- Sets and reps
. With progression being the key I would not have gotten myself hung up on
sets and reps. I would have stuck with the rep number I preferred at the time
for each exercise, changing it from cycle to cycle if I felt like it. Generally
speaking, – reps would have been used for most exercises; but squats and
accessory movements would usually have used higher reps.. With adding poundage in good form being the sovereign priority, the num-
ber of sets used would have been secondary. So long as I added a little iron
to the bar each week or two, all would be well. Most of the time I would have
done one, two or at most three work sets per exercise, reducing the number
of sets at the end of a cycle when intensity was at its highest. Periodically,
and usually for no more than just two of the exercises included in any given
cycle, I would have been directed to use a six sets of six reps format with a
fixed poundage for all sets, and a rigid one minute rest between sets. is
cumulative-fatigue training would provide a variation in growth stimula-
tion, and help keep me from growing stale.. My workouts would not have been rushed—about four minutes would have
been taken between work sets of core exercises, and – minutes between
work sets of accessory exercises. Rests between warmup sets would have
been shorter, but the full rest period would have been taken prior to the first
work set of an exercise. For occasional short spells—to give my musculature
a variation in stimulation, and a mental change of pace—I would have taken
shorter rest periods between work sets of some exercises, with correspond-
ing poundage reductions.. My mentor would not have had me use a time-controlled very slow rep
speed. But I would have been informed that very slow-cadence training,
properly applied, can be an effective way to train and especially valuable
in some specific exercises, e.g., neck and shoulder rotator work. Lifting my
maximum poundages in smooth controlled form would have been the focus.
My rep speed would have been about three seconds up and about another
three seconds down, but perhaps five seconds or so on the concentric of the
very final rep or two of each set.. My reps would have been done with a brief pause between them, and never
rushed. In many cycles the bench press, squat and overhead press would
have been done “from the bottom,” using a power rack, thus producing a
pause at the bottom of each rep and at the top.