The plethora of online fitness resources is slowly falling into disrepute. Still, because they are full of dubious recommendations and unjustified criticism. On the other hand, these days more than ever there are more people who are well informed about the time-tested laws of muscle growth.

First, people started lifting weights - and that in itself is a giant step in the right direction, especially for women. Second, they understand the importance of nutrition and recovery. It is also important that they realize that for most beginners, the key to success will be simply following the training program, systematically and unconditionally, for many months.

But is this enough? For a certain time is definitely enough. However, one day you will stop being a beginner and become an average bodybuilder! Sounds cool, but what it really means is that from now on you have to apply more effort for the sake of muscle growth, which previously was given relatively easily.

When this happens, common newbie mistakes, such as malnutrition, can be a major handicap. But it is also very likely that you will have to adjust the entry-level training program in accordance with the increased needs of your body.

We will point out five mistakes that hinder the progress of an athlete with an average level of training.

Mistake 1. You always train with the same number of repetitions.

The notion that maximum muscle growth is driven by moderate reps (6-12 per set) continues to be a hot topic in the fitness world. And although this theory has been experimentally confirmed, its evidence cannot be called irrefutable. For the sake of discussion, let's say that medium rep training is the perfect stimulus for mass gain. But does that mean you should only train within a narrow rep range? Answer: "No!"

Many understand the importance of nutrition

Low rep workouts, like 1-5 per set, provide the most strength gains, so they increase your working weight for medium reps. In this way, you create more muscle effort and, accordingly, more muscle growth. On the other hand, high-rep training, in particular 15-20 reps per set, helps you raise the critical threshold for lactic acid accumulation in the muscles.

By developing the body's ability to slow down lactic acid accumulation, you push back the fatigue threshold during mid-rep training in the "hypertrophy range" and increase your time under load—another crucial aspect of muscle growth.

How to fix

To create the most favorable conditions for muscle growth, you need to use the entire range of the rep range. Build your program around medium reps, but be sure to leave time for low rep and high rep workouts.

Although there are many effective variations of the training process, I recommend taking a modified linear approach as a basis. Initially, there is a strength phase (low reps), followed by a relatively short metabolic segment (high reps), and the cycle culminates in a hypertrophy phase (6-12 reps).

When used correctly, this scheme leads to a predictable “effect”, and you maximize muscle growth and reach the peak of the form in the final phase of the training cycle.

Mistake 2. You use the same exercises every day

Most of us have a certain set of favorite exercises that form the core of our training program. And while there is nothing wrong with sticking to proven techniques that serve as a reliable support for us, this should not lead to the complete elimination of other exercises.

Switching between different exercises gives a decisive advantage when working on the mass. Firstly, it helps to avoid the "addictive effect", in which the muscles adapt to movements repeated over and over again and become resistant to microdamages. Prevention of such habituation will allow to achieve a more pronounced structural restructuring of muscle fibers. This microdamage, like exercise time and metabolic stress, has been shown to accelerate muscle growth.

A variety of exercises will bring all parts of the muscles into a state of readiness

Secondly, no single exercise is able to work out muscle fibers along the entire length of the muscle; often only a small area of ​​the muscle is worked out in one movement. Consequently, a variety of exercises will bring all sections of the muscles into a state of readiness, and all muscle fibers will smoke from the load.

It can be represented as follows. Some like it, others like it, and still others prefer it. Your muscles are insatiable, they like everything at once. Therefore, in order for them to be happy and continue to grow, you must provide them with everything they need. Even minor changes in the training program will allow you to work the muscles in a slightly different way, and this will improve your results.

How to fix

Use a variety of exercises throughout your training cycle. This can be achieved by switching between different techniques, training angles and planes of motion, and even by changing the distance between the arms and legs.

But even working within the framework of the proposed concept, you must be clearly aware that, from a practical point of view, it is impossible to completely “isolate” the muscles. The body is designed in such a way that several muscle groups are involved in any movement. Targeting a specific muscle only means that that muscle is most actively involved in a particular movement.

Mistake 4. Your training program lacks variety.

A typical strength training program is built around simple sets - you do a set, rest, do another set of the same exercise, rest again, and then continue in the same spirit through each point of the training program.

