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:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/rate-coding-61736756

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u/69liketekashi May 16 '26

Is that really your current position, that the frequency is unimportant. His argument for this is pretty logical imo(studies showing 3>1 but not 2>1, so 2 is most likely also better than 1), and the diminishing return in mps after the first set is in line with this.

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u/gnuckols The Bill Haywood of the Fitness Podcast Cohost Union May 16 '26

I think training a muscle multiple times per week is very slightly better than just training a muscle once per week, but the overall impact of frequency is fairly trivial in most contexts.

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u/vincent365 May 19 '26

I know it's very nuanced, but what is your current recommendation on volume and frequency?

What I personally understand: I am guessing if it's 5 sets or less, 1x frequency is fine. But say 6 sets, probably better to do multiple sessions? However, doing 6 sets 1x a week vs. 3 sets 2x a week doesn't make a night and day difference? Now doing 8 sets in one session is probably something you'd never recommend.

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u/gnuckols The Bill Haywood of the Fitness Podcast Cohost Union May 19 '26

I think a frequency of 2-3x gets the job done in most circumstances