Debates can be fun but every now and then, they can can become so annoying that it's no longer a debate but who has the bigger dick and only one person is right. The truth is, high rep and low rep workouts both have qualities over the other and one has a person work on a set of goals that are different. Some people prefer high rep exercise while another work low reps for different reasons but in the end, it's about the individual and their goals.
It's even common to do both in the same workout but the big question is, are high reps really necessary? Don't get me wrong, high rep training is phenomenal with the right format but it isn't the cream of the crop of fitness unless you're a blue-collar roughneck with a hard on for high rep workouts. You can be very fit with high rep training but you also can be fit with low/medium rep training. What are you really shooting for?
My favorite forms of high rep training is deck of cards workouts and circuits that total up to some huge numbers in the end. High reps mainly come in the form of doing a certain number of reps in a set such as 100 Push-ups or 50 Reps of a Barbell Squat, both give you exceptional strength one way or another. Another way to do high reps is by doing an exercise in a period of time say doing Step Ups for 20 minutes or doing 5 minutes of Burpees, either one will kick your ass. Low Rep workouts are mainly for building strength or building strength by firing as many muscle fibers with heavy resistance. This can be done by bodyweight or weights it doesn't matter.
Here's another question that comes up quite a bit in fitness, if you're doing high reps, are you just building endurance and no longer dealing with strength? It's a complicated process to answer because you have people on one side saying there's no way you're building strength but on the other end, you are building strength but in a different way. So what does strength have to do with high reps? A lot actually because when it comes to exercise, the more difficult one is and is done for reps, it's actually a form of building strength or Strength Endurance. Say after doing 50 push-ups, are you building strength? Well, once fatigue sets in and you have that final rep, you're using strength to get that last one in. How about making the exercise more difficult? Do One-Arm Push-ups or Arms Extended Push-ups, if you're doing high reps with either one, that is some serious strength and you have incredible control and power. What about fingertips, Handstands or just one finger, where does it end to tell you you're building only strength?
The fact of the matter is, you're working your body hard regardless if it's high reps or low reps, some prefer one or the other and others do both. Neither one is superior to the other yet both can be tough as hell with the way you apply them. Do what gives you the biggest benefit and go with that. Sometimes, you'll switch things up, other times, you'll just stick to it, its neither right or wrong what you do, the endgame is what you want out of them. Make it interesting and make it an adventure. Kill it one way or another.
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