For gaining muscle mass: 6-8 reps, or 8-12 with less weight?

hatrickpatrick

Well I've been bodybuilding for about five years and I thought I had it all figured out but I've come across a few articles recently which are making me think twice:

I've always thought that if you want to see real muscle size gains, you lift a much heavier weight with 6-8 reps (3 sets) than the more standard 8-12 reps with a lighter weight.
However, a few articles I've read lately have said the opposite, that is, for increasing muscle mass it's actually optimal to lift 8-12 reps and therefore take something slightly lighter.

Which is true? Right now when I go to the gym I take a weight which is a struggle to get to 8 reps of, and once I get to 8 reps comfortably I add more weight to it. And I've definitely been adding muscle size recently (although that could also be nutrition related as I'm eating a good bit more, taking creatine, animal pump and a test booster for this season) so I'm obviously not too concerned but if I suddenly discover that my muscle gaining routine over the last two years is less effective than the lighter 8-12 rep format I ditched, well f*ck that!

Any opinions about this? For the highest mass gains, 6-8 reps with more weight or 8-12 with less?

Inspector Coptoor

Do both & alternate on different weeks.

6-15 rep range is in the hypertrophy range really.

Anything below (1-5) is strength training primarily & anything above 15 is moving into endurance.

MD1990

i think regrading muscle mass alot has to do with how much Calories & especially protein u are consuming

hatrickpatrick

Inspector Coptoor wrote: »

Do both & alternate on different weeks.

6-15 rep range is in the hypertrophy range really.

Anything below (1-5) is strength training primarily & anything above 15 is moving into endurance.

Interesting. if 6-15 is in the hypertrophy range then I'm good, I rarely hit less than 6 reps and if I do, it's usually once off and my next workout is back in the 7-8 range.

If 6-15 is for hypertrophy, within that range is there much difference between heavier weights for 8 reps or lighter weights for 12?

MD1990 wrote: »

i think regrading muscle mass alot has to do with how much Calories & especially protein u are consuming

Absolutely. You'll never pack on muscle without basically shoveling protein and carb heavy food, no matter how much you lift. I'm doing an old fashioned bulk at the moment in which I eat as much protein right food as I can and don't worry too much if I gain a little fat, as I'm going to do a cut in about a month. Basically now just wondering within that, whether my 6-8 reps lifting regime is actually less effective than it could be if I eased back on the weight a little and went for 12 reps instead.

Inspector Coptoor

There's going to be a difference alright -
(ive read the reasons for the differences its to do with muscle fibre type & recruitment but i cant remember the specifics off the top of my head)
-which is why you should use a mixture of sets & reps ranges.

E.g 4-6 sets of 6-8 reps 1 in one session
& 3-4 sets of 12-15 in the next.

I dont think anyone should be doing the exact same sets & reps week in week out - even IF the weight gets increased slightly every now & again.