Myo-reps in English

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Myo-reps in EnglishBy Borge / May 1 , 2012 / Training / 224 Comments

Welcome to my new blog. I thought I would start off with an article I wrote a while ago, first published at

www.mountaindogdiet.com, the site of an awesome coach and my good friend John Meadows. For those

of you who followed my previous blog at www.myrevolution.no/blade – I will do my best to update more

often with some new insights or just plain craziness.

Myo-reps – a time-efficient method for maximum musclegrowth

In 2006 I developed the first version of Myo-reps, and I later refined it to the current version in 2008. It

has proven to one of the most effective tools I have ever used in both myself and my clients, and I will

present the basics of it in this article. Myo-reps is, simplistically speaking, a rest-pause method, and the

most famous permutation of it is DC/Doggcrapp training. Most of you probably know how to perform a

rest-pause set, and I didn’t just reinvent the wheel here, I refined it building on research on hypertrophy in

recent years.

First of all I must give credit where credit is due, to Mathias Wernbom, who presented the most

comprehensive meta-review to date on strength and hypertrophy training in 2007 (1), and has been deep

into the field of occlusion training the last few years. Matt has provided vast amounts of data to me,

hooking both himself and subjects from various populations – a lot of them elite athletes

(Toppidrettssenteret, Olympiatoppen) – to EMG machines and sticking huge biopsy needles into muscles

(if you ever had a biopsy performed you will know how excruciatingly painful that experience is). Do a

search on Wernbom at PubMed and you will see a list of published papers by him. I’m fortunate enough to

have access to some unpublished research as well, obviously.

Much credit also goes to Dan Moore (originator of the Max Stimulation method), a brilliant man having

what must be a photographic recall of various studies and their results.

And last, but not least, all of my clients over the years who have provided me with valuable feedback and

allowed me to fine-tune and evolve Myo-reps principles and templates.

Growing bigger

Let’s first look at the primary identified mechanisms of hypertrophy:

1. Mechanical deformation: Stretch and contraction under load will initiate a signaling cascade

translating into a cellular response, increasing the contractile machinery of the muscle cell. You need

to lift weights to grow. Fundamental stuff, indeed.

2. Motor unit and muscle fiber recruitment: The research is pretty clear on the fact that you eventually

need to recruit most of/all of the motor units and muscle fibers in a muscle to stimulate maximum

muscle growth.

1. At approx. 80%+ of 1RM (about 5-8RM loads) you are pretty much at 100% fiber recruitment

from the very first rep. I generally don’t use Myo-reps for loads heavier than 5RM.

2. At lighter loads, you won’t recruit all muscle fibers from the beginning, but as you fatigue you

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2. At lighter loads, you won’t recruit all muscle fibers from the beginning, but as you fatigue you

will have to call upon more muscle fibers to complete the set. The last few reps of a set will

achieve 100% fiber recruitment, so e.g. a 12RM set has approx. 3-4 “effective” reps at the very

end. Not saying that the first reps are ineffective, they are needed to accumulate sufficient

fatigue to reach all fibers of the muscle. There has been a lot of research into occlusion-type

training where dramatic hypertrophy is observed even with very light loads (20-50% of 1RM)

just by tying a blood pressure cuff around an arm or a leg. The main mechanism seems to be

an earlier full fiber recruitment effect from the hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) created from

occluding the blood flow. Research by some of the most renowned scientists in the field (2) has

shown that lifting 30% loads to failure induced more muscle growth than 90% loads to failure,

and we’ll have a look at how Myo-reps takes advantage of this mechanism and even improves

it further.

3. You will also achieve full recruitment transiently by lifting a light load as fast as possible, but

only in the turn-around phase from the eccentric to the concentric phase and in the early part

of the rep when the weight is still accelerating. By using elastic bands or chains you may

increase this acceleration phase by having to push harder vs. slowing down as leverages

usually improves at the top of e.g. deadlifts, bench press and squats.

4. Metabolic stress, calcium flux and volume: The muscle has to perform a minimum threshold

of work with the imposed load and mechanical tension. Reps and the work:rest ratio sets the

metabolic state of the muscle. Short duration high-amplitude pulses of calcium into the muscle

by high load contractions and rest between sets induced muscle hypertrophy, longer duration

low-amplitude pulses such as in cycling or running induces endurance adaptions. Metabolic

stress and volume is said to “modulate” the hypertrophic response, i.e. the load is the primary

variable, the sets and reps determines the magnitude and duration of the muscle growth you

will get out of it. Your volume threshold increases over time, so as you get more advanced not

only can you *tolerate* more volume, you will also *need* more volume to stimulate further

gains. This also explains why bodybuilders are more muscular than weightlifters or

powerlifters, even though the loads used are less, they perform more work in less time with it.

Two additional benefits, and one caveat:

1. Metabolic stress “sensitizes” the muscle to growth signaling, i.e. you achieve more

growth from less work.

2. Metabolic stress increases the supply of energy substrates to the muscle, i.e. glycogen

stores, blood flow, oxygenation, capillarization, mitochondrial function, and also the

cardiovascular component of the heart and lungs which will improve intra-set and intra-

workout recovery in the long-term.

3. If you overdo it, you increase AMPK – one of the primary energy-sensors of the cell –

and this can inhibit protein synthesis and initiate endurance adaptions. This is why

extensive interval training (20+ minutes of sprints with short rest, Tabatas with a 2:1

work to rest ratio etc) doesn’t necessarily lead to massive muscle growth – excessive

metabolic stress and calcium flux combined with depletion of energy substrates turns on

endurance and turns off muscle growth.

4. Hormones and amino acids: The usual suspects testosterone, GH/IGF-1, insulin,

cortisol, protein. Some more important than others, and the hormones seem to play

more of a permissive effect in muscle growth, some studies show rapid hypertrophy in

knock-out models where the receptor for various hormones are removed altogether.

Getting hung-up on transient elevations from what you eat or how you train is pretty

much irrelevant and more of a correlative than a causative effect. Amino acids are pretty

much mandatory as they provide building blocks for muscle growth, but the body is very

good at recycling them which is why you can grow muscle even under fasting

conditions.

A great summary of the above principles can be found in Keith Baar’s meta-review (3).



Two things to note here: 1. Kaatsu (blood flow occlusion by pressure cuffs) increases the EMG signal, and

hence fiber recruitment earlier. 2. After the first set and a short rest period, you achieve higher fiber

recruitment earlier in the subsequent set. This forms the basis for Myo-reps. (illustration from (4)).

The Myo-reps set from start to finish

Simplistically speaking we basically need to lift a sufficiently heavy load, for a sufficient number of sets and

reps, sufficiently often to build muscle at the optimal rate. There are many ways of achieving this, and

Myo-reps is simply a very time-efficient and productive tool to have in your repertoire. Don’t get married to

one rep range or one method of training if you want maximum results, a planned and strategic variation

with both heavy and lighter loads, high and low volume, high and low frequency is needed if you want to

maximize results, but that is an extensive topic to cover and I will save it for later articles.



maximize results, but that is an extensive topic to cover and I will save it for later articles.

Let’s see how you perform a Myo-rep set from beginning to end. I recommend 2-3 warm-up sets of

progressively increasing loads of 8-12 reps prior to the work set both to increase neural drive, to provide

additional volume and to let you determine your daily strength level and hence, work set load.

1. Pick a load you can perform 9-20 reps with (depending on your programming and exercise

selection). I will sometimes go even higher, to 25-40 reps.

2. Go to failure or 1-2 reps short of failure, judged by when rep speed slows noticeably. This is your

“activation set” where you achieve full fiber recruitment. Total failure isn’t an absolute requirement,

and leaving a rep or two in the tank will allow you to do more total reps, as we shall see soon.

3. By keeping constant tension on the muscle, i.e. shorten the ROM by 10% on top (avoid locking out

the weight) and 10% in the bottom (resting the weight or overstretching the muscle), you will mimic

the occlusion effect and reach higher fiber recruitment faster.

4. Now the important part – rerack the weight and rest for a maximum of 30 seconds – unrack the

weight and keep going for several short mini-sets of 1-5 reps (depending on the load used). By

keeping the rest period short you will maintain fatigue level, and hence – fiber recruitment at a high

rate. All reps of the mini-set are now “effective” reps. I simplify the rest period prescription by

counting deep breaths, similar to the DC method, where 5 deep breaths (in+out) is about 10 seconds,

10 is 20 seconds and so on. You can get away with the higher end (30secs) with heavier loads, at

lighter loads you should keep rest periods short (5-15secs) to maintain high fiber recruitment. It is

also productive on the Myo-rep series to keep constant tension on the muscle by shortening the

ROM.

Let’s illustrate the difference between a “traditional” 3 sets of 10 vs. a Myo-rep set, the asterisk ‘*’ denoting

“effective” reps:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8* 9* 10*

1-2min of rest

1 2 3 4 5 6 7* 8* 9* (a typical drop off in reps if using a 10RM load)

1-2min of rest

1 2 3 4 5 6 7* 8* 9*

So you did 28 total reps in about 6 minutes, where 9 reps were “effective” reps (at sufficiently high fiber

recruitment).

Now a Myo-rep set:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8* 9* 10* – 15sec rest – 1* 2* 3* – 15sec rest – 1* 2* 3* – 15sec rest – 1* 2* 3* – 15sec rest –

1* 2* 3* – 15sec rest – 1* 2* 3*

Here you did 25 total reps in about 2 minutes, where 18 reps were “effective”. The premise here is to

*manage* fatigue to get in more work in less time, and you have to balance the reps and rest periods in the

Myo-rep set appropriately.

Auto-regulating your way to better results

There are two ways of managing volume here.

First, you can prescribe a total number of reps for an exercise, and I would recommend that you get at

least 10 reps after the activation set. An example would be (the ‘+’ denotes 10-20sec of reracking the weight

and resting): 12 +3+3+2+2 (or 12 +10). Lighter weights generally need more volume, so: 20 +5+5+5+5+5

(or 20 +25) which would also be a productive Myo-rep set. You generally just keep doing mini-sets of 2-5

reps until you hit the prescribed total rep count.

