"Higher Reps for Size and Strength - 5-Times Olympics Speed Skater Shows You How"

Discover how to boost your gains with higher reps for size and strength.

Lighten the Load

Lifting heavy all the time can be a "slippery slope," often leading to stalled progress, overtraining and injury. 

But here's the thing... this track is easy to navigate when you follow a super-simple strategy we touched on a few posts ago.

The solution? 

Lighten the load.

Here is what you do:

At your next workout, cut all your training weights by half.

Worried you're going to lose strength and size by going light? Don't be. All the latest research shows mixing up your loads and rep ranges not only aids the recovery process, but helps you add muscle too.

Higher Reps for Size and Strength

To understand what is possible on this type of regimen, we only have to look at long track speed skater Eric Heiden.

For those who aren't familiar with Eric, this winter Olympics record-breaker owns 28 inch thighs in addition to legendary stamina and strength. 

How strong are we talking here?

Eric continues to hold the record for maximal wattage output on the "Wingate" test — something that has been done repeatedly since the 1970s, and basically measures your body's "bad-assery" over a maximal 30 seconds effort. (Every pro cyclist has done this; yet even with modern sports training and steroids, no one has beaten speed skater Eric.)

So what was Eric's secret?

Yep. You guessed it. Lighter loads and higher reps.

For example:

Eric's exercises included the leg press for sets of 100 reps. He also squatted with 205 pounds – but he did it for 300 reps!

When quizzed about his training, he had this to say: "We did a lot of squats, step-ups. We never did a lot of weights, but a lot of repetitions."

High Rep Training

Another guy who utilised high rep training was legendary lifter and bodybuilder Tom Platz. 

Tom used to squat with 400 pounds for 50 reps on his "heavy" leg day, and on his "light" leg day, squatted with 225 pounds for 10-minutes straight!

And there's something else you need to know about "The Golden Eagle"... 

Oklahoma born Tom rarely used a range lower than 12 to 15 reps!

Tell that to the next knucklehead at your gym who says, "You can't build size and strength with high reps."