Rep ranges and the effect of “breaking” up a set?

Asked by: Carolina Green

What do different rep ranges do?

Reps in the 1-5 range build super dense muscle and strength. Reps in the 6-12 range build equal amounts of muscular power, strength, and size. Reps in the 12+ range primarily build muscular endurance and size and also cardiovascular health.

Do rep ranges really matter?

As a general rule of thumb, rep ranges do matter if your goal is to maximize either strength or hypertrophy. However, there is a continuum as far as repetition number and strength/muscle mass adaptation. Very high rep ranges can still be effective for hypertrophy and even strength as long as the intensity is adequate.

Should you vary your rep ranges?

You Never Change Your Rep Ranges

The muscles know what to expect, and they just adapt to the program. It’s important to work different rep ranges to force muscles to keep adapting.

How often should you change your rep range?

every 4 to 6 weeks

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.

Why is 8/12 reps the best?

It turns out that 8-12 reps is actually good advice. It sits in the Goldilocks Zone of reps and loading, it’s time efficient in that it can maximize the number of tough reps per set, it’s energy efficient in that it doesn’t require too many reps to stimulate hypertrophy, or involve loads that are unnecessarily heavy.

Should I mix high reps with low reps?

Lower reps are best for boosting strength. And both can generate growth. For this reason, the best strategy is likely a mixture of rep ranges. Alternating between high and low reps is going to throw out the middle, temporarily, and focus only on the high (15 to 30) and the low (four to seven).

Is 5×5 good for hypertrophy?

Thus, if strength is your primary goal, you will love cluster training. Regardless, the volume is the same as a regular 5×5 program making the 5×5 cluster training program an excellent option for hypertrophy training as well. To further induce hypertrophy, just decrease the breaks in between each cluster.

Is 7 reps enough for hypertrophy?

Performing 5-7 reps is generally thought to increase strength. However, it will also yield improvements in muscle size. The type of muscle growth in this scenario is called myofibrillar hypertrophy, which is associated with an increase in the contractile protein content. This yields muscles that look denser.

Are high reps a waste of time?

High-rep training has more cardiovascular impact than lower-rep work, and it also burns more calories (probably not per unit of time, but because high-rep sets keep you working for longer durations).

Is it better to increase reps or sets?

Heavier weights and lower reps increase gains

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.

Is 1 set to failure enough?

Increasing the number of sets taken to failure from one set to two, three or four provides no more benefit than doing just one set to failure. In fact, taking more than one set to failure may actually blunt strength gains. Take-home message: for strength, do no more than one set to failure per exercise.

Is 15 reps too much for hypertrophy?

The “hypertrophy range” of roughly 6-15 reps per set may produce slightly better results per unit of time invested than low rep and high rep work.

Will sets of 20 build 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.

Is 3 sets enough for hypertrophy?

The first set of your first exercise will be responsible for up to 80% of the muscle stimulation you are going to achieve in the workout. Preferably you should do 3-5 sets in total to make sure you are getting that 100%, meaning maximum hypertrophy.

Is 3 sets of 10 reps enough to build muscle?

Three sets are not enough to build muscle. Increasing the number of sets of each exercise, even while only performing 10 reps, can build muscle because you will be pushing your muscles to fatigue because they are under tension longer. Don’t stop at 3 sets but complete 4 or 6 or 8.

Should I take every set to failure?

Failure training shouldn’t be used on every set. If you use failure training, do so only on the last set of an exercise, and perhaps only on a hypertrophy day. Individuals using “beyond failure” intensity techniques should factor in additional rest when doing so. Allow your body to recover!

Is 4 sets of 8 reps good?

Reasoning: A moderate range of 4 sets of 8 reps allows the lifter to handle loads that stress the muscle quickly while facilitating sufficient time under tension.

Is 3×10 good for strength?

While both rep schemes are used in programs to grow new muscle, 3×10 is the best answer when hypertrophy is the goal. That said, this is only true if you are properly controlling for volume, frequency, consistency, and intensity.

Is 5×5 bench good?

The bottom line. The 5×5 is a simple and effective barbell training program that’s well suited for beginner and intermediate lifters. The 5×5 focuses on key barbell movements for a full body workout that will build strength and muscle, as well as your athletic performance and a host of other benefits.

Is 5×5 The fastest way to build muscle?

For those looking to mix up their workout regimen, the 5×5 training program is one of the most respected and most efficient regimens for gaining lean muscle mass.

Is it better to do 3 sets or 5 sets?

What Were the Study Results? The group that did 5 sets per exercise gained more strength, endurance, and muscle than the groups that did 1 or 3 sets per exercise or body weight exercises. The main finding was that the more sets people did, the better their results on the whole.

Can you waste noob gains?

Some people believe that if you train and eat poorly during your first year of lifting, you can miss out on your newbie gains. There’s a kernel of truth there, but it’s more wrong than right. If you do a lot wrong during your first year of lifting, like I did, then you won’t gain as much muscle as you should.

Does the 3/7 method work?

Despite subjects performing more repetitions with the same absolute load after training, neuromuscular fatigability increased (p < 0.05) after the two training methods. Conclusion: The 3/7 method provides a better stimulus for strength gain and muscle hypertrophy than the 8 × 6 method.

Is volume killing your gains?

To these guys too much training volume is literally killing your gains! High-intensity bodybuilders believe that you have to push yourself really, really hard on a smaller number of sets for optimal results. High-intensity bodybuilders usually only perform 1-10 sets per week for each body part.

Is 30 sets for chest too much?

Be sure to keep your weekly training volume (the total of your working sets) for chest between 12-16 total reps. If you find out you are performing more than 20 sets per week, there is a very good chance you are doing TOO much and are actually diminishing your bodies ability to build new muscle mass.

What is considered junk volume?

Junk volume, or waste volume, is any extra training done for a muscle group that has already been stimulated sufficiently to maximize the anabolic pathways. Sets done after this point have little to no additive effect to your gains and simply eat into your ability to recover.