This is a good question when you are starting a new exercise or an exercise that you haven’t done for a long time. First, what are the reps?
“Rep” means “repetition”. It is a movement of an exercise from start to finish. A set is different because a set is the total number of repetitions you do without stopping.
For example, 2 sets of 10 reps of crunches. It works like this, you do 10 crunches in a row, rest, and do 10 more crunches. Finish, you have completed your 2 sets.
Before choosing sets and reps, you need to decide on your goal. Yes, there are three main goals, and that determines the repetition range. There is overall strength, muscle size, and muscle endurance.
Overall strength
The goal is to gain more power without getting bigger. This practice strengthens your myofibril, the contracted part of the muscle. Scientists call it “myofibril hypertrophy”. To do this, use heavyweights with a rep range of 1 to 5 per set.
Muscle size
This one is to build bigger muscle. This approach increases the amount of sarcoplasm, the non-contractile fluid in your muscle. The scientific name is “sarcoplasmic hypertrophy”. Sarcoplasm is responsible for over 30% of your muscle size. Focusing on this type of hypertrophy helps build overall size. To do this, use middleweights with a rep range of 6 to 12 per set.
Muscular endurance
Here is the last one. The rule is to exercise your muscles for an extended period. To do this, use light weights with a rep range of 12 to 25+ per set. And to further improve your endurance, take a rest time between 30 seconds and a minute.
When starting a new exercise, use a lightweight and do as many reps as possible. This allows you to learn to do the movement in a good form and in a safe manner. Then it’s up to you to decide if you want to increase the weight and decrease the reps or vice versa.
Here are the most important points:
- Reps between 1 and 5 build dense muscle and strength.
- Reps between 6 and 12 develop equal amounts of muscle power, strength, and size.
- Reps of 12+ build muscle endurance, size, and cardiovascular health.
Hope this helps you better understand and improve your workout program. Have fun and share your thoughts in the comments.
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-Steph