The second way, and my favorite, is auto-regulation where you use a set of “rules” to let the total volume

(number of reps) take care of itself based on how you feel that day – your individual recovery level. You

will also see this prescription in most of my programs where I implement Myo-reps. Example protocols:

6-8 +2x

9-12 +3x

12-15 +4x

15-20 +5x

20-25 +6x

The first part (e.g. 9-12) denotes reps in the activation set, the number after the + is how many reps you

will do in the Myo-reps mini-series. So 9-12 +3x will play out like this:



200lbs x 10 +3+3+3+3+2 – you weren’t able to do the third rep of the last set so you stop there

Here’s how auto-regulation works:

Let’s say you had a good night’s sleep, ate well, had a day off from work, and generally feel great and well

recovered. The 9-12 +3x protocol would most likely turn out like this:

200lbs x 12 +3+3+3+3+3+3+3+2

Now, let’s say you had a couple of drinks too many at your brother’s bachelor party last night, your

girlfriend broke up with you because you fondled the stripper, the neighbour’s cat kept you awake, and

you’ve been dieting for 3 months. The same protocol would most likely deteriorate to this:

200lbs x 8 +3+2

Doing less work when your recovery and adaptive reserves are compromised makes logical and practical

sense, and you will most likely come back stronger the next time (provided you stay sober, stop dieting, kiss

and make up with your girlfriend – or the stripper if she was really hot) vs. struggling to do the same

amount of work you had planned to, or even more by adding sets and dropsets to punish yourself for being

such a failure as a human being. Stimulate, don’t annihilate.

You will also note that various muscle groups and exercises have different recovery rates and volume

tolerances, so if you consistently get something like 8 +3+2 I recommend the following adjustments:

1. Do 9-12 +2x instead of 3x. (3x instead of 4x etc)

2. Add more rest in the Myo-rep set, e.g. 15 deep breaths instead of 10

3. If you insist on going to absolute failure on the activation set, I strongly recommend a period of

leaving 1-2 reps in reserve. There’s not so much to be gained from that last rep or two in terms of

muscular stimulation – but it vastly increases the neural stress, and it is easily compensated by

getting in more total volume at the end.

If your recovery rate and volume tolerance is exceptional and you seem to be able to just keep going

forever with +3x, you would obviously use the opposite strategy to compensate (4x, shorter rest, work

closer to failure).

Note that you can also do more reps in the Myo-rep series by doing short ROM partial reps.

What exercises?

I won’t go much into detail on exercise selection and template structure, there are many ways of

programming your training strategy and I would rather save that for a later article. I will just briefly

mention that I usually do at least 2 exercises for major muscle groups, and more if it is a priority muscle

group (or another Myo-rep set of the same exercise). Dumbbell presses are less suitable for Myo-reps, as it

requires a lot of energy to get them into position and stabilize them. Having only a few seconds of rest

makes you run out of breath before you get the load to do sufficient work on the muscles. I’m also careful

with Myo-reps on squats, deadlifts, and even bent rows as the accumulating fatigue, in the lower back in

particular, may compromise technique and increase injury potential.

Concluding remarks

As you can see, a Myo-rep set takes advantage of the primary mechanisms of muscle growth – mechanical

load, increasing fiber recruitment and maintaining it at a high level to get more “effective” reps, increasing

the muscle sensitivity to the growth stimulus via metabolic stress, modulated by the volume effect (total

http://trainforlife.no/blogg/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/deadlift-barbell.jpg



TweetTweet 3

sets and reps) and doing more work in less time.

With Myo-reps you can get in and out of the gym in 30 minutes if you are short on time, you can provide

a different stimulus to a muscle group from the “traditional” way of structuring sets and reps, and it can

even serve as a deload following a high-volume phase. Myo-reps is a great tool to have in your toolbox in

the quest for a massive and strong physique, feel free to play around with it and let me know if you have

any questions or comments. Hate mail due to severe soreness is also more than welcome…

Borge A. Fagerli

[email protected]

References:

1. Wernbom M, Augustsson J, Thomeé R., The influence of frequency, intensity, volume and mode of

strength training on whole muscle cross-sectional area in humans., Sports Med. 2007;37(3):225-64.

2. Burd NA, West DW, Staples AW, Atherton PJ, Baker JM, Moore DR, Holwerda AM, Parise G,

Rennie MJ, Baker SK, Phillips SM., Low-load high volume resistance exercise stimulates muscle

protein synthesis more than high-load low volume resistance exercise in young men., PLoS One.

2010 Aug 9;5(8):e12033. – PMID: 20711498

3. Baar K., The signaling underlying FITness., Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2009 Jun;34(3):411-9.

4. Yasuda T, Fujita S, Ogasawara R, Sato Y, Abe T., Effects of low-intensity bench press training with

restricted arm muscle blood flow on chest muscle hypertrophy: a pilot study., Clin Physiol Funct

Imaging. 2010 Sep;30(5):338-43. Epub 2010 Jul 4.

224 Comments

Like 98

Like Send 98 people like this.

trt May 5, 2012 at 6:51 am

Great to have one by you in english.

Martin May 11 , 2012 at 3:04 pm

Hi Blade, thank you for posting in English.

I intend to utilize myo-reps in the next 8 weeks, 3 fullbody workouts every week (mon/wed/fri), 1 exercise

for chest (dips), 2 for back (row/lat pulldown), 1 for legs (leg press) and 1 for shoulders (OHP, 3 sets

across), hypercaloric diet. This week I’m “dialing in”, adjusting weight and reps for each exercise. Myo-reps

seems almost too good to be true, I’m enjoying it so far.

Thanks once again and looking forward to your next articles.

Dave May 13, 2012 at 3:44 pm

Borge,

This article is fantastic. Please put a facebook ‘Like’ button on each of these articles so we can recommend

them to our friends easily and get more traffic.

-Dave

Borge May 13, 2012 at 4:10 pm

https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fborgefagerli.com%2Fmyo-reps-in-english%2F&text=Myo-reps%20in%20English%20%7C%20Borge%20Fagerli%20%E2%80%93%20aka%20Blade%3A%20My%20blog%20and%20coaching%20services&tw_p=tweetbutton&url=http%3A%2F%2Fborgefagerli.com%2Fmyo-reps-in-english%2F

http://twitter.com/search?q=http%3A%2F%2Fborgefagerli.com%2Fmyo-reps-in-english%2F



The plugin is installed, just trying to figure out how to make it work…should be up soon,

hopefully.

MM May 18, 2012 at 11 :43 am

Great article and well written. For clarification, do you do all your sets with 80% ROM?

Thanks.


Primarily high-rep training but I do like some continous tension 4-6 rep sets on squats and

bench, too.

Trt May 24, 2012 at 10:21 pm

Blade, what do you think about Milos Sarcev’s Giant Set training method ? Is it legit like yours, which is

based on science, or is this another useless training method ? Pros/cons of it ?

I just noticed that few of the huge guys do this recently..

Borge May 25, 2012 at 6:42 am

You would have to be very particular about exercise selection and sequence to make it work.

E.g. going from leg extensions to leg press to squat would have fatigue affecting technique

too much, but if you go to complex to less-complex/isolation it could work. So split

squats/lunges – squats – leg press – leg extensions

Antonio May 25, 2012 at 12:35 pm

I have arthritis rheumatoide that manifests itself as a severe leg pain after stress and whatnot, but doesn’t

affect that much my upper body for some reason, at least for now. How would you go on about if you had

nothing to train but just the upper body ? (Just leave this unpublished if this goes too much on personal

training side)


I would train the upper body then. Not sure what you´re asking.

Jam May 27 , 2012 at 10:39 pm

Hi Borge ,

When performing the myo reps after the activation set, should they be to failure? Also, should one decrease

the weights it they can’t complete the myo reps at the weight used for the activation sets? What are some

exercises that would work well with myo reps?

Thanks!

Borge May 28, 2012 at 6:32 am



You have to balance fatigue/failure in order to do enough work with a given load. Sometimes

you´ll hit failure, sometimes it´s better to stay away from failure. It´s a means to an end, not

an end goal.

You may reduce the load, something also known as a “drop-set” so not really Myo-reps per se

– but definitely doable.

I specifically mentioned which exercises were less than optimal for Myo-reps, so all other

exercises than those mentioned would work well.

Dieff June 1 , 2012 at 4:50 pm

Borge,

I will follow the suggestion of 2-split training given in the fourth part of the article on myo-reps on the site

MyRevolution (http://myrevolution.no/s/myo-reps-del-4-baseversjonen/). However, since you suggest

two exercises for the back, was in doubt concerning about the total volume in myo-reps set. Must I

mantain 15 reps in myo-rep set or, since they are two exercises for the same group, must decrease to 10

reps in myo-reps set for each exercise?

Thanks in advance

Borge June 1 , 2012 at 9:01 pm

If you can handle it, more volume is generally better.

Jeff June 10, 2012 at 12:21 am

Borge,

Interesting stuff…gonna have to give it a try!

Is there any way you could translate the article that Dieff linked to in the comment above? That’d be

cool..if not no worries.

Thanks for your time and wisdom.

Jeff

Borge June 10, 2012 at 7 :51 am

Nah…just use Google Translate I have several other articles in the works, I don´t want to

spend time tediously translating something I´ve already written…

Dieff June 11 , 2012 at 4:16 am

http://blog.superbootcamps.co.uk/2011/weight-training/myo-reps-part-1-the-evolution-and-revolution-

by-borge-fagerli/

Myo-reps in english! Enjoy

Massimo June 15, 2012 at 2:30 pm

And what about the gradual increase of the weight on the barbell? Do you suggest to increase it when in

the first set you go over the initial number of reps (example: from 8 to 10)? Many thanks in advance!

http://myrevolution.no/s/myo-reps-del-4-baseversjonen/

http://blog.superbootcamps.co.uk/2011/weight-training/myo-reps-part-1-the-evolution-and-revolution-by-borge-fagerli/



Borge June 15, 2012 at 2:43 pm

Yes.

Luke June 15, 2012 at 5:56 pm

Is this recommended for beginners?


Not needed until you have at least 2-3 months of regular training under your belt.

norath June 20, 2012 at 5:40 pm

I was really surprised by the strength gains you get from myoreps/rest-pause. I’m now doing a full dc

template, after this going to try a full myorep routine. Did you ever try rest-pause as Dante Trudel explains

it and did you like it?


Yes, I did – I was actually coached by Super-D for a while. For me, it was too little volume

and I felt slightly burned out on it. I´ve been doing various cycles of higher volume and

higher frequency with much greater success. I´m now training 6 days/week and feel better,

look better, and improve more. Combination of RPE-based training and Myo-reps.

norath June 21 , 2012 at 12:17 pm

I haven’t felt burned out yet, low volume and few exercise are keeping the

recovery in check for me. What frequency do you use in 6x week training?

It will take some time to adjust to that 6x week for sure after this. I’ll start with

1.5-2 frequency for four-three times per week when I’m done with this cycle of

DC.

BorgeJune 21 , 2012 at 12:31 pm

Right now I´m hitting every muscle 2x/week, up to 3-4x/week if

there´s something I want to specialize in. You can see my general

philosophy on dynamic periodization (I will get an article

published in the near future) here:

http://www.predatornutrition.com/An-Interview-with-Borge-

Fagerli-aka-Blade

norathJune 21 , 2012 at 3:08 pm

Thank you.

http://www.predatornutrition.com/An-Interview-with-Borge-Fagerli-aka-Blade



Serguei July 10, 2012 at 2:29 pm

Do you use any type of load’s strategic planning for Myo-Reps? I saw in your earlier publications, that you

used a sort of HST-like setup that time….

