The mixed-training group also performed one light-weight set of 25-30 reps done 30 seconds after the last set. The Japanese scientists had trained men do a leg workout twice a week for six weeks on a typical muscle mass gaining program that involved using moderate weight for 10-15 reps per set of leg presses and leg extensions.Īfter this 6-week training phase they separated the men into two groups: 1) a strength-training group, and 2) a mixed-training group.Both groups trained with a typical strength-training program that consisted of 5 sets of each exercise (leg press and leg extension) done with heavy weight for 3-5 reps per set with 3 minutes of rest allowed between sets for four weeks. Take a study from Japan that found that adding a set of high reps (25-35 reps) was best for boosting not only muscle size, but also muscle strength. The Science of High-Rep Training for Size and Strength But these are just basic guidelines and sometimes breaking the rules can actually help your results. High Reps for Strength and Sizeīased on the decades of research on strength training, it appears that using light weight and high reps (reps of 12 or more) is best for boosting muscle endurance, while using moderate weight for moderate reps (reps in the 8-12 range) appears to better boost muscle size, and using heavy weight for low reps (reps of 3-7 per set) are best for building muscle strength. Molecular signaling in muscle is affected by the specificity of resistance exercise protocol. Plus, using a wider range of reps provides your muscles and your overall body more benefits, like greater strength and greater endurance. That is why you also need to train with heavy weight and lighter reps (fewer than 8 reps per set and as few as 2 per set) and also very light for higher reps (more than 12 reps and even as high as 30 reps on some sets) to keep progressing and keep muscles growing. Sticking with a rep range for too long will only lead to stagnation and limit your results. That being said, you don't want to ALWAYS train in the 8-12 rep range. If muscle growth is your main objective, then be sure that a good deal of your workouts are done using reps in the sweet spot for muscle growth-8-12 reps. When they did the one-rep sets using very heavy weight, they saw no boost in MAPK signaling. They reported in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine, Science and Sports that only when the subjects did the 5 sets of 10 reps was there an increase in MAPK signaling. These pathways are one thing we do know that leads to muscle growth. They specifically were looking at mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. The researchers had subjects perform a leg workout doing either 5 sets of 10 reps or 15 sets of 1 rep, then they immediately took a muscle sample from the quads to analyze the muscle for biochemical factors that instigate muscle growth. shows further support for higher rep ranges of 8-12. Yet for some reason there still is a debate in many gyms about whether or not heavy weight and low reps is best to build muscle versus lighter weight and higher reps. Reps of 6 or less also seem to be best for building strength. One thing that we do know based on research and decades of anecdotal reports from bodybuilders is that rep ranges of about 8-12 reps per set seem to be the sweet spot for building muscle. Best Rep Range for Muscle Growthįrom a science standpoint, there's actually not a lot that we know about muscle growth. In this article, I’ll break down the different approaches to rep technique that could revolutionize your workouts and have you seeing better results for your effort. I like to change up exercises, rep ranges, rest periods, training splits, and even the speed at which reps are performed. As I often say, “Everything works, but nothing works forever.” If you're familiar with my training advice, then you know that I like change.
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