do sets and reps really matter?
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Your rep range doesn't matter nearly as much as you think, so don't overthink it! Here are some examples: If you're trying to build muscle and get bigger, doing sets of 3 or sets of 5 or sets of 10 will ALL help you get bigger, if you're eating enough to get bigger!
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Warm-up sets aside, when your goal is to build strength, your heavy sets should be done for fewer than six reps. If your goal is building muscle, choose a weight at which you reach muscle failure between 8-12 reps. And for emphasizing muscle endurance, go with a weight that allows you to do more than 15 reps.
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10 Sets of 3 Reps Strong athletes can handle more volume with heavy weights. Ten sets of three reps allows for lots of heavy, low-rep sets to build massive strength and keep perfect form. This rep scheme works best with barbell lifts like the Squat, Bench and Deadlift.
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['Endurance: 12+ reps per set.', 'Hypertrophy (bigger muscles): 6-12 reps per set.', 'Strength (dense, powerful muscle): 1-5 reps per set.']
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The new findings: Lifting relatively light weights (about 50% of your one-rep max) for about 20–25 reps is just as efficient at building both strength and muscle size as lifting heavier weights (up to 90% of one-rep max) for eight to 12 reps, according to the study, the latest in a series done at McMaster University in ...
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People targeting muscular endurance will aim for a range from 12 to 20+ reps. Obviously you won't be able to lift heavy amounts of weight for 20+ reps, so you'll be lifting lighter loads. Also, because you're targeting endurance improvements, you want to decrease the amount of rest between sets: 30 seconds to a minute.
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Typically people do three sets of 12 - 15 reps. However, to build muscle you need to up the weight and lower the reps. So doing even up to 6 sets but only 3–5 reps with heavy weight may be better. And in some cases a single lift at one rep max is sufficient.
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You can build muscle with a lower rep range. Any time you're challenging your muscles with an overload, you're going to build strength and mass.
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Choose Your Reps and Sets Your decision should be based on your goals. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 4 to 6 repetitions with heavier weight for hypertrophy (increased muscle size), 8 to 12 repetitions for muscular strength and 10 to 15 reps for muscular endurance.
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In fact, training using light weights with a high number of reps causes proportionally greater increases in “repetition strength” (which is our ability to perform a number of reps) but smaller increases in “maximum strength” (which is our ability to lift the heaviest possible weight), compared to training with heavy ...
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Warm-up sets aren't absolutely necessary, no. Some people go into the gym, load up their max, and manage to avoid injury for at least a while. ... It is important for you to warm up before a set. Going on heavy lifts when your muscles are "cold" raises risks of injury.
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A rep is the number of times you perform a specific exercise, and a set is the number of cycles of reps that you complete. For example, suppose you complete 15 reps of a bench press. You would say you've completed "one set of 15 reps."
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Although supersets can help you finish your workouts faster, that's mostly what they have to offer. They aren't better for muscle building than traditional sets, and when used incorrectly (the way most people use them), they actually get in the way of progress by making it harder to progressively overload your muscles.
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For less advanced lifters, ranges can be changed to 8-12 and 12-15. The nice thing about the 6-15 rep range is that you are getting significant muscle stimulation with much less chance of injury than heavy weights for low reps.
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Doing more volume usually results in more muscle growth, but there's a point of diminishing returns. German Volume Training (10 sets of 10 reps) isn't more effective than doing 5 sets of 10 reps if you're relatively new to strength training.
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Many rep ranges will work for supersetting but those that are specific to functional hypertrophy (5-10 Reps) will work best. During all types of supersets (except staggered supersets), a lot of blood is pumped into a specific area such as the arms, the chest and back or the legs.
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Reps, short for repetitions, are the action of one complete strength training exercise, like one biceps curl. Sets are how many reps you do in a row between periods of rest.