As a general rule of thumb when working out over the long haul you need to mix it up. Some very well established trainers in the industry state that the BEST workout you can do, is probably the one you are not doing. Which simply means you need to mix it up! Yesterday I did just that based on listening to a recent podcast of the Joe Defranco Industrial Strength podcast where he challenged listeners to bench press their bodyweight for 100 reps in as little as time as possible. Joe did 215 pounds at around 16 minutes. So for my chest workout yesterday I mixed this in to mix things up.
I must add in that variety is great, but don't go crazy and do something completely different every workout just for the sake of "muscle confusion". Training is about improving and aiming for sets of goals. Progressive overload via adding reps and weight over time is the best approach to reaching these goals, but no harm in an alternative workout here and there.
For my 100 rep challenge I did 185 on the bench for around 13.5 minutes. If your bodyweight may be too much to attempt 100 reps, drop it down. It is better to start lighter and work your way up. And obviously the goal is not to do 100 straight reps, start with a set of 10, rest a minute or less, do a set of 8, then 7 and so forth. It is very possible that the last set or two is a cranking out 5 or less reps.
There are two things I love about this type of workout for wheelchair lifter.
1. it is a fun challenge and a nice mixup.
2. Any program where we as wheelchair lifters can minimize the time we spend loading/deloading the weight is ideal. We do a warmup, get in the chair to load to our bodyweight, then back on the bench for around 15 minutes of straight training time.
That is truly giving us a bang for our buck and any programs that have us changing the weight after every set has diminishing results as we spend most of the time getting in and out of our chair.
Give the 100 rep challenge a try!