Articles by Jesse Jobe
Extra Workouts, Are They for Everybody?
Reps Don't Awlays Equal Your Max
Extra workouts,
are they for everybody?
by Jesse Jobe
Are extra workouts for everybody? My answer is YES. Though I am no elite
lifter or somebody special at all, I do feel that extra workouts will benefit anybody. An extra workout may
consist of sled pulling, plyometrics, or working with bands. Sled pulling is definitely a great extra, not
only does it build more muscle, but it also makes one more physically prepared for workouts. Drag 100lbs behind
you for 50 ft for the first time and see how bad it kicks your butt. There are many different ways to use
the sled. You can either drag it behind you walking forward, or you can drag it in front of you walking backwards.
Another couple of variations are to put straps around your ankles and drag the sled with your ankles (this one
is real good hamstring burner). Now take the straps, bend over, and pull the sled with your hands at your
sides, approximately at your knee level.
Most of my extra workouts last only 10-20 minutes so they are quite easy to
get in. Usually after my first bench I will do an extra workout consisting of face pulls with the bands,
then tricep pressdowns with the mini bands, then upright rows with the bands, then I finish off with some ab work.
On my first squat day I use many different variations for extra workouts.
Usually either goodmornings with the bands, band leg curls, then abs or I will do a tri-set with the mini band
consisting of front kicks, rear kicks, and some sort of abductor movement. These are really good for building the
hips and hamstrings.
On my second bench day I usually do lat work with the bands, then delt work,
then abs. For my DL day I do pullthroughs, lower back work then abs. These are just examples of what
I do. Sometimes I pull a sled, use my bands, or I stretch.
Reps Don't Always Equal Your Max.
In this article I am going to discuss trying to figure out your max by using certain
amount of reps you do with a weight. You know what I am talking about - say you can do 225 for 3. You multiply
that 1.15 and you get your max. Well, this formula in my opinion doesn't work that often at all. About
the closest opinion I got on reps equaling your max is, if you can do 5 reps with a certain weight I would hope
you can do 10% more, but this doesn't always hold true either.
Lets look at some of the factors that determine this. We possess what are called 'muscle twitch fibers';
some are slow and some are fast. These fibers make a good determination of the amount of reps you will be
able to handle. I have a lot of slow twitch muscle fibers in my lower body. In my upper body I am composed
of more fast twitch muscle fibers. Here is an example of what I am talking about: In a workout recently,
my training partner and myself decided to do squats. As far warm-ups go, we both stay about the same. It
is once we get the heavy weights that things change. He can squat 275x5 and I am lucky if I get 3 in, but
I am able to keep up with his weight increases. He may be able to squat more for reps but we both squat about the
same amount of weight. The deadlift is definitely one exercise that reps don't mean jack. In my last
meet I could barely deadlift 315 for 3 reps but I deadlift over 400 easily.
The bench press is another story for me. I am quite explosive in this movement and I am able to do reps with decent
weight also. Here is a bench press example: We have 2 lifters, Lifter A and Lifter B. They do a workout together.
Both do 135x15 then they move on to 185x10, 225x8, 250x5, then things start to change. On 275 lifter A gets 5 reps
and lifter B gets 3. They move up to 300lbs. Lifter A gets 3 reps and Lifter B gets 1. Now they go for 350. Lifter
A misses the lift and Lifter B gets the lift- it is slow and deliberate but he gets it. Lifter A is
more than likely composed of more fast twitch fibers, whereas lifter B has more slow twitch fibers. Just
remember that the amount of reps that you can lift doesn't mean a thing on meet day.