![]() ![]() When I talk about “heavy” or “low-rep” training, I’m generally talking about loads in excess of 85% of your 1rm, for sets of 5 reps or fewer.So, just to define terms before we get underway: What I want to do in this article is examine that middle zone: the “hypertrophy range.” Is training in that general range the best way to build muscle? Can you expect more muscle growth training in that range, and if so, just how big are the differences? Conversely, you can build absolute muscular endurance (how many times you can move a set load, regardless of your 1rm) with low rep and moderate rep training, but you can build a lot more with high rep training, and high rep training is generally the only way to improve relative muscular endurance (how many times you can lift a certain percentage of your 1rm). You can still gain strength with light weights/high reps and moderate weight/moderate reps, but strength gains are generally better with heavy, low-rep training. Now, before jumping in, I will note that the assumptions about lower reps/higher weights building more strength and higher rep/lower weights building more strength endurance have largely been validated. Other people will assent to the idea that you can still grow a bit with low-rep or high-rep training, but that your results will still be notably better if you stick to the “hypertrophy range.” Sure, you may be able to build a little muscle doing heavy sets of 3 or 20+ rep “pump sets,” but you’d grow more if you stayed in the hypertrophy range. ![]() Some people take it to the extreme, and assume that any muscle growth outside of the “hypertrophy range” will be minimal or nonexistent. How fanatical people were about those rep ranges varied, sure, but those have been the accepted ranges for a long, long time. One standby, though, has been “rep ranges.”Īt least as far back as the ’50s (and probably before), people have been promoting the idea that low reps were ideal for strength development, moderate reps (somewhere between 6-8 reps on the low end, and 12 to 15 on the high end) were best for building muscle, and high reps were best for building strength endurance. In that time, I’ve seen a lot of ideas, fads, and trends come and go. Introduction to the Hypertrophy Rep Range Since different rep ranges go about triggering a growth response in slightly different ways, you’re probably better off training with a full spectrum of rep ranges instead of rigidly staying in a single rep range and intensity zone.This generally coincides with a moderate intensity and rep range for most exercises and most people. From a practical standpoint, you should probably do most of your training in the rep range that allows you to get in the most hard sets per training session and per week for each exercise you use and each muscle you train.When looking at the whole body of scientific literature, there’s simply not a very big difference in muscle growth when comparing different rep ranges.More information about the individual studies, adjustments, and analyses can be found in the article The “Hypertrophy Rep Range” – Stats and Adjustments if you want to dig a little deeper into this topic. ![]()
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