Your Program Sucks Part 2 – Rep Selection

Rep Goal - Set a rep total with a specific load to suit your goal and do as many sets as you need to reach it more so then ‘I have to get 3 sets of 3 or I’ll die in my sleep tonight” even though the last set
had your spleen shooting out the sides of your undies.

Strength: 5 - 15 Reps Per Exercise/Movement
Hypertrophy: 25 - 50 Reps Per Exercise/Movement

Density Training Charles Staley Style – by either setting up a circuit, a pairing or however you want to do it, you have 2 options. Option 1 is that you can do the same amount of work in less time each successive workout, or you can go with option 2 which is to do more work in the same amount of time each successive workout. I use these with my clients all the time because it ensures that eventually, they’ll train as hard as I want them to.

Option 1
Exercises + Reps/Sets - Jump Squats 3 x 10 / Push Ups 3 x 12 / Inverted Rows 3 x 15 / Prowler Sprints 3 x up and back

Week 1 - 4min35secs
Week 2 - 4mins 07secs
Week 3 - 3mins53secs
Week 4 - 3mins 46secs

In option 2, you would set the stop watch for a time limit that stays the same each week. You pop some exercises at the start and that also stays the same. The kicker exercise is the last one, in this case the prowler. Everything else stays the same so it’s all about getting further with the prowler each successive workout.

Option 2
Exercises + Sets / Reps -  Jump Squats 2 x 10 / Push Ups 2 x 10 / Inverted Rows 2 x 10 / Prowler Sprints x Max 3 laps

Week 1 - 3 Laps
Week 2 - 3.5 Laps
Week 3 - 4 Laps
Week 4 - 4.5 Laps

Alternatively you can go the traditional route and just pair 2 exercises together and use either option
too.

Exercise Progression Rate – some exercises will progress for weeks, months or in the case of deadlifts and squats, maybe years. Other exercises, especially light weight exercises like side and rear delt exercises will have about 4 weeks of progression through increasing weight and an increase in reps can often mean a decrease in technique which for small muscles is crucial. In this you can do 2 weeks of the same weight, sets and reps before increasing anything. Then come week 3 you can change what you want but only make it 1 variable so that you get a longer progression period.

So a Side Lateral Raise might look like this:

Week 1 - 3 x 10 @ 10kgs 
Week 2 - 3 x 10 @ 10kgs 
Week 3 - 3 x 12 @ 10kgs 
Week 4 - 3 x 12 @ 10kgs 
Week 5 - 3 x 10 @ 12.5kgs

And just to show how a different exercise, in this case a Rear Delt Raise, can be progressed using the same principles but with a different method:

Week 1 - 3 x 10 @ 5kgs 
Week 2 - 3 x 10 @ 5kgs 
Week 3 - 3 x 8 @ 7.5kgs 
Week 4 - 3 x 8 @ 7.5kgs 
Week 5 - 3 x 10 @ 7.5kgs

Rep Speed Chad Waterbury Style – piggy backing off the rep goal point above, this takes a step further where set your rep goal and the weight you’ll use but then you will stop each set once your rep speed slows down from 1 rep to the next which enables to recruit the high threshold motor units without killing yourself with a load of 85% or higher every time you train (although I do!!). This ensures that your successive sets are as good as your first so you’ll have a focus on quality, not quantity, of training.

Sets for Time – not a huge of fan of how this is traditionally done like do push ups for a minute, rest and do them again. A better way to go is to count how many reps you do in your given time frame and try and beat it each week. You can go the other way and time how long it takes to do say 8 reps with a progressive weight each week but then you’ll need a stop watch and gets a little nitpicky (and I’m nitpicky enough already).

Don't forget the Aussie Rules Training Pre Season Training program to be released in the week or 2, more information here.

And only 73 more view til 35,000!!!