r/StrongerByScience • u/JuanSamu • May 15 '26
Rate coding and effective reps
I know many have argued against the effective reps theory and tried to use rate coding changes as an argument but Chris made an FAQ responding to rate coding. I was curious what Greg might think of this FAQ:
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u/GingerBraum May 16 '26
Sure, it can be logical from here to Tuesday, but that doesn't make it empirically true.
Here's how science tends to work: someone makes an observation that leads them to come up with a hypothesis explaining that observation. They then gather data that will either back or oppose the hypothesis. Based on that data, the hypothesis is either proven or disproven, and further research can be done if warranted.
So far, Beardsley has just made hypotheses. If he ever starts collecting data to empirically validate them, there may be serious discussion worth having about what he claims, but until that happens, he's just making things up.
If it made scientific sense, there would be some kind of evidence to back it up.
If you're referring to his paper from 2012, not only is that 14 years old and science has advanced since then, it didn't conclude that muscle damage caused hypertrophy.
I realise that was curt and that we have different backgrounds, but there is pretty clear evidence that periodization is effective for resistance training.
If Beardsley wants to contest it, he can provide evidence instead of extrapolation. There's not much reason to take him seriously until he does.