, definition and no injuries. And i'm still very strong for my weight. Almost half of my body mass extra in bench
@@nocapproductions5471George leeman did basically nothing but high reps and deadlifted 909 raw.(in comp) 907x4 800 for 8 100 lb DB shoulder press for 60 reps. Along with many many other high rep lifts.
@@nocapproductions5471 it applies to every discipline, does that mean the sole focus? no. But high volume weight training is a great way to help with recovery after a competition/meet.
The tendon bit is largely a myth. Tendons do not undergo adaptations with loads less than 75% 1RM, which is not something most can do for sets of 10 for very long.
One situation where I might disagree slightly is, for younger training age lifters (regardless of chronological age) if they don't have a developed work capacity. The higher rep sets can help build overall work capacity, and I've found that's definitely relevant for lifting heavier weight, at least in my mind/experience. Geoffrey Verity Schofield had an interesting video about this recently. Once you're at Mitch's level you have that built, and really need to focus training to develop increments in strength. Earlier lifters probably need to develop work capacity even as they are growing strength--this is the current focus of my training, which is adapted from a video Alex Bromley did about Doug Hepburn's approach.
Appreciate you speaking on this I've just been in the middle of high reps for Benchpress after a long time doing heavyweight and was thinking about going back to my powerlifting training so you helped me make up my mind to get back to strength training this subject is important for everyone to know to get better strength gains thank you Mitch .
This makes sense if your goal is strictly power lifting, but for hypertrophy and asthetics, recent studies show that rep ranges up to 30 or more can produce similar results as 8-10 reps. It's all about what you're after. I'm 73 and cant afford to lift heavy any more due to the risk of injury.
The more volume I do on upper body, the stronger my bench gets. Highly specialised, heavy powerlifting training has failed to make me stronger on bench for the last two-three years. Build muscle and work capacity first guys, then do the strength work.
I need to get back to it, but 3-5 reps at near fail for most exercises, i was MOVING thru weights when i was a beginner. Literally doubled what i could row or what i could put overhead in a month. It's crazy how fast strength changes in the early days.
Only thing I would add is, their is no wasted work. If you do four reps on a set, but wanted five, so you get half way with that fifth it is still good work. All in the context of being safe and mindful of course.
I'd rather be able to lift a moderate amount of weight a bunch of times than a massive amount for 3 or 4 reps. I'm not going to be competing in WSM or anything anyway.. might as well go for a nice mix of strength/endurance.
Thanks for all the videos you post Mitchell. I definitely put on size and strength much faster with 1-5 rep range. Squat, overhead and deadlift i use 1-5 rep range, accessories i use 6-12 rep range.
I think the same way about moving bags of cement I also do it slow your body gets used to the load to the shoulder rushing it will cause injury in the long term
I tried quite a few different styles of training while getting back into fitness this year, undecided on whether I cared most about bodybuilding or strength or health; but by far the worst experience was the extreme slow low-weight/high-rep approach. It works, physically, but I hate it. I gave up from mental exhaustion long before it felt like my muscles had reached their limit. Been doing 5reps or less ever since, so much better. Only downside is I might need to get an actual gym membership since I don't think I can progress with gear that'll fit in my current living space.
I'm with you. If I can make a recommendation, get kettlebells, a parallel bar, a dip belt, and Duonamic's handle bars (like a pull-up bar but gentle on door frames). I'm currently doing weighted dips, weighted pullups, and many other exercises at home. There's also the X3 bar, which is an amazing resistance band + bar + plate system that lets you do squats, deadlifts, and other compound movements without the risk to your joints or heavy weight. It's not cheap to get equipment like that, but I love the freedom of being able to lift whenever I want and not have to drive anywhere or be dependent on a gym. Especially after what happened in 2020.
@@cynicist8114 I appreciate the recommendations, but I've already starting trialing gyms in my area. Deadlifts with actual weight on a bar feels good, and I'm living out of basically one bedroom, one bathroom and my car right now, and having a subscription can make one more likely to make good use of it whereas purchases (which I generally prefer otherwise) might just sit on your shelf for years.. I'll try to keep this comment in mind in the unlikely event of a new pandemic. Already have kettlebells, dumbbells and a pullup bar.
I wholly agree above or close to ten reps will have technical failures and breaking of pacing, while I view about in the middle- around 5-8 reps is more technically challenging and can reach closer to 75% of orm, the closer you get to five reps up the weight instead and keep the reps around 5 and below to build maximal strength but injury propensity will always be much higher, slowly working through each rep is extremely important at low ranges- and staying around 8-12 range is better for people switching from bodybuilding to strength, and I’d give it two to five years for the tendons to adapt depending on lifestyle and recovery time, then you can switch over more to strength training, 5-8 rep range
It will definitely kill ur strength gains but for hypertrophy it will do wonders especially if u create hard tension. I personally never do anything under 15 reps. And squats I go up to 50 reps. Sure I'm not that strong but if ur goal is hypertrophy. High reps with tension is the way to go.
Mitch always great information, always helpful and next level. I agree with this video. If that means anything. You are currently in the process of doing things no one else is or has done and to ignore your experience and education would be idiotic. All the other athletes are changing how they train because of what you have brought to strongman. Your great keep up the awesome work.
I love strength workouts. But I haven't been able to make it to the gym due to family challenges for a couple weeks. So today's an at-home very high volume workout. 😂 I like to throw in high volume, all-day workouts once or twice a month. I find it's good to push that strength endurance and hone the tendons. It's also a different type of mental discipline. I'm about halfway through and I don't want to keep going, but I'll feel great when I finish it. There's a time for high weight and low reps, but there's a time and value for the inverse, too.
17:54 part of the reason why people don't talk about machine weight is different models machines are not an apples to apples comparison with each other. Even if the exact same model, the lubrication and internal friction can vary. Plus the machines often don't specify any units so you don't know what the number truly means.
Well you know...i have been a Les Mills, BodyPump instructor for 10 years. Doing this with rather large charges got me stronger in weightlifting, since my classes train the white muscle cells..stronger and more enduring during trainings, so both are compatible...cheers
For compound i stick fairly close to the old 5x5 which works well for me but for accessory i absolutely get more results with higher reps/sets with manageable weight.
