A commonly heard question in the gym is: ‘How many sets and repetitions should I do of this exercise?’ A repetition (or ‘rep’, which stands for repetition) is one complete movement of a particular exercise. In bench pressing, for example, it’s lowering and then pushing back up the barbell. A set is a number of repetitions performed consecutively.
So, a set consists of a number of repetitions, but how many repetitions will give you the desired result?
The ideal number of repetitions?
You can broadly categorize ‘the desired result’ into three categories:
- the number of repetitions that build muscle mass
- the number of repetitions to build muscle endurance
- the number of repetitions that increase (maximum) strength
There’s quite a bit of overlap between these categories, but this is a rough breakdown. However, there isn’t a fixed number that gives you the maximum result in all these three categories, so you’ll have to make a choice.
Most athletes find that a low number of repetitions with a heavy weight are best for increasing their muscle strength. This low number ranges between three and seven repetitions.
If you’re mainly aiming for those extra kilos of muscle mass, then it’s best to do between six and eight repetitions with an extension up to a maximum of twelve repetitions.
If the number of repetitions goes beyond that, it’s mainly a matter of developing muscle endurance.
Does this number of repetitions work for you?
The problem here is that it’s a very average breakdown that doesn’t take into account the needs of your muscles. For most people, this breakdown will work, but there are also people who, for example, build their muscle mass with large numbers of repetitions with a lighter weight. Additionally, there are athletes who build muscle mass by doing low numbers of repetitions with a heavy weight. So, it’s a matter of experimenting to see what works best for your body!
If you watch training DVDs of top bodybuilders, you’ll see that most of them do more repetitions than you’d expect. Often you’ll see repetitions ranging between ten and twenty. Does this work for you too? The only way to find out is by experimenting!
In addition to the differences in how your body responds to certain numbers of repetitions, there are also differences in how certain muscles in your body respond to those different numbers.
For most athletes, their upper body responds best to repetition numbers ranging between eight and twelve. The lower body (the legs) on the other hand usually grows best with slightly higher numbers, between twelve and twenty repetitions, probably because these are the largest muscles in your body and require more repetitions to fully exhaust the muscle fibers.
The advantage of doing higher numbers of repetitions is the safety of the exercise. Because you necessarily have to use less weight to complete the number of repetitions, you’re less at risk of injury. However, make sure the weight you use is heavy enough that you can only just complete the number of repetitions you want to do, otherwise you’re fooling yourself and you’re just maintaining your muscle mass rather than building it!
Never stop a set just because you’ve reached the number you wanted to achieve! If you can do more, do so and use a heavier weight next time.
Additionally, it’s very important to do strict repetitions, so complete movements without throwing the weight around. Your muscles grow best when the entire movement is performed by the muscle (well, there are certain techniques that allow this, but generally, a full movement is preferable).
How Many Sets Should I Do?
If determining the ideal number of repetitions is already difficult, determining the number of sets you should do is just as tricky. Some prefer low numbers of sets with maximum intensity per muscle group (heavy duty). The classic way, followed successfully by almost everyone, sticks to between three and five sets per exercise and between three and five exercises per muscle group.
Someone like Jay Cutler does an average of six exercises per muscle group but usually only does three – very intensive – sets per exercise. For most athletes, that’s too much of a good thing! Generally, you can say that for small muscle groups, the number of sets should be low, and for larger muscle groups, you need more sets to fully train them.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the ideal number of sets and repetitions depends entirely on your body and preference. If you have fantastic genetics, eat well (and often), use certain substances to enhance your performance, then you can probably get away with twenty to twenty-five sets per muscle group. If not, experiment with the number of sets and repetitions until you find the number that works best for you.
Don’t let others set limits for you, but do what yields the best results for you!
