It was almost ten years ago when I felt as though I was about to pass out after a workout. I had just finished the heaviest part of a training cycle and was now starting a new cycle with lighter weights and high reps. During the light part of the cycle, I did up to 15 reps for upper body exercises, and up to 50 reps for leg exercises. As I was finishing my first high rep workout of a new cycle, my body started to overheat. The blood seemed to drain from my head and I could barely maintain consciousness. This is not the first time I had experienced this feeling, it was about the fourth time over the course of ten years, but it always seemed to happen the same way; I would finish a cycle with heavy weights and low reps and shock my body with light weights and high reps to the point of feeling as though I was going to pass out. By about the third workout into the new cycle with lighter weights and higher reps, the workout would already feel a lot easier. No hyperventilating, no feelings of nausea, nor did I experience the feeling as though I was about to pass out. I just needed a little familiarity with higher reps instead of a sudden plunge into high rep training.
Work Your Way Up To High Reps
At this point in my life, I know better than to suddenly jump into high rep training. I understand now that in order to do a hard high rep workout, I must work my way up to it. The point of this is that many cycles are based on starting out light with high reps, and working up to heavier training with low reps, but I rarely hear of the opposite process in which a lifter works his way up to high reps. If you prefer training cycles that include a variety of weights and reps, consider that it may not be the best idea to simply start a new cycle by suddenly jumping into high rep training.
Many lifters never vary their training enough to worry about the negative consequences of suddenly jumping into high rep training. For example, if you start a linear periodization cycle with eight or less reps, you may not have any problems starting a new cycle because eight reps won’t challenge your cardiovascular system as much as doing higher reps such as squatting with 15 to 20 reps. However, if you are a lifter who likes to start a cycle with 15 or more reps, be careful or you may end up exhausted, nauseated, or unconscious if you don’t work your way up to it. The take away here is to work your way up to it. How is this done?
How To Work Up To High Reps
For those who prefer to include light weights and high reps for a portion of a training cycle, I would suggest that you start from a place of moderate weights with six to eight reps. From there you can gradually decrease the weight and increase the reps from workout to workout until you have worked your way up to high reps with light weights. You can do this with the following progression:
Workout 1: Do 6 to 8 reps per exercise.
Workout 2: Do 8 to 10 reps per exercise.
Workout 3: Do 10 to 12 reps per exercise.
Workout 4: Do 12 to 15 reps per exercise.
If you want the process to take a little longer in order to make it easier to adapt to the higher reps, you can work your way up to the higher reps from week to week instead of workout to workout.
Use Appropriate Weights For Each Rep Range
Use weights that are appropriate for each rep range listed. In my own case, I prefer using weights that allow me to perform the designated number of reps using a steady even rep pace. This usually amounts to leaving two to three reps in the tank. I choose to avoid grinder reps, and one thing you will find when using lighter weights is that you can perform the reps at a faster pace at the start of the set, but you can also grind out more slow reps once the rep speed starts to slow down. Be careful as you can burn the fire out of your muscles when going all out with light weights and high reps. I generally repeat reps of a set only as long as I can maintain a steady even rep speed, although, sometimes I allow myself to push to the point where I am forced to slow down on my last rep.
When you work your way up to high reps with light weights, you can then begin to follow the more traditional method of modulating from light weights and high reps to heavier weights and lower reps as you progress through a training cycle.
For anyone who has the experience of feeling wiped out at the start of a cycle due to jumping into the use of light weights and high reps, consider working your way up to the higher reps instead of overwhelming your body with the sudden shock of high reps. Best of training to you.