I forget what the first thing I was going to say was, but if you’re doing 3x10s and want to progress, put those two 5s on for the FINAL SET, not ALL sets. Problem solved. That is actually progression. And iirc, going “close to failure” is so important… honestly, might be smarter to do the extra weight for the first set, then effectively “drop set” slightly for the second set (though probably don’t need to bother with the 3rd)… but anyway, you get the point. Increasing the weight for 1 set not all 3 is still progression. 🤷♀️
16:30 once I was really busy and figured I had 15-30min to get a workout. Warmed up , did 4x20 deadlift, felt like I'd been there for hours and was sore for days :)
I can definitely attest to this. I used to do 10 pull-ups at a time many times per day (I’d usually end up with around 80 by the end of the day). It made me freakishly strong on the lat pulldown, except, months later, I hadn’t improved at all. It was honestly a waste of time.
I mean this makes sense and parallels personal experience. Something I'm curious about, why do so many strength programs use AMRAPs? There are numerous powerlifting programs where you're literally prescribed an AMRAP every workout, notably where a lot of strength lifters start: 5/3/1.
As a car guy, the analogy was spot on… muscle cars (show body builders) looks nice but can’t possibly perform at the same level as a sports car (athlete).
From what I understand it is not possible to convert type IIa to type IIx through training. Only thing that will do this is rest. Low reps will increase amount of type IIa.
This video was interesting. The classic volume argument. It only makes sense to push the limits of strength you need to lift near your max, you cannot lift high reps near your max. So low repetitions are not so much a choice for strength gain as much as a natural limit if you are using the proper load.
In cars, no need to fetch the reference from farther than showcars vs track builds. :D Showcars have typically big engine upgrades, minimal ground clearance and details (like spoiler size, wheel angles etc) dictated heavily by the style/looks. Track builds can appeal be very boring to the showcar owners, but even lower power track builds may out-perform showcars simply by being balanced. Showcar main problems are: suspension performance, brakes not upgraded/their performance after a while in heavy use, engine cooling systems performance not upgraded to meet demands of sustained high power output. Wanna see the difference: Misha Charoudin yt-channel has a lot of different cars driven on track - with this explanation you surely can spot the extremes :)
I often come away from his videos feeling like his view of exercise is a bit narrowly focused on strongman, and his workouts consisting of doing almost exclusively large compound exercises. I think this is one of those cases. There are reasons to isolate a smaller body part and work it specifically even in pure strength sports. And even with only compound movements, then, doing higher rep movements with lighter loads is good for joint recovery and hypertrophy. I wouldn't recommend upwards of like 15-20 reps but 8-12 is a nice range where you can just control the movement a lot better. I think higher rep days in between your lower rep close to max or max days is a good way to recover, add volume, and also gain some extra hypertrophy, which adds to strength down the road.
In my personal experience training for armwrestling, doing heavy two hand curls was really only possible for me once a week, I had too much tendon pain to do it more frequently than that. I supplemented it with a day of 1 arm preacher curls that were a bit higher rep range, although still usually 6-10, and not only did I increase the amount of volume I could do weekly, and therefore strength and growth, but also it reduced my tendon pain. "Best for strength" doesn't always mean best for your body, and if your body is unhappy enough it affects your strength
I think not only does he have a narrow view of training, but he has a narrow view of purpose of strength being strongman style efforts. General advice, for people who want to prioritize strength adaptations, the closer towards maximal force production with every effort possible will see the greatest stimulus for fatigue. However, maximal force production is performative, and the closer we get towards maximal force production the less frequently we will be able to on a session and within a session. Further, force production and load are not the same, thus able to train with loads below maximal enough to be successful with every effort with highest intent to move the load, but not far enough below to not need this highest intent to move. Again, this is only for the prioritization of strength, and few have such need for this except say powerlifters in a peak/taper precompetition. Once we start discussing individual athletes objectives, training history, recovery, resources, preferences, and more then the ranges are needlessly prescriptive without being informative.
@@zacharylaschober I think get the gist of what you're saying and I agree in general, but could you like proofread your comment a bit? 😭 I'm not correcting for the sake of it, I actually had a really hard time understanding what you were saying because of all the errors for a lot of it.
@@samk2407 would not say there are any errors, but on a reread it isn't easy to parse or elegantly written for sure. Basically, strength is not an adaptation, and his advice is too narrow to be this generic.
I started a new program, I call it the 1000 rep program. For example, I do 1000 bar curls for bicep. I do 20 sets of 50 reps. It takes about an hour. It definitely stimulates growth, I have grown so much from it. But my strength is not very good though. But it is sustainable in the long run. Stimulate- don't destroy. You have to think about your tendons, joints in the long run. Heavy weights over time wear down the body, and eventually it breaks.
Training extremely high reps like you do also wears out your tendons. They actually wear out your tendons significantly quicker than high weight low reps.
@@MR12AMAZING no way man, I do 1000 curls with the 25lb bar, 20 sets of 50. Tendons are way better than when I used heavy. Ask the guys who have wrecked shoulders, ect.
What should I do if I max out the available weights? My gym is pretty lame and only has dumbbells up to 95lbs. That's way too low for me so I use one of the machines that goes up to 105lbs and do that for 6-7 sets of 10-15 reps. I sometimes use the preacher curl machine at 130lbs with one arm, but the shape of the bar makes lifting it feel weird, so I avoid doing it. I'm trying to get my strict/preacher curl up to 400 lbs, but it's hard because I can only increase the number of reps I do, not the amount of weight I'm lifting. Any advice?
Is there ever a time a strength athlete would do higher reps? And what are the reasons. Also could you do a video on what a strength program would look like from block to block? Thanks!
Check out Martins Licis's video about ligament strength with high reps. Search for the title: "Martins Licis talks ligament strength and staying INJURY FREE"
Great video with a lot of good points! However, something should be said for the dudes who are alway peaking and never taking the time to build hypertrophy and wondering why they are plateaued. You have to build muscle to get stronger!!
19:03 training the muscles vs training the movement. Does Mitchell mean hypertrophic training when he refers to training the muscles? So between 10-25 reps?
Contrary to popular opinion - older people are volume sensitive and intensity dependent. Meaning high reps are hard on old tendons and ligaments and low reps - meaning more weight - are necessary to build or even maintain strength as we age.
