Most of us don’t have infinite hours to spend within the gymnasium, however that doesn’t imply your exercises must undergo.
Methods like Myo reps will help you do extra high-quality coaching in much less time, making your exercises extra environment friendly with out sacrificing muscle development.
They work by packing more practical reps into shorter units, so you may make good good points with out dragging out your coaching.
On this information, you’ll study precisely what Myo reps are, how they work, and methods to use them to get essentially the most out of your time within the gymnasium.
Key Takeaways
- Myo reps allow you to construct simply as a lot muscle as conventional coaching in much less time by holding relaxation intervals brief and permitting you to achieve failure a number of occasions in every set.
- As a substitute of doing a number of lengthy units, you carry out one activation set, then use brief rests and small “Myo-rep units” to get extra productive reps in much less time.
- Myo reps are simpler in your joints and tendons as a result of you possibly can practice with lighter weights whereas nonetheless stimulating muscle development.
- They will help you break by plateaus by growing your coaching quantity with out including an excessive amount of fatigue.
- In a Myo-rep match set you identify a rep goal in your first set and use Myo-rep units to match it in each following set.
What Are Myo Reps?
Myo reps are a energy coaching approach designed to make your exercises extra environment friendly by serving to you do extra “muscle-building” reps in much less time.
As a substitute of doing a number of conventional units with lengthy relaxation intervals, Myo-rep sets have you ever carry out one conventional set (known as an “activation set”), then a number of brief units with just a few seconds of relaxation in between.
Norwegian energy coach Borge Fagerli developed Myo reps as a solution to do extra high-effort reps in much less time. He based mostly his methodology on the concept the ultimate reps of a set, when your muscle tissues are near failure, are those that stimulate essentially the most development—a idea known as “efficient reps.”
Some researchers debate this, however Fagerli and lots of others consider that doing more practical reps by taking your muscle tissues near failure a number of occasions in fast succession is a extra environment friendly solution to construct muscle than following a conventional set construction.
Myo Reps and Henneman’s Dimension Precept
Fagerli’s stance attracts closely on Henneman’s Dimension Precept, which explains how your physique recruits muscle fibers. Right here’s the gist:
- Your muscle tissues don’t activate all fibers directly. They begin with smaller, weaker, “slow-twitch fibers” and solely name within the bigger, extra highly effective, “fast-twitch fibers” when completely obligatory.
- These fast-twitch fibers—which even have essentially the most potential for development—solely “swap on” once you both elevate heavy weights or grow to be so fatigued that your physique has no alternative however to make use of them.
- In conventional coaching, you employ a number of “lengthy” units to achieve the purpose at which your muscle tissues recruit all out there muscle fibers. Compared, Myo-rep sets get you up to now sooner by holding relaxation intervals extraordinarily brief so your fast-twitch fibers keep switched on.
Right here’s a graph for instance this level:
How Do You Do Myo Reps?
Myo reps are simple when you perceive the construction. Right here’s methods to do them step-by-step:
Step 1: Activation Set
Carry out 15-to-30 reps with a weight that’s 30-to-50% of your one-rep max (1RM).
- Newbies: ~30% of 1RM
- Intermediates: ~40% of 1RM
- Superior lifters: ~50% of 1RM
Finish your activation set 1-to-2 reps shy of failure.
Step 2: Myo-Reps Units
- Relaxation for 5-to-15 seconds. One of the best ways to time this with out shedding focus is to take 3-to-5 deep breaths.
- Do 3-to-5 extra reps.
- Repeat this cycle for as much as 5 Myo-rep sets or till your reps drop under 3 reps per Myo-rep set.
Listed here are just a few examples of how your Myo-reps units would possibly look:
- 20 reps + 5 reps + 5 reps + 5 reps
- 22 reps + 3 reps + 3 reps + 3 reps + 2 reps
- 25 reps + 5 reps + 4 reps + 4 reps + 4 reps + 3 reps
3 Suggestions for Extra Efficient Myo-Rep Sets
- Loosen up on the finish of every Myo-rep set. When doable, set the burden down. In case you can’t do that (e.g., in the course of the bench press), lock out the limbs concerned within the train to permit the goal muscle tissues time to relaxation.
- Restrict your self to not more than 5 Myo-rep sets. Doing extra might be tempting, but it surely doubtless received’t produce higher outcomes however will make your coaching extra uncomfortable, hinder recovery, and place extra stress in your delicate tissues.
- Use Myo reps for isolation workout routines solely. Whereas Fagerli says you are able to do Myo-reps on compound workout routines, most individuals find this too taxing.
