The Best Rep Range to Build Muscle, Gain Strength and Muscular Endurance According to the Research
Whether you enlist the help of a coach to create your programme or 'DIY' — one thing that can be agreed upon is that the organisation of rep ranges is crucial to nail. And with so much conflicting information, it can be challenging to know the difference between your 3 x 8s and your 4 x 15s.
Principally, you'll need to take into account your experience, preferences and a range of other variables, but foremost: your goals.
While completing standard 3 x 10s may work for the majority, especially beginners, when you want to nail the specifics, there is more nuance. MH break down the research so that you can decide the best rep ranges for building muscle, strength and muscular endurance.
The Research: How Many Reps Should I Do?
While ultimately, your rep ranges do have some bearing on your results, when it comes to muscle growth, new evidence suggests it's far more important to focus on how close you work to failure, rather than splitting hairs about the exact rep ranges you use. For strength gains, it may not be so simple.
The study published by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, compares high reps with lower weight and lower reps with higher weight, with both groups working to failure. The study found that both group's muscle size results were similar. However, for strength gains, the subjects using higher weights and lower reps saw the most benefit.
Similarly, another study published in Sports Medicine adds to these findings. The meta-analysis aimed to investigate the relationship between estimated proximity to failure during lifting weights with two main focuses: strength gains and hypertrophy. The study concluded that for strength it is more important to focus on heavier weights, however, not working to failure. For muscle growth, it indicated that working closer to failure was beneficial.
And when it comes to choosing heavier weights or increasing reps? A study published by PeerJ set out to find out what exactly happens when these variables are compared. They concluded that increasing repetitions and weights both appear to be good strategies for increasing muscle mass.
How Many Reps to Build Muscle
With the research out the way, we can assume that both lighter weights with higher reps and heavier weights with lower reps increase muscle mass. What is most important is the proximity to failure in which you work at the end of your sets. While you don't have to work to failure, working close is ideal. While research specifies that a range of rep ranges will result in hypertrophy, your can still adjust your rep range to ensure the most direct and time efficient route. Aim for 8-15 reps per set and to finish your sets 0-5 reps short of failure.
If your objective is hypertrophy, aim for 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 15 reps.
How Many Reps for Strength
For strength, it is more important to focus on heavier loads. This is because heavier weights recruit more muscular motor units and contribute to greater strength enhancements. However, you don't have to work to failure. Training to failure can be very demanding on the body and more difficult to recover from in following sets. With varied evidence showing strength improvements from working close to failure, we can assume that aiming for 2-8 reps per set and finishing 3-5 reps short of failure is the sweet spot for strength training while also mitigating risks.
If your objective is strength or power, aim for 3 to 4 sets of 2 to 8 reps.
How Many Reps for Muscular Endurance
If you have goals of muscular endurance, you will need to pick a lower weight to accommodate the higher rep ranges. Muscular endurance rep ranges will improve your overall exercise capacity and enhance muscle growth by targeting the type I muscle fibres.
If your objective is muscular endurance, aim for 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 20 reps.
How to Choose Which Rep Scheme Works for You
Focus on the training programme that best suits you and your and fitness goals, as the most important variable when it comes to training success, is consistency. While it's beneficial the get specific about your programming, new evidence also underlines that for the majority, a variety of rep ranges result in muscular strength and hypertrophy. So, experiment with the above outlines, and disseminate which works best for you and your goals, as you are the expert when it comes to your body.
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