How Many Reps Should I Do?
How to optimize your resistance training for your goals.
There’s a lot of information out there, and it’s not all good. For the longest time, women were told to do many reps of an exercise with lighter weights to get toned and avoid “bulking up”.
Now women have broken into the strength sports world, and powerlifting has even become somewhat mainstream among female gym-goers.
But how do you deal with the juxtaposition of the go-hard-or-go-home heavy lifters and the Pilates princesses?
Is there an ideal rep range that will help you get the look you are after while minimizing risk?
What does rep range even mean?
If you’re a complete beginner in the gym, the lingo can be hard to grasp at first: AMRAP, rep, set, EMOM, rhabdo… (I hope not the last one!)
For the purposes of this article, all you really need to know about are sets and repetitions, or reps.
A rep, short for repetition, is one iteration of an exercise. For example, one rep of a squat is one single squat. One rep of a push-up is one single push up.
A set is just a group of these reps that are done back to back before resting (and you better be resting between sets!). On a program, you might see “3 sets of 10 reps” for squats. This means you do 10 squats, take a rest, and then repeat that two more times.
Doing different numbers of reps in a given program can help someone target specific adaptations. So then, a rep range is a range the number of repetitions of an exercise that one would do to target certain benefits.
It’s important to note that these ranges can vary slightly depending on the individual.
Strength and Power
The lower end rep ranges have some overlap in number of reps, but have two different outcomes, depending on how someone does these exercises.
The power development rep range is generally understood to be one to three repetitions, done with light to moderate weight at an explosive speed. The goal is not only force production, but force production with speed.
Exercises like box jumps, olympic lifts, and push press can really shine in this range.
These quick and explosive exercises can be great for helping athletes who jump, sprint, and make fast breaks. They can also be helpful for the everyday trainee who wants to prepare for the unexpected, like gracefully skirting a divot in the trail on a hike or stepping off a curb without injury. The ability to produce force quickly and land well can support healthy, independent aging.
The rep range for developing raw strength is traditionally understood to be one to six reps, using very challenging weights. Generally in this range, you’ll see weights that are about eighty to one hundred percent of the maximum you can do for one repetition.
While there is overlap between the strength and power range when it comes to number of reps, the tempo of those reps will differ. When training for max strength, the reps will be done at a controlled tempo, while in the power range, the reps will be done explosively. The weights used for power development will often be less than those used for maximal strength training.
The strength range optimizes the total amount of weight a person can lift. It also trains your nervous system to effectively command your muscle fibers into action when you need them!
Many powerlifters and strength athletes will train a lot in this range, but it can also help the average gym-goer maximize strength for daily life.
No more calling over an employee to help you lift the forty pound bag of dog food into your cart!
Training for Hypertrophy - aka the Muscle Growth Range
Ok, I kind of lied when I said you didn’t need to learn any other lingo: hypertrophy refers to muscle growth. The hypertrophy range is considered to be six to twelve reps.
The weights used are generally challenging, but not maximal - generally about sixty-five to eighty-five percent of the maximum you can perform one rep with.
When training for muscle growth, the amount of time spent under tension matters, so the reps are done at a controlled tempo. Most of the time, it helps to emphasize the lowering portion of the rep (for example, slowing down a bicep curl on the way back down).
Some strength gain occurs as muscle fibers grow, so this range also increases strength. However, it does not work as effectively for maximal strength gain as the strength rep range does.
Working in the muscle growth range is popular for athletes and everyday people alike because it creates the toned, athletic look associated with fitness while contributing to muscular strength and overall health.
The Endurance Range
The endurance range trains muscles to contract repeatedly over a longer period of time and can include rep schemes from twelve to beyond twenty.
The loads used in the endurance range will be lighter than those used for strength, hypertrophy, or power: less than sixty percent of the maximum you can lift for one rep (generally a lot less). Sometimes, bodyweight exercises can even fall into this range.
Workouts primarily in the endurance range do not do much to increase maximal strength or muscle size, but they can marginally benefit either or both, especially in beginners.
Important note: you will almost always experience benefits from going to “no exercise” to “exercise”, no matter how optimal or sub-optimal.
Exercises in the endurance rep range are often recommended for endurance athletes, supported by the logic that they improve muscles’ ability to perform for a longer period of time. However, this can be redundant with the exercise these athletes are already doing for prolonged periods. If incorrectly programmed, this can create the potential for overuse injuries. Not to mention that it can be an inefficient use of their time!