Borge July 10, 2012 at 7 :54 pm

Yes, I constantly vary reps – just like I do in the program I’ve set up for you

The linear progression is mostly for beginners.

rihad January 3, 2013 at 7 :39 pm

> The linear progression is mostly for beginners.

What about linear progression (as in HST) combined with a period of Strategic

Deconditioning? As its author says, HST is equally well suited for seasoned

athletes. You wrote so much about it in the past. You do not believe in its

principles any more?

BorgeJanuary 4, 2013 at 9:16 pm

I’m still not sold on SD, although there are studies showing you

don’t lose much during a short period of rest, and growth plays

“catch-up” once you start training again. I still wouldn’t

necessarily recommend 1-2 weeks of rest more than 1-2 times per

year.

Other than that, the HST principles of progression, frequency and

overall volume are still basic and true.

Bruce July 11 , 2012 at 8:42 pm

I read the predator nutrition interview, and it appeared that you recommend accumulation intensification

phases in some situations. I take it this is when you are not using a DUP model? Is accum/intense more

appropriate for intermediates? Thank you!

Borge July 12, 2012 at 6:06 am

As you get more advanced, some sort of volume increase is inevitable – and preplanning it in

phases is a good way to go about it. I’m working on an article on dynamic periodization

which will delve deeper into that area. You can apply DUP on top of accumulation and

intensification phases.

Bruce July 13, 2012 at 8:56 pm

Borge,

I love myo reps because i don’t have a lot of time to train. Is a triple drop ok on Squats and RDLs since

myo reps are not safe on these excercises? if so, would you use a longer than 30 second rest? Thank you!

Darren August 2, 2012 at 1 :58 am



Pingback: Q&A: How can I go about building some muscle?

@Bruce, I’m sure Borge just missed your question but I have asked him similar on MyRevolution forum

and it is fine to use drop sets with squat/deadlift etc.

Should look here for ideas on how he uses drop sets- http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?

act=url&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=no&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://myrevolution.no/s/auto-

regulering-for-optimale-%25C3%25B8kninger-i-styrke-og-

muskelmasse/&usg=ALkJrhhtvJCM9P0UFQzZC4OiikxfxKTLDw

Per Brisk August 20, 2012 at 2:50 pm

Borge

I have a practical question about doing myo-reps. When using all the techniques to reach higher fiber

recruitment, like doing every lift as fast as possible and also keeping constant tension on the muscle during

a set, it limits the number of reps I can do in the activation set severely. I end up with being able to only do

10 or 11 reps with a weight I otherwise could lift 15-20 times.

I seem to end up training with very light weights, and it is quite tempting to skip the above mentioned

techniques. So what should I do?

Great to see you with your own site!

Borge August 20, 2012 at 3:21 pm

Well, you have to choose – do you want to train your muscles to get stronger, or train your

ego and stay where you are? By performing reps correctly you WILL get stronger.

Per Brisk August 21 , 2012 at 3:30 pm

OK:)

2ndLtFjun September 3, 2012 at 8:20 pm

Super article. I got started with myoreps and experimenting a bit with the autoregulation “feature”. Really

love the fast intense workouts, and I had some massive DOMS too from the high rep beginning workouts.

Let’s say I get 11 reps on the activation set, then move on to +3 +3 +2 before dropping lifting speed

significantly. Then it’s time to stop. Is this a good way to think?

Or should I stop the activation set a bit earlier so I can get in more work afterwards to get closer to the 9-

12 +15 recommendation, alternatively take longer pauses between the extra sets? What’s better?

Thanks a lot.

Borge September 3, 2012 at 8:25 pm

You got it right in the first example, and this will work itself out just fine – on some exercises

(mostly pressing) you will see a significant drop off and thus get a lower total volume,

whereas on back, bis and legs you usually get a lot more – which ties in with muscle fiber

makeup and also what volume and rep ranges these muscles respond better to.

However, playing around with the rest period to get in more total reps now and then is also

fine. Read my article on Dynamic Periodization for more info:

http://myrevolution.no/s/tren-optimalt-med-dynamisk-periodisering/

2ndLtFjun September 6, 2012 at 8:32 am

http://body-improvements.com/2012/08/22/qa-how-can-i-go-about-building-some-muscle/

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?act=url&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=no&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://myrevolution.no/s/auto-regulering-for-optimale-%25C3%25B8kninger-i-styrke-og-muskelmasse/&usg=ALkJrhhtvJCM9P0UFQzZC4OiikxfxKTLDw




Thanks for the answer. I can see this in pressing exercises just as you say, and

especially if I for example do a shoulder exercise after benching (which is pretty

logical).

Doing an 8 week experiment combining myoreps and the biorhytm diet right

now and feel awesome on it so far.

Frank September 9, 2012 at 7 :46 pm

Borge,

I’ve read your article about dynamic periodization (amazing article, by the way) and I have a couple of

questions about the frequency progression that you outlined there.

You wrote that after a deloading period, it’s useful to train with high frequency (every muscle group 4-6

days a week) and 15-20 reps.

How long generally this training phase last? Do you keep high reps/high frequency throughout it or do you

scale both down while increasing intensity and volume?

Thanks in advance and keep up the good work!

Borge September 9, 2012 at 10:20 pm

As per the point of the article – “when it stops working”…or to be more useful, probably about

2-3 weeks as that is when you have to increase loads further and a high training frequency

might not be sustainable.

andrew September 28, 2012 at 8:04 am

Hi Borge, I found out about you through the HST forums. Is it a good idea to run my HST cycle

exclusively using Myo-reps with auto-regulation? This will be my 4th cycle, so I want to set it up with an

undulating periodizaation style (monday 20 rep, wed, 8 rep, fri 12 rep). I’m not doing the usual 15, 10, 5 as

I have done it the last 3 cycles already. The only difference between this and HST is that I will obviously be

working with near maxes from the very beginning to use Myo-rep style. It will still be 3 days a week with 1

complex exercise per bodypart with a few iso’s (9 reps total).

Borge September 28, 2012 at 8:32 am

Yes, that is actually a very good way to implement Myo-reps.


Edit: I mean 9 exercises total


Hi Borge, thank you for responding to my question. As a follow up question,since HST uses full body 3x a

week,would it make sense to break the body over 2 days and maybe do 4 sessions per week which would

work each bodypart 2x a week? The reason behind this thinking is that myo reps are a lot more demanding

than straight sets, so my concern is that I would burn out using myoreps within a traditional HST cycle.

What are your thoughts ?



Borge October 2, 2012 at 8:31 am

I don’t really consider Myo-reps more demanding, in fact research demonstrates the rest-

pause technique to be less demanding than straight sets. But sure, a 2x/week frequency,

especially when you get into 5s, is fine.

Andrew October 8, 2012 at 9:27 pm

I really appreciate your help Borge. One final question… I outlined a routine for myself for my next cycle

after this current HST undulating cycle I am doing. The routine that I outlined will exclusively use Myo-

reps auto-regulation style also with each day being a different rep range (Daily Undulating Periodization).

The format will be A/B where A has one half of the body trained which includes squats and B is the other

half of the body which has Sumo Deadlifts. Since I would do A and B each 2x per week on a

Mon/Tues/Thur/Fri schedule, would it be too much to do Squats day 1, deadlifts day 2, squats day 4, and

deadlifts again day 5 all using Myo-Rep auto regulation? This is in addition to all the other exercises I

would be doing. Don’t mean to make this message too lengthy, but let me just quickly give you the

proposed routine…

A: reverse pulldowns, barbell rows, cable tri extension, deadlift, Abs

B: shoulder press, dumbell laterals/rear, incline bench, bodyweight pushups, barbell curls, squats, obliques

Day 1 – Light (20RM) Day 2 – Heavy (8RM) Day 3 – Medium (12 RM)

So weeks 1 and 2 would look like this: Mon 20RM workout A, Tues 20 RM workout B, Thur 8RM workout

A, Fri 8RM workout B, Mon 12RM workout A, Tues 12RM workout B, Thurs 20RM workout A, Fri, 20RM

workout B

My initial thoughts are to try out the routine as I plan on a 4 day per week schedule and if I feel like I’m

overreaching and weights/reps aren’t going up every so often, then I would turn it into a 3x per week

schedule: Mon – Wed – Fri (wk1 A B A) (wk 2 B A B).

Also, I am strongly considering doing a 1 week break after every 4 weeks of working out to keep the

nervous system in check. I am still striving to follow HST principles as I really believe in them, but it feels

like I’m almost going to be doing an HST / DC hybrid using Myo-Reps instead of rest-pause failure sets.

Again, I didn’t mean to make the message this long, but I just wanted to get everything off of my chest.

Thank you!


I have lifters doing squats 4-6 days per week, often on the same day as deadlifts – so it just

depends on how you manage the volume/intensity and what your exercise tolerance is. And

you know that better than me. Exercise tolerance is also trainable. How long is a rope? It

depends.

Andrew October 10, 2012 at 4:06 am

Thanks for your advice Borge. I think the best thing for me to do is try the routine as outlined with squats

and deadlifts 4x a week and if my body tells me that it cannot handle it after a given period of time, then I

will listen to my body and back down a bit. The changes that I would make would either be to change to a

3x A B A routine OR to keep 4 days per week but only do squats and deadlifts 2x per week instead of 4x per

week.

john October 15, 2012 at 11 :04 am

hey Borge..regarding frequency per muscle group do you think that for an intermediate lifter it’s better to

hit everything two times per week/every 5th day in a training circle as many recommend or given

sufficient volume once per week can be optimal? note that I’m talking about strictly size gains. Thanks a

lot.



Borge October 15, 2012 at 11 :48 am

I think twice/week is minimum, but frequency should vary – use Google Translate on my

article here: http://myrevolution.no/s/tren-optimalt-med-dynamisk-periodisering/

andrew October 21 , 2012 at 11 :36 pm

hey Borge, I know this may sound like a very beginner and amateur question, but if I were to do myo-reps

and ONLY myo-reps for the rest of my life hitting each muscle group 2x a week with 1 compound exercise

per bodypart, would it be possible to reach my genetic muscular potential assuming that diet is 100% in

check?


It sounds more like a hypothetical but somewhat unrealistic question to me, people get bored

over time and will not stick to the same method and frequency forever – but the answer is:

yes.

andrew October 22, 2012 at 9:34 am

I can assure you Borge that boredom for me has no bearing on how I workout… only the effectiveness of

the workout routine. Results aren’t ever boring and I can continue doing the same thing every week for 20

years if it will bring about continuous results without me having to devote a lot of time in changing to

different workout routines. So that “Yes” you gave me means that for the next year, I will only do myo-

reps on a 4x a week basis hitting each bodypart 2x a week. Utilizing myo-reps means that workout will

probably take 45 min to an hour each which fits into my schedule quite well. As long as results keep

coming, I will remain very happy.

