Q: I read that researcher Chris Beardsley says that high reps are more damaging than lower reps. I’m more ectomorphic and can’t grow with lower reps. Why do you think he says that?
A: I’m with you—I tend to grow much better with higher reps.
Maybe it’s just the volume of reps. If you do three sets of 15 to 20 vs. three sets of 6 to 8, you’re obviously stretching and contracting the muscle much more with the higher reps.
That rep accumulation, even if many of the early ones aren’t that difficult, can cause more damage. Arthur Jones, Nautilus-machine creator, said that each eccentric, or negative reps, causes “friction” within the muscle as the actin-myosin cross-bridges drag across one another to slow the action.
He said that’s the reason negatives cause more soreness, even though on normal sets they’re easier than the positive, or concentric stroke. You can lower more weight than you can lift, but the lowering still causes more damage due to that “fiber friction.”
And even if lower reps do cause slightly less damage, as Beardsley contends, that may be counteracted by excess cortisol due to more joint and connective-tissue stress with heavier low-rep training.
For the uninitiated, cortisol is a stress hormone that can derail muscle growth. It could be why high-strung ectomorphs, who already have excess cortisol levels, don’t grow from heavy low-rep training—it’s more traumatic to the joints and connective tissue, which triggers even more stress-hormone release.
One last note: Less genetically gifted, i.e. hypertrophy challenged ectomorphs, appear to over-stress their central nervous systems (CNS) with heavy low-rep training.
A hammered CNS not only impairs performance during the workout, it also lengthens recovery considerably.
Bottom line: If high reps work for you, as they do for me, keep doing most of your sets in the double-digit range.
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Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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