Myo-Reps: Explained

Tight on gym time, but need to squeeze in some more reps on your set? Myo reps have got you covered. This technique is a great way to incorporate more volume into your workouts. It can also shave minutes off of your gym routine.

Myo Reps?

Myo reps are a rest-pause technique that helps train muscular hypertrophy. The method helps condense a normal set-rep cycle on supplemental or accessory lifts. Note: think anything other than traditional key lifts like squats, deadlifts or bench presses.

Using myo reps, you incorporate shorter rest periods and mini-sets after an opening “activation set.”

The term “myo reps” was coined by coach Borge Fagerli in the mid-2000s. The theory behind the technique is that this method helps athletes to do more effective reps. This method puts the muscles under high metabolic stress to help with hypertrophy and increase muscle growth.

The technique helps get lifters to a high volume of reps quickly. Although it can be used for any move, traditionally, myo reps are used for supplementary lifts. You may want to incorporate myo reps on a move like cable pulldowns, for instance.

Whether your weight training goals involve building muscle or losing weight, this high intensity training method helps to up your training volume.

If you only train a few times a week, myo reps take advantage of short rest periods to crush workouts quicker. This is a time-efficient way to get in a highere number of reps per workout on certain exercises.

For this training technique, you can use free weights, light weights, or any other equipment that supports your accessory exercise.

Let’s get familiar with how to do myo reps and why they may benefit your gym routine.

How Do Myo Reps Work?

It may look complicated on paper, but once you start practicing myo reps frequently, you’ll get the hang of this technique to maximize your rep effectiveness.

How can you incorporate this method into your weightlifting routine? There are a few simple steps behind this technique:

1. On an accessory or supplemental move, choose a weight where you can perform 5-12 reps. Start with this “activation set” and bring yourself to 1-2 reps away from failure.
2. Rack your weights and rest for up to 10 deep breaths (this period can be varied from 5 to around 30 seconds of rest, depending on your comfort level).
3. Unrack your weight after resting and perform 2-5 mini-sets of about 2-5 additional reps. For each additional myo rep set, aim to stay in the 1-2 reps away from failure range.
4. On your final set, it is okay to train to failure. Finish your myo reps when you have trained to failure, once you lose a rep from your initial mini-set, or once you have performed 5 sets of myo reps.

Myo Rep— Rest-Pause Example

Let’s look at an example for reference.

Say you start with an activation set of 12 reps. Using the same weight over all your sets, you could perform:

• Activation set: 12 reps.
• Rest: 10 breaths
• Mini set 1: 5 reps
• Rest: 10 breaths
• Mini set 2: 5 reps
• Rest: 10 breaths
• Mini set 3: 5 reps
• Rest: 10 breaths
• Mini set 4: 5 reps
• Rest: 10 breaths
• Mini set 5: 5 reps

This is just one example of how the technique can be used. Say you dropped down from 5 reps to 4 between sets 2 and 3. If this were the case, you would want to end the full myo rep set here.

How do you know if you’ve found the best weight to be able to complete 5 mini-sets of 5 after your activation set? This can be a little bit of trial and error. Experiment with different weights to try to find a best fit for what your body needs. As you get more comfortable with myo reps, you can try different starting weights to make the technique more or less challenging.

When Should You Use Myo Reps?

Myo reps are best used when you are short on time. The smaller rest gaps between sets (generally around 20 seconds) make this ideal. If you want to squeeze in a workout, late-night gym session, or add a supplemental move to your training plan, myo reps can increase volume.

Myo reps target a metabolic stress response which leads to cell swelling in the muscles that produces growth, so for strength training, it can be helpful to incorporate myo reps when it comes to increasing the size of your muscles.

When Should You Avoid Myo Reps?

Competitive weightlifters who are working towards key performance or competition lifts will not usually benefit from this technique.

Overall, myo reps should not be used exclusively or primarily in your training routine. Especially for those new to lifting, it’s important to focus on core movements, like bench presses, squats, deadlifts, and pull-ups. For these priority movements, make sure you take full rest breaks between your sets as you learn and build your technique.

Remember, the newer you are to weightlifting, the more important it is to build solid skills around basic movements before trying more complex rest methods. Myo reps are a great enhancement to an already-stacked workout routine. They can help you push past your initial levels of muscular failure. They can redefine what a failure limit means for you. But before this type of training, ensure that you are performing key moves with strong technique. Then, you can try to push your capacity for volume.

Training Tip

Lots of volume and quicker sets can easily lead to fatigue. If you’re building myo reps into a workout, be mindful of how long your rest breaks are in the rest of your sets.

For more information on taking care of your muscles, read our articles What Is Muscle Scraping and Is Ballistic Stretching Safe.

Plus for stretch techniques to get healthier muscles, you can brush up on your knowledge here:

• Psoas Exercises
• Hip Pain When Squatting
• Lower Back Pain When Squatting

If you’re training split squats with myo reps, for instance, you may want to take longer rests if you’re performing a traditional squat during the same workout. Be mindful of taking breaks and making your breaks count. This lets you make the most of your workout, avoid injury and maintain your energy the next day.

No matter which rep technique you prefer, Flex AI offers an all-in-one workout platform to help you learn new exercises, visualize your fitness journey and keep all your PRs in one place. We’ve made it simple to work on customized fitness plans or to introduce a little friendly competition to your fitness community by sharing exercises with your friends. Get started for free through the Flex fitness app.