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over the years, i've heard so much conflicting advice about the ideal number of reps and sets for weightlifting that i no longer have any idea who's right and who's wrong. hopefully you guys can clarify this for me.
for the longest time, my basic workout routine has been to do 3 sets per exercise, with 8-12 reps each. i have always aimed to do a minimum of 24 reps of each exercise no matter what, and sometimes will do as many as 36 reps (for example, 3 sets of 12 reps each).
occasionally i'll add a 4th set of that exercise if fatigue/muscle failure prevented me from reaching my minimum of 24 total reps. for whatever reason, it's ingrained in my head that anything less than that is not enough.
but am i wrong? i've had pretty solid results over the years but i really want to work out smarter from now on instead of blindly relying on outdated or incorrect advice i'd received during my college days.
1) a quick google search as well as a look through previous posts on this forum suggests that 6-8 reps per set is optimal for building muscle mass. is this correct?
2) if in fact 6-8 reps is ideal, should i completely ditch my longtime routine of doing 8-12 reps per set with slighter lighter weights? or is there a way to incorporate that higher rep range into my workouts?
2a) suppose i were to set up a routine in which certain weeks are all about more reps/lower weights, and other weeks with fewer reps/higher weights. for example, 6-8 reps per set with heavier weights for, say, 4 weeks at a time, followed by a 4 week routine of 8-12 reps with slightly lighter weights. is there any benefit to mixing things up like that?
3) for someone like me, who's lean and fit but wants to add some more muscle mass without getting bulky/beefy, is there any benefit at all to doing 12-20 reps per set under any circumstance? perhaps ab exercises are the only muscle group for which a higher rep range is ok?
4) what is the ideal number of sets per exercise? what is the ideal number of total reps for each exercise?
for example, here's what i would normally do on my "chest" workout day:
*3-4 sets of bench press, 8-12 reps each, for a total of 24-36 reps.
*then i move onto the incline bench press, with a similar number of sets/reps, followed by chest fly, etc.
are 36 reps per exercise too much? would 18 reps be too few?
does it not matter whether i do 3, 4, or 5 sets as long as i end up cranking out the optimal number of total reps?
5) does the ideal number of sets and reps apply to every muscle group in the body, large or small? in other words, suppose i were to start doing a chest or back routine of 3-4 sets/6-8 reps each. would this number also work for smaller muscles like calves, biceps, traps, and forearms? or do the smaller muscles require a different intensity and frequency of reps?
6) is there ever a reason to work out a muscle multiple times per week? obviously, larger muscles like the back, chest, or shoulders won't be worked out more than once a week, but what about smaller muscles like forearms, traps, and calves? i once read somewhere that those smaller muscles can be worked out twice or even three times per week because they recover more quickly than the larger muscles. is this true or false?
7) what about biceps and triceps? i've also heard that each of those muscles can be worked twice per week. but is that overkill? would a twice-a-week bicep/tricep regimen stunt the muscle repair process and ultimately hinder the maximum growth potential?
1) a quick google search as well as a look through previous posts on this forum suggests that 6-8 reps per set is optimal for building muscle mass. is this correct? Yes. But you must be sure to go to failure by the 8th rep. If you can do 9-10 reps, you are using too light of a weight.
2) if in fact 6-8 reps is ideal, should i completely ditch my longtime routine of doing 8-12 reps per set with slighter lighter weights? or is there a way to incorporate that higher rep range into my workouts? You can use the 8-12 rep light weight set as a warmup. Really is no other benefit to higher rep routine for mass building.
2a) suppose i were to set up a routine in which certain weeks are all about more reps/lower weights, and other weeks with fewer reps/higher weights. for example, 6-8 reps per set with heavier weights for, say, 4 weeks at a time, followed by a 4 week routine of 8-12 reps with slightly lighter weights. is there any benefit to mixing things up like that? No benefit at all with this type of training if youre looking for mass. This would be fine during maintenance phase but not during bulking. If you are looking to build mass, you need to go heavy.
3) for someone like me, who's lean and fit but wants to add some more muscle mass without getting bulky/beefy, is there any benefit at all to doing 12-20 reps per set under any circumstance? You could do it every other week per muscle group. But I recommend cross training in yoga/running/martial arts, etc. Something where you would use your muscles but not necessarily tax them with weights. perhaps ab exercises are the only muscle group for which a higher rep range is ok?
4) what is the ideal number of sets per exercise? There arent any. Depends on the individual and his/her goals. what is the ideal number of total reps for each exercise?
for example, here's what i would normally do on my "chest" workout day:
*3-4 sets of bench press, 8-12 reps each, for a total of 24-36 reps.
*then i move onto the incline bench press, with a similar number of sets/reps, followed by chest fly, etc. Dont worry about total number of reps. I can do 100 pushups per day, but if I do only 2-4 every 5 minutes Im not really doing much work. Concentrate on intensity of your workouts.
I'll break up your questions in two posts and make my answers brief so as not to take up too much space with one post (long posts are boring to read).
