The Psychology of Counting Reps...

[dunhill225]

Yes, as mentioned, there can sometimes be a "self full-filling prophecy" effect.

BUT... it has been shown time and again that people who workout DO BETTER if they have a "goal" in mind (and this applies to all parts of ones life actually- be it saving money, losing weight, looking a certain "way" in a certain amount of time, etc).
O
Simple Example:
Group A- "Go into the weight room, work as hard as you can for 45 minutes, 4 days a week."

Group B- "Go into the weight room, 4 days a week, do three sets of 8-10 reps on each machine, no longer than one minute rest between sets. When you reach 10 reps, increase the weight by one plate."

Who will do better? Group B. They have a goal to aim for. That's the point of my original post... if you are stuck at a particular weight/rep scheme, one "trick" to help is to "alter" the goal... so again, if you are stuck at 9 reps, to get to 10 reps, try splitting your counting to 5 and 5.

Having a GOAL in mind and figuring out how to get there is what it's all about.

not true. It's been shown time and time again in corporate America that sales forces with goals or quotas are out performed by those without. I don't count, to me goals are self imposed limits. I see no reason to feel anything less than successful if I give my all and I feel no pride if I give less than my all but hit some number. I am honest with myself and know when I let myself down but it will never be because of some number.
Peace

 

[myosin]

Hmmmm

not true. It's been shown time and time again in corporate America that sales forces with goals or quotas are out performed by those without. I don't count, to me goals are self imposed limits. I see no reason to feel anything less than successful if I give my all and I feel no pride if I give less than my all but hit some number. I am honest with myself and know when I let myself down but it will never be because of some number.
Peace

Hey Dun... Not sure where you are getting that. My data comes from awhile back in my former life of Kinesiology so I've lost a lot of "where" I got "what" , if kept at a weightlifting/bodybuilding/weight loss perspective, those with goals will fare better... part of it too is knowing HOW to set goals.

Here's just a couple snippet's....
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**

Happy growing

 

[lexxdiamons]

This is an interesting thread. I have been lifting with a new partner...new as in the last three or four months, and he constantly admonishes me for "counting reps", his theory is to never go into the exercise with a target number in you're head, basically just target failure on the exercise. Not failure for every set, just the sets that are taken to failure. Did that make sense?

 

[LATS]

this is where we as bodybuilders make things more complicated than they are.. have you ever noticed that the "dumbest" lifters are the ones that actually dont care about counting reps.. counting sets.. ect ?.. think back to those that we deem as "genetic superiors" in our local gyms.. you usually find that they dont put much thought into their workouts..

what i am getting at is best by this example.. one guy who trained atthe gym i owned was a superior in every way.. but every ignorant in regards to lifting ect.. no set schedule.. if he wanted to do legs he did. if he watned to train chest two days in a row.. he did.. he just made sure that everything got hit once a week.. that is all.. he would ask me to spot him on set.. i would say "how many ya going for" .. he would always respond "as many as i can get"..lol.. i would then ask him at the end of his set how many he got.. he would not know.. and did not care.. he would grab a weight.. do a rep or two to see if it was too light.. or too heavy and adjust..

it used to drive me nuts.. but as i get older i see the "method" of his madness a bit..

 

[myosin]

oh of course...

this is where we as bodybuilders make things more complicated than they are.. have you ever noticed that the "dumbest" lifters are the ones that actually dont care about counting reps.. counting sets.. ect ?.. think back to those that we deem as "genetic superiors" in our local gyms.. you usually find that they dont put much thought into their workouts..

what i am getting at is best by this example.. one guy who trained atthe gym i owned was a superior in every way.. but every ignorant in regards to lifting ect.. no set schedule.. if he wanted to do legs he did. if he watned to train chest two days in a row.. he did.. he just made sure that everything got hit once a week.. that is all.. he would ask me to spot him on set.. i would say "how many ya going for" .. he would always respond "as many as i can get"..lol.. i would then ask him at the end of his set how many he got.. he would not know.. and did not care.. he would grab a weight.. do a rep or two to see if it was too light.. or too heavy and adjust..

it used to drive me nuts.. but as i get older i see the "method" of his madness a bit..

If there ever was a sport for anal-retentive overly-analytical individuals, it could be bodybuilding! hahaha

BUT- (and I knew I should have thrown this caveat in at the beginning of the thread) there are those, like you said, that can just grow doing whatever... but I am not one of those... I need to really be focused on what I'm doing otherwise I will stall.

But yes, I AGREE, don't make things more complicated than they need to be, that's why I "simplified" it for platestacker... what are your goals, what do you need to do to get there... what blocks you from it... how do you get around it?

Thanks Lats

 

[LATS]

oh i agree.. i am way too retentive to do it the way he did lol.. if i am going for 10 reps i need to get 10 reps..lol.. i have tried doing it his way and still found myself counting.. i need a goal.. a marker.. i wish i was the other a wy abit.. but i am not.. now go to a guy that has meticulous notes/goals such as dave henry and see what goal setting can do..

 

[lexxdiamons]

this is where we as bodybuilders make things more complicated than they are.. have you ever noticed that the "dumbest" lifters are the ones that actually dont care about counting reps.. counting sets.. ect ?.. think back to those that we deem as "genetic superiors" in our local gyms.. you usually find that they dont put much thought into their workouts..

what i am getting at is best by this example.. one guy who trained atthe gym i owned was a superior in every way.. but every ignorant in regards to lifting ect.. no set schedule.. if he wanted to do legs he did. if he watned to train chest two days in a row.. he did.. he just made sure that everything got hit once a week.. that is all.. he would ask me to spot him on set.. i would say "how many ya going for" .. he would always respond "as many as i can get"..lol.. i would then ask him at the end of his set how many he got.. he would not know.. and did not care.. he would grab a weight.. do a rep or two to see if it was too light.. or too heavy and adjust..

it used to drive me nuts.. but as i get older i see the "method" of his madness a bit..

This sounds kind of similar to my current training partner. One one hand, I feel like we or should I say he sets a very erratic and haphazard training program for us. We hit every body part ALMOST twice a week, almost never have a set routine of exercises "now lets do 3 sets of lat pulldowns.....then well follow it with....hmmm...three sets of bent over rows...hmm..with a dumbell!!". With that being said though he is as strong as hell, and in the few months we've been training I've gotten much stronger as well. The thing is that I must admit, that on my own I don't hit the same level of intensity. I work out hard and heavy on my own for years, just not as hard or heavy as we have been. And no counting reps!!!

 

[bufbiker]

Keeping the log book current is crucial! I always add 2 reps to my last workout reps as a goal. If I did 10 on a set weight last time I shoot for 12. Now if I can go further I will. The biggest problem I have is loosing count especially with legs doing sets of 20 to 30. When I ask my workout partner his answer is usually ", you did alot, I stopped counting at 20"

For me if I get to the point that I'm doing 12 reps it's time to increase the weight. I do go lighter on some days when I'm not really feeling it. But for the most part, except legs (I think they need heavy weight and high reps, but they are my lagging body part), I try to keep it on the 8-10 range. I should be almost to the point of failure by that last rep. But then I work out alone. If I need a spot there are always people around more than willing to help me.

 

[Aaron Osaka]

I find that on higher-rep hellish exercises (widowmakers), I can go further by concentrating mainly on breathing and form with rep-counting as an afterthought.