Reps and sets?

Frank Bullitt

i have been told by some of my mates that doing a different amount of sets and reps changes the way your muscles grow etc,iv been asked by a few which is best for what i.e 12x4 or 15x3 etc,for building muscle,so can anyone PLEASE clear it up for me and tell me which is for what.

because_I_can

you'll get a different answer here from each poster. Also this is a huge question with lots of variables but...
it all depends on your goals really but here's a general rule:

low reps and heavy weight for strength with little mass gain aka Myofibrillar Hypertrophy - typically 3-5 reps

higher reps and moderate weight for BB type bloated mass gain aka Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy - typically 5-8 reps

anything above that is muscular endurance

underneath that ie 1 rep per set is typically called CNS training and most OL lifters train with heavy singles or doubles.

Now you cant exercise every muscle group like this because each differ's in its function. ie the core is to stabilise you while your PC is more of an explosive base so you would aim for higher reps on core work with lower reps on PC - posterior chain. Again this depends on if you are a power athlete or not

Cravez

Its very debatble about this whole topic, many say the best way to build muscle is 5-12 rep range while others like Joe Defranco say the best way to build muscle along with strength is lifting heavy 3-5 rep range. Personally i mix it up, for example i do 32.5kg dumbell bench press in each hand ( total 65kgs ) for 3 reps of 5 sets, then i do 55kg barbell bench press for 5-8 reps. And then chest flyes on bench 8-12 reps. Personally from my experience my chest strength and size are much improving using this method.

g'em

weight training develops three different components of your muscle's fitness: strength, enfurance and power. The amount of weight you lift, the speed of the movement of you lift and the number of reps you do will determine which aspect gets developed most. Generally using heavy weights for low reps develops strength, lighter weights for higher reps develops endurance and explosive movements will develop power.

Frank Bullitt

so generally what is regarded as best for building,the strength or the endurence or a mix of both,iv always mixed up my routine but im not sure if its right or not

Smellyirishman

I think they say between 5-10 is best for mass, but as people have said, experiment and find out what's best for you, there is no "right" answer. (Take my comments with a pinch of salt, I am just a wee noob)

t-ha

because_I_can wrote:

low reps and heavy weight for strength with little mass gain aka Myofibrillar Hypertrophy - typically 3-5 reps

yay!:D the best kind...


to the OP, everyone's body is slightly different and so they will respond differently to training. Developing myofibrillar hypertrophy is especially important (for size) if that muscle group is genetically predetermined to be a fast twitch dominant muscle group (type IIB fibres). On the other hand, if the majority of the muscle fibres are type IIA, then you will probably make better gains in the 8 - 12 rep range.

The right range is dependant on you, and on each individual muscle group. I would recommend that you seperate out the different ranges to different days so you can see what works best for you. Then focus on that for a while (but obviously continue to work the other ranges to an extent, just not with as much focus as whichever one is giving the most bang for your buck).