I haven’t touched a barbell a lot since January. I’ve been in a leaning out/hypertrophy/mobility-focused season of my coaching (extremely advocate having seasons to your coaching!). I’ve been working completely with dumbbells and my cable machine. I’m chasing the pump. I’m loving it.
My energy coach Matt Reynolds continues to create my programming, and one of many issues he’s included into my hypertrophy exercises is myo-reps. I’d by no means finished ‘em earlier than, however after a number of months of doing them, I’m loving them. They’re a time-saver however extremely efficient. I can knock out a whole upper-body exercise in about half-hour, I get a strong pump, and I’m placing on muscle and beginning to look jacked.
In the event you’re brief on time however nonetheless wish to construct muscle, myo-reps is likely to be price making an attempt. They’ll at the very least shake up what would possibly really feel like a boring, rote exercise rut.
Let me stroll you thru what they’re and methods to program them.
What Is a Myo-Rep?
Myo-reps have been developed within the mid-2000s by Norwegian energy coach Børge Fagerli. They’re a rest-pause approach, which implies you’re stringing collectively what would usually be a number of separate units into one prolonged set with very brief relaxation breaks scattered between that prolonged set.
Right here’s the way it works:
Decide a weight at 60–80% of your one-rep max; one thing you possibly can carry for 10-15 reps. Do an “activation set” of 10-12 reps, stopping one or two reps shy of failure (a Fee of Perceived Exertion of 8 or 9). Then relaxation for about 10-20 seconds. Fagerli recommends counting out 3-5 deep breaths. I simply rely “one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi” till I get to 12 Mississippi.
Then you definitely do a “mini-set” of 4 to five reps with the identical weight.
Relaxation one other 10-20 seconds.
One other mini-set.
Relaxation one other 10-20 seconds.
Maintain repeating these mini-sets and brief breaks till you’ll be able to’t hit 4 reps in a mini-set. In the event you’ve obtained the load set at the correct amount, you’ll often be capable to full 4-5 of those mini-sets.
So one activation set plus 3-5 mini-sets. You’ve primarily finished what can be 4-5 conventional units compressed into a couple of minutes.
The Idea Behind Myo-Reps
Muscle development is pushed by two important mechanisms: mechanical stress and metabolic stress.
Mechanical stress is the first driver. It’s the power your muscle fibers generate after they contract towards resistance. When a fiber is loaded exhausting sufficient, specialised mechanosensors within the cell set off the signaling pathway that tells your physique to construct new muscle.
Stress isn’t about how heavy the load feels to you. It’s about how exhausting every particular person fiber is working. A average weight can produce excessive stress in a selected fiber if that fiber is doing all of the work.
That’s the place the “efficient reps” mannequin is available in. In a conventional set of 12, the primary 6-8 reps don’t contribute as a lot to development. You’re principally warming up the high-threshold fast-twitch fibers (those most accountable for hypertrophy) by exhausting the smaller slow-twitch fibers first. The final 4-6 reps, when fatigue forces your physique to recruit these large fast-twitch fibers, are the place the magic occurs.
Myo-reps allow you to skip the warm-up part after that first activation set. When you’ve fatigued the slow-twitch fibers, the fast-twitch fibers should deal with each subsequent rep. They’re working at most capability though the load feels comparatively mild, producing the sort of high-tension contractions that drive development. Practically each rep in your mini-sets is an efficient rep. That’s the concept, at the very least.
The brief relaxation durations additionally create metabolic stress, which might (in idea) sensitize muscle tissues to anabolic signaling. It’s why myo-reps really feel so pumpy. You’re making a hypoxic setting just like what blood stream restriction coaching does, however with out the bands.
Why Do Myo-Reps?
The largest motive to do myo-reps is that they save time. You’re knocking out the equal of some conventional units in a couple of minutes. It’s been good getting via my exercises in about half an hour.
However there are different advantages, too. Since you’re working with 60-80% of your one-rep max as an alternative of grinding heavy weight, myo-reps are simpler in your joints. The restricted relaxation time forces you to coach near failure. Most guys depart method an excessive amount of within the tank on accent work. It’s exhausting to try this whenever you’re cranking out mini-sets with 12 seconds of relaxation. Myo-reps break the monotony of the normal three units of ten. And also you get an excellent pump, which is good.
Mainly, myo-reps will get you outcomes which can be near what you get with straight units with lengthy rests in between, in much less time. They’re not utterly optimum for strength-building, nevertheless, because the brief rests make it more durable to maneuver extra weight and obtain progressive overload. That’s why they work finest as a software for accent work and as one thing to make use of from time to time to combine up your programming, fairly than as a wholesale alternative for a conventional set/relaxation scheme.
Which Workouts to Use Myo-Reps On
Myo-reps aren’t for each carry. Since you’re pushing near failure with very brief rests, you want workouts the place fatigue-induced kind breakdown received’t get you damage.
So don’t use myo-reps on heavy barbell squats, presses, deadlifts, or the bench press. The stabilization calls for are too excessive, and getting caught beneath a loaded bar throughout your fourth mini-set is an effective option to find yourself within the ER. Skip Olympic lifts completely. Cleans and snatches are explosive actions that should be finished recent. And in the event you do Bulgarian break up squats, move on myo-reps. Requires an excessive amount of stability.
For myo-reps, stick to machines, cables, and dumbbell actions.
Nice myo-rep workouts embody machine chest presses, lat pulldowns, cable rows, dumbbell shoulder presses, leg presses, leg extensions, hack squats, leg curls, dumbbell lateral raises, bicep curls, and tricep pushdowns. Something the place the trail of the load is guided or the motion is easy sufficient you could grind via the final reps with out your kind collapsing. You may additionally use myo-reps with body weight workouts like push-ups and air squats.
Find out how to Program Myo-Reps
In the event you’re doing a conventional barbell/energy targeted program, maintain your heavy compound lifts as conventional straight units. You need recent vitality and full restoration whenever you’re squatting or benching close to your max.
Save myo-reps for the again half of your exercise whenever you’re doing accent work.
Right here’s a easy strategy: choose two to a few accent workouts per exercise to do as myo-reps.
So on an higher physique day the place the bench press is your important carry, do dumbbell shoulder presses, lateral raises, and dumbbell curls as myo-reps. On decrease physique day the place the barbell squat is your important carry, do leg extensions and leg curls as myo-reps.
Your activation set ought to really feel like an RPE 8 or 9. That’s about one or two reps shy of failure. Observe your reps within the mini-sets. In the event you’re persistently hitting 4 clusters of 5 reps, bump the load up subsequent session.
Frequency-wise, you’ll be able to hit a muscle group with myo-reps 2-3 instances every week. Simply keep in mind these are an depth approach. Don’t flip each set of each carry right into a myo-rep set. That’s only a recipe for burnout.
Give Myo-Reps a Shot
In the event you’re like me and making an attempt to construct muscle with out spending 90 minutes within the fitness center each day, give myo-reps a shot. They cut back your exercise time, could make your exercises really feel recent, and may help you pack on some severe muscle.