Such a strategy is fully justified; simple sets can, and many believe they should, form the foundation of the training process. But once you've built the foundation, you can experiment a bit with some specific techniques, if, of course, your goal is really to continue muscle growth.

How to fix

• : after completing the first exercise without rest, proceed to next exercise.
• : Perform a set to muscle failure with a certain load, and then immediately reduce the working weight and continue training until the next failure.
• : Perform the eccentric phase of the movement with a weight that exceeds your one rep max in the concentric phase.

These three options are great additions to a hypertrophy program. They will create more metabolic stress and cause muscle restructuring that will take your muscle growth to new heights.

Selectively add these specific moves to your training program, but do so with care. These techniques are classified as high-intensity training, and many people make a big mistake by starting to implement them too actively and too quickly. The peculiarity of these techniques is that they require more time for, and if you do not have it, you risk heading for.

In short, train to a sweat, but limit the amount of muscle-wearing high-intensity training to no more than a few microcycles per training period.

Mistake 5. You devote too much time to cardio.

The desire to accelerate muscle growth and at the same time reduce the percentage of fat mass is understandable, and the ways to achieve this goal, at first glance, seem logical. In an attempt to speed up fat burning, athletes increase the share of cardio loads and at the same time continue to intensively engage in strength training. They end up piling intense training on top of another intense training session, leaving no room for recovery, and then wondering why their body, instead of getting stronger, gets weaker.

Adding long-term cardio to exhausting strength training without regard to diet and rest leads to overtraining and can result in a complete halt in muscle growth.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with adding reasonable aerobic activity to a hypertrophy program. But the abuse of cardio can harm you, because strength and aerobic training give the body diametrically opposite signals. Scientists have even coined the term "AMPK-PKV switch" (AMP kinase and protein kinase B) to describe the process by which aerobic training stimulates catabolism (muscle breakdown) and strength training activates anabolic (muscle growth) processes.

In reality, the "switch" concept is oversimplified, as most evidence indicates that anabolism and catabolism run in parallel and continuously. However, there is no doubt that the accompanying aerobic training interferes with anabolism and limits your body's ability to build muscle.

Moreover, adding long-term cardio to exhausting strength training without taking into account diet and rest leads to overtraining and can result in a complete halt in muscle growth.

How to fix

If your goal is maximum muscle growth, stick to moderate cardio. But how do you know that too much is too much? It depends entirely on individual characteristics, some are more tolerant of cardio, others are less.

In general, it is recommended to limit monotonous cardio to three to four 30-40 minute sessions per week. Alternatively, you can use 2-3 high-intensity interval training per week, and this suits most bodybuilders.

Be sure to listen to your body and be aware of the symptoms of overtraining.

Harbingers of overtraining

• Sleep disorders and various manifestations of insomnia.
• Sudden changes in mood, emotions, or performance.
• Digestive problems.
• Persistent tachycardia and arterial hypertension.

Losing weight and gaining muscle mass at the same time is easier for those who are just starting their journey in strength training and have an impressive amount of fat that can be burned. The task becomes more complicated many times over if you train for several years. When you leave the category of beginners, the right decision is to pursue one goal, rather than chasing two birds with one stone.

The training process is built taking into account the goals. If your goal is to build mass, then multi-turn training can be one of the proven methods. The essence of this construction of training is to repeat one type of exercise a large number of times. Work at the same time goes with a weight several times less than the worker (no more than 50-70%). Rest between sets should be as short as possible. Classes built according to this method give a positive result. The presented training style was popular during the “Golden Era” of bodybuilding, and it does not lose its relevance even now.

Features of multi-repetition training

• this type of exercise is suitable for people who have problems with weight and the main goal is to correct it;
• designed for those who are just starting to play sports. This will allow you to work out the technique of each new exercise;
• also suitable for experienced athletes who want to make some changes in the organization of the training process.

Each of the categories is characterized by certain features in the organization of multi-repetitive training. In the fight against excess weight, it is imperative to focus not on working weight, but on the intensity of the lesson itself. Most of those who start using this technique work hard on building mass, while the layer of subcutaneous fat remains intact. To achieve your goal, follow certain recommendations: when performing each exercise, the number of repetitions should not be less than 25 times. The main task is to burn the existing excess mass. You can understand that everything is being done correctly by feeling a burning sensation in the muscles. During classes, it is worth taking a small weight, the main thing is to repeat the exercise as many times as possible. The rest time should be a maximum of 30 seconds. Such a short period of time will not give glycogen the opportunity to recover.

