SETS REPS AND LOADS
You want to start working out? Great! You want to improve your workouts, and you go online and there is so much conflicting information on how to do it. There is much conflicting advice on how many sets to do. How many repetitions per set? And how heavy should the loads be? These questions are asked over and over in training circles.
These topics are what are called acute program variables for strength training. There are other variables like exercise selection, rest time, and the tempo of the movement, but the following are the most common that are talked about: set number, repetition number, and load. Knowing how many and how much to do has its place but understanding why is more important. Hang on……
Let's talk about what these recommendations are. Repetitions are how many times you lift the weight. Sets refer to the number of times you do the actual exercise. And the load is how heavy the resistance is. Typically, you will see exercise prescriptions that look like this: Squat: 3 x 10 x 100 pounds. This means that a person is doing the squat exercise three times (three sets), doing ten repetitions each set, with 100 pounds. I’ll write up a prescription like this for a client before we begin an exercise session. But there is a reason we choose these variables and understanding why certain numbers are chosen is the most important thing to keep in mind. I’m going to hopefully leave you understanding this when you have finished this section.
The top exercise science organizations establish recommendations for these and all the other program variables. The ACSM, which stands for the American College of Sports Medicine, has for years advocated doing 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps with a load that is challenging. They have updated their recommendations over the years by using a percentage of a person’s one-rep maximum. The one-rep maximum is the heaviest load a person could do for a single repetition. I don’t recommend trying to figure that out. For example, the ACSM and other organizations would now write up a program that looks more like this: 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps with 67-80% of the one- rep maximum. The ACSM has updated with different sets and reps and load schemes for different adaptations such as strength, endurance, hypertrophy, and power which are the four adaptations.
The NSCA, which stands for the National Strength and Conditioning Association, has even more specific guidelines regarding these. For maximal strength they say trainees should do three to six sets of six or fewer reps with loads greater than 85% of the one- rep max. For muscular endurance, the NSCA states that trainees should do two to three sets of 12 to 20 reps with <67% of the one-rep max. For hypertrophy they say that trainees should do between three and five sets of 6-12 reps with 67 to 85% of the one-rep maximum. For power they say that trainees should do between three and five sets of one to two reps with 80-90% of the one-rep max or three to five sets of three to five reps with 75-85% of the one-rep max.
There has been some newer research that says that hypertrophy can occur with loads as light as 30% of the one-rep maximum which translates into extremely high repetitions. I believe we can get carried away when we start micromanaging these numbers so literally. Silly stuff in my professional opinion. Numbers have their place, but we exercise professionals can do a way better job of explaining what we really need to focus on and not get too carried away with numbers.
The other variables I mentioned earlier, tempo, rest time and exercise selection and the exercise order all impact how many sets, how many reps, and how heavy. All of this is connected. And it all comes down to what is going on within the muscle. There is a method to the madness.
Tempo refers to what the speed of lifting is. For example, a “six second” rep is a moderate speed repetition. This is often done by lifting the weight (the concentric phase) for two seconds, pausing at the top for one second (the isometric phase), and lowering the weight (the eccentric phase), to a speed of three seconds. There are other recommended tempos that are faster. And there are some tempos that are slower. Typically, the exercise science organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine state to do a moderate tempo of four to six seconds. There is not a universal tempo that is best for everyone. The point I’m making now is that tempo impacts “how many.”
When I was teaching sports medicine, I would have two students stand back-to-back with the dumbbells in each hand that were the same for both students. I would have them perform dumbbell curls. I would have them do 15 repetitions. I would give them no direction on what tempo to lift at. They were recommended to go with a tempo that felt most right for them. Thankfully, this experiment always worked out. One would finish the 15 reps noticeably sooner than the other. In fact, often it could be a 5-repetition gap. How are those 15 reps the same? For one, it was faster and the other slower. How could the body respond the same to “15” reps when one is doing work for a longer period with the same load? And now stretch this out to every set, every exercise they do that day? Yet, we value the number of reps so highly?
The biggest variable that increases strength and hypertrophy is intensity. Those variables listed above do NOT guarantee intensity. Is bench pressing 300 pounds intense? Not if you can bench press 600 pounds. Is doing 30 repetitions intense? Not if you are able to do 50 repetitions with that same load.
A key factor is what is called time under load. The sets, the reps, the loads are there to stimulate a muscle. Put stress on the individual muscles. Stress the muscle both structurally and metabolically. When a muscle is brought close to exhaustion and is done so within the anaerobic window, you have done what you can to make it grow. If you have stressed the muscle and follow that up with rest and fuel, it will come back stronger.
Time under load refers to how long the muscle is kept under tension. In my example above about the two students, one of the students stayed under load longer than the other, therefore, his/her set was more intense. The sets, reps, and loads, and tempos for that matter are tools to keep us under load for a period. This is the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law. I don’t believe some of the professional organizations do a good enough of a job explaining this or even requiring their coaches to understand this. One tool that can help us use these variables more for our benefit is to use ranges versus absolutes.
An exact number does not need to be prescribed. Ranges work well. Maybe your ideal range is 10 to 20? Another person’s range where they seem to get the most benefit is lower, such as eight to ten? It’s also common that ranges can vary per exercise. And you certainly can experiment with different ranges at different points of your training rotation.
We should be focused on how the muscles feel as we’re going through the range of motion. Do you feel a burn in the muscles? That is a good thing! If it is burning it’s working. Let’s revisit the newer research I described above about how 30% of the one-rep maximum is heavy enough to elicit hypertrophy. I don’t believe that was intended so that every coach now figures out the 30% on each exercise. No, what this tells us is that we don’t have to use heavy weights. We can get the same benefits using lighter loads and doing more reps if it is to failure. Exhaust the muscle, period.
How many sets matter, but this only matters about how many sets that were taken close to failure. We want to get results, but we don’t want to overtrain. Doing 4 sets of 10 of a load that you could have done 20 repetitions with is different from doing 4 sets of 10 to failure. We need to consider a set is only a set when it really is close to your best. This way we can decide how much volume you need. How heavy should come down to what load you can use in good form and work to failure in the anaerobic window which is roughly 30 to 90 seconds. There is a time and place for not going to failure, of course. Learning a new movement, doing lighter days to work on form, and working on muscular power are all great reasons to not approach failure. But to gain strength and hypertrophy the muscles need to be challenged.
We do need to overload the muscles by using more load within our ranges. Using more load in the range you chose is indicative of getting stronger and better, but I do believe that happens more naturally when you understand that you are trying to exhaust the muscle.
Exercise selection and order will affect how heavy the loads are. If you start your training with chest presses most of the time but you choose to do it after fly's and push-ups, you will not be able to do the same load for the same amount of reps. Does that mean that chest press that day was not beneficial? Of course not. It’s about fatiguing the muscle.
How many sets, reps, and how heavy? Focus on two F’s. Form and feel. Do the number of sets that adequately fatigue the muscle groups. You will have to decide that number by paying attention to the results you are getting. Everyone is different. If you tend to push yourself hard, you will need fewer sets. How many reps is figuring out a good range that puts in a range to where you really feel the work you are doing. This range is 10 to 20 reps? How this is decided more by the time, with experience, you will know. What load will put you in that window of time under tension? Go by feel. Go to the gym. Choose your exercises and try to exhaust the muscle in good form. It really is that simple.
