Is a Numerical System needed?

[bronx_brawla]

*now before anybody breaks my balls about posting this thread...I just wanna say that i did a search on this topic, and found nothing.....So if you have any links to other threads posted that are similar to this one, that i might have missed...by all means..send them...so i dont waste my time, and yours --thanx

-In the gym this week, i noticed a guy working out next to me doing bicep curls. And i was counting how many reps he was doing for each set. And i noticed that his rep counts were kind of irregular. Like it didnt look like he was counting.

So i asked him to spot me for one of my sets of scullcrushers. If somebody is spotting me, i always tell them how many reps im goin for, so they know how to "stay with me." So i told him that i was goin for 10 to 12 reps. So he said, "ok." By the 8 rep...i was starting to get fatigued...and i needed his spot. But i couldnt make it to 12 like i wanted.

So i was pretty pissed that i didnt complete a "full set." Seeing that i was pissed he says, "Dont even worry about counting...your muscles dont undertstand "numbers"...they recognize stress on a certain muscle."

I understood what he was saying...and since then i thought more about it. I'm postitive the whole BB community uses reps and sets. However, my question is...do we really need a means of numbers and sets?...Or should we rely on muscle exhaustion to test or monitor our progression?

Just speculation.

 

[G-13]

I went from 150lbs to 190lbs by writing everything down sets reps, i used it as a means to beat myself by at least a rep or an increase in weight. It was a personal success for me to just get one more rep than last time or if it was more then great, i think someone or even most people could do fine by not writing everything down, it really made a difference for me. It allowed me to make changes and adjustmens when something wasn't working.

 

[blackbeard]

more importantly do you really need to worry so much about bicep curls??????
i think the answer is NO

stop reading tht crap in muscle and fiction those guys are full of drugs and most havent a clue how to train..when they dont gain they take more drugs and tey happen to be "gifted" enough that their bodies respond to such high doses of drugs..that is the GENETICS part of bodybuilding..

squat/bench/dead everything else will fall inot place..you dont need a full day of 20 sets devoted to arms do bicep work after back 3-5 sets and that is more than enough

 

[jcp2]

counting reps is fine, but like said above, use it as a means of tracking progress, don't fall into the 8-12 rep trap, do a variety of different rep schemes. He is right though, the body doesn't understand reps.

 

[Mudge]

If you never aim for a given weight/rep, you will probably push yourself a lot less often. You must challenge the body, if you fail, then so be it. But otherwise you will do the same shit day in and day out.

 

[jcp2]

more importantly do you really need to worry so much about bicep curls??????
i think the answer is NO

stop reading tht crap in muscle and fiction those guys are full of drugs and most havent a clue how to train..when they dont gain they take more drugs and tey happen to be "gifted" enough that their bodies respond to such high doses of drugs..that is the GENETICS part of bodybuilding..

squat/bench/dead everything else will fall inot place..you dont need a full day of 20 sets devoted to arms do bicep work after back 3-5 sets and that is more than enough

Shit, i have to cancel that subscription to Muscle and Fitness i got you for your birthday.

 

[Mr. dB]

squat/bench/dead everything else will fall inot place..you dont need a full day of 20 sets devoted to arms do bicep work after back 3-5 sets and that is more than enough

Yeah, that's the advice I hear from all the 300 lb guys with 19" pipes.

 

[blackbeard]

Shit, i have to cancel that subscription to Muscle and Fitness i got you for your birthday.

dont tell anyone you can still send it
my bi's are a little flat

 

[bronx_brawla]

so then numbers and sets are merely just set-points.