Andrew October 29, 2012 at 7 :42 pm

Hi Borge, I was just wondering… if following a routine that exlusively consists of myo-reps can bring me to

my genetic potential, then what is the point of “switching it up” so to speak. A lot of bodybuilders mention

that no routine works forever, which is there reason for switching their routines every 6 weeks or so, but

you mentioned that only doing myo-reps with 1 or 2 exercises per bodypart 4x a week can bring one to

their genetic muscular potential.

Borge October 29, 2012 at 8:57 pm

I don’t believe a huge amount of variation is needed, and it will be counterproductive to just

“switch it up” randomly, but if you want to know how I periodize you will have to wait for

my Dynamic Periodization article.


I will definitely read that once it comes out. I would also like to mention that my myo-rep routine will

already include undulating daily periodization which I would think would provide all of the “change” I

need without actually having to create new routines. Also, I think hitting each bodypart 2 x a week in an

upper/lower split using exclusively auto-regulation myo-reps for every exercise will provide all the

stimulation the muscle needs. And since it is auto-regulation, my body will tell me when it is ready to go up

in weight and/or reps for each exercise in all of the different rep ranges I would be using. I don’t think I

would ever need to change my routine again. I’m assuming that you agree with me.




Borge October 29, 2012 at 9:49 pm

Well, it might and it might not. There is a volume threshold for optimal hypertrophy and as

you get more advanced you can tolerate more volume – and you probably also NEED more

volume. However, this must be balanced with a sufficiently high frequency, and I consider

2x/week minimal. Some short phases with less volume but higher frequency (4-6x week) can

be very productive. The basic routine, or at least exercise selection and structure might not

need to change much at all, no.


Ok, thank you!


“Borge, allow me to beg your indulgence once more. I reread your last message and I realize what you

mean by “volume threshold for optimal hypertrophy”. However, this seems to contradict the whole idea of

auto-regulation where your body regulates the volume based on a set of certain parameters, in our case,

Myo-Reps. Even if one were to switch to a higher frequency protocol working each body-part 4 times per

week, then wouldn’t myo-reps still take care of the volume aspect? From your message, it almost seems as

if you are saying that we should set a total volume per body-part goal within a week’s time, but in the

same time, based on your article, you are saying that auto-regulation within the parameters of Myo-Reps

is the best approach. Are these two aspects of auto-regulation vs. volume threshold dualities or is there a

solution to this conundrum?”

Borge October 30, 2012 at 7 :51 am

Well, obviously as you get more advanced and your volume threshold increases, your volume

*tolerance* also increases – so auto-regulation takes care of it, at least within reason.

However, you still have to monitor progress and determine whether what you are doing is

working for you. Even with an effective training method and a “perfect” program there is still

no guarantees. The downside of auto-regulation is that some may not be able to push

themselves to the point where optimal progress is realized. Let’s say you started grinding on

rep 6 and thought to yourself “ok, I’ll stop here, this is an RPE 9″. Then someone offered you

a million dollars if you could get to 10 reps, and if not you they would empty your bank

accounts and kill your family. Could you get 10 reps? Just a thought experiment, of course…

My point is that although Myo-reps is an effective training method, and training twice a

week with 1-2 Myo-rep sets on a couple of exercises SHOULD be sufficient to get you to

where you want to be, there are too many variables involved to say that you would reach it

in the shortest amount of time possible, or that more volume/frequency/intensity wouldn’t

work better. I’m sorry if that triggered your paranoia/OCD, but that is just a cold, hard truth

you have to accept – it is one of the driving motivators behind my own eternal search for

whatever training variable and programming idea will improve results in both myself and the

people I share my knowledge with.

Also read this: http://myrevolution.no/blade/2011/11/02/the-perfect-program/


I appreciate the explanation, thank you. I’m sure you recognized my OCD/paranoia, hahaha. I definitely

like the idea of Myo-Reps because it reminds me of DC which I know gave many people good results, on

AAS and and not on AAS. Rest-pause seems to be very effective. It seems like the best thing that a trainer

who is training to achieve a muscular physique can do is keep a written log of their progress and make sure

that numbers are going up (weight or reps). By the way, I’m just wondering what your input is on how the

biggest guys around such as champion bodybuilders mostly train each body part once per week. I noticed

that you mentioned various times that each bodypart should be trained at least 2x a week. Other than

steroids, why do you think training each body part once a week with high volume allows them to get so

http://myrevolution.no/blade/2011/11/02/the-perfect-program/



big?


It is really all that simple. With AAS, the growth response is always ’on’ and even subjects

using AAS and NOT training at all grow more muscle than people do without AAS and

training. In a natural trainee, even with an optimal load and volume, the growth response

lasts for only 48hrs – and the more advanced you are the shorter duration the growth

response is.

I’m not saying that training a muscle once/week doesn’t work, because clearly it does, just

that you are wasting a lot of time not training it more often.

Frank November 1 , 2012 at 6:02 pm

Wow, the comments section is almost as enlightening as the article

I should check it more often.

Borge, I know what you mean about changing the variables of the training routine to get out of our own

confort zone and address weak points, but have you ever meet someone who just seems to simply respond

better to a certain type of stimulus (mainly for muscle growth of course)?

Like high frequency/low volume (or viceversa) or high(er) intensity/low reps or (or viceversa)?

Borge November 5, 2012 at 10:10 pm

Sure…for a while. Which is something my Dynamic Periodization article series will talk about

(coming soon).

Darren November 2, 2012 at 10:18 am

Borge, I like to work around the 6-8RM range most of the time for my compound exercises. Do you think

myo-reps or your RPE method is better suited to that rep range?

BTW, are you still going to post new articles on MyRevolution or is this you new home?


Myo-reps is better suited for higher rep ranges, RPE for lower.

I do not work with MyRevolution any more.

Darren November 8, 2012 at 9:17 am

Hmm, I thought MyRev was your project from the start. I think most came

there looking specifically for your insights and knowledge. On to bigger and

better things.

I have tried both myo’s and RPE in the 6-8 range and feel myo’s are a little too

much for my joints at my age (41). RPE gives me a better warm up as I reach

my top set then I get a bit of relief from the drop sets rather than continuing

with a 6RM load. If I understand correctly, if I keep the rest periods short

between the drop sets I should still have high fiber activation and have much

the same effect as myo-reps correct?



BorgeNovember 8, 2012 at 12:51 pm

It was my project, but having two full-time jobs when you are

closing in on 40 gets a little tedious after 6 years. I wanted to

focus on coaching people, not running a webshop (I am too nice

to be a salesperson).

You have max fiber recruitment from the very first rep at around

5-6RM loads so Myo-reps shines at higher reps to achieve full

fiber recruitment and more “effective” reps. Use the RPE-method

and keep rest periods longer to get in sufficient work at a higher

load, don’t try to make it into a Myo-rep hybrid.

Mark November 8, 2012 at 10:11 pm

Wow. What a great exchange!!! Thanks for sharing your insight.

Sam November 12, 2012 at 11 :31 pm

Do you believe a lower rep activation set and back off sets are possible? Like 3-5 reps +1+1+1+1+1+1 ?

Borge November 13, 2012 at 12:20 am

Possible, but since you have full activation from the very first rep at heavier loads, it is kinda

pointless to do an activation set. You can just do regular cluster rep training, e.g. a single rep

every 10-15 seconds.

Sam November 13, 2012 at 9:45 am

Okay great, have you ever seen the benefit of adding an additional activation

set if you go over your target reps? So say you want 6-8 and you reach 10,

could you add 2.5-5 and reattempt?

Cheers Borge!

BorgeNovember 13, 2012 at 11 :07 pm

Of course. We’re not paranoid of adding volume here, are we?

SamNovember 14, 2012 at 3:13 pm

I see, i will likely do that then.

What did you think of CT’s hypertrophy clusters?

5 RM – aim is 10 reps total per set

5 reps + 2-3 + 2-3 , rest 3-5 min

5 reps + 2-3 + 2-3, rest 3-5 min

5 reps + 2-3 + 2-3, rest 3-5 min

I quite liked the idea of doing with with your

method, say



6 reps + 2 +2 + 2, rest 3-5 min and repeat.

BorgeNovember 14, 2012 at 3:18 pm

Cluster training is old and he seems to recycle some

of his methods in 2-3 year cycles. It works just fine.

The muscle reacts to the mechanical tension and

how much time it is subjected to this tension, at a

sufficently high intensity (as % of 1RM) you have

max fiber recruitment from the first rep, so there is

no real practical difference between 5 +2-3+2-3 or

6+2+2+2 or 5+4+3+2+1 or 4+4+3+3+2+2+1+1 or

whatever.

Dan November 13, 2012 at 4:18 pm

Borge would you recommend +10 (2,2 etc) with a 6-8 rep max weight. Or would less be enough, like

7+2+2+2

Borge November 13, 2012 at 11 :09 pm

Define “enough”. The auto-regulation takes care of the volume if you re-read the article, but

whether it is sufficient to get an optimal volume for that muscle group is impossible to

answer – it depends not only on what muscle group you are training, but also the training

frequency and your training age (i.e. volume tolerance and needs).


Okay, thanks borge

Sam November 14, 2012 at 6:57 pm

Okay cool, when using that cluster method for the heavy work, should i just work up to a 3

rep max and go from there and retest say in 6 weeks, or should i always attempt to beat that

3 rep max depending on how i feel?

So far i preferred the method of 6 + 2′s. The 5 followed by 3 was a bit much for me.


Should you increase the frequency of muscles you want to focus on, or just increase the volume? Like 4

days a week, or 2 days with extra volume?


Both will work, it depends on what you are doing now. Wait for my article series on Dynamic

Periodization, will publish it here soon.




Hey man, cheers. At the moment i wanted to emphasize shoulders.

I do a push pull routine, but including some biceps on my push days so it’s 4 x

weekly as you recommended before. I’m also doing an overhead press on both

pull days.

David November 14, 2012 at 11 :07 pm

Hey Borge,

First off, I want to say thank you for posting all these incredibly informative articles and then continuing

to follow up by taking the time to answer peoples’ questions.

The question I have is about how to best implement Myo-reps into a HST routine. I’ve been using Myo-

reps in an auto-regulatory fashion for a while now and really love the way I feel after finishing a set, but I

recently started reading up more on HST training and I decided that I want to give it a try.

My question is: since HST calls for specific periods of higher-rep max training, where you are working

under your 15RM for 4-5 of the 6 sessions, would it be best to set a rep mark for your Myo-reps or just

continue to try it utilizing auto-regulation?

