How many repetitions and sets should I do in strength training?

Strength training

There are numerous choices to be made on repetitions and sets in strength training. Too many and you are only developing endurance, too few and you aren’t really getting the potential benefits of using weights and strength training.

What are the benefits of strength training?

Whether you are keeping fit for a specific sport or just want to stay toned and fit, there a many benefits of strength training.

#1 Halt and even reverse sarcopenia: As we age our skeletal muscle deteriorates, which is a condition known as sarcopenia. Strength training has been found to reduce the negative effects of sarcopenia allowing us to maintain an independent lifestyle (and out of a nursing home) and live longer.

#2 Prevent disease and degenerative conditions: Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. Strength training helps correct issues relating to cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and inactivity – all factors for heart disease.

#3 Improve the quality of life for people with: arthritis, osteoporosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Down Syndrome, lymphoedema, fibromyalgia, who have recently had a stroke, have had a spinal cord injury, cancer survivors and clinical depression.

#4 Lose weight, look good: You can find study after study after study that shows you the benefits of strength training for weight management when combined with “calorie restriction.”(eating fewer calories than you burn every day), such as greater fat loss and improvements in muscle mass.

#5 Strength training increases bone density, builds a stronger heart, reduces your resting blood pressure, improves blood flow, halts muscle loss, helps control blood sugar, improves cholesterol levels, and improves your balance and coordination.[

How many repetitions and sets?

Repetition defines one complete motion of an exercise. And one “set” is a consecutive number of reps without stopping. So “2 sets of 10 reps of push-ups” means, “10 consecutive push-ups, a rest, then another 10 consecutive push-ups.”

Depending on what your goal is, the sets, reps, and rest intervals will change.

There are 3 main goals involving different numbers:

Muscular endurance
Muscle size
Overall strength

The following are “widely accepted numbers here.”

Muscular endurance

Endurance means encouraging and training your muscles to perform for an extended period of time. This means doing a LOT of repetitions.

People targeting muscular endurance will aim for a range from 12 to 20+ reps.

Obviously, you won’t be able to lift heavy amounts of weight for 20+ reps, so you’ll be lifting lighter loads.

Also, because you’re targeting endurance improvements, you want to decrease the amount of rest between sets: 30 seconds to a minute.

Muscle size

The scientific term for increasing muscle size is “sarcoplasmic hypertrophy,” as it focuses on increasing the amount of sarcoplasm, the non-contractile fluid found in your muscle.

If you’re looking to get bigger:

Target a rep range of 6 – 12 reps per set.
Aim for 3-5 sets.
Rest time between sets should be short, about 60 to 90 seconds.

Overall strength

If you’re training for specific sports and just want to get stronger with more power – but not necessarily get bigger, target reps in the 1-5 range. And yep, that means you’re going to be picking up heavy weights, focusing all that concentrated effort into just one or a few reps.

How many sets?

A “set” describes a group of repetitions performed for an exercise without stopping.

For example, if you do 10 squats, you just did 1 SET of 10 reps of squats.

So let’s talk about the “correct” number of sets per exercise.

The simple answer: “Do 3-5 work sets of a given exercise.”

The even simpler answer is to pick a weight that feels light to you, and then do 3 sets of 10 reps. Then over time increase weight, reps or sets.

TO RECAP, aim for 3-5 sets in the following rep rangers per exercise based on your goals:

Endurance: 12+ reps per set.
Hypertrophy (bigger muscles): 6-12 reps per set.
Strength (dense, powerful muscle): 1-5 reps per set.

Also don’t forget good nutrition and start today.

See our strength training products.

What are the benefits of strength training?