In a Starting Strength lecture, a student asked Rip if adding more reps will make one stronger in the big lifts. Rip didn’t understand how adding more reps at lighter weights could possibly make one stronger. However, I’ve been doing the Startng Strength program for a while, and just recently switched over to a bodybuilding program, and I now have more energy to crank out more reps/sets at weights that I could not do when I was solely doing 5 reps. I have more conditioning, that’s for sure. In other words, more work output. Doesn’t that equal more strength?
Strength is force production measured in a specific context. There is no such thing as “general” strength, as all strength is specific to ROM, velocity, contraction type, etc.
Programming higher repetitions improves force production in the context of higher rep sets. If you can increase the the weight you handle for sets of 10, 20, or 30, your force production improved, i.e. you got stronger.
That said, if you want to improve your 1RM or 5RM, doing higher rep sets would be less specific by definition and may not be particularly useful at driving those numbers up.
Is Rip wrong? Probably. I’d have to have more context to be sure.
That being said, I have zero interest in yet another back and forth between SS and BBM.
Yeah you guys have definitely taken the higher Road. I don’t check in over there much anymore, their way got me fat and hurt but every now and then I see some pot shot at you out of him
Have to stay relevant somehow LOL