The reason I ask this is because, while I think that auto-regulation is definitely the way to go when

working from a particular RM, if I’m working say, 10-15lbs under that RM, I could probably bang out

subsequent +3s or +5s for the next hour (which I feel may be SLIGHT overkill). For the final (max)

session of each block, I definitely can see auto-regulation working swimmingly…just maybe not so much

for the sessions using weight under that specific RM.

Any insite you could give into whether it would be better to continue trying to auto-regulate or better to set

a rep target (like +20 (or so), for 15RM) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for the time!

Borge November 15, 2012 at 9:45 am

You can still auto-regulate, you just think RPE 8 at the beginning of each rep cycle,

transition into RPE 9 and finish off with RPE 10s.

Andrew November 15, 2012 at 9:09 pm

Borge, just to make sure I understand…. RPE stands for perceived effort?

Borge November 16, 2012 at 11 :00 am

Rating of Perceived Effort.

Sam November 18, 2012 at 1 :45 pm

Not to cause a stir here Borge, but other then fatigue control, what other benefits does Myoreps have over

DC if you used the same 2 way split (with biceps on the lower day).

Borge November 27 , 2012 at 8:56 am

DC uses fatigue as a measuring stick, I try to control fatigue to get in more effective

reps/volume. Myo-reps leads to more hypertrophy and less CNS burnout IMO.




Hey Borge, i want to do less exercises but more myosets, would i be best doing the heavier set first?

Ie 6-8+2+2+2 etc, 3-5 min rest then 9-12+3+3+3 etc

or

9-12+3+3+3 etc, 3-5 min rest then 6-8+2+2+2+2

I was going to include the “occlusion” (10% top and bottom) on the 9-12 set.


Sorry should have asked would it be more optimal to repeat them on the same day, like 2

myorep sets of 6-8 then do the 9-12 sets on a completely different day?

Borge November 27 , 2012 at 8:59 am

Muscle responds to a combination of tension and volume, studies show that

non-linear periodization – i.e. varying load from day to day or week to week is

usually better than a straight linear progression where loads increase and reps

drop as time goes by. The spread between 6-8 reps and 9-12 reps is about 5% of

loading so pretty much irrelevant. There are benefits both to combining high

loads and lower load, high rep training in one workout – there are benefits to

separating them into two workouts. We have no data showing if one is better

than the other, and IMO this is a lot less important than a sufficient load x

volume integral.

rihadJanuary 3, 2013 at 9:40 pm

Hm, this does put HST under pressure If it’s not too much to

ask, could you link to the relevant studies?


http://journals.lww.com/nsca-

jscr/Abstract/2002/05000/A_Comparison_of_Linear_and_Daily_Undulating.13.aspx

http://journals.lww.com/nsca-

jscr/Abstract/2009/07000/Nonlinear_Periodization_Maximizes_Strength_Gains.39.aspx

There are others, but I am sure you can find them

yourself by using Google Scholar or Pubmed

Sam December 14, 2012 at 1 :48 pm

Borge, can increasing your 9-12 rep max, actually increase your overall strength (ie 1 rm)?

Borge December 16, 2012 at 7 :38 pm

Yes, it can.

http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2002/05000/A_Comparison_of_Linear_and_Daily_Undulating.13.aspx

http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2009/07000/Nonlinear_Periodization_Maximizes_Strength_Gains.39.aspx



Sam December 22, 2012 at 12:09 pm

Can you tell me if i have this right…

Because of the last few reps of a set to failure, (ie 8,9,10 of your 10rm) take full

activation of your motor units, it’s not really any different on strength building

then using a heavier low rep load, because the max effort is the same?

The only benefit of the heavier low rep load is that every rep is classed as a max

effort because of the weight used?

BorgeDecember 22, 2012 at 12:15 pm

Not quite. For strength increases, you cannot totally disregard

intensity, i.e. load on the bar. Effort is just part of the picture.


Another thing, if under 8 reps provides “full activation” for each rep.

What is the reason for rest pausing it? Would their be any benefit to rest pause in the 5-8 range if your

already fully activated?

Cheers

Borge December 19, 2012 at 9:47 pm

I mainly use Myo-reps on 8-9 reps and up.

Sam December 20, 2012 at 10:41 am

Hey, yeah i thought as much… If that’s the case why do people do lower rep

clusters?

Like 5+3+2, 6+2+2+2…

Is there any real benefit over straight sets? Or just to get more work in quickly

in that range of intensity?

BorgeDecember 20, 2012 at 8:45 pm

I guess you should ask “people” and not me about this, but yeah –

a benefit of clusters is more work within a shorter period of time.

rihadJanuary 3, 2013 at 9:19 pm

Then can myo-reps be assumed to essentially work

on same thing as cluster reps, namely doing most

effective work in limited time, with one obvious

exception that heavier cluster sets, by their very

nature of being fully activated, don’t require limiting



intra-set rest time? There seems to be a slight

difference: heavier loads don’t put muscles through

same metabolic stress. So does somehow combining

the two approaches seem like a logical outcome?


It is a matter of training different growth pathways,

and although Myo-reps is great in its own way I do

not want to rely on only one tool for everyone, all

the time.

rihadJanuary 5, 2013 at 11 :12 am

Borge, one last question if you don’t mind: I’ve been

training myself following HST principles 3 times a

week (MWF), and the last 2 weeks of 5′s or

negatives are really kicking butt taking up to an

hour and a half, although I’m only doing 2 sets per

major exercise, which totals to 2-4 sets per muscle

considering some overlap. I was thinking of

combining myo-reps with HST on those hard 5′s like

this: Mon & Fri continue doing HST normally. On

Wed switch to high-rep (15 +5x) myo-reps. Is myo-

reps likely to allow me to rest from heavier, neural

CNS work of 5′s, and would heavier HST allow me

to rest from metabolically taxing myo-reps style

training?


That would be one non-linear periodized way of

setting up the training week, yes.


Hey Borge, few more questions as usual

Ever found a benefit of a rep target? Ie Bench Press with 10rm, then rest pause to a rep goal, like 50 total

reps?

Is there an ideal rest period? I’ve been using 30 seconds, is that too long? Should i try shorten it?

Bit confused on what you say is the ideal rep total per week of a muscle group?

Borge December 31 , 2012 at 12:02 pm

Depends on training age, individual muscle groups, overall training program structure etc etc

– but yes, there is an optimum volume threshold.

On Myo-reps, limit rest periods to 20sec.

Sam December 31 , 2012 at 12:10 pm

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Well i really like your one of basically do what you can manage on the day, i

was a little worried it would affect the next exercise, like doing benching, doing

a ton of volume because i feel good that day, but when i go to overhead press i

have barely anything left in the tank?

Also, if people have a certain goal, say strength and explosiveness, is there a rep

range they should never really wander into because of fiber conversion etc?

BorgeDecember 31 , 2012 at 12:13 pm

Then take longer rest periods, e.g. do another exercise for an

antagonist in between and you will have recovered for the OHP.

I hesitate to use the word “never” as it is a matter of degrees, but

obviously a lot of 20+ rep training is going to detrimental for

power and explosiveness if you overdo it.

SamDecember 31 , 2012 at 7 :13 pm

Haha, it would be a lot lower then that, yeah i get

you, i will try that thanks

Dan December 31 , 2012 at 9:30 am

Hey, i’m doing this split twice a week, what do you think? Is it missing anything?

D1 – Bench press, incline bench press, rope pressdowns, overhead dumbbell extensions (single arm),

dumbbell side laterals

D2 – Chin-ups, pull-ups, chest-supported rows (or seated rows), rear delt flyes, preacher curls

D3 – Romanian deadlifts, front squats, leg curls, leg extensions, standing calf raises, seated calf raises

Borge December 31 , 2012 at 12:01 pm

Not missing anything, I would personally drop or replace some of those exercises but this is

an individual choice and exercise selection should both hit all major muscle groups without

creating any major overlap, as well as address your weaknesses.

Dan December 31 , 2012 at 12:07 pm

Hey Borge, what ones was you thinking of?

I heard the triceps should have two because of it’s structure?

I don’t really have any glaring weak points, i was going for a general routine, if

there’s anything you would advise i should remove / add please say

BorgeDecember 31 , 2012 at 12:16 pm

It is a complex topic, but in general you shouldn’t need the rope

pressdowns if you are doing overhead extensions for triceps. Chins

or pullups, but not both in the same workout. I rarely use rows

anymore, I prefer face pulls for upper/mid-back/trap work. I

would alternate preacher curls with incline curls (more stretch).

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Drop the leg extensions, add a single leg squat/lunge variation. I

prefer front foot elevated bulgarian split squats for greater ROM.

rihad January 2, 2013 at 6:09 pm

Hi, Blade. You said: “At approx. 80%+ of 1RM (about 5-8RM loads) you are pretty much at 100% fiber

recruitment from the very first rep. I generally don’t use Myo-reps for loads heavier than 5RM.”

Maybe you mean you don’t use myo-reps for loads heavier than 9RM?

Borge January 2, 2013 at 6:23 pm

That is correct, but read the discussion, this topic has been covered previously.


> Amino acids are pretty much mandatory as they provide building blocks for

> muscle growth, but the body is very good at recycling them which is why you

> can grow muscle even under fasting conditions.

Wow, you mean we don’t have to eat over maintenance (whatever that is) even during a bulk? I’d be glad

to eat less, as I tend to get fat, but would I still grow?

Borge January 4, 2013 at 9:21 pm

That is what I said, yes. Not only does the body make use of ingested calories, but also stored

calories in the body (fat stores). The more fat you have, the greater the available energy

(unless you cut calories too hard).


Borge, just to top things off, this assumes that an individual is training 100%

naturally? I.e. no tren, slin, gh or some such?

BTW the distinction between dieting for bulk/cut seems blurry. Does it mean a

person willing to cut would lower calories even further, or he would just “lean

bulk” this way forever?


Of course, I don’t recommend the use of illegal drugs anywhere in

the article or here in the comment section, do I?

That is because I hate the terms “bulk” and “cut” in the traditional

sense of the wording. People will diet for 3-6 months on excessive

deficits and cardio, get lean but lose a lot of muscle. Then they

switch to bulk-mode and eat 1000kcals or more above

maintenance needs and gain muscle at the same rate as they

would on a more moderate surplus, but also gain a ton of fat.

Which they proceed to spend the next 3-6 months dieting off

while losing all the muscle they just gained. And on and on it goes.

I recommend you adopt a more gradual approach, adjusting

calories according to progress weekly or bi-weekly, being patient

and monitoring strength, bf%, weight, hunger, energy to name a



few. This way you can push things in the right direction by small

and incremental changes.

rihadJanuary 7 , 2013 at 6:07 pm

Thanks, very instructive overall.

> People will diet for 3-6 months on excessive

deficits and cardio, get lean but lose a lot of muscle.

