Increasing weight vs increasing reps as a strategy actually cause different adaptations. Fitness at its core is a biological adaptation so the body can retain homeostasis. In this case, increasing reps will the muscle better resist fatigue, rather than increasing contractile force.
It is overall good advice. I would add people should have a defined non-aesthetic goal for their training. Aesthetics are the by-product of being fit. As a stand-alone goal, it is ambiguous.
Aiming for 12% BF isn't an aesthetic goal it's a testosterone-producing optimisation goal, my only other goal is to stick to my healthy lifestyle forever.
Also, increasing reps will also build endurance, but compared to adding weight each workout it will allow your nervous system to rest and catch up, adding reps is still progressive overloading and will build muscle if you're training harder than last time.
That's the gist of EDT(Escalating Density Training). Basically you pick two opposite exercises(ie one push, one pull), so for instance barbell row and barbell press, set a time, like 10 mins and then do 5 reps of each switching back and forth for as many times as you can in 10 minutes. At the end you compute reps x weight as the total volume for that group.
Combine 3-4 pairings in a workout and that's the workout.
The next week when you do that workout again your goal is to increase the volume from the previous week by either doing more reps with the same weight or lifting more weight for similar reps.
Pretty great after 8 weeks when you compare the volume from the first week with the 8th week.
This sounds like a good idea when I'm in my home gym. I have limited weights at home so play with reps/rest time and unilateral exercises.
I also obsessively record the weight reps sets and rest time of each workout in a spreadsheet. Just by pushing to near/failure and not fixating on a number, I'm going up in weights and reps every 3 days per body part, flying through. When I get to 20 reps of perfect form, I up the weight.
It might not be the optimum way to train, but I've seen studies that say higher reps when starting out allow you to perfect the form, mind-muscle connection, without risking injury due to heavy weights. It seems perfect for me as a relative beginner doing it this way and I'm progressing.
I've kinda created my own program which works for me and keeps me consistent. When I go into my real gym I lift very heavy and just take advantage of things I don't have at home.
