How Many Reps Should I Do? | Strength Training
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How many reps should I do? Almost everyone has asked this at some point in their lifting career. And justifiably so. The number of reps you do influences the degree to which you build strength, size, and endurance.
Before we get into the details, here are a few key takeaways for general strength training:
- Between 5 and 15 reps is generally optimal, however...
- You should use a variety of rep ranges, and...
- You should train in the rep range you specifically want to get stronger in.
The Sweet Spot
When choosing how many reps to do, you're balancing two distinct stressors: mechanical tension and metabolic stress. Low reps maximize mechanical tension while minimizing metabolic stress, while the opposite is true for high reps. Both are important for building muscle and strength and doing between 5 and 15 reps gives you a good balance of both stressors.
That's not to say that lower and higher rep training is bad, in fact, each has their own distinct benefits. However, they also come with certain drawbacks that training in the moderate rep range minimizes.
Lower rep training, by its nature, uses heavier weights relative to your 1 rep max. This increases the risk of injury, especially if your form isn't right. It also puts more stress on your joints and tendons, which once again increases risk of injury and can also lead to sore joints. Lower rep training also necessitates longer rest periods and can lead to long sessions in the gym.
Higher rep training, on the other hand, uses lighter weights relative to your 1 rep max. This means, unsurprisingly, that you have to do a lot more reps to stimulate muscle growth. While this seems like it should help the injury risk, it actually greatly increases the chances of repetitive injuries. It also means that form often breaks down due to overall systemic fatigue rather than muscular fatigue.
The big takeaway is that training between 5 and 15 reps helps to minimize injury, minimize time spent in the gym, and maximize the amount of hard sets you're able to do.
Rep Ranges
Reps are commonly classified into rep ranges, each of which emphasize a certain adaptation. However, the adaptations are not as specific as most people think.
| Emphasis | Range |
|---|---|
| Strength | 1-5 |
| Strength & Size | 5-8 |
| Size | 8-12 |
| Size & Endurance | 12-15 |
| Endurance | 15+ |
For example, doing 4 reps doesn't suddenly mean you're not building any size. In fact, not only are you still building size, you're also improving your endurance somewhat as well. There is a significant amount of adaptational overlap between the ranges.
Variety & Specificity
That being said, training a variety of rep ranges is still beneficial. By training across a variety of rep ranges, you trigger your muscles to adapt to a variety of stimuli, likely leading to more growth.
It's also important that you train in the rep range that you specifically want to get better at. Powerlifters train a lot in the lower rep ranges, while bodybuilders train a lot in the moderate range. Unsurprising, powerlifters can usually lift more for a 1 rep max than a bodybuilder. However, bodybuilders can usually lift more for 10 reps than a powerlifter.
So if your goal is to have a high 1 rep max, be sure to lift in the 1 to 5 rep range a bit more often. While there is definitely significant overlap, you do get better at what you specifically train.
Regardless of the rep range you're training in, make sure each set is challenging. For most sets, it's best to be between 1 and 4 reps away from failure to get the best results while minimizing fatigue.