Myo-Reps Instance Exercise
Right here’s a 3-day PPL routine that makes use of Myo reps for all isolations workout routines:
Myo-Rep Exercise #1: Push
Myo-Rep Exercise #2: Pull
- Deadlift: 3 units of 4-to-6 reps with 3-to-5 min relaxation between units
- Pull-up: 3 units of 4-to-6 reps with 3-to-5 min relaxation between units
- One-Arm Dumbbell Row: 3 units of 6-to-8 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation between units
- Dumbbell Curl: 1 activation set of 15-to-30 reps + 3-to-5 Myo-rep units of 3-to-5 reps with 5-to-15 seconds (3-to-5 breaths) between units
Myo-Rep Exercise #3: Legs
- Back Squat: 3 units of 4-to-6 reps with 3-to-5 min relaxation between units
- Leg Press: 3 units of 4-to-6 reps with 3-to-5 min relaxation between units
- Bulgarian Split Squat: 3 units of 6-to-8 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation between units
- Leg Curl: 1 activation set of 15-to-30 reps + 3-to-5 Myo-rep units of 3-to-5 reps with 5-to-15 seconds (3-to-5 breaths) between units
The Advantages of Myo Reps Defined
Myo Reps Are Time-Environment friendly
The most important benefit of Myo reps is that they help you build simply as a lot muscle as conventional coaching in a lot much less time.
To construct muscle, you could push your muscle tissues near failure, the place they’re pressured to work as laborious as doable.
With conventional coaching, you solely attain this level on the finish of a set, after a number of lower-effort reps. To get extra of these muscle-building reps, you’d must do extra units and extra whole reps—which extends your exercises and probably how lengthy it takes to get well from coaching.
Myo reps resolve this drawback by letting you hit failure a number of occasions in a single prolonged set, holding your muscle tissues in that high-effort, high-reward zone with out having to relaxation for lengthy intervals or do much less productive further work.
For instance, in a study revealed within the Journal of Science and Drugs in Sport, weightlifters utilizing Myo rep-style coaching accomplished the identical quantity of labor greater than 7 occasions sooner than when utilizing conventional units.
Myo Reps Are Simpler on Your Joints and Tendons
Lifting heavy weights is nice for constructing muscle and energy, but it surely additionally stresses your joints and tendons, particularly should you don’t stability volume (units), depth, and restoration correctly. Myo reps assist scale back this pressure by letting you practice with lighter hundreds whereas nonetheless stimulating muscle development.
This additionally makes Myo reps a wonderful choice when you’ve got joint ache, are recovering from an harm, or wish to reduce long-term put on and tear with out sacrificing progress.
That stated, Myo reps nonetheless require you to carry out lots of reps in a short while, usually once you’re already fatigued. In case you let your type break down or do them too usually, they’ll nonetheless trigger aches and pains.
A easy solution to keep away from that is to make use of them for under 1-to-2 isolation workout routines per exercise and hold them to 3-to-5 reps per Myo-rep set and 3-to-5 Myo-rep units per train.
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Myo Reps Might Assist Break Via Plateaus
In case your progress has stalled, Myo reps could allow you to get shifting once more. One of many easiest methods to push previous a plateau is to increase your coaching quantity.
However this technique can backfire should you overdo it.
An excessive amount of further work can disrupt restoration, drain your vitality, and make progress even tougher. The problem is discovering the candy spot—doing sufficient to stimulate development with out working your self into the bottom.
Myo reps allow you to stroll this line by permitting you to build up extra productive quantity with out inflicting extreme fatigue. As a result of they take little time, in addition they make it simpler to coach cussed muscle teams extra ceaselessly with out spending further hours within the gymnasium.
RELATED: 6 Proven Ways to Break Through Weightlifting Plateaus
What Are Myo-Rep Match Units?
Myo-rep match units are a variation of Myo-rep units the place you set a “rep goal” in your activation set, then use Myo reps to “match” your rep goal in all subsequent units.
Their foremost profit is that they will let you attain failure much more occasions per train than common Myo-rep units, which can allow you to construct extra muscle, supplied you possibly can get well from the additional quantity.
How Do You Do Myo-Rep Match Units?
Observe these steps to carry out Myo-rep match units:
- Carry out an activation set, stopping 1-to-2 reps shy of failure.
- Be aware what number of reps you accomplished—that is your rep goal for all subsequent units.
- Relaxation as you usually would between conventional units (usually 2-to-3 minutes).
- Carry out your subsequent set, aiming to match your rep goal in a single go.
- In case you can’t hit that quantity, relaxation 5-to-15 seconds (or 3-to-5 breaths), then do a Myo-rep set of 3-to-5 reps.
- Proceed doing Myo-rep units till you attain your rep goal.
- Relaxation for 2-to-3 minutes, then repeat the specified variety of units following the identical steps.
