sets, pyramid and much more

[Phil]

Hi guys,

in the last months i read a lot of different workout types. sets, pyramids, ladders and much more. but if i want to train in sets how can i increase my reps? should i add one rep each time i do pushups or is this too much? my next question is if its healthy to train to muscular failure like demanded in many workouts?

thanks for your answers and sorry if my english is too bad. i am from germany and my last english lesson in school is quite long away.

Phil

[koltz]

muscular faliure? noone has hardly ever reached that , when you train for faliure you train for CNS (nervous system) flaiure , it got it's place (repeated effort method) but you shouldn't overdo it as it stals some strength gains......

when you reach muscular faliure (a real one) your an inch away from a repture. that's why your body is built to fail the nerves first

this is unlikely too much , look for my upper body routien in the workout forum and the sets there are good for like 8-20 reps . oviously the less reps the more sets you do because of the overall weight pumped up...

[Drunken Panda]

Increase reps as and when you feel comfortable doing the amount of reps you are doing at the moment. For example, if doing sets of 30 pushups has become easy, increase the amount to 35 and continue at that amount of reps until 35 becomes easy, when you then increase it, and so on.

Over the weeks, you total figures should increase.

As your repititions increase, you should start to think about incorporating / swapping in harder exercises, and starting the process again. That way, you continue to increase the intensity of your workouts.

I hope that gives you some idea of what you can do. Good luck - let us know what you end up doing.

[koltz]

also don't go crazy with repetitions....