Started typing this before you addressed this at the end but I'll leave it here.............. I agree with everything for someone past 2 year of lifting, but I would say the earlier you are into your strength journey the better high reps are, I agree that lifting heavy for low reps is a skill but also the movements themselves are a skill so if you are coming into the gym without experience it would be better to get more repetitions so your body gets more used to that movement, as time goes on and you become an intermediate lifter then your body should be used to the movements enough where lower reps are going to be more beneficial if your goal is strength. Obviously you do not want to go straight from high reps to a 1rm but as time goes on I think beginners should slowly transition from sets of 8-10 to 6-7 down to low reps eventually. Also, beginner lifters aren't strong enough to injur themselves yet so i dont think the injury point for high reps would apply. So I'd say "high reps are killing your strength gains" doesn't apply to atleast 1/3rd of the viewers
I hate it when the one percent that get´s thrue that training without fucking their body up tells a normal dude that this is the way to go. Lifting heavy with low reps will get 99% of the normal gym folk hurt. It is not streanght vs size for us it is health vs bullshit for us!
for DL and SQ 2-3 reps range is best for me, 5 reps already make me hard breathe. BP is different, I can go from 3 to 10 reps, and consider it as similar efford.
@@vvkHigh volume isn't bad for naturals. The same principles apply for both natural and enhanced. Just that enhanced makes some things easier. We should be employing both high reps and high weight at different times.
@@vvkgood god, if you want to find the omega man of the group, just see which one immediately brings up drugs. Like you're not small and weak af so it's moot
You want to do 5 rep sets or less when training for strength in the big compound movements. Especially if you are older. They don't all have to be max effort sets either. This is how you train for strength and also the central nervous system. Yes you can do do some higher reps on side delt raises, tricep push down or something like that.
So is periodization dangerous? I wasn’t aware of the clear differences between powerlifters and bodybuilders in regards to the dangers of bodybuilders lifting heavier weights. Is this with the differences from sarcoplasmic and myfibrular muscle strands?
Not dangerous. It's safer as a properly periodized program will have you slowly work your way into heavier loads, giving your soft tissue more time to adapt to handling those loads.
I always did 100 reps of what every weight I did. 140kg bench press, 40kg bicep curl, 40kgs flys, Squat 380kgs, leg curls and leg extension I did more reps (370 200x10kgs 100x 20kgs and 70 of 75kgs) I played 24 games of touch footy a week plus soccer games and training, I was a ref so this was easy. I occasionally ran 20kms to and from my Girlfriends place. I get that as we get old we should do heavier weights, but I take glucosamine and krill oil so I'm like an 18year old maybe fitter and stronger at 50yrs. Seeing as though I have been lifting and playing sport since I was 11 doing 6-8 hours a day the biggest tip is don't over stress your tendons. Muscles can are able to take heaps of punishment if your just starting take it slow for the first few years so you don't have injury, though if you don't get injuries you don't know your limit... sad huh. So know how to fix your injuries.
I have a question kind sir, or anyone who knows.but first a comment. I love to lift for strength. For the bench for instance. I warm up. Then aim for between three and single rep ranges until I hit my PR. I'm a pretty string guy. 180lbs and can bench 375. But then, after I hit my one rep max. I will go into two sets for volume. Usually 275 for as many as I can hit, usually 12. Then I will burn out with 225, usually for 20 reps, or more. Mt theory is that I'm first aiming for strength and then size. Is this approach not good? What are the up sides to it? Down sides? Would I be much stronger if I only focus on low rep ranges? Or can both styles compliment each other? Also, because I usually fry my chest like this, I do take about 4 or 5 days to fully recover. I'm 48 years old, I'm 180lbs and never had a problem with using both low and high rep ranges. Thoughts anyone?
I've done both over the years. My take is once I started doing heavy, low rep compounds and a bit of strongman. I grew a sort of thick muscle that lighter weights couldn't give me. On the flip side I was way leaner doing light weight high reps. Higher reps and light weights also gave me a more bodybuilder look. Powerlifting and strongman will make your midsection thicken up too.
How would you recommend strengthening ligaments/tendons? Some (e.g. Louie Simmons) recommend high, fast reps with low weight. Others recommend the opposite, like super slow negative movements... In general, in addition to lifting heavy in the compound movements, I have been following Simmons in doing high, light, fast reps in single joint exercises (e.g. hamstring curl, tricep extensions). So far, so good...
Okay what about a beginner? Shouldnt they focus first on high reps so their muscles,joins and tendons grow slowly and safely witu good form rather than going day 1 in gym and focusing on 1-3 reps 1RM.?
As a non native speaker the difference between strength and power in a muscle building context always kinda confused me, but you managed to explain is just right :) Thank you Would you say a group a group that benefits most of power would be e.g. a full body contact athlete? Like a rugby-, football-player or fighter?
Great informative video, a lot of which I knew how to train for strength or asthetics but not strictly why…..My question is could you do a video on ‘Powerbuilding’, a concept I follow after watching Mike O’Hearn videos, is there sense in training both or should they be programmed seperate? I’m 47 and trying to stay strong with quality muscle and tendons but also look good?? I do mainly bro splits but start my body part training with compound sets and low volume for that body part for the day, then move on to accessories 10-15 reps for more time under tension!?…..Keep up the great work Mitch!! 👍
Teach me oh wise one, but speak not in tongues. Or teach me your science speak. Take my money, but guide me. Spelling correction in description: Today we are unpacking why you should throw away an[y] exercise greater than 5 reps (sort of).
Hi, Love your channel! and great video.
I have a bit of an issue with videos that compare strength vs. hypertrophy vs. cardio. I know some might say this is nitpicky, but I’ve seen people take the wrong message from these! Like a friend of mine who's a bit overweight and sedentary. He watched a lot of Dr. Mike's videos and said, “Dr. Mike says I have to choose between strength or hypertrophy, but since I’m a beginner, I can do both, but I want to get back into playing basketball, but Dr. Mike said cardio kills gains.”
So I asked him, “Do you want to be a professional athlete?” and he said, “No.” So I told him “Then just go play basketball!”
I know this may be obvious for some! but my point is that the whole "you need to choose between hypertrophy and strength unless you’re a beginner" thing can be misunderstood by some viewers. Of course, if you’re aiming to be a bodybuilder or strength athlete, it’s important to focus on the right type of training. But for anyone who just wants to: look good, play sports, have good cardiovascular health, have basic strength, etc - you can have it all!! You can be a “pro” at being a functional active human being.
EXCEPT Dr Mike has said many times that beginners don't need to worry about the problem you raise.
started lifting in 1969. Only information available was Bob Hoffman's magazine Health and Strength. Discipline and commitment gave me my initial gains. But it wasn't until 1978 when I met Paul Wren, a world champion powerlifter that I learned about volume training. I also learned that the world didn't revolve around 3 set of 10 reps. I am still a fan of resistance training, working mostly for longevity rather than ego. At 67 yrs of age I cycle my training to shorter heavier sets in the fall and winter, and lighter longer sets for conditioning in the spring and summer. This seems to give me what my body needs. Really appreciated the video. I enjoy the heady nature of training as much as the physical part of it.