The most difficult thing will be for those who are just starting to join the sport. It is necessary to start work with a small weight. It is important to focus on learning the technique of each of the exercises. This ensures proper muscle contraction, which will help you build mass faster later.

Multi-repetition training program: load for the legs, back and core

In almost all athletes, over time, there comes a period when the muscles no longer respond to stress and stop growing. In such cases, a multi-repetition technique can come to the rescue, which will be an excellent analogue of working with a lot of weight. The essence of multi-rep training is to give the muscles perfect the new kind loads to cause a serious muscle pump. Muscle growth begins due to increased blood flow to those areas where muscle fibers work hard.

• engage this method no more often than every 3 months. You need to do at least 30 days. Do a large number of repetitions with less weight, and then return to more working weights. Muscle fibers will begin to grow again;
• burning in the muscles - a signal that it is time to stop. With multi-repetition training, the score is not on the number of repetitions or approaches, but on a burning sensation in the muscles. Once you have that feeling, it's time to stop;
• regular adjustment of a multi-repetitive training program is a must. Do more or less repetitions, replace the usual exercises with similar ones. Don't forget to focus on

Previously, there was an opinion that for a set muscle mass you need to do strength training in a small number of repetitions. However, modern views on this issue differ significantly from traditional ones.

The low-rep-to-mass, high-rep-to-cut approach is a thing of the past.

We are all different. IN Gym there are people with different skill levels. Someone has been performing and winning bodybuilding competitions for several years, while someone is just starting to play sports. Accordingly, the approach to training will also be different.

Strength training in the low rep range

A low rep range is usually understood as doing 1 to 5 reps per set. It is often said that a low number of repetitions stimulates the work of fast muscle fibers, and a large number of slow ones. This is another misconception about the number of repetitions.

The truth is that low-rep work stimulates ALL muscle fibers to contract: fast, slow, and intermediate.

When you load a muscle, slow muscle fibers are the first to work. However, if there are not enough slow fibers to cope with the load, intermediate muscle fibers are connected to work. If the slow and intermediate fibers cannot cope with the weight, or they are already tired enough, the fast muscle fibers begin to work. The fibers cannot be partially loaded, they always contract to their full strength. So you can lift some serious weight using all types of muscle fibers.

Low reps are also effective in stimulating myofibrillar hypertrophy. This process is an increase in the amount of actin and myosin in the muscle cell. This type of hypertrophy is accompanied by an increase in strength indicators, as muscle contractility improves. This is important because a constant progression of loads is paramount to long-term progress. So the use of very large weights for a small number of repetitions is fundamentally important for both advanced athletes and for

Usually this phrase refers to work for 6-12 repetitions. Numerous studies have confirmed that this style of training leads to maximum growth. The reason for its effectiveness is simple - all the muscles are gradually loaded.

This means that we get all the benefits of low-rep and high-rep training at the same time, since we work with quite impressive weights for a decent amount of time under load.

Heavy weight triggers the process of myofibrillar protein synthesis, which, as already discussed, will improve muscle contraction.

Prolonged time under stress will trigger sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. This is an increase in sarcoplasm and other non-contractile proteins in muscle cells that occurs when working for a large number of repetitions. This type of growth is not always accompanied by an increase in strength. And this is one of the reasons why bodybuilders have much better muscle development than strength athletes.

Training in the middle rep range gives a great pump. Pumping is sometimes called a short-term effect of training, but in fact it can lead to serious results. Research shows that blood supply to muscle cells increases protein synthesis and reduces protein breakdown.

Conclusion: low reps are better for myofibrillar hypertrophy, high reps are better for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. Training in the average rep range is something like the arithmetic average. Studies have shown the effectiveness of this method, it cannot be ignored.

Strength training in the high rep range

High rep range - 15 reps or moreworkout in style. Many doubt the benefits of high repetitions, because we have already found out that a small number of repetitions loads all muscle fibers, and a medium one increases sarcoplasmic protein synthesis. Sounds reasonable, but there is one very important factor - the effect of glycogen on protein synthesis.

