T Nation

Rep Ranges and Connective Tissue

Bodybuilding
#1

Hey,

Can anyone tell me (and everyone else) how do different rep ranges affect connective tissue?
Since I read that:

  • low reps and heavy weights make your tendons big and strong…

  • high reps make your tendons big and strong (kinda weird…since this would mean the guy doing 200 push-ups/day will have stronger tendons than the guy bench-pressing 400 for reps)

  • high reps act as maintenance for your tendons, and get some nourishment to them (which combined with signals to get stronger from the low reps and heavy weights will get them big and strong) (i.e. which matters more, total volume or reps/set or continuous tension during a set+high reps or…?)

  • tendons have low blood supply and need many reps to get some nourishment (but wouldn’t 10 x 3 reps work as well as 3 x 10 reps, or better, considering the higher tension?)

  • lock-outs and supports and other movements which allow you to use supra-maximal weights build strong tendons…ugh…

Thank you,
Eisen

(BBB, thank you for the input about GHRP-6, but for now I’m lookign for the mechanical means of strengthening tendons, since most certainly training “style” influences your conjunctive tissue)

#2

Just make your muscles strong and our tendons will follow.

tweet tweet

#3

Don’t worry about this stuff man.

#4

[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
Don’t worry about this stuff man.

[/quote]
He’s a PT, he needs to tell his clients complicated things so they think he is the messiah.

#5

[quote]K-Man32 wrote:

[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
Don’t worry about this stuff man.

[/quote]
He’s a PT, he needs to tell his clients complicated things so they think he is the messiah.[/quote]

Lol I tell my clients to. Lift and eat.

That’s bout it.

#6

[quote]K-Man32 wrote:

He’s a PT, he needs to tell his clients complicated things so they think he is the messiah.[/quote]

I can simply read up on rate coding and other neurological factors if I want to sound “smart”.
Or even just tell them that they must train their subscapularis and the rest of their rotator cuff and their lower traps in order to prevent shoulder pain. Or that EMG studies have proven the pull-down to work almost no muscle compared to the chin-up.

No, I just seem to be a little more “fragile” than other guys who lift (as I said, I stopped benching when I got to a 154 lb 1RM because my shoulders hurt like shit…oh, and it took me a few month to get there (I was 17 though and had no idea how to train))…

An answer such as “for someone who eats well (i.e. diet not highly pro-inflammatory and takes supplemental vitamin C) there’s no need to worry” would’ve been a little more to the point. (not pointing at you, Count)

But what the fuck, at least point me to some good reading material on the subject.
Since I know one can do dedicated conj. tissue work (from a quote by mr. Mel Siff saying he’ll spend twice as much time developing the c.t. with a trainer who’s on roids than with a natural one).

Yeah, I care about having strong tendons. I don’t want to have a bicep or shoulder (anything in it) tear, because a) I’ll take a wild guess most doctors couldn’t care less about my wish of continuing to lift after a surgery (as such they’ll do a lousy job)
b) I’d have to pay an arm and a leg to get them to actually care and do a really good job (I’m not talking about the official price here)

(as a note, I’ll start being a PT in about two months, after getting the ISSA cert… right now I’m busy with finalizing my degree in civil engineering)

#7

From everything I read from you, Men’s Health, or other such publication would be better for you.

I come to this site to learn how to get strong, build muscles and look good nakid.

Eat like a horse, work out like a mad man, sleep like a baby and don’t sweat the small stuff.

#8

[quote]JFG wrote:
Eat like a horse, work out like a mad man, sleep like a baby and don’t sweat the small stuff.
[/quote]

Quoted for fucking truth.

#9

[quote]Sterneneisen wrote:

No, I just seem to be a little more “fragile” than other guys who lift (as I said, I stopped benching when I got to a 154 lb 1RM because my shoulders hurt like shit [/quote]

You gotta be fucking kidding.

You are going to be the PT, point us to some material.

#10

e69a2_ORIG-gtfo_take_fail_GTFO.jpg570×610 205 KB

Maiden3.16

<Damn, I knew I forgot something…a “stay the fuck away, Maiden3.16” sign>

#11

Is that cat supposed to scare me?