How many reps sets those short and heavy sets. And did you have some.injuries. my knee was.litlle hurting long time until it recovered. I dont think heavy lifting is good for long term when you get in old days it will catch you up
That’s great you have been training that long! Love it!
6-8 reps in accessories.
1-6 reps in compound movements.
Works perfectly well for me.
Are you also more powerful than strong?
@@henrykjohn78 I am more powerful than strong. Went to regionals for shotput. I actually find now, it is irrelevant what rep range I train in. Literally all work the same way as long as i am progressive overloading
@Edgycoo I've got the same issue! I've tried higher rep ranges but 1-8 is just great. 8 on hypertrophy is just perfect
@@henrykjohn78 Hypertrophy is mostly rom and volume. You can technically make the same gains from 4-5 reps as you would from 8-20(30).
I'm not saying you aren't right, hypertrophy is just not nearly as closely related to strengthsports as it may seem.
@@malomkarom tendon strenght is where its at when it comes to real strenght
The timing of this video is paranormal. I was just getting done thinking about not doing too many reps.
No reason not to throw in high reps, you will never know what works for you and what does not without trying things, google cannot tell you what works for your body kiddo
@@bdegrds
Yeah well high reps is going to fry your body and nervous system. Better just use it for accessories.
A guy on the internet said so. Lmfao
When your triceps are injured then it's low weight and reps.😢
“I can deadlifts 775 any way I want!”
Yeah. Pretty much how I am with 175…
Same with me at 1.75 lol
I shouldn't question HOOPER as he is an accomplished Strongman, BUT I have found that I seem to do better for all around performance and strength gains when I mix up rep ranges. I've done nothing but 2-4 reps on compounds for weeks and got stronger. I've done weeks of nothing but 8-15 reps on compounds and GOT STRONGER also. When I do low reps high weight I just do not leave the gym satisfied or feel like I got a productive session in. My favorite thing to do is do 3-4 sets of heavy 3-6 reps and then 2 back off sets of 12-20 reps on the same movement. I just don't feel the muscle activation on low reps, but I know they are building strength even though im not "feeling" the pump.
This is the way
Hooper does reccomend mixing up blocks actually and you can include a hypertrophy block in there.
If you wanted to take it to another level do hybrid calisthenics and gymnastic rings. This along with your existing routine you will be stronger than you have ever been guaranteed, especially if you can graduate to the gymnastic rings you will be a god.
I love you revelation and workout💪🏾👍🏾
I just do a powerbuilding routine for 12 weeks. Heavy compounds with progressive overload, volume-centric accessories with moderate heaviness.
@@Sevensliders Sometimes I think we all over think this stuff. I'm just a weekend warrior at this point. I don't plan on competing or anything just like to stay fit and healthy. Doing pretty much any exercise is good. Im gonna do a white coller boxing mach soon so gotta focus on cardio over the next few months.
Plenty of elite lifters from Culver City to Columbus got crazy strong using conjugate training, using both high and low reps concomitantly. It doesn’t have to be one or the other exclusively, nor does it have to be separated by mesocycles or blocks or even undulated
True but I don't know of many raw lifters who have done as well using a westside style program. Seems to work better for geared lifters
@@bsrkoacar8414 mike hedlesky seth albersworth garret gonzales brandon smitley greg panora matt wenning cailer woolam
I used a tip from Squat Sempai to make breakthroughs in squating. Regular 5x5 with decent amount of rest in between sets and then 3x10 with 1 min rest in between. Weight for 5x5 is around 80-85% of your max, it should be hard reps that almost break your form and last rep is pure grind. But you keep form for all of that. And then for 3x10 you drop weight to 50% of your max and just go nuts. Hardest part for that - breathing. Maybe my core is now the weak link but breathing was really hard.
Legs have a lot of endurance and can tolerate more reps than the rest of body.
I agree with Mitchell. I'm 63 and have tried all things. I have been a competitive power lifter. Heavy loads stimulate the CNS in a way nothing else on earth does, with the exception of isometrics. If strength is your desire, you will only gain it by stimulating the CNS. Consider the strongest humans and Mitchell's perspective. He is one of them. He is an expert and has demonstrated it. All strong humans share training in ways that stimulate the CNS. Rock climbers, hanging from your fingertips while inverted or partially inverted demands super human strength. How do they train? Isometric holds-like gymnasts and movement based by climbing and developing skill. Look at a pro arm wrestler, low volume, heavy loads through range and equal focus on isometric holds and in concentric movement under heavy load, they are amazing. My strength has not declined over time. I still deadlift. Heavy. Low reps never more than a 5, usually 2"s-3"s. I do isometric holds with a strap and piece of pipe. Farmer's walks and heavy sand bag carries. When deadlifting I try and get into the CNS and know I'm there when I am trembling, likewise with isometrics. My experience is any effort I wasted on volume definitely took a lot away from my primary goal of getting stronger. I just got tired. If strength is your goal, focus on only that, train appropriately, safely. Everyone should be training for strength. Strength is what enables you to move your skeleton efficiently. When you no longer can, your lifespan decreases dramatically. Training for strength is training for longevity. Everything Mitchell discusses I have experienced. Thanks Mitchell...
Your strength diminishes as you age. You are fooling yourself if you think that your method of lifting will prevent diminished strength. It’s called sarcopenia. Period.
@@Rasplata5sarcopenia is nuanced like all things related to aging. Read about it. Degeneration occurs much faster and more prominently in people with less activity and less muscle mass. There are guaranteed people much older and much stronger than you... And likely also with a much better attitude 😋
This was an excellent informative video.
Reading some of the comments I think some people misunderstood what he was saying to a degree.
I don’t believe he was saying you should never do more than 5 reps or not even you should never do more than 5 reps on a compound movement.
I believe he is generally referring in this video to training compound movements in phases of your training where you are attempting to maximize strength performance it is best to stay below 5 reps as a general guideline.
“All the muscles between the rib cage and the pelvis” is a really succinct definition of the core
Great video. Explains my progress over the past year and a half going from a high volume, light load program for fat loss. To your kick start program that combined moderate and higher rep exercises with medium volumes. Strength progressed a fairly well, for me anyway. Based on my performance from that, I imagine a program specifically designed for strength would have made me even stronger if my 56 year old joints could handle the higher loads. Now, prepping for a bodybuilding show in November, I tried to keep a modified version of your program. It went ok for about 5 weeks as I still tried to progress my loads, then I gradually started to miss targets and wound up having to lighten load and increase reps.
