Mixed reps, same workout or cycled

[Need2ShapeUp]

I've been interested in some of the threads that pointed out that it's good to hit different rep ranges (3-6,7-10, 12-15, etc.)

Most of the time I hear people saying that they cycle through it weeks at a time. For example, for a few weeks they do 3-6, then 7-10 for a few, etc.

Is it just as good to hit the different rep ranges in a single workout, or is it better to stick with one at a time?

[John Prophet]

sort of depends on the whole workout and how it is structured

for the average guy I think its better to mix in some different ranges on each workout

for instance apopular way might be to do lower rep stuff on your main compound exercises, then a little higher on second moves or iso's

for instance

bench 5 reps
incline db 8-10 reps

squats 5 reps
leg extensions 8-10 reps

and on the "5 rep" stuff on some days you could work down to heavy 3 rep sets.....and then on some days instead of 5's do something like 3x7



the problem with doing like a whole phase (3-6 weeks) of just one rep range, is that the other muscle qualities suffer in the meantime since they arent being worked at all

like if you ONLY did 3-6 reps....then you wouldnt be gaining whatever youd gain from the 8-10 rep stuff......if you were going to approach it like that, then youd FOCUS on that certain rep range, say (3-6)...but youd still sneak in a few sets each week of 8-10 rep stuff

youd have one main rep range, but then youd still work the other ranges but at a lower "maintenance" level