High Rep Benefits

I know Coach has talked about there being benefits of high rep training in press HS variations and rope climbs etc.. What exactly are the benefits versus solely pursuing more challenging and complex exercises?

High reps improve the amount of blood floow and joint recovery .

8 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

High reps improve the amount of blood floow and joint recovery .

 

So it's more for the therapeutic benefits than improved strength?

There is no long therm strength development with GST approach without joint specific preparation and conditioning.

HI Alex,
Is not a matter of comparing one to the other, "this (high reps) vs that (complex movements)." High reps have its place for conditioning purposes and are needed in order to build a solid base so that later on we can build strength and hopefully get to do more complex tasks, safely. 

I can think of a few benefits

- As stated above increased bloodflow to promote recovery.

- Increased work capacity.

- Less risk of injury due to significant amount of reps required before progress.

- Good form will be hammered in the more you do the exercise. Basically, having a high rep standard means that it might almost be impossible to NOT progress without good form.

There are also a lot of disadvantageous like little strength gain and unreasonably slow progress.

In the end it is all about how these types of training are programmed.

Actually there are NO disadvantages to high rep work being included.  Provided it is properly programmed and scheduled.

In fact the stronger an athlete is, the more imperative it is that they engage in at least one high rep day every one to two weeks.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach

I heard you  mention high rep work at a seminar last year in Houston and you had advised using earlier foundation work for this.  For example, if I am currently on F4, I could use elements from F3 for my high rep day.  Would this be appropriate?  Also, how would you program and schedule it in?  I am currently on a 4 day split with a day of stretching.  Would you add a day of high rep or replace one of my scheduled days with high reps?  Also, how many sets and reps would you recommend on the high rep day?

Also, thanks for everything.  I converted to GST about 1.5 years ago and you got me to a 20s FL, 20s side lever, 4x3 OAC (after rope climb mastery), and going strong on the others. You have put a big smile on my face.  

If you have already completed F4  then you can consider to add an high reps day, if not you should wait. once F4 is completed on both major PE and IM a videos of mastery is required.

Thanks.  I finished side lever, front lever, and rope climb.  I am years away from manna.  Lack of flexibility is really holding me back (on the IMs too).  I am doing front splits once a week and it is not pretty.  I am progressing slowly through SLS and am scheduled to finish in about 5 months.  Not sure how long I have on planche.  I am on half straddle now, but I think I probably have a year or so left for that.  I guess I will focus on these elements for now.  Maybe I'll just do some extra planche leans and PPP.  You can never have enough of those.  Thanks again.  

IN order to perform proficiently an high reps workout I prefer that HBP is already mastered coupled (if possible) with a solid free hs.

I stopped handstand work about 7-8 months ago bc of dorsal wrist impingement.  Because of this reason, I also stopped the HBP progressions after I completed F3. I can't put my hand flat on the ground especially with an axial load.  I have worn tiger paws and used parallettes as much as possible and decided to give up those 2 moves.  I was thinking of trying to start handstand work back slowly on parallettes, but I'm trying not to rush anything bc my progress in foundation has otherwise been good.

I'm sorry to hear about the wrist problem. I wish you a good recovery!