Ideal number of reps for weight lifting?

[Gamisch]

What do you guys say? Some say 3x 8 other say 5x5 for example.

 

[EyeBRollin]

What do you guys say? Some say 3x 8 other say 5x5 for example.

3-5 reps. Not more than 5.

 

[Gamisch]

Over the years I tried different ways and for me personally 3x8 is perfect for strength and mass gains, but everyone responds differently and this is what works for me

If you want to focus solaly on strength then below 5, so it depends on your goals

I've been boxing for years so my posture is lean( if I don't let myself go, which i learned the hard way last year). I still box occasionally but I do wanna get a little bigger while maintaining my speed . But boxing slowly get pushed to a second place behind weightlifting. I am 81/84 kilos ,1.85 and have 17% bodyfat now (begin of December it was 25%) .

I obviously look way better now and start to get a good physical form, a nice V shape. I have a crazy talent to push limits with calhestnics and do 100 pushups, 40 pullups ect. So,when in shape my body always returns to that lean look. But I am getting older and prefer to get some bigger, as the lean look also makes you look younger in a bad way.

So basically I wanna get slighty bigger, MUCH stronger, i am chasinh PR's as weightlifting is new to me.

I don't use anything, no protein powder nothing , and i hardly ever drink alcohol or eat fastfood (once a month maybe 3 weeks)

 

[Gamisch]

3-5 reps. Not more than 5.

Can you elaborate on this please?

 

[BackInTheGame78]

What do you guys say? Some say 3x 8 other say 5x5 for example.

There is no such thing.

It's all dependant on what your goals are and what you are training for.

 

[All_Kindz_Of_Gainz]

What do you guys say? Some say 3x 8 other say 5x5 for example.

6-8, while having 2-3 reps in reserve (RIR). That way you keep the weight heavy enough, but not too heavy to risk an injure.

 

[Gamisch]

There is no such thing.

It's all dependant on what your goals are and what you are training for.

Like i said, to get stronger, a little bigger and yet stay flexible and fast.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Like i said, to get stronger, a little bigger and yet stay flexible and fast.

This should be helpful.

Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum

Loading recommendations for resistance training are typically prescribed along what has come to be known as the “repetition continuum”, which proposes that the number of repetitions performed at a given magnitude of load will result in ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

.

 

[Gamisch]

This should be helpful.

Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum

Loading recommendations for resistance training are typically prescribed along what has come to be known as the “repetition continuum”, which proposes that the number of repetitions performed at a given magnitude of load will result in ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

.

Wow that's really interesting. Thanks a lot .

 

[EyeBRollin]

Can you elaborate on this please?

3-5 reps are optimal for strength gains. Size comes naturally with strength. Work on getting as strong as possible.

 

[LTG71]

What do you guys say? Some say 3x 8 other say 5x5 for example.

I found this guide a while ago. I try to maintain proper form so for large muscle groups I tend to use the “size” column and for smaller groups I tend to use the “endurance“ column. I found a cool app to keep track of everything. Has a timer between sets, also a second timer if needed. You create your workout from a huge list of exercises or make custom ones if not available. I paid the one time ~$15 for the lifetime uprades. I build my workout based on suggestions from the guy from Athleanx. I watched all the videos in the playlist below. Took a while but would rather be educated than waste time or get injured. I’m usually doing something like 3-4 sets, 8-20 reps.

https://youtube.com/@athleanx

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRS2DE4P39EdxZPWM4YWHbsH727VGXqby

‎GymBook ・ Strength Training

‎Here is GymBook, your fitness app to efficiently create, log and analyze your workouts at the gym - all in a beautiful and innovative user interface. MANAGE YOUR WORKOUTS • Create your workout with your own exercises or choose from the 50+ simple exercises with animated images and...

apps.apple.com

 

[Money & Muscle]

What do you guys say? Some say 3x 8 other say 5x5 for example.

Depends on the goal.

Strength: 5 or less is typically ideal.
Hypertrophy: 6-20 has been seen to be ideal, but this is subjective.

RE Subjectivity... Data supports that the last 5 reps to failure are most important and beneficial for muscle growth. This remains the same whether you failed on rep #8 or rep #30.
BUT
You will accrue far more fatigue aiming to hit 30 reps to failure than if you hit 8 reps to failure.

So I recommend working 2 sets to failure for every exercise, and 2 exercises (one heavy, one light) for every muscle.
Heavy lifts in the 6-12 rep range, light lifts in the 12-25 rep range.

When you hit both sets at the top end of the rep range, bump weight and repeat.

 

[EyeBRollin]

RE Subjectivity... Data supports that the last 5 reps to failure

Which data? I never trained specifically to failure. Just continued overloading the bar over time

 

[DonJuanjr]

One can have different requirements of rep range and load based on which muscle group they're targeting. Your legs may need to take a high load, low rep, while your arms may need high rep medium load to respond. All depends.

 

[Money & Muscle]

Which data? I never trained specifically to failure. Just continued overloading the bar over time

In the subgroup analysis for resistance-trained individuals, the analysis showed a significant effect of training to failure for muscle hypertrophy (ES = 0.15, 95%CI: 0.03-0.26).

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33497853/

Intensity
Intensity (i.e. load) has been shown to have a significant
impact on muscle hypertrophy and is arguably the most
important exercise variable for stimulating muscle growth
(42). Intensity is customarily expressed as a percentage of
IRM and equates to the number of repetitions that can be
performed with a given weight. Repetitions can be classified
into 3 basic ranges: low (1-5), moderate (6-12), and high
(15+). Each of these repetition ranges will involve the use of
different energy systems and tax the neuromuscular system in
different ways, impacting the extent of the hypertrophic
response.

