Laree <<12x12 doesn't qualify as a 100-repper, even if it's more
work.>>

Don>> Yeah. Like 4 times as much work when you consider the increased
weights you can use when taking one minute breaks.>


Aww, come on Don! Where is your sense of adventure? Nobody is taking
away your props or saying 12x12 with 1 min rests is for sissies
or "doesn't count" just because they say its not the same as a 100
rep set. As a person whose leg training training has wandered,
stumbled, and bumbled across many lands I can close my eyes and
*feel* what your 12x12 with 60 seconds between sets feels like by the
6th set..tough stuff, baby.

Still, I encourage you (or anyone else) to imagine what 100 squats in
a row feels like. Squeeze those eyes shut and imagine life outside
the 2 foot radius of your own squat rack and visualize yourself doing
100 reps with what you'd normally do for a set of 20. At 20, you
still feel some hope but by 30 some sense of regret. 40-50 pretty
much already feel like a winded torture and you question whether or
not you can do this. 100 feels *so* far away. At 60, you'll either
bail or begin to access some place deep within your training soul.
By 70, perhaps with a 30 second gasp of rest, the spirits of
intrinsic belief warmly welcomes you as you enter and intense tunnel
of focus. It overtakes you - your surroundings, voices around you,
expressions, and own noises all but disappear. I won't describe 80-
100 because it's against the charter of the secret club you get to
join if you finish. Try hard, oh imaginative ones, to extrapolate
what those are like! Wonder how the accomplishment would change your
perception of the word "effort" on your next "regular" leg
workout....

Ask me again "Why 100 reps?"

Because it is more than you think you can do and it's more than 100
reps. It is about overcoming your fears, it a test of your will, your
heart, your commitment towards completing something you said you were
going to do. How is that bad? Why is it shocking someone would want
to challenge these aspects of their training persona? Is scientific
excuse the only reason we grow muscle or increase strength or exceed
our previous training level.

It doesn't matter if it's at the beginning or end of your normal
workout- it
will crack your brain open and wake your @$$ up the same as any
other "slump
buster" kamikaze practice like extreme drop sets (I still remember
that
day!), up & down the rack, 10x10s, chains, bands, sled dragging,
weighted vests, or wherever it is you choose to go when you need
flames licking your feet to push you past a training barrier
(physical or mental). These crazy things make me grow as a person
and that mental toughness can be applied to other "by the
book/scientifically tested" training methods.

100 reps are like a cool looking stamp in your training passport. And
I don't know about anyone else, but I love traveling to exotic
locales where I know many around me have not ever been. You need to
see the world outside yourself periodically to evaluate & appreciate,
question, confirm what exists in your own fraction of existence.

If you ask me, people need to travel more.

What is the purpose of 100 stupid reps? Do it and you need not ask
the question about why you would work past a burn. The real answer is
that it can only be answered by someone who dares to open themselves
up for the experience.


Extremely Yours,
Stella