How many Reps should you do?

What to do, how many to do, and why?

All good questions. Let’s start with what the textbook says. Here the 3 most common rep ranges.

Repetitions of 1-5

Typically associated with what’s called “Absolute Strength”. This is basically the muscles ability to produce force and be strong.

Although Strength is typically associated with size, there are ways to get stronger, without getting bigger.

If you’re looking to maximize what the muscle you currently have can do, stick with this rep range.

The caveat is that this rep range is typically associated with more expertise. More reps are forgiving on flaws in technique and movement, but when you’re only doing it once or twice you can get trouble much more easily.

8-12

Next is Hypertrophy, or “Muscle Growth”. This is generally reps of 8-12 or so. This rep range is aimed at making a bigger muscle.

Again, with a bigger muscle there is more “potential” for strength, but that does not necessarily make it immediately stronger.

If you’re looking to put on size, stay here. If you’re goal is strength, challenge your muscles more by going heavier,

15-25

Last is “Muscle Endurance”. This is for a rep range of 15-25 and beyond.

The goal here being to condition your muscles so that they can produce force for a longer period of time. These movements are typically very light.

With less load, there is less potential for size and strength, but muscular endurance teaches your muscles and your soft tissue to be more resilient.

These help reduce the chance of Injury, and are also forgiving on lack of technique or familiarity in a lift.

So here’s the deal

If you want to get strong, go heavier. The heavier the weight is the fewer reps you can expect to do (1-5)

If you’re looking for size, think about how you’re stressing your muscles over a period of time. With too much weight you don’t spend much time stressing the muscle, and with too little weight there isn’t enough stress to cause adaptation, or growth (8-12)

if you’re looking to stave off injury, become more resilient, recover, or just move them keep the weight light and keep going. (15-25+).

Hunter Clark