Glycogen is a carbohydrate stored in muscle cells. Glycogen is essential for normal hydration, as 1 gram of glycogen transports 2.7 grams of water. Many will ask, why do muscles need so much water? Water in the muscles will increase their size and increase protein synthesis.

Many do not understand the anabolic component of hydrating muscle cells. Without hydration, protein synthesis is impossible.

In response to more water in the cells, the cell creates an impulse to grow, which leads to a set of muscle mass.

All this is directly related to training in a high rep range. High-rep work depletes muscle glycogen stores. The body will respond to this by increasing glycogen stores. In the long run, this will cause the cells to stretch. This will lead to muscle growth and increased release of anabolic hormones.

There is another important plus of multi-repetition. Blood does not have time to leave the trained muscle group. It enhances muscle growth by increasing the production of growth hormone.

A Practical Comparison of Different Strength Training Styles

Let's look at this issue from a practical point of view. Even after all the information received, many will say that multi-repetition is an optional thing. A low to medium rep range is what you need to progress, you just need to focus on the progression of the loads. A recent study has proven this position wrong.

As part of this study, 15 young people were selected to perform seated leg extensions in a machine. They were divided into two camps. Some did 4 sets of leg extensions to failure with a weight of 90% of their maximum. Others - 4 sets to failure with a weight of 30% of the maximum.

The study found a much stronger increase in protein synthesis from high repetition work. This completely refutes the principle that low reps build mass and high reps burn fat.

Only one controversial point remains unaccounted for. As stated earlier, high rep range work is of little benefit to strength gains. This requires a progression of loads. Intermittent high-rep training will be beneficial, but in the long run it will not bring visible results.

However, not everything is so clear. By training in a low rep range, over time you will become stronger. However, the effect of these extra 1-5 repetitions will be short-lived. But this will lead to an increase in strength when working for a different number of repetitions. If an athlete increases his one-time maximum in deadlift from 110 to 160 kilograms, of course, the working weight will also increase when working for 20 repetitions.

Therefore, the use of different load modes will have a synergistic effect. All of them are interconnected. Progress in one area will lead to progress in another. This is important to understand for the sake of completeness.

conclusions

From all this information, two conclusions can be drawn:

1. Working in any rep range will increase muscle growth, but in different ways. Therefore, attention should be paid to all styles of training, both during muscle gain and during the “drying” period.
2. Don't use high rep workouts to stimulate fat burning. Any strength training will boost your metabolism and burn calories. How many repetitions you need to do is a secondary question. Diet and cardio are your main tools in the fight for relief and fat loss. Muscles grow from training, weight decreases from diet.

There is no style of training that magically allows you to burn more fat and get leaner than other styles.

Whether you're training for a competition, just trying to shed a few extra pounds, or trying to gain as much muscle mass as possible, you need to hit every rep possible to reach your potential. How can you apply this to your workouts? It depends on whether you train a particular muscle group once or twice a week.

If you train a muscle once a week, then it is better to work in the following rep range:

1. Exercises No. 1 and No. 2 - 3-4 sets with heavy weights for 1-5 repetitions (basic exercises).
2. Exercises 3 and 4 - 3-4 sets with an average weight for 8-12 repetitions (basic exercises are also preferable).
3. Exercises #5 and #6 - 3-4 sets with light weight for 15-30 reps (isolated exercises).

If you're training a particular muscle group twice a week, you can focus on one particular style of training for each workout.

Workout #1:

1. Exercises 1 and 2 - 3-4 sets with heavy weights for 2-4 repetitions (basic exercises).
2. Exercises 3 and 4 - 3-4 sets with an average weight for 4-6 reps (basic movements are preferable).
3. Exercises 5 and 6 - 3-4 sets with light weight for 6-8 reps (isolated exercises).

Workout #2:

1. Exercises 1 and 2 - 3-4 sets with heavy weight for 12-15 repetitions (basic exercises).
2. Exercises 3 and 4 - 3-4 sets with an average weight for 15-20 reps (preferably basic exercises).
3. Exercises 5 and 6 - 3-4 sets with light weight for 5-30 repetitions (isolated exercises).

The bodybuilding world is full of misinformation. Everything needs to be doubted. Whatever method of training or nutrition you use, ask yourself: “Why am I doing this?” If you do not have a reasonable answer to this, it's time to change the whole approach to training.