Looks like here you’re not thinking in terms of HST

training (obviously ). The idea is SD coupled with

progressive overload would keep protein synthesis

elevated at all times, and losses during cutting would

be minimal. In case you’re interested, you can see

this thread

http://thinkmuscle.com/forum/showthread.php?

41707-Balanced-diet/page5#42

as not everyone thinks what you’re saying is true.

I do like your idea that eating less would allow me to

lose fat (25%) while bulking (hopefully), that’s what

I did today eating half of what I did before. And

strangely, I’m not starved at all, even though I had

a workout today.

BorgeJanuary 10, 2013 at 11 :42 am

I am not omnipotent, no – but I do this all the time

with my clients and it is measured via DXA. It does

require that a lifter is still below his genetic potential,

and someone like Totentanz who is at the very upper

limits of what he can achieve naturally – and also

quite lean if he looks anything like his avatar pic – it

will be impossible. So it is about context. And you

can quote me on that.

And to add: “I know very few people making

progress who bulk on 1000 calories over

maintenance, or who use excessive deficits with too

much cardio.”

He must have a very special and competent circle of

friends then, because this is the way most people in

the general population approach bulking and dieting

and even how many quite competent coaches

approach it. If everyone is using sensible

approaches, how come there aren’t more lean and

muscular people who have achieved their dream

physiques in gyms everywhere? Where are these

people who can do sensible bulks and moderate

deficits with just enough cardio to create steady rates

of fat loss without muscle loss? I fear that his

competence has created myopia for what others are

actually doing.

Sam January 6, 2013 at 1 :38 am

Hey Borge, atm i’m doing 5 days per week training. I want to primarily go for strength, power

explosiveness etc.

But i want to include maybe 1-2 days of higher rep work like this system. Any ideas on how i should best

http://thinkmuscle.com/forum/showthread.php?41707-Balanced-diet/page5#42



split it up?

Most of my training is the big compounds and olympic lifts, but i really want to include this somewhere.

Should i just do like a 3 day strength routine, with 2 days of this?

Like a push day and pull day at higher reps with the other 3 days as 1-3 reps?

Borge January 6, 2013 at 10:23 am

My preferred sequence during a week is moderate loads moderate volume early in the week,

high load low volume in the middle, and high volume low loads at the end of the week.

Sam January 6, 2013 at 12:57 pm

Okay i think i get what you mean, but would adding two hypertrophy based

days to a 3 day strength routine be okay?

Should the hypertrophy training be seperate from the strength days basically? If

so, would two be okay? So two days of a push pull or upper lower hypetrophy

training. Then the other 3 days are low rep strength based?

BorgeJanuary 6, 2013 at 1 :13 pm

Have you seen PHAT? 2 strength/power days, 3 hypertrophy

days. So it can work just fine – although I think the volume and

sequence of PHAT could be different. I would simply sit down and

design the routine from scratch and not just add 2 extra days to

an existing 3 day routine, but that is beyond the scope of this

article or comment section.

SamJanuary 7 , 2013 at 6:04 pm

Is this a form of DUP? (daily undulating

periodization)?

BorgeJanuary 10, 2013 at 11 :42 am

Yes.

Sam January 6, 2013 at 3:15 pm

Okay borge, thanks for all of your input

Darren January 7 , 2013 at 4:21 am

“I usually do at least 2 exercises for major muscle groups, and more if it is a priority muscle group (or

another Myo-rep set of the same exercise).”

So a set up similar to Lyle’s Generic Bulk where you have bench/incline, chin/row, squat/leg press,

RDL’s/leg curl and one exercise a piece for arms/delt/calves/abs would be a solid base plan?



“If you overdo it, you increase AMPK – one of the primary energy-sensors of the cell – and this can inhibit

protein synthesis and initiate endurance adaptions.”

How much volume would this take? I ask because a guy called Kelei on BB.com is pushing a myo reps

routine using a 10rm for 50 reps/2-3 exercises per muscle group (so 100 reps minimum rest paused) each

muscle twice a week.

My first thought was that it was a bit overkill if we consider Wernbom’s data but perhaps as you alluded to

here in your posts a more advanced trainer may need to push the volume like that for short periods.

Borge January 10, 2013 at 11 :46 am

I cannot give you a generic answer to how much volume it takes, as it depends on your

volume tolerance. If you have worked up the capacity to do more volume, you will also be

able to handle more volume. Going by Rhea and Wernbom’s meta-reviews, however, we can

infer that more than 80-100 reps per muscle group per bout over time could be excessive.

There is an optimal amount, and doing more isn’t going to be better. Finding that elusive

optimum is going to be difficult, and erring on the conservative side is for most people better

than erring on the excessive side and risking regression.

Darren January 12, 2013 at 7 :13 am

Thanks Borge, so going by the available research 30-60 reps per bout is about

optimal for most and 80-100 being the practical limit (although there would be

diminishing returns for time/energy invested). Now this is based on straight

sets right, so my understanding is using myo reps/rest pause that we would

need around half that because we are racking up more ‘effective’ reps? So 15-30

up to 40-50 myo’s after the activation set (with heavier loads requiring less and

lighter loads requiring more)?


Something like that, yes.

DarrenJanuary 13, 2013 at 4:46 am

Thanks again Borge. Must get annoying to keep

going over the same things with all of us. Very

appreciated.


Something like that, yes. (I kid I kid)

daniel January 7 , 2013 at 8:21 pm

Hola Borge:

Querìa saber si podrìa resultar provechoso convinar el Myo-Reps con el sistema de Tensiòn Dinàmica de

Charles Atlas. Personalmente he logrado muy buen resultado con esta convinaciòn y ademàs hago un

ayuno intermitente (IF) del tipo LeanGains. Todo esto me ha llevado a un ràpido mejoramiento de mi

estado fìsico. Daniel Sìvori



Borge January 10, 2013 at 11 :39 am

I don’t speak Spanish.

Andreas January 29, 2013 at 10:50 am

Hello Børge, I was simply wondering if this was the exact same program as the one published in

Norwegian on myrevolution.no (4 parts) in January 2010, simply translated? Or is this an altered or

improved version?

Borge January 29, 2013 at 10:57 am

This is a summary of the 3 first articles.

Tibor March 2, 2013 at 11 :09 pm

Hello Børge, If your goal is to increase 12RM for a competition where according to the rules you have to do

8-12 repetitions with as much weight as possible on a given exercise – as this is a “volume”-contest, you

obviously would like to shoot for 12 – would you rather suggest a Myoreps 9-12+3x approach or a DC 10-

12 + RP approach? What are the trainee-dependent things to consider? The questions are little vague, but I

would appreciate your insight. Thanks a lot!

Borge March 4, 2013 at 8:13 pm

I would use Myo-reps since the point there is to get in more volume, but if you want to get

stronger in the 12RM range you also need to increase absolute strength, so a heavy/light

program with one in the range you are competing in and one training day in the 3-6 rep

range is recommended.

Tibor March 4, 2013 at 9:38 pm

Børge, thanks. That is what I have come up with: a traditional 5×5 part and a

“repping” part in the 10-12 range (using Myoreps in my next training cycle).

Thanks for your input! Best regards, T.

Anthon March 8, 2013 at 1 :52 am

Dear Borge:

If you have to choose only 2 rep ranges for hypertrophy, to do in a workout, two exercise for a muscle

group, what would you choose:

9-12 + 12-15

or

6-9 + 9-12

or

9-12 + 15-20

or

6-9 + 15-20

For example for chest (dips + flies)



Borge March 8, 2013 at 5:05 am

Depends on who I’m working with. Someone less advanced or slow-twitch dominant might

respond better to higher rep ranges, more advanced/elite and fast-twitch dominant, lower rep

ranges. If someone had been doing low reps exclusively I might have them do higher reps for

a while, and vice versa.

My favorite would be the 6-9 + 9-12, though.

Anthon March 8, 2013 at 6:15 pm

Why do you recommend 30-40 seconds for 6-9 reps? Other rest-pause methods

recommends maximum 12 deep breaths (20-25 seconds)

BorgeMarch 8, 2013 at 8:47 pm

I go by breaths, and it will end up in that same range. But

seriously, you are stressing over 5-10secs difference? In a more

neural range where fiber recruitment is already high, I will

actually go with normal sets instead of Myo-reps most of the time

anyway.

AnthonMarch 8, 2013 at 10:55 pm

in my experience, probably that much time

(specially if you are using auto – regulation) avoid

the high-fiber-recluiment.

Do you agree that in this case (auto-regulation)

would be a better choice to short rest to 15-20 secs

maximum, even with the higher loads that you

recommend for myo reps (6-9 + 2x)?

BorgeMarch 9, 2013 at 9:11 am

At higher loads (80-85%+), you have high fiber

recruitment from the first rep, so it becomes more of

a cluster rep strategy and you don’t lose fiber

recruitment by extending the rest period.

Anthon March 9, 2013 at 12:59 pm

Yes, but if a I leave 1-2 reps in the tank, I’m not really in my 80-85%. You use 30-40 seconds personally

for the 6-9 range? Or you use 15-20 seconds instead?


Why do you leave 1-2 reps in the tank? The activation set should be very close to failure. Use

25 seconds, and hopefully the universe can be at peace again.



Frank March 9, 2013 at 6:50 pm

He recommended me by e-mail 10 deep (20 secs or so) breaths for the 6-8 range. I think it’s a

good general recommendation.

Dmitr March 9, 2013 at 10:19 pm

Dear Borge,

I’ve been lifting weights for 3 years, and I’ve been competing in wheelchairs bodybuilding shown in the last

year.

A friend of mine (wheelchair bodybuilder also) is trying your program, and I want to give it a try. Could I

have your opinion about my routine?. It’s a push – pull, twice a week pull, twice push.

Pull-

DB Row 6-9 + 2x

Chin 9-12 + 3x

Shrugs 12-15 + 4x

Biceps 12-15 + 4x

Push-

Low Incline Bench press 6-8 + 2x

Incline Flies 9-12 + 3x

Shoulder DB Press 8-10 + 3x

Sidehev 12-15 + 4x

JM Press 12-15 + 4x

I was going to send you an email, as my friend did, but it does not work, don’t know why. I hope you will

read it hear.

Sincerely,

Dmitr

Apapelkhin, Россия

676058750

[email protected]


The general format looks fine to me, knowing nothing about you or having worked with you

I cannot go into more specifics wrt exercise selection, volume etc.

Dmitr March 10, 2013 at 11 :42 am

Thanks for the answer, and for your great work

Dmitr March 10, 2013 at 1 :44 pm

Forgot to talk to you about something else. I’ve been thinking about taking the

following split:

Monday Thursday- Back + Shoulder

Tuesday and Friday- Chest + Arms

Looks fine?

