What’s your take on something like this?
https://www.exodus-strength.com/foru…php?f=3&t=2422
A lot of success with training at RPE 3-5
I think it’s pretty intriguing. I think this general approach is called GTG (grease the groove). A lot of people do it with pullups.
It seems like the RIR/RPE would be too low to really max hypertrophy. The 3 sessions in the post your linked to are a little bit like a light, medium, heavy session with the volume day being the light day. I don’t think it would work well.
11 sets of 7 at 65% sounds like an awful lot of warmup sets. Not something that I feel like trying but clearly you can skin the cat a lot of ways, training-wise.
My understanding of the mechanistic reasoning as to why keeping RIR high may improve the hypertrophy stimulus:fatigue ratio:
Hypertrophy is stimulated by the degree of tension and duration of tension on the muscle, with extra points for that tension being on faster twitch muscle fibers.
Higher RIR=faster reps=higher force output=more tension. Then you can increase duration of tension by adding sets (you can handle a lot of low RPE sets).
If you are moving the bar as fast as possible then from the first rep you will recruit high threshold MU which contain more faster twitch muscle fibers. When the reps slow down it indicates that the fast twitch muscle fibers have fatigued and are no longer contributing.
Therefore, the final reps before failure put a smaller degree of tension on the muscle and less of the tension is on fast twitch muscle fibers so the low RIR reps are less stimulating of hypertrophy (and I think they are more fatiguing). The high RIR reps give you slightly more duration of tension, but it would be better to add sets in order to increase the duration of tension.
Here’s a random example of a study that falsifies part of this approach: Activation of quadriceps femoris including vastus intermedius during fatiguing dynamic knee extensions - PubMed (Using 50% and 70% of 1rm activation increased as the sets got closer to failure) IMO this reinforces two caveats:
Do the concentric as fast as possible (please let me know if you are aware of studies where activation is measure and the subjects were cued to lift as fast as possible).
There may be a lower limit to %1RM that people can recruit high threshold MU without fatigue. So maybe only use high RIR sets with over 80% 1RM (kinda arbitrary number).
Another problem I see with this approach is that the stimulus to the slow twitch muscle fibers leaves some hypertrophy on the table.
I don’t fully buy into this approach for a few reasons:
If the load is below 80% then I don’t think you will get full activation from the first rep.
If you are not familiar with and good at the exercise then you may not get full activation.
If you are training for slow force production then it is worth maximizing hypertrophy of slow twitch muscle fibers and I think this is done by using high rep low RIR sets.
If the load is heavy enough (over 90%?) then fast twitch muscle fibers will not fatigue before failure
IMO this theory is very interesting has some application. I feel comfortable using this approach in a powerlifting and/or hypertrophy focused program, but I would put it alongside more traditional approaches. I’ll include heavy slow singles, doubles and triples in a powerlifting program, and i’ll include sets of 8-16@RPE7-10 in a hypertrophy program.
Follow the the trainee response, if it’s working then stick with it, if it’s failing then change the training.
As an aside:
Some people may find that low RPE work helps with form.
There may be muscle fiber type adaptions specific to velocity.
Limiting intraset fatigue works, Hanley knows his stuff
Hanley just posted this over on Exodus and I thought it was a good, relevant read: Rethinking Proximity to Failure for Strength Gains – MyoJournal