MOre REst, Less REps

Here are some strength training rules you should know about. People who train for a long time understand these rules and it helps them play the long game.

The first: rest more. If something feels hard, and your goal is to improve strength-chill out.

Resting allows the processes that happens in your muscles run its program to gear up for the next bout. That extra minute or two can be the difference in a weight feeling really easy or too hard.

If something feels heavy, remember that isn’t a bad thing if you’re trying to build strength. You need stress to build strength and that struggle is good!

Too much of a struggle can be an issue though. We want proper technique and often times the way to ensure better form with a heavier weight or harder skill is to cut back on the reps-which is my second point today.

If your program says do 8, but you just increased a weight for the first time, you can do 5 or 6 reps to build confidence and get some practice. Keep the movement quality high instead of completing 8 sloppy reps.

Experienced gym-goers get this, and it’s a valuable framework to keep you playing the long game.

—Justin Miner