So go ahead, start brutal training, let the skin break from the pump, do as many repetitions as you can. Do this and you will grow!

Multi-repetition walks the planet. More precisely, he certainly walks across Russia. “Do 20 reps on the legs and 15 reps on everything else, or 30 and 20 respectively” - a sort of universal recipe, lying in the daddy "beginner training plans" in any gym. Well, it works, especially if you don't need to gain muscle mass and increase strength. I don’t like this word, but you will “pull yourself up”. In a sense, reduce volumes and gain tone. You can stop there if the goal is just to take a couple of photos in a bikini and look good. The paradox is that most athletes do not reach their fitness goal in one cycle of high repetitions (8-12 weeks) and begin to engage in amateur activities that are hazardous to health and pointless for weight loss.

High reps, fitness, overtraining

But with a normal sports pull-up with a direct wide grip, or at least a reverse grip, you will have problems. And with the bench press, too. Yes, what kind of bench press is there, most of the “eternal multi-repeaters” cannot push themselves off the floor with their hands. Weak core because. A whole layer of legends has grown on this simple fact, such as “girls cannot do push-ups and pull-ups at all, they are all weak and thin.” Yeah, tell the climbers that. There are not so many fat people in this sport. And pumped too. But the pull-up standard is, in principle, the same for both boys and girls. And most of them do it, and after a couple of months of classes. Without any transformation into the Incredible Hulk.

And what about rock climbing? In fact, this is a functional multi-repetition, and it is also performed with small intervals for rest. That is why in this sport survive ... no, not the strongest, but the most enduring. The rest simply have no chance of recovery if you practice more than three times a week.

Why, then, does the form of most climbers grow, while for training “long-term” lovers of multi-repetition, it massively leaves much to be desired? It's all about, so to speak, the natural dosing of the load. If you have ever tried to work out on a climbing wall, you can imagine what happens to your hands there. Your fingers hurt so much that you simply do not have the physical ability to train more than 2-3 times a week. Plus heels and toes pounded with slippers, plus bruises “stuffed” with insurance. Even if you are such an extreme person, you will not walk every day during the first year of classes.

In contrast, high-repetitive fitness exercises cause fairly rapid adaptation. Simply put, if you do not add weight and do not change exercises, after a couple of months you will stop feeling muscle pain in principle. Yes, burning during the workout itself, but not krepatura after. This joyous feeling is what leads most people down the slippery slope of increasing the load without increasing the intensity of the training.

The logic is simple - I will train muscles every day with light weight, burn more calories and lose weight. In decent gyms, such trainees are caught, and they gently explain to them about overtraining and the importance of other types of load, in addition to strength “for strength endurance”. In very good ones, they hand over the barbell and teach it to lift. In indecent - they themselves come to the understanding that it is ineffective to hammer a multi-repetition every day. As a rule, having been ill with a multi-day cold, struggling with edema, and drinking a couple of courses of expensive immunomodulatory pills.

How to do multi-repetition

In any textbook on kinesiology, we read: “After strength endurance training, performing exercises in a multi-repetition mode, with short rest periods, the recovery period for muscle tissue is 48 hours.” We finish reading in the textbook on physiology - “work on strength endurance (a.k.a. “training for weight loss”) requires the presence of glycogen in the muscles, which is restored 48 hours after the depot is completely empty.”

Now quickly answer, how many grams of carbohydrates do you eat per 1 kg of your own body weight? Do you know, and in general on a low-carb diet? There is no way you can do high reps every day. Well, on moral and strong-willed qualities, and half a package of caffeine benzoate, there are some chances. But you will not raise more over time. To lift more, you need to give the muscles time to recover, and have a normal level of the notorious glycogen. Which, between us, is not very compatible with most diets for weight loss.

But you probably don’t care much about the possibility of increasing working weights. More - the prospect of reducing your own weight. This is where the paradoxes begin. Daily fatigue of the same muscle groups, plus a bad diet (bad for muscles, very good for weight loss) equals ... the fastest adaptation of the body to training and a decrease in energy expenditure during the session itself.

This phenomenon was first described, it seems, by Lorenzo Cornacchia. Its meaning is that the more exercises of the same type you do every day, the calmer your body treats them. Post-workout oxygen consumption levels barely increase. And since working weights do not grow, there is no incentive for muscle growth.

