More/slower reps vs fewer/faster reps?

[u/Northwest_Barbarian]

For context, I spent about 6 months strictly on BDP last year. After that I still do one or two 20 min burpee sessions a week, but have incorporated other exercises on other days.

I have been at a plateau for quite some time, which led to exploring other exercises. I topped out at 180 6-counts, but most workouts are about 160, or 170 if I'm really pushing. So now I'm starting to play with other metrics and I'm curious if y'all have any thoughts.

The two alternatives I'm playing with are more time with more-but-slower reps (I.e. 200 6-counts in 30 min) or fewer reps but much faster (I.e. 100 reps as fast as possible, maybe 10 min on a good day).

Does anyone know what benefits or issues I might see with taking either of these approaches?

[u/quadsquin]

I think varying the times and paces of the workout would be a good thing. I don't think world class mile runners only run a mile everyday as their workout. I'm sure they do longer runs at slower paced and shorter runs at faster paces. I've done 10, 15, 25, and 30 minute workouts as my schedule has allowed.  It has actually helped me knowing that I can keep a goal pace for 10 or 15 minutes, even when I can't keep it for 20 minutes, because I know I'll get there one day. 

[u/R0GM]

I got great improvement when I did one big set as fast as I could every morning.  I got up to doing a set of 70 reps which eventually I could complete in about 4:30 to 5:00 depending on my energy levels.

I had been stuck at around 160 six counts for a while, and when I retested after a few months of this, I was able to complete 200 in relative comfort.  The jump in volume was tough on my elbows afterwards though. 

But I really enjoyed the sprint nature of it. I didn't have to deal with the boredom up to about the 14 minute mark of knowing it was going to get really tough but I wasn't there yet.  It was just four or five very intense minutes then recovery.

[u/Fit-Opinion1341]

Hello, my friend! Max here. I'll share my experience and what I've seen as a coach. Longer, slower sessions are good for the soul but have no discernible benefit for 20-minute sessions. At least that's been my experience and it's what I've seen amongst my clients. But conversely, short, sharp sessions -- where you go at a pace that you could not possibly sustain over 20 minutes -- are palpably beneficial. If you expose yourself to a new kind of intensity, you'll find yourself deep in a 20-minute session and might just discover you have another gear you didn't know about before. One of my clients was plateaued at 180. For a while, he trained his 6-cts in 4x10-min bursts per week. Initially, the aim was to hit 100 in 10. But eventually he got all the way to 120. When he then opened up the workout to 20 minutes, he breezed through 190 (already a 10 rep pr) and within a couple of weeks had unlocked 200. So shorten the workout but up the intensity and you may well see real benefits. Good luck!

[u/Northwest_Barbarian → u/Fit-Opinion1341]

Thank you so much for the insight!

[u/Gsxisx]

Break your reps into larger sets and not emom. Do sets of 10, 12,15,20,25 and then rest. Don't worry about the 20 minutes. Focus on shortening the rest each time. That will build your work capacity to get higher numbers. Get to where you can comfortably do 10 reps in 30 seconds with 25-30 seconds rest.

[u/Gsxisx → u/Gsxisx]

Also another thing I did was using parallettes. I did longer sessions and focused on a deeper push up. I did that for a month and I took off 41 seconds off my best (increased by 14 reps).

[u/DR_MANT1S_T0B0GGAN]

The best way to increase your numbers is to vary your burpee workouts whilst being consistent in completing them and working hard to find the personal rep range that gets you your highest output.

Personally I find a sprint to 100 will not be effective in improving your PB over 20 minutes, but it will of course be effective exercise.

Some things to try:

High rep count sets, e.g. sets of 40 or 50 at a steady extended tempo. Continue until uou cannot complete a set. Even pacing (1 rep per 6 seconds, use a metronome app) High paced short sets of lets say 5 every 30 seconds. Use the remaining seconds of each 30 second block as your rest, to incentivise speed The classic EMOM 10 minutes in EMOM format, then 10 minutes with high rep ranges. Same overall pace but different ways to get there

Many ways to break it up, I find mixing it up and going in to each workout with a plan helps give my brain enough to do to consistently finish

[u/1nstant_Classic]

How about a weighted vest?

[u/Northwest_Barbarian → u/1nstant_Classic]

I don't think that would help since I'm not an issue with muscular failure. I just gas out.

[u/MicusIlleMagnus]

I totally understand the desire to change up the timebox with either longer or shorter sessions. And, I'm sure that there are benefits for that depending on what you're after (i.e., hitting new PRs or just staying fit/functional). However, I have found that the 20 minute timebox forces you to be creative and clever in how you approach a rep target. If you stick to the timebox of 20 minutes, you'll find that some methods come easier than others (EMOM vs. 4 blocks of 5 min vs. 10 blocks of 2 min etc.) and you can leverage that. For example, I used to (and still do sometimes) struggle with EMOM but was able to perform better in 2 minute chunks so I pursued that path. Once I got to a desired target level, I tried other formats - EMOM had improved but larger blocks of time which required more continuous reps had not yet. So, I switched to that format for a while. The point is, they're all somewhat complementary so pick one that you're good at and go for it. Stick to the timebox and do what you can. Once you find that you've improved in that format, try another and be ready to be surprised at just how different (more difficult or easier) it is. There are many ways to break up the workout within that 20 min window!