Question: How many sets/reps should one do?
What exactly are you training for? Distance runners shouldn’t train like body builders, and ballet dancers shouldn’t practice like pole vaulters. These are obvious extreme examples, but everyone should lift; and your training specificity will affect your results. So what target are you aiming at? Max strength? Endurance? Let’s make sure you’re training for the correct result.
Let’s break it down into 3 different categories, and then break down the set/rep schemes that will help you achieve greatness, or at least save you from being called a girly man.
Max Strength and Power
Low reps means we’re lifting a bigger weight; and we’re taking a minute or two between sets to recover and gear up, mentally and physically, for the sets to come.
This type of program typically builds strength over a 4 to 6 week period in order to peak with a maxed out single repetition. I recommend reading the book “5, 3, 1” or following this 6 week Russian Bench/Squat/Deadlift program.
You know the second one is good because it has the word Russian in it.
Hypertrophy
Does your shirt fit too loosely? Do you want to impress that certain someone with your chiseled physique? You’re looking to train for hypertrophy (i.e. to build muscle). The sweet spot here is 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps.
More reps = moderate weight, and You’ll only need about :60 recovery.
Lift Vault has collected 7 really great hypertrophy programs for you to explore. This seems like the perfect time to remind you that, as renowned strength coach Dan John said, everything works for 6 weeks. You can pick any of these programs, train it for 6 weeks, and see a result. Don’t fret about picking the wrong one; they all work; and you can always pick a new one in 6 weeks.
When in doubt pick something with the word Russian in it.
Muscular Endurance
If your objective is muscular endurance, shoot for 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps.
Lots of reps = lower weights. Aim for short recoveries here as well.
As I have stated, everyone should lift. Training for muscular endurance is the gateway drug of the gym. Anyone can, and should pick up a small weight and move it. The benefits of endurance training include improved cardio vascular health, circulation, cellular health, and greater resistance to injury.
If weightlifting sounds like the fountain of youth it’s because it is.
Exceptions to the rule
Those guidelines are solid, but rules are meant to be broken.
Story time: My friend Paula incurred two stress fractures in her legs while training for/ running the Boston marathon. When the time came to run the following year she sought out a trainer. Conventional wisdom suggested she should run/cross train during the week, run long on the weekend, and supplement with some muscular endurance lifts. That’s kind of how she trained when she fractured both legs. So she switched it up. She ran less, kept her long runs faithful, and lifted for strength 2 x’s a week.
Some would argue that because increased strength comes with larger muscles (that are heavier and require more oxygen) that it would hinder her running performance. But she ran much faster that year and, more importantly, without injury.
I credit her trainer with recognizing that increased strength would make her more efficient and resilient to the mileage demands of marathoning.
In sum, know the rules, but know yourself enough to recognize when it’s time to break them. And its always great to know an experienced coach you can bounce ideas off of. You’ll stop worrying about how many sets/reps one should do and start thinking about which exercises you should select.