John, have you ever practiced 'Forced Reps' training?

[John Peterson]

Hey Friends,


I was asked by a young friend what is meant by 'forced reps' training and whether or not I have ever practiced it. Well first of all, YES, I do know what it is and NO, I have not practiced it.

So here's the deal. 'forced reps' in theory is taking the concept of 'training to failure' to the very edge of failure. It often involves having a training partner help with the slightest amount of assist possible in order to provide just enough of an assist to complete the repetition.

Depending upon the circumstances and who is involved, a person could easily take it past the point of failure and to the point of injury.

Example: When I was in my teens my friend Bryant began super heavy weight training. He was short , with very short legs and comparatively long torso. He wanted to get massive and this he did by following Peary Rader's Master Body Building Course which focused on the 'breathing squat' as the primary exercise. The way Rader taught the exercise was that you would load a barbell to your absolute limit for 10 repetitions and then force yourself to perform 20 reps with that weight. Did the 'forced reps' work? You bet it did. But it also caused cumulative injuries that did not manifest themselves for many years.

Bottom line: The extremes are just that. They are not geared to the procurement of lifelong health, strength, and fitness at all. They are about achieving a short term super human level of strength. Nothing wrong with that if that is want you want and need, But just be aware that sometimes it simply isn't worth it in the long run.

---John Peterson

[JoeJustice]

I wonder how many people have been injured over the years from the "lift heavy of go home" kind of mindset.

Personally I'm really enjoying the daily not-to-failure style of training. I don't really do the full GTG routine, but just hopping of the pull-up bar and squeeze a few out every now and then feels great. Or trying to hold a Warrior T plank for a minute at random times. I'm getting to like this training more than doing a solid hour of dedicated exercise every day.

-Joe

[gruntbrain]

Once in awhile, it may be productive to have a partner assist you beyond failure while doing pullups, dips, ---

[Viking Dan]

On the other hand, many fail to improve because they wont exercise even to a point of discomfort, let alone all out. Its good on occasion to really dig deep and challenge one's self.

[mts]

When the goal is to lift more weight, forced reps (and other off the wall schemes) work. I've done 'em and know that they get over the proveribial "plateau". Fortunately I was able to maitain strict form in those days and never experienced any injuries.

My goals now are not "more weight", but "more fitness". I think the closest thing in the transformetrics circle is "more reps" when it comes to PCs, but chasing that goal doesn't seem to have a severe side effects (or potential for side effects) as the weight world.

[tom]

As I learned it, there are different ways to do forced reps. I'll first use weights as an example. One is the breathing (rest-pause) squat as taught by Rader, as John's friend did. Another is a partner assisting after muscular failure. And another is to quickly reduce weight and keep going.

I did the rest-pause squat. I got strong in doing a rest-pause set, probably the most brutal, painful way of training of all. Besides the high injury risk, I know of nobody who continues that method other than short-term. So forget that one. Listen to John.

The partner one has worked for me, but John's caution on injury is right. As the exhausted lifter is flopping and twisting trying to get those last forced reps, things can get hurt.

Reducing weight is probably the most benign, but again you have the flopping problem to be careful of.

Ok, now forget the weights:

I use forced reps with calisthenics and find it perfectly safe the way I do them. First, I don't use a partner. A partner can't know exactly how you control your body - that's your job.

Squat a hard set, then use your hands to continue. I'm talking about pistols.

Push-up a hard set, then go to an easier position.

Pull-up a hard set, then use your feet.

I think Grunt was referring to these sort of things, or he has in the past.

The key is to stay in control of your own body.

In a way, the Hollyweed is a forced rep method.

Tom

[gruntbrain]

Use hanging rope handles as assisting partners or spotters as necessary to continue a set of squats with PROPER FORM

[ben alexander]

I occasionally use forced reps, often to help me get over the hump when adding reps. Tom's protocol is pretty much what I use when doing so.

When doing pull-ups, I'll often do as many in strict form as I could, but on the final set, I'd use a chair to stand on, to get me to the top position. Then, I'd slowly lower myself down, and repeat it about 3 times. This I'd do once a month.

Forced reps area wonderful tool for increasing reps, size etc, but should be used with caution. Trying to use forced reps every workout will lead to burnout.

Ben