To know how this would possibly look in observe, let’s say you’re utilizing Myo-rep match units for dumbbell facet lateral raises.
In your activation set, you full 20 reps. This implies each subsequent set should additionally attain 20 reps.
In your subsequent set, you push till you’re 1-to-2 reps shy of failure and handle 15 reps. You’re 5 reps wanting your goal, so that you relaxation for 5-to-15 seconds (3-to-5 breaths), then do a Myo-rep set of 3-to-5 reps.
On this set, you do 4 reps, taking you to 19 whole reps—nonetheless 1 rep wanting your goal. You relaxation one other 5-to-15 seconds, then do 1 rep to match your rep goal and end the set.
You relaxation 2-to-3 minutes, then repeat the method for all units of dumbbell facet lateral raises in your exercise.
FAQ #1: Are Myo reps efficient?
Sure, Myo reps generally is a extremely efficient solution to construct muscle—particularly should you’re trying to practice extra effectively or enhance your coaching quantity.
That stated, they aren’t all the time obligatory or supreme for everybody. Some gymgoers discover that repeatedly pushing to failure is extra uncomfortable and mentally draining than conventional units, which may make coaching much less fulfilling.
As a result of they’re so fatiguing, different folks wrestle to take care of good type throughout Myo reps, which might be offputting and enhance harm threat.
In case you’re new to energy coaching, Myo reps are additionally pointless for muscle development and will needlessly overcomplicate your routine. Newbies progress simply positive utilizing customary units, so there’s little cause so as to add complexity that might detract out of your coaching.
FAQ #2: What number of Myo-rep units ought to I do?
To keep away from extreme fatigue, use Myo reps for simply 1 or 2 isolation workout routines per exercise and restrict your self to 3-to-5 Myo-rep units per train. Doing greater than that received’t essentially result in higher outcomes and will make it tougher to get well.
FAQ #3: What does Myo reps imply?
Borge Fagerli by no means explicitly outlined Myo reps’ which means, however the most probably clarification is that “Myo” comes from “myofibrillar hypertrophy”—a sort of muscle development that occurs when muscle fibers construct extra contractile proteins.
Since Myo reps intention to extend the reps that drive muscle development, the identify doubtless displays their give attention to constructing muscle effectively.
FAQ #4: Myo reps vs. Relaxation-pause: What’s the distinction?
Technically, Myo reps are a sort of rest-pause coaching, developed and popularized by Borge Fagerli. Nonetheless, “rest-pause coaching” is a broad time period that refers to any methodology the place you are taking brief breaks to increase a set—whether or not for muscle development, energy, or endurance.
What makes Myo reps completely different from different rest-pause coaching is that they have a selected construction, with an activation set adopted by brief relaxation intervals and small clusters of reps referred to as “Myo-rep units.”
That stated, bodybuilders together with Mike Mentzer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Joe Weider used comparable methods for many years.
One other variation is cluster units, that are extra widespread in powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting. In contrast to Myo reps, folks extra generally use them to realize energy and energy moderately than muscle.
Scientific References +
- Gustavo, et al. “How Do Rest-Pause and Sarcoplasma Stimulating Training Models Affect Metabolic and Psychoaffective Responses in Bodybuilding Athletes Compared to Traditional Training?” Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, vol. 6, 29 Oct. 2024, https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2024.1467762. Accessed 11 Feb. 2025.
- Karimifard, Mahmood, et al. “Twelve Weeks Rest–Pause and Traditional Resistance Training: Effects on Myokines and Performance Adaptations among Recreationally Trained Men.” Stresses, vol. 3, no. 1, 8 Feb. 2023, pp. 302–315, https://doi.org/10.3390/stresses3010022. Accessed 10 Feb. 2023.
- Prestes, Jonato, et al. “Strength and Muscular Adaptations after 6 Weeks of Rest-Pause vs. Traditional Multiple-Sets Resistance Training in Trained Subjects.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 33, July 2019, pp. S113–S121, https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000001923. Accessed 27 Aug. 2020.
- Marshall, Paul W.M., et al. “Acute Neuromuscular and Fatigue Responses to the Rest-Pause Method.” Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, vol. 15, no. 2, Mar. 2012, pp. 153–158, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2011.08.003.
- Refalo, Martin C., et al. “Influence of Resistance Training Proximity-To-Failure on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.” Sports Medicine, vol. 53, no. 3, 5 Nov. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01784-y.
- Burd, Nicholas A., et al. “Resistance Exercise Volume Affects Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis and Anabolic Signalling Molecule Phosphorylation in Young Men.” The Journal of Physiology, vol. 588, no. 16, 13 Aug. 2010, pp. 3119–3130, https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2010.192856.
