Pros and Cons of Forced Reps
So after six reps of 150lbs on the bench press you decided to call it quits. You were pretty tired even though you know you could have knocked out eight if you had a spotter. You didn't though and didn't want to risk hurting yourself.
Enter the Forced Rep
The situation is the same. You are struggling with your sixth rep, but got it up. Your spotter encourages you to do a seventh. You lower the weight, and lift it about six inches off of your chest and your stuck. Without your spotter, you are in bad situation, but your spotter is there, and lifts about 10lbs of the weight, and you get past the sticking point to power the rest of the rep.
Now he thinks you should go for an eighth. You reluctantly and slowly lower the bar, but realize you can't get it back up. You simply can't lift the weight by yourself. Your spotter barely lifts the bar with you, only about 10-30lbs worth. After what feels like an hour you finally get the bar up and the set is over. This is a forced rep.
The true definition is: an extension of a particular set of repetitions in which your strength level at the beginning of the set has been reduced to a point of positive failure. This is the point at which you can't possibly move the weight by yourself. Your spotter steps in to barely help and you achieve maximum intensity. He only helps slightly but you are so tired that you feel like he's done all the work and you got nothing out of it. Trust me, you are the one who actually lifted that weight, he only helped.
The Good
The forced rep squeezes out every bit of intensity from your working muscles. When you are faced with a force rep, a physiological reaction occurs. When you are performing a rep and simply can not lift the weight, it's a scary feeling. There are only a few options, drop the weight on yourself or try to tilt the bar to make the weight fall off, or have your spotter help. Those are your mind's options, your body's options are DO or DIE. This releases a surge of adrenaline making you stronger and able to lift the rep. All in all, when one or two forced reps are used in an exercise, you will have no doubt that you have put in maximum intensity. You used all of the force that your muscles could produce at the time.
The Bad
When used in the right circumstanced forced reps are a good thing. It is very easy to get carried away. I use only one or two forced reps per exercise, not per set. Forced reps can lead to over training, and with every size gaining program you want to employ maximum intensity. When your body is performing a forced rep it is using it's maximum strength capacity, and when the intensity increases, duration must decrease. Pretty much if something is heavier and harder, you shouldn't be able to do more. Forced reps aren't bad, too many are.
Forced reps are a great way to get the most out of any set. They are a great way of knowing you reached maximum intensity, but within reason. This is why I suggest doing only two forced reps at the end of your last set. If you do more, or on more sets this will lead to muscular exhaustion and actually smaller muscles. - 17273
Enter the Forced Rep
The situation is the same. You are struggling with your sixth rep, but got it up. Your spotter encourages you to do a seventh. You lower the weight, and lift it about six inches off of your chest and your stuck. Without your spotter, you are in bad situation, but your spotter is there, and lifts about 10lbs of the weight, and you get past the sticking point to power the rest of the rep.
Now he thinks you should go for an eighth. You reluctantly and slowly lower the bar, but realize you can't get it back up. You simply can't lift the weight by yourself. Your spotter barely lifts the bar with you, only about 10-30lbs worth. After what feels like an hour you finally get the bar up and the set is over. This is a forced rep.
The true definition is: an extension of a particular set of repetitions in which your strength level at the beginning of the set has been reduced to a point of positive failure. This is the point at which you can't possibly move the weight by yourself. Your spotter steps in to barely help and you achieve maximum intensity. He only helps slightly but you are so tired that you feel like he's done all the work and you got nothing out of it. Trust me, you are the one who actually lifted that weight, he only helped.
The Good
The forced rep squeezes out every bit of intensity from your working muscles. When you are faced with a force rep, a physiological reaction occurs. When you are performing a rep and simply can not lift the weight, it's a scary feeling. There are only a few options, drop the weight on yourself or try to tilt the bar to make the weight fall off, or have your spotter help. Those are your mind's options, your body's options are DO or DIE. This releases a surge of adrenaline making you stronger and able to lift the rep. All in all, when one or two forced reps are used in an exercise, you will have no doubt that you have put in maximum intensity. You used all of the force that your muscles could produce at the time.
The Bad
When used in the right circumstanced forced reps are a good thing. It is very easy to get carried away. I use only one or two forced reps per exercise, not per set. Forced reps can lead to over training, and with every size gaining program you want to employ maximum intensity. When your body is performing a forced rep it is using it's maximum strength capacity, and when the intensity increases, duration must decrease. Pretty much if something is heavier and harder, you shouldn't be able to do more. Forced reps aren't bad, too many are.
Forced reps are a great way to get the most out of any set. They are a great way of knowing you reached maximum intensity, but within reason. This is why I suggest doing only two forced reps at the end of your last set. If you do more, or on more sets this will lead to muscular exhaustion and actually smaller muscles. - 17273
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posted by X - Men at
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