reaching my genetic potential.
 

I'm planning to strictly do:

1. 25 reps/30 sec rest/2 sets for all exercises for the slow twitch muscle,

then:

2. 10 reps/1 min rest/ 3 sets for all exercises for the fast twitch muscle fibers.

this program is from our journal. - Mitochondrial Density (muscle fibers 3)

this is every workout.

is it advisable to do 25 reps for the bench press, military press, and incline press etc.? I haven't seen anyone doing this, most program I see is they only do 25 reps or more for the abdominal, calves, thigh, and forearms..


Thanks..:)

It depends on your goal....IF you want to increase mitochondrial density you can exercise
with high reps and very short rest. However, in my opinion doing high reps and then lower reps to stimulate fast twitch fibers is a nonsense because you'd not be able to stimulate fast twitch fibers properly if you are already fatigued due to previous high reps exercises.
Hope this helps.

but what if I do that per workout so that I can train both slow and fast twitch muscle efficiently? my question is:

is it advisable to do 25 reps for the bench press, military press, and incline press etc.? I haven't seen anyone doing this, most program I see is they only do 25 reps or more for the abdominal, calves, thigh, and forearms..

There's nothing wrong with doing 25 rep pressing, although higher reps are generally more conducive to isolation type exercises simply due to fatigue and coordination issues.

However, by strictly training at 10 and 25 reps, you are ignoring a vast area of training. There is much strength to be gained and much hypertrophy to be had in the 1 to 9 rep range.

And as Danny B mentioned, training at 25 reps prior to the 10 reps will lead to fatigue which effects the quality of your 10 rep sets.

If you want to still keep a similar framework, I would set it up like this:

1. 3 to 5 reps/2 min rest/ 3 sets for big compound exercises
2. 10 reps/1 min rest/ 3 sets for all exercises for the fast twitch muscle fibers.
3. 25 reps/30 sec rest/2 sets for all exercises for the slow twitch muscle,

but Il plan to do it per workout, meaning:

monday = 25 reps/30 sec rest/2 sets for all exercises for the slow twitch muscle, then

thursday = 10 reps/1 min rest/ 3 sets for all exercises for the fast twitch muscle fibers.


Thanks for the suggestion..but do I need to include the "3 to 5 reps/2 min rest/ 3 sets" ? I thought that the 10 reps has already strength gains? I worry that if I include that in my program, it will lessen the frequency to train my slow twitch and fast twitch muscle..


Thanks..:)

As Commander mentioned, strength training is important and can be beneficial to increasing mitochondrial density. So starting each training session with a heavy compound movement then moving to another big exercise in a slightly higher rep range and then finishing with a high rep isolation exercise is the best way to go. And if you look at various programs, the best ones are always done this way to get the best of strength, size, and conditioning. So something like:

Barbell Back Squat - 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps
Barbell Front Squat - 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Machine Leg Curl - 3 sets of 15+ reps

That is just an example, you can obviously mix around exercises and use deadlift variations, leg press, leg extension, or whatever else based on your goals.

Also, high intensity interval training can increase mitochondrial density so you can do interval sprints on your off days.

is this per workout? every session I mean should I do both high and low reps?

because as Danny B mentioned, training at 25 reps prior to the 10 reps will lead to fatigue which effects the quality of your 10 rep sets.

THanks..:)

Doing various rep ranges at different workouts is fine. It is a varation of DUP (Daily Undulating Periodization), or fancy way of saying working different rep ranges throughout the week.

For more information on that concept see here:
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/periodization3.pdf

Yes, in fact, if I could only traing in 1 rep range my whole life. I'd pick 3 to 5.

Now as I mention below, heavy training also hits the slow twitch albeit, not optimally. However, with enough volume, even low rep work will sufficiently tax the slow twitch fibers. For example, 10 sets of 3 reps would be an excellent way to both thoroughly hit the fast twitch (due to the heavier weight) and the slow twitch (due to the volume/accumulated fatigue of the 10 sets).

Working with heavy weights hit's ALL fibers. Fiber's are recruited in order from slow to fast. Pick up a very light weight and all you will recruit are the slow twitch. Pick up a heavy weight and you recruit both, because your body will recruit the slow and since they do not provide enough force to pick up the heavy weight, it will recruit the fast twitch as well. It does not select between fast and slow. It is on a scale, thus EVERY TIME you pick up a weight, your slow twitch are being recruited.

However, the opposite is not true. You CAN pick up a weight and NOT have your fast twitch recruited.

That tells me, if you want optimal development, you'd better include some heavy work.

Lifting in the 10 rep range is not going to maximally hit all your fast twitch fibers.

It could be.

That is really up to you how you set it up. Arian gave a good example above or you could do higher reps one workout and lower at the next.

For example:
Workout 1 - lower reps
3x3 - compound
4x6 - compound
3x10 - isolation

Workout 2 - higher reps - later in week with same muscle group as workout 1
3x8 - compound
3x15 - isolation
2x25 - isolation

* The important take home is not to neglect the lower rep ranges.

Yes, that was an example of 1 training session. Many powerlifting programs are set up similar to this. For example, using the Westside method you would do a max effort lower day where you would hit a heavy compound for low reps, then hit a exercise to up a specific weakness for mid reps, and then do an isolation movement for higher reps. So something like:

Squat - work up to a 2 rep max
Romanian Deadlifts - sets of 5-8 reps to bring up a hamstring weakness
GHR or Back Extension - sets of 10+ reps for conditioning and rehab

That would be one workout. Now if you train the same movement more than once in a week, you can do various reps for each day which Commander mentioned is Daily Undulating Periodization. For example, if I'm doing a volume block I will do something like this for squats:

Monday - squat sets of 8 reps
Wednesday - squat sets of 6 reps
Friday - squat sets of 4 reps

Then for a strength block I drop it to 5s, 3s, and 1s. The 2nd and 3rd exercises would then be similar to what I've mentioned where you can do another compound or isolation and work higher reps for fixing weaknesses/imbalances/conditioning/hypertrophy/other goals.

Thanks for the input guys, so I'm planning to do every workout:

3 sets/1 min rest/10 reps
4 sets/ 2min rest/ 5 reps


Is this optimal?

Thanks..