YOU CAN STILL BUILD MUSCLE WITH HIGH REPS

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The fact that training and nutrition give us the illusion of control is what causes so much controversy in the muscle industry. There is a lot of room for speculations. Genetics + nutrition + training are the back door of the muscle gurus. Whenever their bullshit ideas fail, they explain it with one of the three, while presenting drug loaded lifters as success examples.

Obviously, different professional bodybuilders train differently. Some prefer high volume while others say low volume is best. Some say high carb diets are best while others use low carb diets to get ripped. Whatever the case, there is one thing bodybuilders always agree on – drugs make you grow. However, when we are talking about drug free bodybuilding ( I mean real drug free bodybuilding) there is little that can be done as far as muscle mass is concerned.

As a natural you can get strong, you can get ripped, you can develop some serious physical skills, but growth will always be pathetic compared to the 200 lbs shredded guys pushed in your face. You can try many different diets and routines, but in the end you will always hit the wall. I learned that by doing exactly that – wondering like a moron in Wonderland and following the ideas of some muscle prophets, who never tell the truth.

To summarize:

You can build muscle with high reps (at least 60% of 1 RM – anything less does not provide sufficient intensity).
You can build muscle with low reps (85% of 1 RM).

You can use both methods – a few heavy sets followed by light sets.
In all three cases, you will end up at the same place.

There are many ways to fill a bottle, but once it’s full – it’s full.

Reference:
Nattyornot.com

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Rep Range

BFit Mosman Personal Trainer

low reps (1 – 5), the adaptations that make you stronger are mostly neurological: You develop an increased ability to recruit more muscle fibers, you stimulate the higher threshold fibers that are not activated with high rep, low weight sets, you decrease neuromuscular inhibition, and there is increased coordination between the muscle groups. However, with low reps, the hypertrophy (size increase) of the muscle fibers is minimal.

In other words, reps under 6 make you stronger, but they don’t necessarily make you bigger because the strength gains come from adaptations in the nervous system – the muscle fibers and other muscle cell structures do not hypertrophy (enlarge). This explains why certain athletes, powerlifters and Olympic lifters can be wicked strong but they don’t look as strong as they are.

When you train with medium reps (6-12) the adaptations are more metabolic and cellular and only moderately neurological. This is why 6-12 reps is the range most often recommended for bodybuilding and hypertrophy. You get bigger and stronger in this rep range, but your strength gains are not maximal. This explains why some bodybuilders look stronger than they are (and why they are often the brunt of jokes made by powerlifters and weight lifters; i.e. “big, weak, slow, useless muscles”, ha ha).

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