Weight Training
All of a sudden my reps have been reduced to 12-15. In the past, they…
The question
All of a sudden my reps have been reduced to 12-15. In the past, they have all been 20 or so. Is this correct? I am doing the "get lean" program, and have had good results so far. I am in week 5. Why the sudden reduction in reps, when the weight amount has stayed the same??
Dan's answer
Dan Wirth, MA, CSCS
Hello,
Your reps have been reduced this week because you are on week 5, and week 5 is a download week in your chosen 12 Week Training Schedule. The download week serves as an active recovery period after completing a specific length of harder training. During this week, the weights and/or reps will be reduced. You have been training hard for a month now, and even though you may not feel like you need a recovery week, getting some rest in now will allow you to maximize your recovery and prepare for the next month of training. Remember, each week is different. Some weeks are easy and some weeks are brutally hard. You need to follow the way these workouts are laid out if you want to maximize your gains and prevent overtraining.
Dan designed the periodization models the Wave Engine runs.
See how the Wave Engine turns his programming rules into your workouts.