Can best amount of reps be variable?

[dpfisher]

I don't know if this makes sense, but is it possible that 4-7reps for strength and 8-12 for hypertrophy is not applicable to everyone?

A couple years ago when I first started lifting I was weak enough that working with the weights I had meant I could only do 5-6 reps on a good day. I made great gains even with poor diet and no real goals or structure to my "program" or lack thereof. I was lifting pretty much every day just doing whatever I felt like really.

Anyway I gradually switched to the right kinds of foods, then finally started counting calories and structuring my workouts and including an off day, and during that time I switched from doing 3-4 sets of 4-7 to 4-5 sets of 8-12. I've still been seeing slow improvement since then and lately I was getting to the point where my stacks of small weights would barely fit on the dumbbells, so I got some larger ones which forced most of my lifts to jump, and I could do less reps. So I decided to switch back to the "strength range" and my progress seems to be going back to what it was when I first started!

So what's going on here? Do I have a fundamental misunderstanding of these guidelines or is there something about my body that makes higher weight with less reps build more size?

 

[russy_russ]

General rule of thumb is that the greater the number of reps and less rest time, the more slow twitch muscles are stimulated. Genetic factors could be playing a role in which you may be predisposed to more slow twitch muscle fibers than fast twitch.

 

[chim_chim]

The single best training tip I've learned in the last 5 years is that 10 sets of 3 reps can give better gains than the "standard" 3 X 10. Time under tension is the same, but with 10 X 3, you are recruiting more type IIb fibers.

In general, varying your rep range can lead to new growth, as it provides a different stimulus to the body. You may find that after getting to acclimated to 4-7 rep sets, changing back to 8-12 reps will again give you progress.

 

[russy_russ]

The single best training tip I've learned in the last 5 years is that 10 sets of 3 reps can give better gains than the "standard" 3 X 10. Time under tension is the same, but with 10 X 3, you are recruiting more type IIb fibers.

In general, varying your rep range can lead to new growth, as it provides a different stimulus to the body. You may find that after getting to acclimated to 4-7 rep sets, changing back to 8-12 reps will again give you progress.

Yes, while that's true; genetics plays a big role also. Everyone has different fiber arrangements.

 

[Knowbull]

The single best training tip I've learned in the last 5 years is that 10 sets of 3 reps can give better gains than the "standard" 3 X 10. Time under tension is the same, but with 10 X 3, you are recruiting more type IIb fibers.

In general, varying your rep range can lead to new growth, as it provides a different stimulus to the body. You may find that after getting to acclimated to 4-7 rep sets, changing back to 8-12 reps will again give you progress.

I think this is good advice. Changing the number of sets and reps on a regular basis has helped me. Perhaps you could look into HST for a better understanding of how that works.

 

[Aggravated]

Genetics most definitely plays a role and this is something that should be done with feel. Maybe try adjusting the weight so that you will fall into YOUR best rep range. See what types of results you get from a few different rep ranges and go from there. Might take some time, but it would be worth it to find out. You might also get results from changing rep ranges for 1 week every 4 weeks. Really something to think about here.