Sincerely,




Dmitr

Apapelkhin, Россия

676058750

[email protected]

Francesco March 10, 2013 at 6:04 pm

Dear Borge,

For rest periods, I feel that maybe a progressive increase in them may be superior to just go with the same

rest.

For example

Activation set: 9 reps, 5 deep breaths, 3 reps, 7 deep breaths, 3 reps, 9 deep breaths, 3 reps, 10 deep breaths,

3 reps…

Activation set: 7reps, 10 deep breaths, 2 reps, 12 deep breaths, 2 reps, 14 deep breaths, 3 reps, 15 deep

breaths, 3 reps

So 5-10 in the first example, and 10-15 in the second.

Borge March 11 , 2013 at 9:54 am

This is already mentioned in the original article, and is obviously completely fine.

Steve March 10, 2013 at 6:38 pm

Hi Borge, I’ve been using Myo-rep as my primary intensification technique for a while now, and enjoy it

very much. In that regard, I have a question regarding exercise variation. In your opinion, what role (if

any) is there for varying exercise selection from one workout to the next on a high-frequency program

employing the Myo-rep technique? For example, say someone trains Chest Myo-rep style on M/W/F–is

there an hypertrophy advantage to be gained by performing the same 2-3 exercises on each of those

training days? Or would it be better to program different exercises for each of the three Chest workouts?

Thanks.


I would recommend you find a selection of exercises and stick with them for as long as

possible. If you want to change out some isolation stuff or use variations of the compounds

lifts to avoid boredom or pattern overload that is fine – but people who change exercises too

frequently only fool themselves into thinking they are getting new growth due to the neural

learning aspect which increases strength when you implement a new exercise.

Andrew March 10, 2013 at 7 :38 pm

Borge, do you recommend myo-reps for 6-8 reps? In the articles you give the 6-8 reps range. But in your

answers, you say that you don’t use myo-reps for higher than 9RM load.

Doing 6-8 reps, not hitting failure, means that you are in reality at an 8-10RM? So i’m not really at an 80-

85%RM??


This is already covered in the comments thread.




Katia March 10, 2013 at 10:06 pm

Borge, I’ve read all your and norwegian and english articles about this wonderful system, I have read all

the articles, and some seem to disagree with yourself, because you give different rep ranges.

Today, what is your overall recommendation of rest between sets for different rep ranges (i.e. 7-9; 9-12;12-

15…)?

From a girl who admires your work,

Katia


This is covered both in the article and in the comments thread.

Listen people: Myo-reps is about achieving high fiber recruitment by working close to failure

on the first set – called the activation set. The lighter the loads, the more important it is that

you go to failure. In the 6-8RM range you are already achieving close to full fiber

recruitment from the very first rep. This is basic physiology.

When you reach the high fiber recruitment point, you maintain this by inserting short rest

periods and keep doing series of reps – balancing the work:rest ratio so that you can get in

more “effective” reps and thus get in more quality work in a shorter amount of time.

Going back and forth on whether you should use 20secs or 25secs rest or starting at 5secs

and increasing to 15secs, doing 3 or 4 reps in the series etc etc – these are irrelevant details

and you are missing the point completely. I just implemented a set of rules so that people

would understand the concept faster, it is by no means a hard and fast rule you cannot

deviate from or else lose all the effects – or modify the parameters so much that you make a

set last forever (which would induce endurance adaptions and not strength/hypertrophy).

So within the framework given there are plenty of options and variations, feel free to play

around with them – I will not respond to further questions or validate whatever minor

adjustment you have so brilliantly come up with. Chances are I have already done it, I spent

a couple of years developing and refining the method in collaboration with reknowned

scientists such as Mathias Wernbom, and hundreds and thousands of clients who have tried it

in the programming in the 3-4 years since I first released it.

Katia March 11 , 2013 at 6:09 pm

Then you don’t recommend myo-reps for the 6-8 reps range? I can find in the

article the 6-9 range, but in your comments you apparently say that you would

not use them. In your words:

> I mainly use Myo-reps on 8-9 reps and up.

Then you would not use them for the 6-9 range in a regular basis?

Katia


No.

mad3bris March 11 , 2013 at 9:30 pm

Borge to see if I understand … After a set of activation, each set is equivalent to a straight set?

For example, 7 + 2 + 2 + 2 (7 + 2x protocol) instead of 7 +7 +7 +6(4×7 or whatever). Is it correct?




Yes.

Vasilo March 16, 2013 at 1 :14 pm

I don’t think do. 24 reps are effective in the normal series, whereas in the

MYOS 12 repetitions would be effective … actually less work.


OK, I’ve been reading articles and more information on myo – reps, thanks to google translator (bork,

bork: S)

I found this:

Week 13-14: 80-85%, 6-8 +4, reduce load by 10-20% and continue 5-10 +6 (6-8 +2 +2 # 5-10 +3 +3)

Could do such a thing in a routine for calves:

1 – Calf Raise 6-8 + 2x – 3x + 10% 5-10

2 – 3x + 9-12 Seated Calf

Please bear with me Fagerli, I am particularly clumsy, and English is my second language


Sorry, typing mistake, I meant:

1 – Calf Raise 6-8 + 2x drop weight 10% 5-10 + 3x

2 – 3x + 9-12 Seated Calf

Other example:

1- Bench Press 6-8 + 2x drop weight 10% 5-10 + 3x

2- Pec Deck 9-12 + 3x


Yes.

Francesco March 12, 2013 at 12:43 am

6-8 + 1x with 10-15 deep breaths is fine?


Yes.

Heikki March 12, 2013 at 7 :09 pm



Could you illustrate us how an straight set of 6-9 reps vs 6-9 + 2x would look like (effective vs non-efective

reps)?

Borge March 12, 2013 at 7 :49 pm

No. Please read the comment thread.

edit: Alright, I will indulge you this one time, but I swear if I get another question on those 6-

9 reps I will block further comments.

Regular:

1* 2* 3* 4* 5* 6*

Myo-reps:

1* 2* 3* 4* 5* 6*

2* 2*

Regular:

1 2 3* 4* 5* 6* 7* 8*

Myo-reps:

1 2 3* 4* 5* 6* 7* 8*

2* 2* 2*

As you can see, the benefits of Myo-reps don’t become apparent until you hit higher rep

ranges since heavier loads already have a high MU recruitment from the very first rep.

Heikki March 12, 2013 at 8:33 pm

Yes, i was thinking something like that… Today for example, for back I did:

DB Row 6-8 + 2x perform as 8+2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2 (8+24) 20 seconds rest

between sets.

Those are about 30 ”effective” reps.

With 4 sets with longer rest, I would take 30 ”effective reps”, even less.

Would it be possible, for a bodybuilder, not use lower reps than 8 reps? For

example, being the range of 8-10 reps the lower. Then do something, as a

regular basis, with DUP, like 9-12 + 12-15. Example with shoulders:

DB Shoulder Press 9-12 + 3x

Sidehev 12-15 + 4x

instead of using ”straight sets”, like

DB Shoulder Press 4×6

Sidehev 3×10

P.D. Are you accepting new clients right now?

BorgeMarch 13, 2013 at 7 :11 pm

I think you are missing out on growth potential by not going

down into 3-6 rep territory. The more advanced you are, the

heavier loads you will benefit from. Not to mention that e.g.

hamstrings which are in general 70% fast-twitch dominant just

“dies out” above 8 reps, so I do my hip-dominant training in the

3-8 rep range 95% of the time.

My client and waiting lists are currently full. Check back with me

in another 4 weeks, I will have a better overview then.



HeikkiMarch 13, 2013 at 10:43 pm

Ok, my last question:

The range of 42-66 reps for optimal hypertrophy

count the ”non-effective”. Those are more or less 30

”effective” reps right? For example, in a typical 5×5

+ 3×8-12, those are 25 ”effective” reps + 9 ”effective”

reps = 34 effective reps. That’s right, or I’m missing

the point?


Something like that, yes – but it depends on the

loading range.

Blas March 13, 2013 at 6:59 pm

Borge, do you prefer, DUP in the same training routine or throughout the week. Instead of a heavy day

and one light (as in Layne Norton PHAT) do light and heavy at the same day (as in the routine of Lyle

Mcdonald).

Borge March 13, 2013 at 7 :09 pm

Usually on separate days.


Borge, where can I find the RYP program?


https://www.tn.no/drivkraft/artikler/release-your-potential-ver-20

(note that this is their updated version, there are a few changes since the first version I was

involved in designing, many of which I don’t agree much with).


Thanks for the link.

> 6-9 reps – 1 or 2 reps on Myo-reps series, 15-20 breathing pause – notation 6-

9 2 x or 9.6 x 1

could I use both? 6-9 + 2x + 1x. i.e 8+2,2,2,2,2,1,1,1 i can’t do 1 rep anymore so

I stop there.

Vasilo March 16, 2013 at 12:49 pm

Borges, dones not the effort matters at least the same as the MU?

https://www.tn.no/drivkraft/artikler/release-your-potential-ver-20




Of course it does. You cannot go to the point of failure without applying effort to the bar.

Was that what you asked?

Dalinda March 17 , 2013 at 11 :55 am

Borge, I’ll be very busy in the coming days and I need a program that allows me to be a few hours in the

gym. I follow a routine made by my coach, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. It is this: Leg Press 2-3×6-

8-3 ‘ Leg Curl 2-3×6-8-3 ‘ Quads Extensions 2-3×12-15-90 secs. Leg Curl 2-3×12-15-90 secs. Calf Raise 2-

3×5-3 ‘ Seated Calf 2-3×10-12-90secs How could I add the myo-reps to the routine? My coach says this

system is to burn fat, not gain muscle by short breaks … Is it true?


Your coach is an idiot. There aren’t really any specific “fat burning” or “muscle building”

routines per se. You can do some short-rest metabolic work to increase caloric expenditure

and fat oxidation, and I frequently do that with my clients – but the diet is the main

determinant (creating a calorie deficit). The same stimulus that built the muscle and strength

on a surplus will maintain it in a deficit, so the training program looks fine (except for the

dominance of machine training) for that purpose.

assasswe March 17 , 2013 at 2:13 pm

Borge, 6-8 + 3x is fine? Which are the differences between 6-8 + 2x and 6-8 + 3x?


I swear I will ban your ass if you don’t read the comments thread before asking the next

question. I am serious.