As a side note. I saw one of your videos where your giving yourself a 50% chance to break the record at the deadlift world championships in Nevada. I don't know man. Your a realist, I get it, but you don't give yourself enough credit. Seems every time I've watch you compete, you push yourself above and beyond. Its higher then 50%.
Man, my zero reps are definitely going to start paying off soon 💪🏻💪🏻
Let's Gooo Champ 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
Thats going for below and beyond!
@@DavidVirtanen I’ll see y’all at the strongman event soon enough 🫡
@@Zmasteri it’s so nice to finally see my efforts be noticed and rewarded. Thank you!
Taking souls !!
I've been doing 8-12 reps for 12 years, but last year i hired a strength coach and did low reps. Usually 5 reps. ANd my strength has increased. My max bench so far is 122kg for 5. Before I met him i was only doing chest press with free weights and i only did 30kg in each hand.
You can progressively overload in the 8-12 rep range too. Increase the weight you are performing by 5 lbs every 4-6 weeks and try to maintain that 8-12 rep range at slightly heavier weights.
i used to do 4 sets of 15 reps reverse bicep curls and 4 sets of 2O reps wrist curls and it was too much.Like you i found just 5 curls of them is enough and made me stronger.
You shouldn’t do 8-12 reps you should go till failure and progressive overload
@@ObsidianArrowYT I would advise against pushing to failure when progressively overloading. Leaving a rep in reserve or training at RPE 8-9 is better. Get close to failure so that you are pushing yourself hard enough without failing.
@@glegg54 it’s not better, stop listening to science and start listening to real world experiences, if you do is 1 or 2 reps shy of failure your muscles will have no reason to grow
Awesome appearance on the Massenomics Podcast...was a lot of fun hearing you talk with Tanner and Tommy!
I had to stop listening, never got to the hooper part. Too much nonsense babbling
@@Nick-gg6tg If you don't realize how skipping to parts in a video work on the internet at this point then I am afraid you are lost
I’m 54 and have no pain anywhere. The key is hybrid Calisthenics because it will strengthen tendons, ligaments and it will incorporate more overall muscle fibers than just lifting weights. Don’t baby yourself as you get older, be smart and go hard and you will be fine.
So true. I watched a guy bench over 400 lbs for over 20 reps once and I thought he definitely isnt strong at all.
😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣
I mean. Poundstone, Kaz, Eddie, Nick Best, and Mark Felix all used higher reps so its not an absolute thing
Well, Eddie is actually genetically gifted, as in he has a genetically lower amount of myostatin to deal with. He could build muscle farting hard. 😂😂
All drug free athletes...
@@AugmentedDictatorGameswait, people still believe in the myostatin deficiency thing? What year is it? 😅
Seriously though, myostatin isn’t really a major factor. Myostatin-like cortisol-is a GOOD thing. You will literally die without it. It’s only demonized by quacks who don’t understand physiology. The biggest factors in determining who’s a genetic freak for muscle and strength and who’s not is in androgen receptor sensitivity, gene transcription factors in the muscle cells themselves, and IGF-1 levels
Did they use them exclusively or just in the off season to strengthen tendons?
@@AugmentedDictatorGames all these guys are genetically gifted otherwise the wouldnt even be at wsm
i'm training since 16 and now 38. Always natural. I got a nice body and really good definition and mass. Always from high reps. I'm convinced it's very good for mass, definition and no injuries. And i'm still very strong for my weight. Almost half of my body mass extra in bench
high reps do wonders for your tendons and ligaments, not to mention stamina, endurance, and joint longevity.
Not according to the moose.
Yes, but this is about strongmen, not about bodybuilders
@@nocapproductions5471George leeman did basically nothing but high reps and deadlifted 909 raw.(in comp) 907x4
800 for 8
100 lb DB shoulder press for 60 reps. Along with many many other high rep lifts.
@@nocapproductions5471 it applies to every discipline, does that mean the sole focus? no. But high volume weight training is a great way to help with recovery after a competition/meet.
The tendon bit is largely a myth. Tendons do not undergo adaptations with loads less than 75% 1RM, which is not something most can do for sets of 10 for very long.
Some good info here, I’ve been dabbing into the strength world and everything is like a foreign language. This helps understand rep ranges and WHY
One situation where I might disagree slightly is, for younger training age lifters (regardless of chronological age) if they don't have a developed work capacity. The higher rep sets can help build overall work capacity, and I've found that's definitely relevant for lifting heavier weight, at least in my mind/experience. Geoffrey Verity Schofield had an interesting video about this recently. Once you're at Mitch's level you have that built, and really need to focus training to develop increments in strength. Earlier lifters probably need to develop work capacity even as they are growing strength--this is the current focus of my training, which is adapted from a video Alex Bromley did about Doug Hepburn's approach.
Appreciate you speaking on this I've just been in the middle of high reps for Benchpress after a long time doing heavyweight and was thinking about going back to my powerlifting training so you helped me make up my mind to get back to strength training this subject is important for everyone to know to get better strength gains thank you Mitch .
This makes sense if your goal is strictly power lifting, but for hypertrophy and asthetics, recent studies show that rep ranges up to 30 or more can produce similar results as 8-10 reps.
It's all about what you're after. I'm 73 and cant afford to lift heavy any more due to the risk of injury.
love these videos man
The difference between power and strength has never been explained so well .. thank you
Excellent quality information, as usual.
Suggestion; create a video on training for strength endurance.
The more volume I do on upper body, the stronger my bench gets. Highly specialised, heavy powerlifting training has failed to make me stronger on bench for the last two-three years.
Build muscle and work capacity first guys, then do the strength work.
You're half right
Well if your doing it too heavy and you can barely do 3 reps yeah your not gonna build that much strength
I think it should be incorporated somewhere. After all, the strongman competitions often include events for reps which far exceed 5.
I need to get back to it, but 3-5 reps at near fail for most exercises, i was MOVING thru weights when i was a beginner. Literally doubled what i could row or what i could put overhead in a month. It's crazy how fast strength changes in the early days.
Very good information. Thanks. I was doing 7, moving to 5 after watching this.
Thank you for putting out content often. These are great!
Dude, buy the access, it's got all the things!
Only thing I would add is, their is no wasted work. If you do four reps on a set, but wanted five, so you get half way with that fifth it is still good work. All in the context of being safe and mindful of course.
