Why strength training? A programmer's perspective

> but 3-5 sets of 10 exercises from 60% - 80% seems to be a hypertrophy program than strength.

10 rep range still provides plenty of strength gains as long as you are pushing to near failure. It is less CNS adaptation than going much nearer to your 1RM or 10RPE for a fewer amount of sets, but it's not going to put you into the "weak bodybuilder with gigantic muscles" meme

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/powerlifters-should-train-... - tldr is periodization is good, and people should spend more time in the range considered hypertrophic than they do, even for strength training.

I don't really follow this advice because I don't enjoy bodybuilding style lifting or using machines, but it's led Nuckolls and others to a multitude of world record powerlifts.

This is okay advice after you reach an intermediate level of training and don't necessarily care about hitting personal records. I wouldn't recommend this approach outside of that scenario.

Beginner lifters don't know what their max potential is and might overtrain by accident (because they are naturally strong and might do more reps to try and get to failure) or might not do enough volume to trigger the musculoskeletal adaptions needed to lift more weight (because they are not naturally strong and might tap out early).

> As an example (bragging a bit), as a ~50 year old, 165lb, 5' 7" guy, I'm able to lift 100lb dumbells on flat bench chest press, one in each arm. I can hit around 10-12 reps with that, most of them BS cheat reps where I'm powering with my shoulders.

I personally never recommend cheating reps.

Bodybuilders do them to localize hypertrophy in specific regions, like the upper pecs or shoulders, to improve physique during competition. Most people aren't bodybuilding though and would not benefit from this style of training.

At best, you're short-changing the development of primary and secondary movers this way in the name of moving more weight (like not engaging the lats enough when you do a bent-elbow pull up).

At worst, the risk of injury goes way up (shoulder blowouts are super duper duper common in bench presses; doubly so for dumbbell bench presses, since there isn't a bar to stabilize your arms).

In my experience, I've found that it's better to go lower in weight and use an assistance exercise and/or increasing rest/recovery time and, if needed, decreasing volume instead of cheating reps when you're stuck.

Anecdotal example. When I was struggling with getting to 225x5x3 on the bench, I dropped back 20%, added weighted dips to my rotation and decreased bench press volume. Dips engage the pectoral and tricep muscles more directly, which contributes to forward progress on bench. I can do 250x3x6 now at around 9.5 RPE.

My opinion on strength training being essential for health into old age largely stems from Peter Attia’s recent book Outlive [1] where he goes into great detail about the topic, and every piece of medical research I’ve ran into only seems to underline that having sufficient muscle mass is the single biggest intervention you can do to impact your long term health. Do all healthy old people do it? No, but if the question is what can you do to improve your odds, it seems silly to throw away the biggest lever you have (though it’s anyone’s personal choice to risk it and hope for the best).

(If you think he’s a quack and his message is wrong then I’d love to see some research pointing to the contrary, that having muscle mass is detrimental or at least does nothing significant for your long-term prospects)

The point about athletes is really more about pros, I should have been clear. I can guarantee you that almost every accomplished pro athlete in most sports, from running to swimming to cycling to basketball to gymnastics to soccer and the list goes on, incorporates a significant amount of strength training into their lives; there are probably some genetic freaks or sufficiently ‘roided mutants who don’t need to, but I assure you that Michael Phelps and LeBron James didn’t get their physiques purely by swimming and playing basketball.

And in case you think I’m talking about weight lifting for the purpose of competing at a bodybuilding show or strongman competition, that is not what I am referring to; I am referring to doing strength training to the extent that you have a reasonable amount of muscle mass. I don’t care if it’s traditional weight training or if it’s calisthenics or something else, so long as you don’t end up with no muscle tone and probably experiencing or prone to significant metabolic disease like most unfit people these days.

[1] https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/705161/outlive-by-p...

> This is okay advice after you reach an intermediate level of training and don't necessarily care about hitting personal records. I wouldn't recommend this approach outside of that scenario.

> Beginner lifters don't know what their max potential is and might overtrain by accident (because they are naturally strong and might do more reps to try and get to failure) or might not do enough volume to trigger the musculoskeletal adaptions needed to lift more weight (because they are not naturally strong and might tap out early).

I don't agree with most of your points here. I think listening to your body and training to failure with a focus on good form is appropriate at any training stage, and superior to any sort of X by X program.

Varying volume, exercise, weight, explosiveness and rest periods is all you really need. Your body will tell you when you're doing things right and wrong, I think it's most important to learn how to listen to it.

> I personally never recommend cheating reps.

I agree.

> it's better to go lower in weight and use an assistance exercise

Yep, that was kind of my whole point. Note the following sentence where I call out all the problems with BS cheat reps. And the sentence after that where I recommend decreasing weight.

Sounds like we're in vehement agreement on this.

I probably should, but I'm a bit paranoid about not being able to hear things around me.

Good suggestion though, thanks.