Super high reps with super low weight?

[skinet123]

A friend of mine does from time to time workouts with extremely high reps and very low weight. For example - lift an empty bar 500 times at a good pace. He says that his chest hurts like a faka the next day, but how effective is it for growth?

 

[muskate]

His chest hurts the next day because of a build up of lactic acid from the high rep training. Training the way he suggested is a great way to burn calories but it isn't an effective way to build muscle because the weight used isn't large enough.

There is a famous saying "success leads clues".

Look at the most musclar bodybuilders. Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, Dorian Yates etc. They all lift very heavy weights in the 6-12 rep range.

The ideal rep range for hypertrophy (building muscle) is 6-12. You can add in some high rep burn out sets but if your goal is to build muscle, the majority of your working sets should be in the 6-12 rep range.

 

[stevesmi]

these are called centuries and they are good way to change things up. the next day soreness is simply from muscle fibers being ripped up and inflammation.

i wouldn't do this type of workout frequently. maybe throw it in every month or two

 

[Jay Scott]

A friend of mine does from time to time workouts with extremely high reps and very low weight. For example - lift an empty bar 500 times at a good pace. He says that his chest hurts like a faka the next day, but how effective is it for growth?

I would sometimes incorporate such type of unusual workouts, or do it as a last forced exercise.

Giving your body a shock every now and then really can help to push through plateau

 

[MasonicBodybuilder]

The key here is that you said "from time to time". I think anything that is different like this can be very beneficial when used sporadically. It is not something you will do everyday to gain mass but occasionally it will shock the muscle and system. Great idea in my opinion.