December 2004

The question-of-the-month for December comes from Jeramy in North Carolina who wants to know when trying to keep muscle and get lean, if it is better to train with high reps or increase cardio.   His question is:

Dear Mike: 

Traditionally, conventional wisdom states that you should perform a high number of repetitions in order to increase muscle definition.  But, recently I have seen more and more literature stating that it is better to perform 6-8 reps per set, but vastly increase the time and intensity spent on cardio workouts.  Which method is better? 

Dear Jeramy: 

Great question!  This is a very important aspect of contest training (keeping your muscle while getting lean) that is crucial to staying  “full” and getting “ripped”. 

I constantly preach to my clients that doing super high reps while in the contest training mode will only serve to burn muscle and give you a depleted "stringy" look.  Keep your reps in the 8-12 range and let the cardio, diet and supplements work to get you lean. Staying as heavy as possible and keeping your reps in this range will allow you to keep the muscle you have worked so hard to attain in the off-season. 

It is okay to increase your training volume a bit (1 or 2 sets here and there) and add an occasional super-set…but only do this occasionally and even then keep the weights heavy and reps within the range discussed above. 

Good luck with your training, Jeramy, and thanks again for the great question.  As always, don't forget to visit the Past Qs & As and my Training Tips section for more great tips and training info.

Until next month, train hard and stay healthy.

Mike Francois

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Note: Before embarking on any nutrition, supplementation, and/or training program, consult with your physician or other licensed health-care professional.