Translated into everyday language, you go to the gym, wave dumbbells there, spend an hour every day, and the first, even the most miserable meal, nullifies the 300-400 kcal spent in the heat of the multi-repetition.

The conclusion is simple. If you want to work out in this mode and believe that only it will give you a serious correction, weight loss or tone, if you please, rest 48 hours between workouts.

A weekly plan with multi-repetition looks something like this. Monday - full body workout, plus 15-20 minutes of cardio at the end. Tuesday - rest, or low-intensity aerobics, which does not require significant muscle effort. Simply put, no steppers, hill runs, and other boxes. There will be a light bike ride, jogging, oriental dancing, etc. Wednesday - full body workout, preferably different exercises than on Monday. At the very least, change the angles of application of force, cardio is also different, if you ran on Monday, today - saddle a bicycle ergometer, etc. Thursday - light cardio. Friday - again a multi-rep, but the exercises are different again, plus the "third" cardio. Saturday is a walk. Sunday is rest.

So it will be more sense than from the manic “swotting” of squats with 2 kg dumbbells every day. If you want to increase the intensity, do interval cardio after strength, and add working weights in the strength itself. Also, remember that high reps only work for a short amount of time, like 8-12 weeks. Then, despite all your “additions”, adaptation will come, and the plan will have to be changed. And, by the way, horror stories about increasing body volume on a small repetition do not apply to women at all. Don't believe? Look for photos of people competing in powerlifting, in the light weight categories. By the way, they almost never lift more than 12 times per set.

Elena Selivanova

We grow muscles with multi-repetitive training.

Training with high reps per set and low weights (“30% + failure”) was just as effective in stimulating muscle (myofibrillar) protein synthesis as training performed with high weights and low reps (“90% + failure” ). But more importantly, high-rep training with light weights (“30-failure”), in contrast to low-rep training with high weights (“90-failure”), in the course of the experiment, led to longer and more pronounced muscle protein synthesis, observed after 24 hours after training, and also had a more significant stimulating effect on other processes that accompany anabolism.

However, the above study was conducted only within 24 hours after exercise. It doesn't answer the question of whether high-rep sets lead to future muscle mass gains, which is exactly what we're all most interested in. Well, the same group of scientists just published the results of a 10-week study in which they tried to answer this burning question.

The participants of the experiment were healthy young people (21 years old, 174 cm tall, 74 kg), leading an active lifestyle, but not engaged in strength training for at least one year. The training consisted of performing single leg curls in the simulator 3 times a week for 10 weeks. Choice work program was random for each leg in the following variations:

1) One set completed before load failure 80% of 1RM (80%-1) – 8-12 reps

2) Three sets completed before load failure 80% of 1RM (80%-3) – 8-12 reps

3) Three sets completed before load failure 30% of 1RM (30%-3) – 20-30 reps

Whereas in the previous study, scientists used a load equal to 90% of 1RM in exercises, this time they limited themselves to 80% of 1RM, since it is believed that such indicators are optimal for muscle growth. In addition, training with 90% load from 1RM for 10 weeks could be too hard and therefore not very indicative for studying a typical training program aimed at increasing muscle mass.

Each participant in the experiment first performed exercises for both legs, after which they proceeded to perform two of the three training options indicated above. Immediately at the end of training, participants received a serving of high-quality protein (PowerBar Protein Plus, 360 kcal, 3.5g leucine, 30g protein, 33g carbohydrates, 11g fat; Nestle Nutrition) diluted in 300 ml of water, in order to standardize post-workout food intake and maximize improved adaptation to training.

Before and after the program, muscle volumes were measured (using the method of magnetic resonance imaging), and areas of observed changes in muscle tissues were identified. Progress in leg extensions was determined by the following parameters: percentage of 1RM, maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MPS), rate of increase in isometric strength (SVR), and peak power. Changes in anabolic response were also measured.

After 10 weeks of training, the volume of quadriceps (an indicator of muscle growth) increased significantly in all groups. The increase in the 30%-3 and 80%-3 groups was the same and was twice as much as in the 80%-1 group.

In all three groups, the same increase in muscle fibers of the first and second types was observed.