See my responses in red. Keep in mind that these responses are "general". Because I dont know you and havent seen where you are physically (body shape, fitness level, etc.) its hard to really recommend what will work best for you.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: If you want to build mass you need to EAT EAT EAT. You can lift all the heavy weight and have the best training program in the world, but if you dont eat, you will not put on mass.
I've been a strength and conditioning coach and have competed, and trained with other, competitive bodybuilders and power lifters.
The statement that only high rep, low weight training leads to maximum increase in muscle mass is a myth. I've seen guys do cycles of single set, 40-80 reps per exercise and they get tremendous results in size (not power and explosiveness).
There are two different major types of muscle gain: Muscular hypertrophy and hyperplasia (do a search). Hypertrophy is broken down into two sub-categories: sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar. Though most commonly hyperplasia is considered to contribute very little to increase in muscle mass, there are scores of athletes in various disciplines whose physique defies this commonly held belief.
The long and short of all this is that intensity and variation seem to be much more important than # of reps and amount of weight. The consistent factors are: going to failure, mixing it up so you are not doing the same workout but rather cycling through different programs, getting adequate rest and nutrition, and finding what your own body responds best to.
Gotta keep a journal and track and document size, weight, bmi, diet, rest, reps, sets, etc through several different programs ... pick the ones you have responded best to and cycle through the top three or four.
over the years, i've heard so much conflicting advice about the ideal number of reps and sets for weightlifting that i no longer have any idea who's right and who's wrong. hopefully you guys can clarify this for me.
Lots of good advice already given, but I'll add my opionion anyway. As a very general rule of thumb, 6 to 12 reps seems to work best for most people. You may or may not be one of the people in that category. It varies per individual. Don't mistake us guysopinion as the word of God. Be willing to experiment with a variety of reps and find out what works best for you at this time in your life. Also keep in mind that what works best today is likely to be different down the road.
5) does the ideal number of sets and reps apply to every muscle group in the body, large or small? in other words, suppose i were to start doing a chest or back routine of 3-4 sets/6-8 reps each. would this number also work for smaller muscles like calves, biceps, traps, and forearms? or do the smaller muscles require a different intensity and frequency of reps?
6) is there ever a reason to work out a muscle multiple times per week? obviously, larger muscles like the back, chest, or shoulders won't be worked out more than once a week, but what about smaller muscles like forearms, traps, and calves? i once read somewhere that those smaller muscles can be worked out twice or even three times per week because they recover more quickly than the larger muscles. is this true or false?
7) what about biceps and triceps? i've also heard that each of those muscles can be worked twice per week. but is that overkill? would a twice-a-week bicep/tricep regimen stunt the muscle repair process and ultimately hinder the maximum growth potential?
thanks in advance.
Regarding 5-7:
#5. Lots of people will give you opinions on this. One that is very popular is related to speed of set and number of reps for biceps. Though anecdotal advice from bodybuilders may support this, there is no science behind it that I am aware of. My anatomy and physiology education has informed me that skeletal muscle ir skeletal muscle (for the most part). It's all gonna respond pretty much the same. The key is your intensity and how well you work that particular muscle, how well you feed it and how well you rest it.
#6. Varies greatly by individual, rest, nutrition, and genetic and conditioned recouperative ability. Some people can tax a muscle to failure up to three times a week (or more) without suffering "overtraining". Only with experimentation will you be able to figure out how much your body can handle.
#7. See above. If you take a couple days off and are still sore or weak and cannot get as heavy or as many reps as your prior session, you still need more rest. One other thing to keep in mind is that the better your aerobic capacity and the better your general level of conditioning, the faster you will recover and be ready for another round. If your body is efficent and healthy and your adrenal response is not taxed from too much chemical, mental, or physical stress ... you'll recover quicker. I've seen guys get stronger and bigger during several months long military style thrashings that beat the tar out of the same muscle groups every single day. It took their bodies a while to adapt to that type of continuous stress, but once they did, the chronic fatigue, pain, weakness transformed into impressive strength and size gains.
No worries ... hope it helps. Ultimately, you are your best trainer ... if you pay close enough attention, no one will know better than you what's effective for you and what's not. Go hard, eat well, rest often, stay consistent and I think you'll find the rest doesn't matter so much... unless you are a pro seeking that edge over the rest of the world class competition. In that case, you'd be munching roids like a maniac and shriveling your beanbag ... sooo ... well .... there you have it.
And sorry for the typos in the above posts. Was in a rush.
i've had pretty solid results over the years but i really want to work out smarter from now on instead of blindly relying on outdated or incorrect advice i'd received during my college days.
If what you're doing is getting you the results you want, then why change it? IMO, too many people read or hear something and change their routine even though what they were doing was just fine. If your routine no longer gets you the results you want, then change.
If what you're doing is getting you the results you want, then why change it? IMO, too many people read or hear something and change their routine even though what they were doing was just fine. If your routine no longer gets you the results you want, then change.
It's working because the 6-8 rep range is exactly what's optimal for building muscle mass. Not much he can do to improve on that.
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