The Importance of Cheat Reps/Poor Form for Strength Training

[Bukujutsu]

I was reading an article and thought this was an interesting premise. Don't get me wrong, I definitely did not blindly accept the author's views.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_..._matter_at_all
http://www.t-nation.com/article-comm..._matter_at_all

The basic idea is that no exercise is a true isolation exercise and that "cheating" for some exercises may allow for better gains in mass and strength than doing them "strictly".

It's important to note the distinction between different changes that allow you to lift more weight. There's neuromuscular efficiency, you can improve your form, your body will memorize the optimal sequence to engage muscles , but that only goes so far, eventually you will also need gains in muscle mass, hypertrophy, brute strength.

So the question is: Can cheating on some exercises cause greater hypertrophy than doing them strictly?

Cheating can allow you to use more weight and makes them into a truer compound exercise. We all love compound exercises, right? You could argue that, for example, if you cheat on curls by thrusting your body up, this makes the hardest part, the sticking point, easier, and the gains won't carry over well to the strict version. But what if by using the right amount of weight it causes the ranges that would normally be easy to become difficult and the sticking point is still difficult because you are using more weight, enough that it's a challenge even with cheating. Could this elicit a greater signal that hypertrophy is needed than strict reps would?

Obviously there are exercises where this isn't possible, which is good. For example, you can't really cheat a squat except by lowering the range of motion, but if you're completely missing the hard part, what's the point? For deadlifts and squats, there's also a safety issue of letting your form break down. Bench press and overhead: risk to lower back. So don't worry, the manly lifts aren't affected.

Strong men who cheat

Want some anecdotal evidence that this works? Kroc rows. Also, what about power shrugs? I've heard nothing but good things about them from people that have tried them. They've said there's no comparison to the strict version.

Even the man Benedikt Magnusson, king of the deadlifts, could be said to have used cheating to great effect in order to get his record (1015 with just a belt!):

http://muscleandbrawn.com/benedikt-m...dlift-routine/

Jeff Jet Method Deadlift …When you do Jeff Jet Method deadlift you start by doing a rack pull. Then your training partners take the rack away and you go down and then up! Then your partners put the rack back in! The rep starts up by your thighs then you go down and up again ( I hope you get it )

A guy from America told us about this. His name is Jeff Jet. We started doing this because pretty much everything me and Benedikt can pull up we can do more reps! So we thought this would be a great way to do work with much more weight to shock the body! It worked!

Jeff Jet Method Deadlift – Go up in 1-3 reps max ( Do what the day allows!! )

Shock!

I am going to test this out myself, carefully. One of my assistance exercises is weighted pullups and I'm going to try 2 or 3 sets with heavier weight and some kipping. I'll be very careful with the lowering, of course (don't want to tear something or have a joint pop out), but the weight I'll be using isn't crazy. I was only using 15 pounds for 8,8,6, I'm going to try 25 or 30 for sets of 5 (higher rep sets may not work too well for me).

[Tamara Reynolds]

Just don't come crying here after your MRI results show a SLAP tear.

[Marotta]

I could crack a joke





But crack's no joke.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

You do the excersize you want. A push press is not a cheating Military press unless you are doing military press. A power curl is not a cheat unless you are doing a strict curl. Same deal with shrugs, pullup, dips, muscle ups, etc.

LIke anything else you have to weight to cost benefit ratio.

[Carlos Daniel]

Interesting stuff. It goes against the grain around here, but it's presented in a non-silly way.

[Tamara Reynolds]

To be clear, I don't consider any of those things "cheating," nor do I care if someone "cheats" reps in the way described if it accomplishes the goal.

I'm just laughing at weighted kipping pullups...

[Bukujutsu]

Yeah, I don't consider it cheating as in you're violating agreed upon rules, you're essentially doing a variation of an exercise. Now, if you're powerlifting and try to get away with a half squat, like that fraud Robert Wilkerson (Andrei Malanichev is the true king of the squats!!!), then you're cheating.

I only call it cheating because some exercises traditionally include that word in their name, the most common and famous being cheat curls.

My arms feel like lead when I'm nearing my limit on pullups. Maybe adding some volume, going beyond failure, will be beneficial. I can't even pull myself up more than a few inches after that sixth rep, but perhaps I could do more work higher up, and if I get stronger in that range of motion then when doing them strict that range will require less energy, allowing me to do more. I'll be sure to keep the plates nestled as high against my groin as I can and clench my thighs. We'll see how my test goes.

[samGwin]

I'm just laughing at weighted kipping pullups...

Whats so funny? http://www.youtube.com/user/Konstant.../7/cgdKg7FlyOk

[mstrofbass]

You can cheat squats, you just have to wear a suit, and the same logic would apply.

You haven't addressed the issue of quantifying the amount of work you would do.

[OCG]

Now I'm not talking about strength training, I'm talking strictly hypertrophy.

So, yeah...

Also, as I recall, this "TC" is not a very large gentleman. How did Dan John put it? "Learn about hypertrophy from people who speak from experience"?