At the end of training, all three groups of participants significantly increased their strength indicators in 1RM. However, the most significant increase in strength was observed in the 80%-1 and 80%-3 groups, in contrast to the 30%-3 group.

MPS (maximum voluntary isometric contraction), maximum strength and SVS (rate of increase in strength) were the same in all groups. The amount of work the participants could perform at 30% of their 1RM also increased, with no apparent difference between the participants in the training groups.

The amount of work that participants could complete at 80% of their 1RM also increased in all groups. Moreover, in the 30%-3 group, such an increase was minimal compared to the other two groups.

The number of repetitions that participants could perform at 80% of 1RM increased in all groups without significant differences between them.

Only the 30%-3 group saw a slight increase in muscle endurance (measured by the number of repetitions participants could complete at 30% of 1RM).

It was also found that the indicator of anabolic processes (p70S6K) was active within an hour after the end of training in the 80%-3 and 80%-1 groups, but not in the 30%-3 group. However, during a previous study, it was found that signs of anabolism were observed 4 hours after training just in the 30%-3 group (in this study measurements were not taken after 4 hours).

So what conclusions can be drawn from this groundbreaking study and its predecessor?

First, they refute the traditional advice that heavy low-rep training to failure with 6 to 11 reps per set is the optimal (and only!) path to maximum muscle hypertrophy. According to one regularly cited study, eight weeks of training in the rep range of 20 to 28 did not increase muscle mass despite an increase in the number of reps that could be performed at 60% of 1RM. However, a later study using exactly the same methodology found similar increases in muscle mass in the high and low rep groups.

It is generally believed that large weights are necessary for building muscle mass, as they allow the inclusion of a larger number of muscle fibers, mainly of the second type, which have a significantly superior growth potential compared to muscle fibers of the first type. However, this statement applies only to single repetitions, since the well-known principle of neuromotor unit activation states that neuromotor units are involved in the work from smallest to largest, with a gradual increase in the generated effort.

It is also true that a single contraction performed at 30% of 1RM will engage fewer muscles than exactly the same single contraction performed at 80% of 1RM. However, when a submaximal contraction is performed, the neuromotor units that were initially recruited will either become tired (and be able to produce less force) or fail to work at all, thus requiring additional neuromotor units to be recruited to complete the previously set task. by muscle contraction. IN this case, if repetitions are performed with a light , then there is the possibility of involving the maximum number of neuromotor units in the work. In addition, light reps performed to failure will result in exactly the same muscle fiber activation as heavy reps performed to failure.

Secondly, although the weights used do not directly affect the degree of muscle hypertrophy (as well as the maximum strength of voluntary muscle contractions, maximum explosive strength, and rate of increase in strength), they still play a role in improving maximum strength performance. Both the 80%-1 and 80%-3 groups increased their 1RM strength in contrast to the 30%-3 group. Also, training with heavy weights (and low reps) is still necessary to achieve maximum results in 1RM, since strength indicators depend not only on muscle size, but also on the ability to nervous system to adaptation, and this is just trained with the help of . This is important to remember if you're a powerlifter or weightlifter, but not as important if you're a bodybuilder or just trying to gain muscle mass.

Finally, high and low weight training performed to failure resulted in activation of anabolism markers such as p70S6K, which, in the case of using light weights, was activated somewhat later after the end of training than in the case of using heavy weights. . It can be assumed that a training program designed in such a way that it provokes an anabolic response at different times will be more effective for building muscle mass than one that starts the anabolism processes only immediately after training or after a relatively long time. There are also a large number of other satellites of the anabolic process, which manifest themselves in different ways depending on the ones used on weight training. Almost nothing is known about the impact of such manipulations with training programs on the above anabolic mechanisms at the molecular level, and research in this area has only just begun.

Here we come to the logical end - if you want to build muscle, then do not fixate on the rep range from 6 to 10. Get out of your personal "comfort zone". Lifting lighter weights doesn't automatically make you a weakling. So my advice is to vary your usual 6-10 or 6-12 reps with a good pump in a high rep style. In addition to avoiding injury (which often happens when using big weights), training with strict technique in the rep range from 20 to 30, completed to failure, will be a wonderful shock for the muscles and will bring much-needed variety to training process. And, as you know, variation training methods and periodization are necessary components of progress and muscle growth.

And what do you think about it? ?