The number of reps that you perform for each exercise will determine what component of fitness you are going to be targeting or how your body will change. There are different components of fitness that are specific to certain sports. I will be covering two components of fitness, Strength, and muscular endurance and what reps you need to do for hypertrophy (muscle building).
This first component I will cover will be Strength – the ability to exert force against a resistance. There are different types of strength such as:
Maximum strength – This is the most force that can be applied in a single maximum contraction, your 1RM (1 Rep Max, the most weight that you are able to lift for 1 repetition).
Strength endurance – The ability to lift a force many times, for example if you tried to lift 80% of your 1RM and completed 6 reps this would be your 6RM.
Elastic strength – The ability to overcome a resistance with a fast contraction, for example a basketball player jumping for a slam dunk.
Now that we know the different types of strength we now need to no how we get strong and different ways we can develop our strength.
So first of all how do we get strong? In order to increase our strength we need to work our muscles beyond its normal operation, to do this we need to overload the muscle, this can be done by –
Reps – The number of repetitions that you perform on an exercise, for maximum strength this is usually 1-5 repetitions per exercises.
Sets – The Number of sets of an exercise. This will vary depending on your level of fitness and type of training.
Intensity – Reducing the recovery time between sets and exercises.
Developing strength – Maximum strength – Weight lifting – Strength Endurance – Circuit training, Weight lifting – Elastic strength – Weight lifting, plyometric exercises, conditioning exercises.
Hypertrophy (muscle building) - If your main focus is increasing the size of your muscles then working in the hypertrophy rep range is for you. The Hypertrophy rep range is between 8-12 repetitions for an exercise. Working in this rep range will increase the size of your muscle, a bit of strength increase and better definition. This is the rep range is commonly use by bodybuilders, although this rep range produces bigger muscles it does not justify your strength, bodybuilders may look big but there strength does not represent their size. This is why you should vary the number of repetitions you do every once in a while, otherwise you may just get laughed at by the power lifter half your size but twice as strong. ;)
Reps – The rep range is 8-12 repetitions and will mainly focus on building the size of your muscles but will also contribute to a bit of strength increase and a small increase in muscular endurance.
Sets – This will depend on your fitness level, the number of exercises and the type of training you are doing. For example if you are doing a split routine (A routine that separate all the muscles in the body into separate workouts usually over the period of 7 days) it maybe chest day so you would choose 3 exercises that work your chest doing 3 sets per exercise.
Rest – Again depending on your fitness levels but usually 30 – 120 seconds rest between sets and exercises. The less time resting between sets and exercises will increase the intensity of the workout.
I will now move onto Muscular endurance – The ability to sustain repeated contractions against a resistance for extended amount of time. This rep range is 12-15+ this rep range is good for increasing your muscular endurance and will also help to reduce injuries occurring. Working at this rep range is the best for beginner weight lifters because their body can adapt slowly focusing on good technique and control, this way they can transition to heavier weights without injury.
Reps – 12-15+ repetitions per exercise to focus on increasing your muscular endurance, minimal strength and muscle gain.
Sets – 3-6 sets for an exercise, focus on targeting the larger muscles
Rest – take 30 – 60 seconds rest between sets and exercises.
Now to finish a table to simplify each type of training
Training type | Reps | Sets per exercise | Rest between sets |
Strength | 1-5 | 4-6 | 30-120 seconds |
Strength and hypertrophy | 6-10 | 3-5 | 30-120 seconds |
Hypertrophy | 8-12 | 3-4 | 30-120 seconds |
Muscular endurance & Hypertrophy | 10-15 | 3-6 | 30-90 seconds |
Muscular endurance | 12-15+ | 3-6 | 30-60 seconds |
