is one-and-a-half-rep work going up. e half rep is done before the full
rep.. Both ways can be productive. You may find one is better suited to some
exercises than the other—experiment to find out. You may, however, prefer
to use both ways in a systematic way for the same exercise—for example,
alternate the two approaches from set to set, or workout to workout.. A full rep and a half rep counts as a single one-and-a-half rep. Naturally you
will have to reduce your poundages relative to what you would use for sets
of the same rep count but of exclusively full reps. And, of course, you would
focus on progressive poundages in good form for this training approach,
just as you should for any format. When you return to sets of full reps after
a period of using one-and-a-half reps for that exercise, you should be able
to work into new personal best poundages—perhaps, though, only after a
short period of readaptation to using purely full reps.The pilgrimage
. No matter what style of training you use, each set needs to be a pilgrimage.
ere is no room for anything other than application if you want to
make good progress. Pay homage to focus, perfect form, and effort. And
make each set perfect by making each rep perfect!Elite bodybuilders, lifters and athletes can tolerate and even pros-
per on explosive training because they have the required robust-
ness of joints and connective tissue. But even they often pay a
heavy price in terms of injuries, eventually. ere is absolutely no
need to take any risk with explosive training. A slower and con-
trolled rep tempo—as promoted in this book—is so much safer,
and by far the best option for typical trainees. Why seriously risk
pushing your body beyond its structural limits, and possibly suf-
fering permanent injuries, when there are safer ways to train that
are super productive?