Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

BEYOND BRAWN
method. Here you perform your work sets in a rep range, sticking with the
same weight for as many weeks as you need until you make the top number
of the rep range, in good form. en add a few pounds to the bar next time
you train the exercise concerned, and drop the reps to the low count of the
range.
7.115 For example, you could use a 12–20 rep range in the squat rather than stick
to a steady diet of 20 reps. With the steady-reps method, at least once the
sets become intensive, you cannot increase the poundage much each week
and still get your full 20. In the double-progression method you build up
over a few weeks from 12 to 20 reps, add 5 or 10 pounds for the next workout
and drop the reps to 12. You will make all 12 with the new poundage,
and with it exacting less from you than did the previous week’s set of 20
reps with 5 or 10 pounds less. en over the following weeks you build up
the reps. Once you hit 20, and perhaps do it for two or three consecutive
weeks—to adapt thoroughly to its demands—add another 5 or 10 pounds
and drop back down to 12 reps.
7.116 is is a good way of adding variety to your training without getting into
excessive exercise variation. A steady diet of 20-rep squats is brutal, and few
people can stick to it. Switching to a 12–20 scheme for a cycle will provide a
change of pace but still enable you to work into the high reps.
7.117 e bigger the rep range and the bigger the exercise, the greater the poundage
jump you can make and yet still get the full lower end number of reps
with the new weight. e 12–20 squatting or deadlifting scheme, for example,
gives you more potential for adding over 5 pounds per increment each
time you make the full rep count than does using a 6–8 rep range. Building
up from 6 to 8 reps is easier than from 12 to 20. Because you build less
strength while progressing through the 6–8 range, you should add 5 pounds
maximum, with less weight than that being a better idea. When working
with short rep ranges you need little discs for the optimum rate of progression.
7.118 Be patient when building up the reps. If you are working on an 8–12 range,
for example, aim to go 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. To try to go 8, 10, 12 or worse, 8, 12, is
akin to trying to add weight too quickly in the single-progression system.
For a rep range with a large difference, e.g., 10–20, increasing by 2 reps at a
time may be possible, at least early on in the progression.
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