I've always done 4x10's, but I've been wanting to try something for awhile and this kind of solidified that I should go for it. Thanks Hoop!
This is WHY, Max OT Training, works so well in the 4-6 rep range at 85% of 1 rep max
Great video, thanks for the upload.
I'd rather be able to lift a moderate amount of weight a bunch of times than a massive amount for 3 or 4 reps. I'm not going to be competing in WSM or anything anyway.. might as well go for a nice mix of strength/endurance.
For normal people, that's the goal.
Thanks for all the videos you post Mitchell. I definitely put on size and strength much faster with 1-5 rep range. Squat, overhead and deadlift i use 1-5 rep range, accessories i use 6-12 rep range.
I think the same way about moving bags of cement I also do it slow your body gets used to the load to the shoulder rushing it will cause injury in the long term
This is the kind of video I want to see on this channel.
I tried quite a few different styles of training while getting back into fitness this year, undecided on whether I cared most about bodybuilding or strength or health; but by far the worst experience was the extreme slow low-weight/high-rep approach. It works, physically, but I hate it. I gave up from mental exhaustion long before it felt like my muscles had reached their limit. Been doing 5reps or less ever since, so much better. Only downside is I might need to get an actual gym membership since I don't think I can progress with gear that'll fit in my current living space.
I'm with you. If I can make a recommendation, get kettlebells, a parallel bar, a dip belt, and Duonamic's handle bars (like a pull-up bar but gentle on door frames). I'm currently doing weighted dips, weighted pullups, and many other exercises at home. There's also the X3 bar, which is an amazing resistance band + bar + plate system that lets you do squats, deadlifts, and other compound movements without the risk to your joints or heavy weight. It's not cheap to get equipment like that, but I love the freedom of being able to lift whenever I want and not have to drive anywhere or be dependent on a gym. Especially after what happened in 2020.
@@cynicist8114 I appreciate the recommendations, but I've already starting trialing gyms in my area. Deadlifts with actual weight on a bar feels good, and I'm living out of basically one bedroom, one bathroom and my car right now, and having a subscription can make one more likely to make good use of it whereas purchases (which I generally prefer otherwise) might just sit on your shelf for years.. I'll try to keep this comment in mind in the unlikely event of a new pandemic. Already have kettlebells, dumbbells and a pullup bar.
Really enjoy the educational videos
Just found you and subscribed. Great information!
Thanks for making this! It was helpful. God Bless
This is probably top 5 most important fitness UA-cam videos, ever.
I wholly agree above or close to ten reps will have technical failures and breaking of pacing, while I view about in the middle- around 5-8 reps is more technically challenging and can reach closer to 75% of orm, the closer you get to five reps up the weight instead and keep the reps around 5 and below to build maximal strength but injury propensity will always be much higher, slowly working through each rep is extremely important at low ranges- and staying around 8-12 range is better for people switching from bodybuilding to strength, and I’d give it two to five years for the tendons to adapt depending on lifestyle and recovery time, then you can switch over more to strength training, 5-8 rep range
It will definitely kill ur strength gains but for hypertrophy it will do wonders especially if u create hard tension. I personally never do anything under 15 reps. And squats I go up to 50 reps. Sure I'm not that strong but if ur goal is hypertrophy. High reps with tension is the way to go.
People don’t understand that there is training for strength vs training for size and for some reason think that a certain rep range will do both
And next week it will be 'log champion Mitchel hooper here'
Mitch always great information, always helpful and next level. I agree with this video. If that means anything. You are currently in the process of doing things no one else is or has done and to ignore your experience and education would be idiotic. All the other athletes are changing how they train because of what you have brought to strongman. Your great keep up the awesome work.
I love strength workouts. But I haven't been able to make it to the gym due to family challenges for a couple weeks. So today's an at-home very high volume workout. 😂
I like to throw in high volume, all-day workouts once or twice a month. I find it's good to push that strength endurance and hone the tendons. It's also a different type of mental discipline. I'm about halfway through and I don't want to keep going, but I'll feel great when I finish it.
There's a time for high weight and low reps, but there's a time and value for the inverse, too.
17:54 part of the reason why people don't talk about machine weight is different models machines are not an apples to apples comparison with each other. Even if the exact same model, the lubrication and internal friction can vary. Plus the machines often don't specify any units so you don't know what the number truly means.
Well you know...i have been a Les Mills, BodyPump instructor for 10 years. Doing this with rather large charges got me stronger in weightlifting, since my classes train the white muscle cells..stronger and more enduring during trainings, so both are compatible...cheers
Completely agree, great overall take!
For compound i stick fairly close to the old 5x5 which works well for me but for accessory i absolutely get more results with higher reps/sets with manageable weight.
Great Video Mitchell I Love It Tysm ❤️❤️❤️💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
I forget what the first thing I was going to say was, but if you’re doing 3x10s and want to progress, put those two 5s on for the FINAL SET, not ALL sets. Problem solved. That is actually progression. And iirc, going “close to failure” is so important… honestly, might be smarter to do the extra weight for the first set, then effectively “drop set” slightly for the second set (though probably don’t need to bother with the 3rd)… but anyway, you get the point. Increasing the weight for 1 set not all 3 is still progression. 🤷♀️
16:30 once I was really busy and figured I had 15-30min to get a workout.
Warmed up , did 4x20 deadlift, felt like I'd been there for hours and was sore for days :)
I can definitely attest to this. I used to do 10 pull-ups at a time many times per day (I’d usually end up with around 80 by the end of the day). It made me freakishly strong on the lat pulldown, except, months later, I hadn’t improved at all. It was honestly a waste of time.
I mean this makes sense and parallels personal experience. Something I'm curious about, why do so many strength programs use AMRAPs? There are numerous powerlifting programs where you're literally prescribed an AMRAP every workout, notably where a lot of strength lifters start: 5/3/1.
As a car guy, the analogy was spot on… muscle cars (show body builders) looks nice but can’t possibly perform at the same level as a sports car (athlete).
From what I understand it is not possible to convert type IIa to type IIx through training.
Only thing that will do this is rest.
Low reps will increase amount of type IIa.
This video was interesting. The classic volume argument. It only makes sense to push the limits of strength you need to lift near your max, you cannot lift high reps near your max. So low repetitions are not so much a choice for strength gain as much as a natural limit if you are using the proper load.
