Fantastic breakdown. One thing I always find quite comical is certain people - usually of college age - become myopically focused on set & rep ranges. Sure, 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps has been the bread and butter for a long time. Yet, people see great absolute strength results in something like say a 20 rep squat protocol or a 6x6 to 8x8 to 10x10 protocol. It’s the inclination in me that what you are not good at (whether that be absolute strength, explosively, general strength, strength endurance) is what you need to be doing next.
Dude right on. I will say I probably made my biggest gains in strength improving my 20 rep maxes. It’s easier to add a rep to a high rep set then a few reps.
What I used to do would be 3 sets of 20 then add 5lbs the next session if I completed it. But somedays I would say get 20, 19, 18 for example and I would take the total reps 57 and try to get that at least. So 3 sets of 19 =57. Last set would be the set I used to try and get more. Sometimes breaking it down was how I got there. A lot of times were more optimal for different rep ranges on different days. Somedays I may be more full and could hit a heavy single other days may be lighter and more ready for an endurance set.
@@strangeshredz3741 I’m a fan bro! I like that style. For most movements - outside of the main compound movement and jumps - I’ve found higher reps to be more productive overall. Like you said, it’s easier to make progress with higher reps. If you go from 90’s on dumbbell bench for sets of 20 to 150’s for sets of 20 over time there’s no way that’s not having a carryover.
You bridge the gap between lifting and sports performance better than anyone I have found. Wish I was closer to train with you. You ever consider patreon as well. I would definitely pay for your info. Thanks for the content.
Thank you. I really appreciate it, but I think you would get a lot more value from a program or one of our books or courses. We make the info free because we want to help as many people as possible 👍
Download our FREE Strength Program Template here 📈👇 www.garagestrength.com/pages/free-strength-training-template?_pos=1&_sid=95c35087a&_ss=r&YT&Video&Template&RepRanges
I was doing heavy double top sets, 8-12 sets of 2 on plyos and 3x4-6 3 days a week so im glad i was similar to what you showed here as optimal for athletes.
Hey Dane, I know you have a couple videos already on this but can you please make a swimming specific training program for both distance and sprint swimmers. I would surely buy it! Thanks, love the channel!
Can you train for max strength and muscle endurance/conditioning in the same phase? Or should you focus on 1 adaptation at a time? I need strength and endurance not so much size. What program would you recommend? Thanks
I like training different rep ranges for different days. Personally I'm happy with 3 full body strength workouts per week. Currently Mondays are sets of 3, Wednesdays 8's and Fridays 5's. You want to do your highest intensity earliest in the week. In the fall - late winter/early spring I'll go for a bit higher reps. Constant extra heavy work can lead to injuries. Thus higher reps when it's colder. If you're a cyclist/runner or other athlete whose sport requires greater strength endurance running or pedaling for 60+ minutes is going to work strength endurance with likely greater duration than sets of 20 or even 40+ reps. I don't recommend working at rep ranges under 8 unless you've been consistently strength training for at least 6 months.
5 minutes seems large even for strength work. 15-90 seconds for more body building stuff? Strength should be 90 seconds to 3 minutes rest. 5 minutes is a huge amount of rest.
How much would you say the neurological factors contribute to these strength gains? I've heard anywhere from "neural gains stop after the first month of heavy lifting" to "its all neural". In your experience, what would you say the contributing %s are for hypertrophy vs neural gains in strength, for athletes who have been lifting for a while.
Ive been doing a 5 week thing where I start for 3 sets of 10 then go 8-6-4 then 2-4-6-8-10 then max out the week after. Basically a spaced out progressive overload.
Hey ! I'm a soldier, I have good endurance but not enough power in my fitness which limits me during times when I need to be fast and powerfull during, say, moving from position to position, and maintain all-round thrust , got any tips on focusing on power training while maintaining good endurance?
I would I suggest you get on the sled! Push and Pull the sled a few times per week and you will power in your glutes while increasing endurance at the same time! I’m a soccer athlete which requires a lot of endurance and power and this is all I did for my “fitness” in the offseason and came back the fittest I’ve ever been.
I still do around 3x8, 3x10, 3x12, and 3x15. I'm more concerned about strength gain and endurance as well, but primarily strength. Are my sets inaccurate/wrong?
this is exactly the type of thing ive been looking for i had no idea what amount of reps to do at what weight. where in penn are you in? im going to be moving to philly soon.
Do you have any advice for cyclists? Like crit or track racing around 45-60min races? Can’t find any reputable strength coaches talking about strength training for cycling that isn’t essentially prehab and “try not to get too heavy”. I know the races have high pace with a lot of attacks (sprints) but I struggle between anaerobic power work on the bike and static strength work like the power lifts for what’s best.
I think youd get good carry over to your sport doing something like bulgarian split squats with a light load....maybe 20-30% of body weight with max reps. that kind of strength endurance should help some with max sprints and will for sure help attack hills.
Check out Dylan Johnson on RU-vid. Of all the cyclist RU-vidrs he is the one who quotes the most real science. He has videos on strength training for cyclists, in amongst his other stuff.
I recommend that those without strength training experience stay in the 10-30 rep range for at least 6 months. When in season I wouldn't recommend starting a strength program. If you're already lifting I'd recommend that you reduce your strength workouts as the season progresses to once per week and 1-2 work sets to maintain the strength that you earn November-April. Don't count on being able to make gains in the gym while also riding lots of miles, speedwork and intervals without steroids. Doing it all at the same time will cook your legs. I'd also recommend that you get a few sessions with an EXPERIENCED trainer to make sure that your form is rock solid before trying to go heavy (for you). The book "strength training for cyclists" was helpful for me.
LOVE the science based approach to training. I'm a trainer and reference your videos all the time. Thank you for such high quality and high energy videos!
One of the things that happens when people talk about rep ranges, is that they don't usually talk about differences in actually performing the rep. Like if you're spending a lot of time under tension and doing the rep very slowly, it's very different than something like a paused rep, or something where you're focusing on explosive speed. Like the actual quality of the rep I think is sometimes more important than just the number of reps (of course, I might not know what I'm talking about) Edit: Like I could do 6 reps or 8 reps, in dozens of different ways. That can completely alter that. If I do 8 reps as fast as I can to failure that feels, least very different than if I do like the generic bodybuilder 1 second, 2 seconds down, or paused. Or if I'm keeping the weight lower to focus on technical stuff. I mean that all feels super different to me, at least when I'm doing things.
True. Now that I am older(41), I prefer to do low reps, sometimes just one rep, especially when doing squats. But I make sure that my form is perfect. If I can do a super clean squat, I add a little more weight. Once I feel myself struggling with a weight. I stop there. And my next workout I will start at that weight.