Forced Reps: The Good and The Bad
Well you just finished your last set on the incline bench. You did 6 reps at 160lbs. You had hoped to knock out 8 or 9 reps, but didn't have a spotter and didn't want to risk it. You were pretty tired after number six and decided to quit instead of having a bar in your lap.
Enter the Forced Rep
This situation is the same. You are hurting on your sixth rep, but powered through. Your friend and spotter pushes you to do a seventh. You lower your weight and push six or seven inches off your chest and are powerless. If you didn't have your spotter you would be up a creek, but you do and he lifts about 15lbs of the weight and you blow through.
Now he thinks you should go for an eighth. You reluctantly and slowly lower the bar, but realize you can't get it back up. You simply can't lift the weight by yourself. Your spotter barely lifts the bar with you, only about 10-30lbs worth. After what feels like an hour you finally get the bar up and the set is over. This is a forced rep.
The true definition is: an extension of a particular set of repetitions in which your strength level at the beginning of the set has been reduced to a point of positive failure. This is the point at which you can't possibly move the weight by yourself. Your spotter steps in to barely help and you achieve maximum intensity. He only helps slightly but you are so tired that you feel like he's done all the work and you got nothing out of it. Trust me, you are the one who actually lifted that weight, he only helped.
The Good
The forced rep squeezes out every bit of intensity from your working muscles. When you are faced with a force rep, a physiological reaction occurs. When you are performing a rep and simply can not lift the weight, it's a scary feeling. There are only a few options, drop the weight on yourself or try to tilt the bar to make the weight fall off, or have your spotter help. Those are your mind's options, your body's options are DO or DIE. This releases a surge of adrenaline making you stronger and able to lift the rep. All in all, when one or two forced reps are used in an exercise, you will have no doubt that you have put in maximum intensity. You used all of the force that your muscles could produce at the time.
The Bad
Forced reps are good when used properly, but it's really easy to get carried away. I suggest using one or two forced reps per exercise, not per set. The goal of any size gaining weight training program is to employ maximum intensity. The problem with forced reps can lead to overtraining. When performing a forced rep, your body is lifting a weight that is at its maximum strength capacity, and when intensity increases, duration must decrease. Put simply, the heavier and harder something is, the less you can and should do it. Forced reps are not bad, but doing too many forced reps is bad.
Forced reps are a great way to get the most out of any set. They are a great way of knowing you reached maximum intensity, but within reason. This is why I suggest doing only two forced reps at the end of your last set. If you do more, or on more sets this will lead to muscular exhaustion and actually smaller muscles. - 17268
Enter the Forced Rep
This situation is the same. You are hurting on your sixth rep, but powered through. Your friend and spotter pushes you to do a seventh. You lower your weight and push six or seven inches off your chest and are powerless. If you didn't have your spotter you would be up a creek, but you do and he lifts about 15lbs of the weight and you blow through.
Now he thinks you should go for an eighth. You reluctantly and slowly lower the bar, but realize you can't get it back up. You simply can't lift the weight by yourself. Your spotter barely lifts the bar with you, only about 10-30lbs worth. After what feels like an hour you finally get the bar up and the set is over. This is a forced rep.
The true definition is: an extension of a particular set of repetitions in which your strength level at the beginning of the set has been reduced to a point of positive failure. This is the point at which you can't possibly move the weight by yourself. Your spotter steps in to barely help and you achieve maximum intensity. He only helps slightly but you are so tired that you feel like he's done all the work and you got nothing out of it. Trust me, you are the one who actually lifted that weight, he only helped.
The Good
The forced rep squeezes out every bit of intensity from your working muscles. When you are faced with a force rep, a physiological reaction occurs. When you are performing a rep and simply can not lift the weight, it's a scary feeling. There are only a few options, drop the weight on yourself or try to tilt the bar to make the weight fall off, or have your spotter help. Those are your mind's options, your body's options are DO or DIE. This releases a surge of adrenaline making you stronger and able to lift the rep. All in all, when one or two forced reps are used in an exercise, you will have no doubt that you have put in maximum intensity. You used all of the force that your muscles could produce at the time.
The Bad
Forced reps are good when used properly, but it's really easy to get carried away. I suggest using one or two forced reps per exercise, not per set. The goal of any size gaining weight training program is to employ maximum intensity. The problem with forced reps can lead to overtraining. When performing a forced rep, your body is lifting a weight that is at its maximum strength capacity, and when intensity increases, duration must decrease. Put simply, the heavier and harder something is, the less you can and should do it. Forced reps are not bad, but doing too many forced reps is bad.
Forced reps are a great way to get the most out of any set. They are a great way of knowing you reached maximum intensity, but within reason. This is why I suggest doing only two forced reps at the end of your last set. If you do more, or on more sets this will lead to muscular exhaustion and actually smaller muscles. - 17268
About the Author:
Want to find out more about forced reps, then visit Klint Newton's site on how to choose the best training program for your body type.
posted by X - Men at
4:56 PM
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