#12

Maiden eats cats.

#13

37aea_ORIG-eddiecat.jpg811×512 134 KB

Eat cats? Where did you get that idea?

#14

Fine, here is the answer.

Exercise

What, you thought some magic bullet? Deep secret from the underground? No, it’s exercise. As your muscle grow (naturally, not thru chemistry) so will your tendons as the are composed of the same material. Exact same material.

And if you want to get deeper into the subject

Progressive overload.

Thats right, exercise and keep adding weight on a regular basis (or sets, then weight, etc).

NOW we are talking strong tendons.

Rep range? Seriously?

#15

I posted a “legitimate”/intelligent question for which Google doesn’t help all that much.
Saying I should already know… is a really stupid affirmation.

It’d be kinda retarded to ask EC or CW or Bret Contreras 30 difficult physiology/neurology/kinesiology questions and pretend they should know the answers to all of them. And they have a Bachelor’s, a Master’s, maybe a PhD in the field, and also many years worth of experience. It’s really stupid to pretend that someone who read a big bunch of articles (which I did read) and gets a PT cert to know every bit of physiology/neurology/kinesiology though…

#16

[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Eat cats? Where did you get that idea?[/quote]

Your google history print out has a lot of queries for cat recipes .

#17

[quote]JFG wrote:
Fine, here is the answer.

Exercise

What, you thought some magic bullet? Deep secret from the underground? No, it’s exercise. As your muscle grow (naturally, not thru chemistry) so will your tendons as the are composed of the same material. Exact same material.

And if you want to get deeper into the subject

Progressive overload.

Thats right, exercise and keep adding weight on a regular basis (or sets, then weight, etc).

NOW we are talking strong tendons.

Rep range? Seriously?[/quote]

Oh, you shit me not? It really is that simple? You mean that if you only lift at 90+% of your 1RM your tendons will be perfectly healthy and happy? And that’s why mr. Siff said he spends more time training the c.tissues of trainers who are on steroids…

#18

Yes, it is that simple.

If your muscles are happy, your tendons are happy. Follow an intelligent program, eat lots, rest… That’s it.

If you don’t like the answer, don’t ask the question.

#19

^alright, definitely calling troll at this point. Where the fuck did he say anything about training at 90+% of 1RM all the time? Even competitive powerlifters don’t do that. You seem to be lacking some basic knowledge that needs addressing before the question of your OP.

#20

[quote]Sterneneisen wrote:

[quote]K-Man32 wrote:

He’s a PT, he needs to tell his clients complicated things so they think he is the messiah.[/quote]

I can simply read up on rate coding and other neurological factors if I want to sound “smart”.
Or even just tell them that they must train their subscapularis and the rest of their rotator cuff and their lower traps in order to prevent shoulder pain. Or that EMG studies have proven the pull-down to work almost no muscle compared to the chin-up.

No, I just seem to be a little more “fragile” than other guys who lift (as I said, I stopped benching when I got to a 154 lb 1RM because my shoulders hurt like shit…oh, and it took me a few month to get there (I was 17 though and had no idea how to train))…

An answer such as “for someone who eats well (i.e. diet not highly pro-inflammatory and takes supplemental vitamin C) there’s no need to worry” would’ve been a little more to the point. (not pointing at you, Count)

But what the fuck, at least point me to some good reading material on the subject.
Since I know one can do dedicated conj. tissue work (from a quote by mr. Mel Siff saying he’ll spend twice as much time developing the c.t. with a trainer who’s on roids than with a natural one).

Yeah, I care about having strong tendons. I don’t want to have a bicep or shoulder (anything in it) tear, because a) I’ll take a wild guess most doctors couldn’t care less about my wish of continuing to lift after a surgery (as such they’ll do a lousy job)
b) I’d have to pay an arm and a leg to get them to actually care and do a really good job (I’m not talking about the official price here)

(as a note, I’ll start being a PT in about two months, after getting the ISSA cert… right now I’m busy with finalizing my degree in civil engineering)[/quote]

You want strong tendons? Go lift heavy and forget about what other people tell you. Stick to a strength-based training program that works, like the Texas Method or something similar. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.