Rep Help

[BigEasy87]

Hey guys I was curious as to how many sets and repetitions should be preformed to gain mass and should the sets be pyramided to increase size???

I am currently doing four sets consisting of 10 - 12 reps

 

[landfill]

Hey guys I was curious as to how many sets and repetitions should be preformed to gain mass and should the sets be pyramided to increase size???

I am currently doing four sets consisting of 10 - 12 reps

You'll need to experiment and see what works best for you.Popular rep ranges are 6-8,8-10,10-12 when trying to gain mass,for 3-4 sets.And yes, pyramiding will recruit more muscle fibres.

 

[Space]

It's controversial but a number of recent studies indicate that 1 set of 8-12 reps for each body part twice a week produces optimal hypertrophy.

This minimalist approach is good for preventing injuries and if the studies are to be believed, there is no sense in doing more work than is necessary.

 

[tattoopierced1]

I hit almost all the ranges.. One week I'll do a power scheme, the next week I'll do a higher rep, lower weight TUT, then one week I'll do a standard 10-12 range set with moderately heavy weight.

 

[BLANCO7]

this article helped me with the rep issue. hope it can help you folks out as well.

How Many Reps Should You Do? | StrongLifts.com

What do you want? If you want to know how many reps you should do, first tell me what your goal is. Lifting weights can take several forms: strength training, bodybuilding, powerlifting, weight lifting, strongman, …

Sprinters have different needs than marathon runners. Rock-climbers have different needs than weight lifters. How many reps should you do? Let’s see what the different goals are.


Reps & Training Goals. Reps can be used to develop many abilities:

• Strength: lift a maximum weight.
• Speed: move fast.
• Power: accelerate, explode.
• Endurance: lift for extended periods of time.
• Muscle Mass: gain muscle.

Typically, a bodybuilder wants muscle mass. A strongman strength & endurance. Weightlifters power & strength. By manipulating the rep range, you can control the outcome.


Reps & Muscle Gains. Lifting weights always builds muscles. However, how many reps you do will influence the type of muscle. You have 2 kinds of muscle gain:

• Myofbrillar Hypertrophy
• Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy

Myofibrillar Hypertrophy gives less muscle mass than Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy. You can develop Myofibrillar Hypertrophy by doing 1 to 3 reps at high intensity. Training with 10 reps at lower intensity develops Sarcopasmic Hypertrophy.


How Many Reps You Should Do. This is an overview of the different rep ranges & their outcome:

• 1-3 reps: Strength & Myofibrillar Hypertrophy
• 3-5 reps: Power
• 10 reps: Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy
• 20 reps: Endurance

Note that any rep range develops strength, speed, power, muscle & endurance. But some rep ranges develop one more than the other.


5 Reps: The Magic Rep Range. The Beginner Strength Training Program uses sets of 5 reps. Looking back at the how many reps you should do, you can clearly see why. 5 reps:

• Builds Strength.
• Builds Power.
• Builds Muscle Mass.

By doing 5 reps you get a mix of anything. This works well for beginners. As you advance, it’s a good idea to vary the rep ranges.


More info:
Rippetoe-Kilgore, Mark and Lon. 2006. Practical Programming for Strength Training.
Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M. 1995. Science and Practice of Strength Training.

 

[BigEasy87]

Yesterday I worked out bi's pyramiding my sets and reps. I got an amazing pump, increased flexibilty and was able to lift heavier

Thanks alot for your input guys, this information really helped out alot

 

[Joshua86]

I'll do anywhere from 1-12 reps, depending on what I'm doing. If I've got four sets for say, bench press, I might do 10, 8, 6, 4, because I'm trying to get my bench strength up. Or the next day when I'm doing barbell rows, I might do 12, 10, 8, 6. Depends on the day and what I'm doing. Sometimes I'll go for all power, warming up followed by very heavy reps of 1-3. Constant rep ranges of 10-12 never worked for me.

You have to find what works best for you. Trail and error my friend.

 

[The_KM]

There is one specific factor that determines which specific form of hypertrophy you're emphasizing: time/rest periods.

Very quickly:

5-7 reps (rest periods at 2-3min): myofibrallment hypertrophy.
8-12 reps (rest periods at 60-90s): sacroplasmic hypertrophy/satellite cells.

Reps 1-4 are generally for strength improvement rather than actual cell girth.

KM