In cars, no need to fetch the reference from farther than showcars vs track builds. :D Showcars have typically big engine upgrades, minimal ground clearance and details (like spoiler size, wheel angles etc) dictated heavily by the style/looks. Track builds can appeal be very boring to the showcar owners, but even lower power track builds may out-perform showcars simply by being balanced. Showcar main problems are: suspension performance, brakes not upgraded/their performance after a while in heavy use, engine cooling systems performance not upgraded to meet demands of sustained high power output. Wanna see the difference: Misha Charoudin yt-channel has a lot of different cars driven on track - with this explanation you surely can spot the extremes :)
Honestly, this video brightened my mood!
I don’t know if I agree with this. High reps is a good way to shock your system which causes growth. I’m talking about 15 reps though.
I often come away from his videos feeling like his view of exercise is a bit narrowly focused on strongman, and his workouts consisting of doing almost exclusively large compound exercises. I think this is one of those cases. There are reasons to isolate a smaller body part and work it specifically even in pure strength sports. And even with only compound movements, then, doing higher rep movements with lighter loads is good for joint recovery and hypertrophy. I wouldn't recommend upwards of like 15-20 reps but 8-12 is a nice range where you can just control the movement a lot better. I think higher rep days in between your lower rep close to max or max days is a good way to recover, add volume, and also gain some extra hypertrophy, which adds to strength down the road.
In my personal experience training for armwrestling, doing heavy two hand curls was really only possible for me once a week, I had too much tendon pain to do it more frequently than that. I supplemented it with a day of 1 arm preacher curls that were a bit higher rep range, although still usually 6-10, and not only did I increase the amount of volume I could do weekly, and therefore strength and growth, but also it reduced my tendon pain. "Best for strength" doesn't always mean best for your body, and if your body is unhappy enough it affects your strength
I think not only does he have a narrow view of training, but he has a narrow view of purpose of strength being strongman style efforts. General advice, for people who want to prioritize strength adaptations, the closer towards maximal force production with every effort possible will see the greatest stimulus for fatigue. However, maximal force production is performative, and the closer we get towards maximal force production the less frequently we will be able to on a session and within a session. Further, force production and load are not the same, thus able to train with loads below maximal enough to be successful with every effort with highest intent to move the load, but not far enough below to not need this highest intent to move. Again, this is only for the prioritization of strength, and few have such need for this except say powerlifters in a peak/taper precompetition. Once we start discussing individual athletes objectives, training history, recovery, resources, preferences, and more then the ranges are needlessly prescriptive without being informative.
@@zacharylaschober I think get the gist of what you're saying and I agree in general, but could you like proofread your comment a bit? 😭 I'm not correcting for the sake of it, I actually had a really hard time understanding what you were saying because of all the errors for a lot of it.
@@samk2407 would not say there are any errors, but on a reread it isn't easy to parse or elegantly written for sure. Basically, strength is not an adaptation, and his advice is too narrow to be this generic.
@@zacharylaschober wdym that it isn't an adaptation?
6:00
What about Henneman's size principle?
Do you not agree or?
4:00 think about tendons, cartilage and ligaments also. You will need them when you get old ;)
I started a new program, I call it the 1000 rep program. For example, I do 1000 bar curls for bicep. I do 20 sets of 50 reps. It takes about an hour. It definitely stimulates growth, I have grown so much from it. But my strength is not very good though. But it is sustainable in the long run. Stimulate- don't destroy. You have to think about your tendons, joints in the long run. Heavy weights over time wear down the body, and eventually it breaks.
Training extremely high reps like you do also wears out your tendons. They actually wear out your tendons significantly quicker than high weight low reps.
@@MR12AMAZING no way man, I do 1000 curls with the 25lb bar, 20 sets of 50. Tendons are way better than when I used heavy. Ask the guys who have wrecked shoulders, ect.
What should I do if I max out the available weights? My gym is pretty lame and only has dumbbells up to 95lbs. That's way too low for me so I use one of the machines that goes up to 105lbs and do that for 6-7 sets of 10-15 reps. I sometimes use the preacher curl machine at 130lbs with one arm, but the shape of the bar makes lifting it feel weird, so I avoid doing it. I'm trying to get my strict/preacher curl up to 400 lbs, but it's hard because I can only increase the number of reps I do, not the amount of weight I'm lifting.
Any advice?
Go to an adult gym
531 for compounds, 3 sets of 8-10 for accessories. Worked well for me.
Is there ever a time a strength athlete would do higher reps? And what are the reasons. Also could you do a video on what a strength program would look like from block to block? Thanks!
Check out Martins Licis's video about ligament strength with high reps.
Search for the title: "Martins Licis talks ligament strength and staying INJURY FREE"
Idk doing 1 min triceps on cables got me over my 365 plateau on bench
I only got stronger by adding reps
He's talking compound movements for primarily strongman/strength. Let's see your 365+ bench. Post a video.
I agree. It all continues to the Same goal, in the end. Volume and growth can fuel strength later.
Great video with a lot of good points!
However, something should be said for the dudes who are alway peaking and never taking the time to build hypertrophy and wondering why they are plateaued. You have to build muscle to get stronger!!
19:03 training the muscles vs training the movement. Does Mitchell mean hypertrophic training when he refers to training the muscles? So between 10-25 reps?
Contrary to popular opinion - older people are volume sensitive and intensity dependent. Meaning high reps are hard on old tendons and ligaments and low reps - meaning more weight - are necessary to build or even maintain strength as we age.
Interesting, I would like to learn more about this, can you recommend any links for more information?
Not true
I try to train for strength first, then volume directly after.. seems to be working so far..
Started typing this before you addressed this at the end but I'll leave it here.............. I agree with everything for someone past 2 year of lifting, but I would say the earlier you are into your strength journey the better high reps are, I agree that lifting heavy for low reps is a skill but also the movements themselves are a skill so if you are coming into the gym without experience it would be better to get more repetitions so your body gets more used to that movement, as time goes on and you become an intermediate lifter then your body should be used to the movements enough where lower reps are going to be more beneficial if your goal is strength. Obviously you do not want to go straight from high reps to a 1rm but as time goes on I think beginners should slowly transition from sets of 8-10 to 6-7 down to low reps eventually. Also, beginner lifters aren't strong enough to injur themselves yet so i dont think the injury point for high reps would apply. So I'd say "high reps are killing your strength gains" doesn't apply to atleast 1/3rd of the viewers
I hate it when the one percent that get´s thrue that training without fucking their body up tells a normal dude that this is the way to go. Lifting heavy with low reps will get 99% of the normal gym folk hurt. It is not streanght vs size for us it is health vs bullshit for us!
for DL and SQ 2-3 reps range is best for me, 5 reps already make me hard breathe. BP is different, I can go from 3 to 10 reps, and consider it as similar efford.