Olsen March 17 , 2013 at 9:10 pm

Borge, I tend to lose in minors details, generally I get lost in details … Do you have any routine, without

any kind of difficult progression for muscle growth? i.e do the same every workout


I see you are Norwegian, so read this: http://myrevolution.no/s/myo-reps-del-4-

baseversjonen/

Olsen March 18, 2013 at 7 :44 pm

Borge, today I’ve done:

Row 32kgsx8 + 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2 with 20-30 secs between sets=>

activation set (8 reps) + 16 mini-sets of 2 reps

Shoulder press 18kgsx8 + 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2 with 20-30 secs between sets

http://myrevolution.no/s/myo-reps-del-4-baseversjonen/



Chins 48×12+3,3,3,3 with 10-20 secs between sets

Sidehev 6×11 + 3,3,2 with 10-20 secs between sets

Shrugs 26×13 + 3,3,3,3,2 with 10-20 secs between sets

That’s correct, or would you change somethins? Maybe to much mini-sets? I

did for Rows and Shoulder Press 8+2x and for chins, sidehev and Shrugs

12+3x…

Olsen

BorgeMarch 19, 2013 at 11 :19 pm

Shorten your rest between sets in the myo-rep series on the 6-8

rep range. You should usually hit 3-6 sets after the activation set

(e.g. 8 +2+2+2+2 or thereabouts). Or do 6-8 +3x instead of +2x.

This is all in the article.

OlsenMarch 19, 2013 at 11 :27 pm

Which one would you try/is better (short rest

periods vs 3x)?


Scroll up to my response earlier in the comment

thread, the second line starts with “listen people”.

Read that before asking any more questions, please.

My patience is at the point of exploding right now.

Darren March 20, 2013 at 12:34 am

Oh man we are so gonna lose Borge if people keep asking inane questions!#$!

Borge, I understand Muir reps in the 6-8 range but what about 5-7 reps?

Ron March 20, 2013 at 9:30 am

Agreed

Ron March 20, 2013 at 6:38 pm

Borge, I’ve read all your stuff at my revolution, and I have a few question about setting up my routine. For

Hypertrphy, probably stay in a range of 4-12 reps most of the time is optimal, and a frequency of 2-3x with

42-66 reps (30-40 effective reps more or less). Add some ”metabolic work” is just fine and can help. So i’ve

been thinking in the following set-up of DUP on the routine you recommend in Myo-Reps Part 4 (2-split):

Mon. Upper

Tuesday. Lower

Wednesday. Rest

Thursday. Repeat

As you can see, I end with frequency 2 one week, frequency 3 the other… So, could it work something like



this (example of lower body)

Week1

Tuesday- Heavy (4-8 reps)

Friday- Medium (8-12 reps)

Week 2

Monday- Heavy (4-8 reps)

Thursday- Medium (8-12 reps)

Sunday- Light (15-25 reps)

2 heavy days, 2 medium days, 1 light day

Looks fine?

Borge March 21 , 2013 at 7 :37 pm

I would probably skip the light day altogether and just add it on to the Medium day if you are

moderately advanced.

Said March 21 , 2013 at 7 :31 pm

Borge, which time-efficient method do you recommends for heavier weights (3-6 reps)?

Borge March 21 , 2013 at 7 :35 pm

Cluster training. Still, depends on your goals, you can be time-efficient by doing a total of

only 10 reps for a lift if your main focus is neural strength. If you want hypertrophy, you’re

going to need to increase the time-tension integral and get more total reps (at least 20-40

reps, up to 60-100 reps, depending on your level of advancement, loading range, frequency

etc), so being time-efficient is for all intents and purposes going to be in direct conflict to the

need for sufficient volume.

Said March 21 , 2013 at 9:05 pm

To substitude let say a 5×5 with cluster training, how would it look like? 5 sets

of 10 reps with my 5RM?

For chest, back, and legs I use one compound (5×5) and one isolation

movement (3×12-15). I could use them 5 sets of 10 reps with my 5RM (first

exercise) plus 12-15 + 4x?

Thanks for your patience Borge


Yes, something like that.

Darren March 23, 2013 at 3:54 am

How does reverse pyramid training compare to clusters/rest pause? Is one

better for strength vs growth etc?

With clusters/RP you can rack up some decent volume with a heavier load and

with reverse pyramid your dropping the load each set but may get more overall



volume but I’m not sure how that effects growth/strength signalling.


You need a sufficient load, volume and frequency to induce

strength and hypertrophy. The loading range and volume changes

with training experience and absolute strength levels, the more

advanced you are the more volume you can tolerate (and need) to

grow, and while 60% of 1RM might work just fine for beginners

you will need to get into the 80-90% range the more advanced

you get. There doesn’t seem to be a major difference between

training 2 or 3x/week at this point, except for

powerlifting/strength where the neural effects of high-frequency

training with a more limited volume are well documented.

Tjark March 21 , 2013 at 11 :11 pm

Hey Børge,

not really a question with regards to MyoReps (which is awesome, btw), when doing auto-regulated

training via the RPE/RTS method with straight sets in the 6-8 range, would you rather do a “rep-drop”

with the same weight, instead of the standard load-drop? I’m thinking, a load-drop would put the load

below the threshold for full fiber recruitment. Whats your take on that and would it even matter?


Not a major difference IMO, try both and see which one allows you to get in more quality

work. And varying between them isn’t going to be detrimental either. I think you should stop

trying to look for the answer to perfection. There aren’t any. If it were, I would get rich

writing a 50-page pamphlet, and lifters all over the world could just throw away all their

training literature.

Tjark March 26, 2013 at 8:58 pm

Very nice points, thank you so much!

Birt March 22, 2013 at 6:56 pm

Børge, I’m using this routine for pecs:

Bench Press 5×5 with 3′ rest

Incline Flies 9-12 + 3x

For the 5×5, I don’t really know how to do the RPE, I don’t really feel the difference between RPE 8,9 or

10… Is there any other auto-regulation method easier to implement? With myos is easier because I repeat

myo-sets until I hit failure in the rep 3.


Don’t overthink it, just end the set when rep speed noticeably slows down and you start

grinding reps. This is not necessary when loads are sufficiently heavy.

Daniel March 28, 2013 at 11 :35 pm



Hi Borge,

I am starting your recommended 2-split routine with Myo-reps. Can I start with auto-regulation or should

I use a fixed set pattern for the first cycle according to article #4 guidelines?

Thanks.


If you can properly define and apply the RPE-scale, i.e. being able to honestly determine

whether you have 0 or 1 reps in reserve, you can go ahead with auto-regulation.

Chan March 31 , 2013 at 3:38 pm

Borge, could I have your opinion about the following Split(for a bulking cycle)?

Mon- Back+Chest+Abs

Tuesday- Delts + Arms

5×5 and 9-12+3x for each muscle (except arms, in which I do just 9-12+3x or 12-15 + 4x), and for

shoulders, I do 9-12+3x (Shoulder ^Press with dumbbells), and Sidehev (12-15+4x)

Chan March 31 , 2013 at 3:39 pm

**Tueday- Delts+Arms+LEGS

Borge April 3, 2013 at 6:35 am

Your delts and arms are getting hit on chest/back day as well, so I wouldn’t count on

tolerating that kinda frequency forever.

daniel April 2, 2013 at 11 :45 pm

Daniel 7 januar 2013 kl 20:21 Svar Svar Hei Borge:

Jeg lurte på om kunne med fordel Myo-reps convinar systemet med Charles Atlas Dynamic Tension.

Personlig har jeg oppnådd meget gode resultater med denne convinación Og gjør periodisk faste (IF)

LeanGains type. Alt dette har ført meg til en rask bedring i fitness min. Daniel Sivori


You are joking, right? Except for in rank beginners, there are no muscle or strength building

effects of just flexing and contracting a muscle without resistance.

daniel April 3, 2013 at 10:31 pm

Borge.

I’m not kidding. The dynamic tension requires strength but without any equipment, using your own body

weight, plus he has served thousands of men to grow worldwide. There are many exercises that require no

equipment, such as the squat Sissi and have been unjustly neglected in gyms just for this. Curiosity led me

to try and I have had excellent results, rock hard to keep my 50 years, with a weight of 100kg to 1.90

meters. A big hello to you



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I love bodyweight exercises, as long as you can load them. It is pretty much a given from all

the research and practical experience we have available to us, that you eventually will need to

move loads heavier than your 10-12RM (70% of 1RM) if you are advanced, to get the

sufficient mechanical tension on the contractile structures for strength and hypertrophy

stimuli. By “dynamic tension” I interpreted it as e.g. flexing your biceps and the only

resistance provided is from the antagonist, i.e. triceps. If that is the case, it is not going to

work, sorry – and hello to you, too.

daniel April 11 , 2013 at 2:14 am

Borge

“Expand+Journal of Applied Physiologyjap.physiology.orgPublished online before print December 8, 2005,

doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01267.2005 Journal of Applied Physiology May 2006 vol. 100 no. 5 1460-1466

Article

Muscle size and strength are increased following walk training with restricted venous blood flow from the

leg muscle, Kaatsu-walk training

Takashi Abe1, Charles F. Kearns1, and Yoshiaki Sato2

+ Author Affiliations

1Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, and 2Department of Ischemic

Circulatory Physiology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: T. Abe, Dept. of Exercise and Sport Science, Tokyo

Metropolitan Univ., 1–1 Minami-Ohsawa, Hachioji, Tokyo 192–0397, Japan (e-mail:

[email protected])

Submitted 3 October 2005. Accepted 29 November 2005.

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that low-intensity resistance training with restricted muscular venous blood

flow (Kaatsu) causes muscle hypertrophy and strength gain. To investigate the effects of daily physical

activity combined with Kaatsu, we examined the acute and chronic effects of walk training with and

without Kaatsu on MRI-measured muscle size and maximum dynamic (one repetition maximum) and

isometric strength, along with blood hormonal parameters. Nine men performed Kaatsu-walk training,

and nine men performed walk training alone (control-walk). Training was conducted two times a day, 6

days/wk, for 3 wk using five sets of 2-min bouts (treadmill speed at 50 m/min), with a 1-min rest between

bouts. Mean oxygen uptake during Kaatsu-walk and control-walk exercise was 19.5 (SD 3.6) and 17.2 %

(SD 3.1) of treadmill-determined maximum oxygen uptake, respectively. Serum growth hormone was

elevated (P < 0.01) after acute Kaatsu-walk exercise but not in control-walk exercise. MRI-measured thigh

muscle cross-sectional area and muscle volume increased by 4–7%, and one repetition maximum and

maximum isometric strength increased by 8–10% in the Kaatsu-walk group. There was no change in

muscle size and dynamic and isometric strength in the control-walk group. Indicators of muscle damage

(creatine kinase and myoglobin) and resting anabolic hormones did not change in both groups. The results

suggest that the combination of leg muscle blood flow restriction with slow-walk training induces muscle

hypertrophy and strength gain, despite the minimal level of exercise intensity. Kaatsu-walk training may

be a potentially useful method for promoting muscle hypertrophy, covering a wide range of the population,

including the frail and elderly.

muscle hypertrophydynamic and isometric strengthanabolic hormonesischemia

Copyright © 2006 the American Physiological Society"




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