Question about rep ranges and muscle fiber activation.?

Asked by: Natasha Williams

Do different muscles respond to different rep ranges?

There are two types of muscle fibers in your muscle; slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers. Slow twitch muscle fibers respond to high rep ranges (higher than 8 reps) using lighter weight and fast twitch respond to higher weights and low rep ranges (less than 8 reps) or fast, powerful reps using lighter weight.

Does Rep Range matter for muscle growth?

The take-home point here is that to maximize muscle growth, you definitely need to perform more than one set per exercise, but whether you train in the 8-12-rep range or the 20-30 range doesn’t really matter as long as you take each set to muscle failure.

What is the best rep and set range for building muscle?

Sets of anywhere from 4–40 reps will stimulate muscle growth quite well, but most research shows that doing 6–20 reps per set is the most efficient way to build muscle. Bodybuilders often use the middle of that range, favouring 8–12 reps per set.

Which muscle fiber type is best for a 1RM test?

2B, fast-twitch fibers drive explosive power when doing 1RM or sets of low, heavy repetitions.

Which muscles respond better to higher reps?

Delts generally respond better to high reps, though the front portion can respond well to lower reps. This is why delt-dominant bench pressers tend to have large front delts.

What is the best rep range for strength?

If your objective is strength or power (think: heavy lifting), the textbook advice is to perform 3 to 5 sets of 2 to 6 reps per exercise. For hypertrophy (building muscle), the sweet spot is 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps. And if your objective is muscular endurance, shoot for 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps.

When should I change my rep range?

In general, you want to change your reps every 4 to 6 weeks. However, there are many exceptions and your workout design will determine how frequently you need to make changes. There are many ways you can stagger this approach.

Can you build strength with high reps?

It is made clear through all of these studies that resistance training done with high reps needs to be accompanied with high intensity (training to failure). If done, high reps can produce significant improvements in lean muscle mass, strength, fitness, body composition, and bone mineral density.

Which is better more reps or sets?

VeryWell Fit reports that the American College of Sports Medicine recommends higher reps (10-15) per set with lighter weights to support muscle maintenance and 8-12 reps per set with moderate weights to build strength.

Which muscle fiber type is always active?

type 2b fibers

Maximal contractions facilitate the use of type 2b fibers which are always activated last. These fibers are used during ballistic activities but tire easily. With advanced EMG techniques it is possible to look at which muscle fibers are recruited when performing an exercise/test.

Which type of muscle fiber is most resistant to fatigue?

Slow-twitch muscle fibers

Slow-twitch muscle fibers are fatigue resistant, and focused on sustained, smaller movements and postural control. They contain more mitochondria and myoglobin, and are aerobic in nature compared to fast-twitch fibers. Slow-twitch fibers are also sometimes called type I or red fibers because of their blood supply.

Which fiber type gets tired the fastest?

Slow-twitch muscle fibers are all about endurance or long-lasting energy. In comparison, fast-twitch muscle fibers give you sudden bursts of energy but get tired quickly.

Do biceps respond better to high reps?

Howell is a fan of relatively light weight and high volume (reps in the 12 to 15 range) for biceps training, as the volume will tax both slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers over time. Incorporating a large variety of biceps exercises performed with high sets and high reps will also help you build bigger arm muscles.

Do legs respond better to higher reps?

Use Higher Reps
The rule of thumb for gaining size is to use a rep range of 8-12. With legs, however, I always found – and research backs me up – that higher reps produce the biggest gains. I experienced great results with squats, lunges, leg presses and leg extensions when doing sets of 15-20 reps.

What is slow twitch muscle?

Slow-twitch muscles use energy slowly and fairly evenly to make it last a long time. This helps them contract (work) for a long time, without running out of power. Fast-twitch muscles use up a lot of energy very quickly, then get tired (fatigued) and need a break.

Should you do high volume for back?

There’s more than one way to train your back. The number of reps and sets partly depends on your goal to build muscular endurance, strength, or size. If you’re going for gains to build a bigger back, high-volume training works.

What is the best volume for muscle growth?

The ideal training volume for building muscle is around 9–18 sets per muscle per week. And if you’re choosing good lifts, doing 6–20 reps per set, and bringing those sets within 1–2 reps of failure, the bottom end of that range is often enough to maximize muscle growth.

Can too much volume affect muscle growth?

Studies have only linked the number of sets to failure to a dose-response on muscle growth. Measured in this way, greater volumes (number of sets to failure) lead to more hypertrophy.