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Preface: Dr. Ken's Reflections on "Fifty-Rep Sets"
If you say "fifty reps" to anyone, they think two things; "this motherfucker is crazy" followed by "endurance activity". A short bout of fifty rep sets will make you very tough mentally, something not to be ignored. Most don't train hard because they don't want to be uncomfortable. Who does but if this stuff was easy, we'd all lift like Dimas or Coan and look like Pearl in his prime. No such luck. This is a tough way to go but a great change of pace.
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Fifty-Rep Sets
A very effective means of breaking through boredom or sticking points in training is the 50-rep set. I first began doing this many years ago, and was surprised that I gained so much strength. Most trainees will tell you that endurance will increase doing 50-rep sets, and that is true, but if the 50-rep set is done so that the set ends at a point of momentary muscular fatigue/failure, you will also get strong. It is best to do this for only two to three weeks at a time due to the severity of the program and the difficulty in recovering from it. Choose four to six exercises that provide muscular work for the entire body. Using a barbell, I would do:
1. squats
2. stiff-legged deadlifts while standing on an elevated surface
3. bench presses or dips
4. curls or chin-ups
5. shrugs or upright rows
I would take a weight that I thought I could do 20-25 good reps with, perform as many reps as possible, replace the bar on the rack or floor, rest ten seconds, again do as many reps as possible, rest ten seconds, and continue in that manner until 50 repetitions, were completed. In the squat, for example, I would use approximately 275 lbs and do 25-30 reps, put the bar on the rack, take a few deep breaths, take the bar again, gut out 4 or 6 more reps, back away from the rack, take the bar again for 3 or 4 reps, rest perhaps fifteen seconds, and try to finish the set. I never allowed myself to take more than five "rest stops" during the course of the exercise. After squats, I would wait two to three minutes, and then continue with the next exercise. This was brutally hard work, and in the first two workouts, limitations in cardiovascular ability halted me as much as muscular failure. However, I quickly adapted to the program and found that I could develop incredible mental toughness during the actual workout. At that point, when I reached 50 reps, I couldn't do number 51 because I was shaking so badly and could barely direct the working bodypart to function. The key lies in viewing this not as an endurance type workout but as a brutally hard strength training workout.
I don't recommend doing the overhead press because the low back will be too fatigued to allow the performance of 50 hard reps after doing squats and/or stiff-legged deadlifts. Alternating chins and curls, and dips with bench presses every other workout, insures that the major muscular structures of the upper body are being worked fully. I found that I could not squat and deadlift three times per week on this program, but I could complete the upper body movements that often. Again, expect to be sore and somewhat fatigued while using this program, but discontinue it after two to three weeks so that overtraining is avoided. This particular training technique provides very high intensity, low force, low volume muscle stimulating work for the major muscle groups of the body–the exact requisites for encouraging muscular growth and increases in strength. The mental toughness that results from a few weeks of this should not be underestimated nor discounted, and the carryover to more conventional training routines is definite and positive.
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This article has been retained courtesy of Dr. Ken Leistner and CS Publishing Ltd. It was originally published in THE STEEL TIP Vol. 1 No. 3, March 1985. It was reprinted in the publication HARDGAINER, Issue #44 - September/October 1996. It is reprinted here on Cyberpump! with permission. No reproduction, photocopying or transmission of this article may be used without expressly written permission from CS Publishing and Dr. Ken Leistner. Any use other than for personal knowledge and instruction will be considered copyright infringement, and will be viewed and treated as such.
Preface: Dr. Ken's Reflections on "Fifty-Rep Sets"
If you say "fifty reps" to anyone, they think two things; "this motherfucker is crazy" followed by "endurance activity". A short bout of fifty rep sets will make you very tough mentally, something not to be ignored. Most don't train hard because they don't want to be uncomfortable. Who does but if this stuff was easy, we'd all lift like Dimas or Coan and look like Pearl in his prime. No such luck. This is a tough way to go but a great change of pace.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fifty-Rep Sets
A very effective means of breaking through boredom or sticking points in training is the 50-rep set. I first began doing this many years ago, and was surprised that I gained so much strength. Most trainees will tell you that endurance will increase doing 50-rep sets, and that is true, but if the 50-rep set is done so that the set ends at a point of momentary muscular fatigue/failure, you will also get strong. It is best to do this for only two to three weeks at a time due to the severity of the program and the difficulty in recovering from it. Choose four to six exercises that provide muscular work for the entire body. Using a barbell, I would do:
1. squats
2. stiff-legged deadlifts while standing on an elevated surface
3. bench presses or dips
4. curls or chin-ups
5. shrugs or upright rows
I would take a weight that I thought I could do 20-25 good reps with, perform as many reps as possible, replace the bar on the rack or floor, rest ten seconds, again do as many reps as possible, rest ten seconds, and continue in that manner until 50 repetitions, were completed. In the squat, for example, I would use approximately 275 lbs and do 25-30 reps, put the bar on the rack, take a few deep breaths, take the bar again, gut out 4 or 6 more reps, back away from the rack, take the bar again for 3 or 4 reps, rest perhaps fifteen seconds, and try to finish the set. I never allowed myself to take more than five "rest stops" during the course of the exercise. After squats, I would wait two to three minutes, and then continue with the next exercise. This was brutally hard work, and in the first two workouts, limitations in cardiovascular ability halted me as much as muscular failure. However, I quickly adapted to the program and found that I could develop incredible mental toughness during the actual workout. At that point, when I reached 50 reps, I couldn't do number 51 because I was shaking so badly and could barely direct the working bodypart to function. The key lies in viewing this not as an endurance type workout but as a brutally hard strength training workout.
I don't recommend doing the overhead press because the low back will be too fatigued to allow the performance of 50 hard reps after doing squats and/or stiff-legged deadlifts. Alternating chins and curls, and dips with bench presses every other workout, insures that the major muscular structures of the upper body are being worked fully. I found that I could not squat and deadlift three times per week on this program, but I could complete the upper body movements that often. Again, expect to be sore and somewhat fatigued while using this program, but discontinue it after two to three weeks so that overtraining is avoided. This particular training technique provides very high intensity, low force, low volume muscle stimulating work for the major muscle groups of the body–the exact requisites for encouraging muscular growth and increases in strength. The mental toughness that results from a few weeks of this should not be underestimated nor discounted, and the carryover to more conventional training routines is definite and positive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This article has been retained courtesy of Dr. Ken Leistner and CS Publishing Ltd. It was originally published in THE STEEL TIP Vol. 1 No. 3, March 1985. It was reprinted in the publication HARDGAINER, Issue #44 - September/October 1996. It is reprinted here on Cyberpump! with permission. No reproduction, photocopying or transmission of this article may be used without expressly written permission from CS Publishing and Dr. Ken Leistner. Any use other than for personal knowledge and instruction will be considered copyright infringement, and will be viewed and treated as such.
