Do you count your reps DOWN or UP?

EmbeeKay
EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
edited November 17 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm just curious… I always find myself counting my reps down. There's something so much psychologically easier to me about starting high and finishing low! Sometimes I will switch up the numbers to keep my brain occupied so I don't focus on the burn (aka "I'm going to die") as much. Like for 20 reps I might start 20, 1, 19, 2, 18, 3, etc.

Does this make a difference for anyone else? Is this just me? :D

Replies

  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    I just count from 1 although lately my watch counts my reps now.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    I would lose track doing that with 20 reps.

    I count up most of the time. Sometimes if I am doing an even number of reps I will count every other one as an "and." So if I were to do 8 reps I'd do "1, and, 2, and, 3, and, 4, and." If I am doing an odd number of reps sometimes I'll count up to the midpoint and then back down (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.) If I do something with really high reps like calf raises I'll do groups of 3 or 5 (12345/22345/32345/42345 for 20 reps.)
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
    I count up from 1
  • fbchick51
    fbchick51 Posts: 240 Member
    I always count mine when the full rep is complete.. so depending on the lift it can either be the up or down.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,023 Member
    With clients, I do a ten count rep with 1,2......then after 5 I'll say "5 more" then count backwards.

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  • Lizarking
    Lizarking Posts: 507 Member
    Up. If it's more than 5 reps I also count like...
    8: 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4
    12: 1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3
    etc.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
    Lizarking wrote: »
    Up. If it's more than 5 reps I also count like...
    8: 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4
    12: 1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3
    etc.

    I don't know about you, but it's something about trying to do 20 reps of say, push-ups or squats (right now since I'm pregnant I can't squat super heavy weight so I try to do a lot of reps with medium weight) when I get to number 13 or 14 I think, good grief I'm not gonna make it. But if I get to number seven or six counting down I think, only six more! I've got this! LOL. Maybe I should try your trick.
  • HermanLily
    HermanLily Posts: 217 Member
    I agree with Chef Barbell, I have a device that counts for me, and counts up. :D
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    EmbeeKay wrote: »
    Lizarking wrote: »
    Up. If it's more than 5 reps I also count like...
    8: 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4
    12: 1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3
    etc.

    I don't know about you, but it's something about trying to do 20 reps of say, push-ups or squats (right now since I'm pregnant I can't squat super heavy weight so I try to do a lot of reps with medium weight) when I get to number 13 or 14 I think, good grief I'm not gonna make it. But if I get to number seven or six counting down I think, only six more! I've got this! LOL. Maybe I should try your trick.

    I sometimes do 2 minutes of goblet squats. I usually have a goal number of reps in my head and I will allocate them based on time. So if I'm trying to do 25 reps in 2 minutes, I aim for 5 reps every 24 seconds. If I hit the 5 reps before 24 seconds is up, I either pause until the timer hits 0:24, 0:48, 1:12, or 1:36, when I start again or if I feel good I'll push through the next 5 but my rule is if I start the 5 I can't stop until that 5 are completed.
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,159 Member
    As a long-time Labor and Delivery nurse, I count reps up since "push your baby 1-2-3-... is something I've said eight million times in the past *cough29cough* years. My trainer on the other hand, counts down, so I get two numbers in my head at the same time. Keeps it interesting.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    edited April 2017
    I count up....

    If I'm doing 20/30/40 I generally count in 10s.

    If I'm doing 50, I do 20,15,10,5.

    (it's not very often I do that many...)
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    up. i like to keep myself realistic about how far i still have to go.

    counting up focuses me on what i am doing. and what i have done. i guess i don't so much like to count my [strike]reps[/strike] chickens before they're hatched.

    i'm not above adding 'x more' to myself after i've crossed the halfway line of a set though. i just don't like to make it the thing that i hang my hat on.
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
    I always start at 1 and count up. When I bench with my trainer, I don't count. She counts silently...then yells, "2 more!"

    I count down on the treadmill, b/c I hate it and like to think, "only 10 minutes left...only 5 left."
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    deputy_randolph wrote: »
    I always start at 1 and count up. When I bench with my trainer, I don't count. She counts silently...then yells, "2 more!"

    I count down on the treadmill, b/c I hate it and like to think, "only 10 minutes left...only 5 left."

    I don't think I'd be able to not count at all. It would drive me nuts.
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    deputy_randolph wrote: »
    I always start at 1 and count up. When I bench with my trainer, I don't count. She counts silently...then yells, "2 more!"

    I count down on the treadmill, b/c I hate it and like to think, "only 10 minutes left...only 5 left."

    I don't think I'd be able to not count at all. It would drive me nuts.

    She made me stop counting b/c I was getting stuck at rep 5...all mental. I stopped counting...and hit 8 immediately. It was liberating! I won't even try that with squats though.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    deputy_randolph wrote: »
    I always start at 1 and count up. When I bench with my trainer, I don't count. She counts silently...then yells, "2 more!"

    I count down on the treadmill, b/c I hate it and like to think, "only 10 minutes left...only 5 left."

    I don't think I'd be able to not count at all. It would drive me nuts.

    Me too! It comes just naturally!

    I like to count down to zero and then add some bonus reps if I can. But today I kept adding five more... then five more... then five more... then I was like DARN it how many was that total? One of the benefits of counting up, I guess.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    Going for big lifts. I always count up. Smaller muscles like calves or posterior delts I just try my best for mind muscle and go till failure or close to
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    i always count up.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    edited April 2017
    Lizarking wrote: »
    Up. If it's more than 5 reps I also count like...
    8: 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4
    12: 1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3
    etc.

    I do something like this. If I have 20 reps, I'll count

    1,2,3-1
    1,2,3-2
    1,2,3-3
    1,2,3-4
    1,2,3-5

    Somehow easier than getting into the teens.
  • ilfaith
    ilfaith Posts: 16,769 Member
    If I am doing 20 reps, I count forward 1-10 and the backward 10-1.

    If I am doing 30+ reps (like mountain climbers, jacks, or jumping rope), I'll usually count 1,2,3...-9,10... 1,2,3...-9,20... 1,2,3...-9,30...etc. But I still count down the final ten reps backward.
  • gen39
    gen39 Posts: 36 Member
    I start from 1 and count up. Doing it the other way doesn't make sense for AMRAP sets.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    up
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