The use of high repetitions has generally proven to be
inferior to moderate and lower repetition ranges in eliciting
increases in muscle hypertrophy (24,71). In the absence of
artificially induced ischemia (i.e., occlusion training), a load
less than approximately 65% of IRM is not considered suffi-
cient to promote substantial hypertrophy (115). Although
such high rep training can bring about significant metabolic
stress, the load is inadequate to recruit and fatigue the highest
threshold MUs.

Muscular Failure
Muscular failure can be defined as the point during a set when
muscles can no longer produce necessary force to concen-
trically lift a given load. Although the merits of training
to failure are still a matter of debate, it is commonly believed
that training to muscular failure is necessary to maximize
the hypertrophic response (196). Several theories have been
proposed in support of this contention.

For one, training to failure is hypothesized to activate
a greater number of MUs (196). When a lifter becomes
fatigued, a progressively greater number of MUs are recruited
to continue activity, providing an additional stimulus for
hypertrophy (145). In this way, failure may provide increased
stimulation to the highest threshold MUs when moderate
repetition ranges are employed.

Training to failure also may enhance exercise-induced
metabolic stress, thereby potentiating a hypertrophic re-
sponse. Continuing to train under conditions of anaerobic
glycolysis heightens the buildup of metabolites, which in turn
enhances the anabolic hormonal milieu. Linnamo et al. (104)
displayed that performing sets at 10RM to failure caused
a significantly greater postexercise elevation in GH secretion
compared to the same load not performed to failure.

Although training to failure does appear to confer hyper-
trophic benefits, there is evidence that it also increases the
potential for overtraining and psychological burnout (43).
Izquierdo et al. (76) found that training to failure caused
reductions in resting IGF-1 concentrations and a blunting of
resting testosterone levels over a 16-week protocol, suggest-
ing that subjects may have been overtrained. Thus, although
it seems prudent to include sets performed to failure in
a hypertrophy-oriented program, its use should be perio-
dized and/or limited to avoid an overtrained state.

The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training - PubMed

The quest to increase lean body mass is widely pursued by those who lift weights. Research is lacking, however, as to the best approach for maximizing exercise-induced muscle growth. Bodybuilders generally train with moderate loads and fairly short rest intervals that induce high amounts of...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Full Text

Read into these as much as you want, but all signs point towards training to failure as the predominant source of progress in well-trained individuals. If you aren't "well trained" then you probably don't need to go to failure.

 

[EyeBRollin]

Read into these as much as you want, but all signs point towards training to failure as the predominant source of progress in well-trained individuals. If you aren't "well trained" then you probably don't need to go to failure.

To be clear, I have trained to failure as part of a progressive overload programming. Failure just wasn’t the specific goal of the training. At some point we all hit some plateaus that take a while to break through.

 

[Money & Muscle]

To be clear, I have trained to failure as part of a progressive overload programming. Failure just wasn’t the specific goal of the training. At some point we all hit some plateaus that take a while to break through.

If I could make an unsolicited suggestion:

Take a look at Jordan Peters training Trained By JP and give it a go for a couple months. It's all failure based training, as in - failure is the goal. If you're significantly trained, this will probably put some new growth on you. Not sure if you saw my picture in another thread or not, but most dudes that I know who are bigger than me are using this system - or ones with very similar fundamentals (being failure training).

 

[EyeBRollin]

If I could make an unsolicited suggestion:

Take a look at Jordan Peters training Trained By JP and give it a go for a couple months. It's all failure based training, as in - failure is the goal. If you're significantly trained, this will probably put some new growth on you. Not sure if you saw my picture in another thread or not, but most dudes that I know who are bigger than me are using this system - or ones with very similar fundamentals (being failure training).

Unfortunately I don’t have the appetite for any more growth (no pun intended). Been going in the other direction weight wise. Focused on cardio and longevity. I ended somewhere between the high end intermediate and low end advanced range. Squatting and deadlifting 2BW and 2.5BW for triples, respectively.

I don’t like to eat and sleep that much.. I don’t miss the DOMS either. Haha.

 

[Ricky]

If I could make an unsolicited suggestion:

Take a look at Jordan Peters training Trained By JP and give it a go for a couple months. It's all failure based training, as in - failure is the goal. If you're significantly trained, this will probably put some new growth on you. Not sure if you saw my picture in another thread or not, but most dudes that I know who are bigger than me are using this system - or ones with very similar fundamentals (being failure training).

Is it like HIIT? One set to failure? I made some pretty good strength gains on that back in the day.

 

[Money & Muscle]

Is it like HIIT? One set to failure?

HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training (Metabolic Conditioning or MetCon... could accurately fit into the box of CrossFit)
HIT = High Intensity Training (DoggCrapp, Fortitude, Blood N Guts, among others... Training with the sole purpose of reaching muscular failure or going beyond that.

*If you meant "HIT", not "HIIT", then it is specifically that. And not the Darden style stuff either.

Trained By JP has a few different templates that vary the number of sets to failure based on training volume, but his Full Body plan is one set to failure and his PPL split is 2 sets to failure. Different training methods under this umbrella utilize different sets and reps to reach failure, but they all reach failure.

Again, if you aren't at a point of significant muscular development, Failure based training isn't required for growth. If you are (and are stalling on progress), it's overdue for you to move to a failure based training method.

I recommend DoggCrapp training for anyone who's not overly familiar with training to failure... rest pause is a hell of a teacher for what failure really means.