Myo-Reps Protocol - Starting 8/13/12

Myo-Reps Protocol:
I was doing my normal ABA split of Chest/Tri's (A) and Back/Shoulders/Bi's (B) for months and wanted to change things up.  I was more/less doing 6-8 reps on compound movements (bench press, military press, pullups, etc.) and 8-12 reps on complementary movements (triceps pushdowns, curls, etc.).  I've been doing a lot of research and became very interested in Myo-Reps and decided to start using it as my main WO protocol starting on about August 13, 20012.  I'm still doing the same split above, but using the Myo-Rep protocol instead of straight sets.  Myo-Reps were "invented" by Børge Fagerli (aka Blade on Lyle McDonald's Body Composition forum).  Here's one explanation, and another.  Google "Børge Fagerli Myo Reps" for a ton more information.

Before getting into the details, here's an explanation of my notations using my first exercise as an example.
First exercise: (195#Bench) 10/+3,3,3,3,3 (6) 25
  • (195#Bench), is the exercise and weight used (if applicable)
  • 10, the first number after the exercise is the # of reps on the first working set, AKA the "activation set" where the muscle gets activated
  • +3,3,3,etc., are the number of reps for each additional mini-set
  • (6), is the total number of "sets" (the sum of activation set + mini-sets)
  • 25, is the total number of reps
  • Rest between all sets is kept to a minimum (~15 seconds, about 7-8 deep breaths)
The theory, as I understand it, is that the first set activates the muscle(s) being worked with the last couple reps before failure being "effective reps".  Short rest and jumping right into the mini-sets makes all the additional reps essentially "effective reps" during the mini-sets.  NOTE: load (weight) is kept constant for each exercise.  These are NOT drop sets.

This protocol is intense and FAST.  WO's that used to take me over an hour are now done in 35-40  minutes.  I'm still getting used to getting in and out of the gym quickly and still feeling like I've had a tremendous workout.

Anyway, take a gander at the two links I posted above for more detail and to see how I probably butchered the protocol below during my WO's :)

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