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by gwd 787 days ago
If you want to do weight training but don't want to spend a lot of time in the gym, look into "myo-reps". Rather than doing a traditional "Do 3 sets of 12 reps separated by 90-120s", you do a set of 12, then do several sets of 5 after waiting only 15 seconds. It's more intense but just as effective, and a lot faster.

Doesn't really work on leg day if you're lifting heavy, because 15 seconds isn't enough to catch your breath; but has worked pretty well for me for push and pull days, where my whole workout is usually less than half an hour.

1 comments

Myo reps might have training benefit for strength-endurance athletes, but afaik they don't improve muscle growth or 1rm strength comparably to traditional schemes. If new work has come out showing that please share.

As of about 4 years ago the research I'd seen suggested that taking rest breaks of 3 mins vs 30s or 1m improves gains over time, though to be fair the lower rest breaks resulted in less overall work being done, so that's not entirely surprising.

> they don't improve muscle growth or 1rm strength comparably to traditional schemes

I didn't say they improved muscle growth cf traditional rest times, just that they took less time. The person I responded to didn't sound like they wanted to be as huge as they could be. I don't want to be as huge as I can be either -- I primarily want to maintain muscle mass as I age (nearing 50). Getting in a solid workout in 20-30 minutes rather than 45-60 minutes makes a big difference to that goal. ETA: As they say, "The best workout is the one you actually do".

This guy is a bit vulgar, but has a lot of good information:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V71TGRQaLRs