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So you just finished doing a set on the bench press. You did 6 reps of 150lbs. You were shooting for 8 reps, but you didn’t have a spotter. You felt very tired after the sixth rep and decided to throw in the towel. You know that you could have done 7 or 8 reps with a spotter helping you a little, but you didn’t have one, so you cut it off at 6 reps.

Enter the Forced Rep

The scenario is the same here. You are barely pushing through your sixth rep, but get it up. Your spotter helps you decide to do a seventh. After you lower the weight and get it about six inches off your chest you realize that’s it. Your spotter helps you with 10lbs of the weight and you make it through.

Now he thinks you should go for an eighth. You reluctantly and slowly lower the bar, but realize you can’t get it back up. You simply can’t lift the weight by yourself. Your spotter barely lifts the bar with you, only about 10-30lbs worth. After what feels like an hour you finally get the bar up and the set is over. This is a forced rep.

The definition is: an extension of a particular set of repetitions in which your strength level at the beginning of the set has been reduced to a point of positive failure. This positive failure is when you absolutely can not lift that weight by yourself. Your partner barely helps your, just bridging the gap between what you are capable of and what is on the bar. Your energy is so wasted that you feel like you’ve done nothing and he did all the work. I promise, you are the one that lifted that weight.

The Good

This “forced rep” pushes out every ounce of intensity from your working muscles. When faced with a forced rep a physiological reaction occurs. If you are lifting a weight and can’t get through the rep, it’s a scary feeling. There are few options, drop the weight on yourself (ouch), tilt the bar to make the weight fall off, or have a spotter help. This is what goes through your mind, your body on the other hand is thinking sink or swim. This produces a surge of adrenaline making you stronger and able to power through the rep. In the end with one or two forced reps you will know for a fact you have used maximum intensity.

The Bad

Forced reps are good when used properly, but it’s really easy to get carried away. I suggest using one or two forced reps per exercise, not per set. The goal of any size gaining weight training program is to employ maximum intensity. The problem with forced reps can lead to overtraining. When performing a forced rep, your body is lifting a weight that is at its maximum strength capacity, and when intensity increases, duration must decrease. Put simply, the heavier and harder something is, the less you can and should do it. Forced reps are not bad, but doing too many forced reps is bad.

Forced reps are an excellent way to get the absolute most of a set. They ensure maximum intensity because a forced rep is only used when the muscle is completely exhausted and can’t complete the lift without a little help. That’s a good thing, but taken to far, it’s a bad thing. I recommend doing two forced reps at the end of your last set. Doing more forced reps at the end of a set, or for more sets, will lead to total muscular exhaustion and a decrease in size of the muscle.

Want to find out more about forced reps, then visit Klint Newton’s site on how to choose the best training program for your body type.

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