As you get older, higher reps is your friend decreasing joint pain and tendinitis
Very true, and with young people not overworking themselves is important, not to suffer with the arthritis in the next ten years
How old are we talking?
Yes, but he us advice to strongmen not to bodybuilders
@@nocapproductions5471 exactly, if you want to build strength 5-8 reps and one rep max, after a 5-3-2rep or 3-2 rep warmup every now and then
@@beecj0 I started having joint pain in my 50s but I suppose it depends on the individual
Eddie regularly used high reps, Nick best and many others, it's not uncommon
You can't train like non natural athletes if you want to stay natural
@@vvkHigh volume isn't bad for naturals. The same principles apply for both natural and enhanced. Just that enhanced makes some things easier. We should be employing both high reps and high weight at different times.
@@vvkgood god, if you want to find the omega man of the group, just see which one immediately brings up drugs. Like you're not small and weak af so it's moot
@@vvk If anything doing high rep deads on gear would be harder than natty, think of the back pumps!
@@vvkDude, if you actually want progress, yet stay natural, you HAVE to train hard. You HAVE to push.
You want to do 5 rep sets or less when training for strength in the big compound movements. Especially if you are older. They don't all have to be max effort sets either. This is how you train for strength and also the central nervous system. Yes you can do do some higher reps on side delt raises, tricep push down or something like that.
So is periodization dangerous? I wasn’t aware of the clear differences between powerlifters and bodybuilders in regards to the dangers of bodybuilders lifting heavier weights. Is this with the differences from sarcoplasmic and myfibrular muscle strands?
Excuse my ignorance in regards to the intricacies of weightlifting. Just been lifting for about 2 years now.
Not dangerous.
It's safer as a properly periodized program will have you slowly work your way into heavier loads, giving your soft tissue more time to adapt to handling those loads.
"nobody is 220 rocking up and winning the contest" except Jouko Ahola. Pound 4 Pound strongman goat.
275
Excellent tutorial
Could you do a video on conjugate, speed work for power development and the dynamic effort method?
When I do sets of 5, my joints ache. When I do sets of 8, they don't. I'll stick with sets of 8.
I like doing a mix if for no other reason than the bro-science of high reps to build mass and low reps to build strength.
I always did 100 reps of what every weight I did. 140kg bench press, 40kg bicep curl, 40kgs flys, Squat 380kgs, leg curls and leg extension I did more reps (370 200x10kgs 100x 20kgs and 70 of 75kgs) I played 24 games of touch footy a week plus soccer games and training, I was a ref so this was easy. I occasionally ran 20kms to and from my Girlfriends place. I get that as we get old we should do heavier weights, but I take glucosamine and krill oil so I'm like an 18year old maybe fitter and stronger at 50yrs. Seeing as though I have been lifting and playing sport since I was 11 doing 6-8 hours a day the biggest tip is don't over stress your tendons. Muscles can are able to take heaps of punishment if your just starting take it slow for the first few years so you don't have injury, though if you don't get injuries you don't know your limit... sad huh. So know how to fix your injuries.
I have a question kind sir, or anyone who knows.but first a comment.
I love to lift for strength. For the bench for instance. I warm up. Then aim for between three and single rep ranges until I hit my PR. I'm a pretty string guy. 180lbs and can bench 375.
But then, after I hit my one rep max. I will go into two sets for volume. Usually 275 for as many as I can hit, usually 12. Then I will burn out with 225, usually for 20 reps, or more.
Mt theory is that I'm first aiming for strength and then size. Is this approach not good?
What are the up sides to it? Down sides? Would I be much stronger if I only focus on low rep ranges? Or can both styles compliment each other?
Also, because I usually fry my chest like this, I do take about 4 or 5 days to fully recover.
I'm 48 years old, I'm 180lbs and never had a problem with using both low and high rep ranges.
Thoughts anyone?
High reps are amazing. When anyone says "don't do ___", just ignore them
Exactly. Just do both
I've done both over the years. My take is once I started doing heavy, low rep compounds and a bit of strongman. I grew a sort of thick muscle that lighter weights couldn't give me. On the flip side I was way leaner doing light weight high reps. Higher reps and light weights also gave me a more bodybuilder look. Powerlifting and strongman will make your midsection thicken up too.
following your advice, I shouldn't listen to you.
@@luckylukeo 🥱
For hypertrophy yes, for strength absolutely not
I'm all about that low rep walking from the couch to the fridge.
How would you recommend strengthening ligaments/tendons? Some (e.g. Louie Simmons) recommend high, fast reps with low weight. Others recommend the opposite, like super slow negative movements...
In general, in addition to lifting heavy in the compound movements, I have been following Simmons in doing high, light, fast reps in single joint exercises (e.g. hamstring curl, tricep extensions). So far, so good...
Great video.
Okay what about a beginner?
Shouldnt they focus first on high reps so their muscles,joins and tendons grow slowly and safely witu good form rather than going day 1 in gym and focusing on 1-3 reps 1RM.?
As a non native speaker the difference between strength and power in a muscle building context always kinda confused me, but you managed to explain is just right :) Thank you
Would you say a group a group that benefits most of power would be e.g. a full body contact athlete? Like a rugby-, football-player or fighter?
Great informative video, a lot of which I knew how to train for strength or asthetics but not strictly why…..My question is could you do a video on ‘Powerbuilding’, a concept I follow after watching Mike O’Hearn videos, is there sense in training both or should they be programmed seperate? I’m 47 and trying to stay strong with quality muscle and tendons but also look good?? I do mainly bro splits but start my body part training with compound sets and low volume for that body part for the day, then move on to accessories 10-15 reps for more time under tension!?…..Keep up the great work Mitch!! 👍
Mitchell- will you do some kind of special video for 500k subscribers? Idk, maybe 500 pound deadlift for 50 reps?
That sounds like an insanely horrible time
500kg deadlift for 500K
@@kavishU0902Nick best did 24 or something reps with 500+ lbs.
That equals 1330 pound 1 rep max or 602Kg. Sounds reasonable.
@@ThyFinalPain tbf 1 rep max calculators are less accurate in higher rep ranges at 50 reps its not even close to accurate anymore
Teach me oh wise one, but speak not in tongues. Or teach me your science speak. Take my money, but guide me.
Spelling correction in description: Today we are unpacking why you should throw away an[y] exercise greater than 5 reps (sort of).