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Training Basics: Repetition Ranges

 

What is the best repetition range for your workouts? This is a question that is often discussed and has many rumours surrounding it. In most cases, a distinction is made between three different repetition ranges: low, medium and high. Below, you'll find a brief description of each of these rep ranges along with their strengths and weaknesses.

 

Low Rep Range

Anything between one and about seven repetitions would be considered "low repetitions". If you are using an amount of weight for an exercise that you can only lift a handful of times, then this is clearly a high weight-load for your body. In this repetition range, the weights will feel heavy, even during the first rep of the first set.

 

Low repetitions with lots of weight are ideal for building strength. The emphasis here is on "strength" not "volume", in other words, for pure body-building, a higher rep-range is the better choice.

 

Training with low repetitions will take less time than training in a higher rep range. This has it's own benefits and drawbacks: While it saves time for your overall workout, this also means that your muscles are under stress for a shorter period of time. This, in turn, can mean less growth stimulation.

 

Perhaps the greatest drawback of low repetition ranges is that there's a higher risk of injuries, due to the high weight-loads. Obviously, you have to be especially careful when lugging around these kinds of weights (especially when doing free-weights exercises).

 

Medium Repetition Range

Doing between eight and twelve repetitions is considered a medium rep range. This is the bodybuilding repetition range, as 8-12 is ideal for stimulating hypertrophy (muscle growth). You won't see the strength gains you get from doing lower reps with higher weights, but you'll certainly look like, you're growing more powerful.

 

Positive and negative aspects of this rep range are quite obvious: If you're after bigger muscles, this is the rep range to go for. If actual strength increase is more important to you, then this rep range is not ideal.

 

High Rep Range

Anything above 12 or 15 repetitions is in the high rep range Doing more than 12 reps of an exercise will usually take longer than 30 seconds and that's about where the threshold lies for what can be called "strength training". If your muscles are under continuous (or almost continual) stress for longer than that, then, biologically speaking, you're already getting into "cardio training" territory.

 

This is not to say that high repetitions are useless, though. It simply means that your body needs to recruit different resources to keep up high repetitions and this kind of training is not best suited for muscle growth.

 

There's one very commong, and plain wrong, rumour about high repetitions: It is often claimed that higher repetitions will build lean muscles while lower repetitions will build "bulky" muscles.. This is simply wrong, as the shape of your muscles is mainly genetically determined. Higher repetition ranges simply stimulate less growth than lower repetitions with higher weight-loads.

 

In conclusion, for most people, low to medium repetition ranges are ideal. Having said that, it's actually also a good idea to switch between different repetition ranges from time to time, as diversity in training is very good for your overall fitness.

What is the best repetition range for your workouts? This is a question that is often discussed and has many rumours surrounding it. In most cases, a distinction is made between three different repetition ranges: low, medium and high. Below, you'll find a brief description of each of these rep ranges along with their strengths and weaknesses. Low Rep Range Anything between one and about seven repetitions would be considered "low repetitions". If you are using an amount of weight for an exercise that you can only lift a handful of times, then this is clearly a high weight-load for your body. In this repetition range, the weights will feel heavy, even during the first rep of the first set. Low repetitions with lots of weight are ideal for building strength. The emphasis here is on "strength" not "volume", in other words, for pure body-building, a higher rep-range is the better choice. Training with low repetitions will take less time than training in a higher rep range. This has it's own benefits and drawbacks: While it saves time for your overall workout, this also means that your muscles are under stress for a shorter period of time. This, in turn, can mean less growth stimulation. Perhaps the greatest drawback of low repetition ranges is that there's a higher risk of injuries, due to the high weight-loads. Obviously, you have to be especially careful when lugging around these kinds of weights (especially when doing free-weights exercises). Medium Repetition Range Doing between eight and twelve repetitions is considered a medium rep range. This is the bodybuilding repetition range, as 8-12 is ideal for stimulating hypertrophy (muscle growth). You won't see the strength gains you get from doing lower reps with higher weights, but you'll certainly look like, you're growing more powerful. Positive and negative aspects of this rep range are quite obvious: If you're after bigger muscles, this is the rep range to go for. If actual strength increase is more important to you, then this rep range is not ideal. High Rep Range Anything above 12 or 15 repetitions is in the high rep range Doing more than 12 reps of an exercise will usually take longer than 30 seconds and that's about where the threshold lies for what can be called "strength training". If your muscles are under continuous (or almost continual) stress for longer than that, then, biologically speaking, you're already getting into "cardio training" territory. This is not to say that high repetitions are useless, though. It simply means that your body needs to recruit different resources to keep up high repetitions and this kind of training is not best suited for muscle growth. There's one very commong, and plain wrong, rumour about high repetitions: It is often claimed that higher repetitions will build lean muscles while lower repetitions will build "bulky" muscles.. This is simply wrong, as the shape of your muscles is mainly genetically determined. Higher repetition ranges simply stimulate less growth than lower repetitions with higher weight-loads. In conclusion, for most people, low to medium repetition ranges are ideal. Having said that, it's actually also a good idea to switch between different repetition ranges from time to time, as diversity in training is very good for your overall fitness.

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