Often, what endurance athletes really need is increased muscle strength, and would thus benefit from spending more time training in the maximal strength or hypertrophy range, and less in the endurance range.
Many beginners, senior citizens, and those returning to exercise after injury will often work in the endurance range because lighter weights are typically used. This can help a beginner or more injury prone person feel safer, since the weights are manageable.
It is, however, still important to mind the total number of repetitions and be sure the volume is not too high. No matter how low the weights, doing many many reps can still cause wear and tear while not necessarily maximizing the intended benefit.
The endurance range is often mistakenly used for “toning”, and is often marketed towards women who want to avoid a bulky look.
Ok, so the Million Dollar Question: How to Get Toned and Avoid Looking Bulky?
As I mentioned above, endurance range training (12 - 20+ reps) is often sold to women as a toning solution. The flawed logic is that lifting lighter loads for many reps will “sculpt” without causing excess muscle growth and a bulky appearance. Emphasis on “flawed”…
“Toned” is a combination of two things: having muscle, and having a low enough body fat percentage to reveal said muscle.
So to get toned, it’s important to grow muscle.
The endurance range produces metabolic stress, also known as “the pump”, but often doesn’t provide the mechanical tension needed to maximize muscle growth since the loads used in this range are low.
To get close enough to failure to really drive hypertrophy in the endurance range, you would have to do many reps. This can be time consuming and can contribute to overuse injuries.
Also, frankly, doing three sets of thirty reps of tricep kickbacks is just plain boring and I’d rather do something else with my day.
Therefore, while you definitely can build muscle using lower weights and higher reps, it’s not the most effective way to do it.
To get enough stimulus for growth in an efficient way, working mostly in the hypertrophy range (six to twelve reps) with a sprinkling of strength and endurance ranges is the best option.
For those worried about getting bulky: muscle is inherently lean.
So you can ignore marketing claims about exercise programs that build “lean muscle”. Muscle takes a lot of work and the right conditions to grow. Meaning it would be pretty much impossible to accidentally gain too much muscle!
What creates the bulky look? For most people, when they feel they’re becoming bulky, it is due to gaining fat along with muscle, or maintaining their current fat mass while gaining muscle underneath.
Optimizing your diet can be helpful in minimizing fat gain while you’re putting on muscle and getting stronger.
(If you need help fixing your diet, click here to apply for nutrition coaching!)
Some of the “bulky” fear comes from people simply not liking or being used to having muscle on their frame.
This preference is influenced by social conditioning and cultural norms. While in my biased opinion, I think women with muscle look hot AF, I do understand the fear of having defined muscle - we’re held to crazy beauty standards!
This fear is worth examining though, since having muscle on your body will help you live longer, have a healthier metabolism, maintain your independence as you age, and prevent some diseases.
So, Which Rep Range Should I Use?
The rep range you use most will depend on your goals, how long you’ve been training, and your individual body!
The best results will come from training across a variety of rep ranges within the same program, with the specific blend of ranges depending on the above factors, as well as the exercise selection.
A person who is completely new to exercise may lack the foundational movement patterns and body awareness necessary to benefit from maximal strength training. It’s not going to be very helpful to put a whole bunch of plates on the squat bar if the squat itself is lacking.
For a beginner, it’s best to work on learning the movement patterns and building the muscles before focusing heavily on maximal strength.
A powerlifter, strongman competitor, or football linebacker might find that much of their training is in the maximal strength rep range, as pure strength is very valuable in those sports. However, they will also need the healthy muscles, conditioning, and endurance to repeatedly move those loads while minimizing injury, so they will have accessory exercises in hypertrophy and endurance ranges. Some strength athletes may also work in the power range to maximize the speed at which they can produce force for their sports.
A competitive bodybuilder will do many of their exercises with hypertrophy in mind so they can develop larger muscles, but they also will work in other ranges. Adding in some lifts to maximize strength and teach the nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers can help support increasing weights and demands on the body.
Different exercises will also lend themselves to different rep ranges. For example, an isolation exercise (one that mainly uses only one muscle group) like a tricep kickback is best done in the hypertrophy or endurance range, while a compound lift (one that uses multiple muscle groups at once) can be done for maximal strength, power, or hypertrophy.
If your head is spinning and you need help figuring out the right program for you, don’t despair: I offer online coaching and would be so happy to talk to you about it!
