High-rep resistance training is possibly the healthiest form of exercise to recommend to clients with general fitness goals. While aerobic workouts alone can lead to loss of tissue, and heavy resistance exercise alone can result in poor cardiorespiratory efficiency, high-rep resistance training avoids these pitfalls when it comes to general fitness.

High-repetition training increases muscular endurance by teaching muscles to work for long periods of time. Conversely, high-rep training has a comparatively limited capacity for size and strength increase.

Performing resistance exercise for general fitness imposes no inherent risk of tissue loss and metabolic lowering as can be the case with aerobics. In fact, by varying rest periods between sets of high repetitions, a favorable aerobic effect can be realized.

How High?

High-rep workouts may require 20 to 25 repetitions per set of resistance exercise movements. These can be incorporated into a general fitness routine or fit into a client's initial conditioning resistance training program.

High-repetition workouts work by depleting cellular energy in the working muscles. These muscle cells adapt by producing more energy-producing mitochondria. High-rep training works by targeting slow-twitch muscle fibers, which contain more mitochondria than other types of muscle fibers. Endurance athletes typically rely on this phenomenon to provide sufficient muscular energy to perform contractions for extended periods of time.

High-repetition resistance exercise can allow a client more latitude in terms of dietary control of fat deposits. This is due to the fact that a greater amount of ingested calories will be required by muscle tissue as it recovers. This, in turn, leaves fewer surplus calories to be deposited as fat. In addition, fats are used for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production during glucose uptake, conversion, and storage in individual muscle cells.

A cardiovascular system subjected continuously to this type of training tends to adapt through increasing capillarization, or the production of more capillary vessels to supply the working muscles. Slow-twitch muscle fibers contain more capillaries than other types of muscle fiber. These muscle fibers can contract for comparatively extended periods of time since more capillaries can continue to deliver nutrients to the working muscles. A long-term, continuous contraction that interrupts normal blood flow also causes a back pressure of fluid in the vessels. When relaxation does occur, there is an immediate rush of blood into the interstitial compartments, or spaces within the tissue but outside the bloods vessels. This rush of blood causes microscopic damage to the epithelial tissues in a muscle's capillary beds. The body's reaction to repair this damage results in an increased volume and extension of these capillaries, allowing for greater oxygen and nutrient transport.

High rep workouts can also fit into a circuit regimen. One suggestion is to complete each circuit by performing 20 to 25 back-to-back repetitions of each exercise without rest. Perform four to five circuits to complete a circuit workout.

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