Rep range help!

[Wyliekarps38]

So I'm done my hypertrophy 9 week program and I was going to make my own workout program but was wondering if I start with high reps low weight say 15 reps and work my way down for 5 sets increasing the weight (15,12,10,8,6) will this help me gain mass or continue to keep cutting me? Just curious thanks!

[miamibodybuilder]

why limit yourself to just that rep range all the time. i use all types of rep ranges every single day and i'm still slowly growing. dont be afraid to experiment and try new things. remember you gotta keep the muscle guessing to make it grow. i will do one exercise in the 8-12 range, and then my next exercise will be in the 15-20 rep range. it really just depends on how i'm feeling to be honest. but use everything thats at your disposal big man. i sometimes do this type of rep range that i read from roelly winklaars trainer, you start with 15 reps on the first set, then go up in weight and get 8 reps, then go down in weight and get 12 reps and then back up and get 10 reps, it's really intense and it's something different.

[Wyliekarps38]

why limit yourself to just that rep range all the time. i use all types of rep ranges every single day and i'm still slowly growing. dont be afraid to experiment and try new things. remember you gotta keep the muscle guessing to make it grow. i will do one exercise in the 8-12 range, and then my next exercise will be in the 15-20 rep range. it really just depends on how i'm feeling to be honest. but use everything thats at your disposal big man. i sometimes do this type of rep range that i read from roelly winklaars trainer, you start with 15 reps on the first set, then go up in weight and get 8 reps, then go down in weight and get 12 reps and then back up and get 10 reps, it's really intense and it's something different.

That's helpfull thanks!, but how do I apply that into my 9 week program is it like say 8-12 on flat bench then maybe 15-20 on cable flys kinda thing?

[jgreystoke]

That's helpfull thanks!, but how do I apply that into my 9 week program is it like say 8-12 on flat bench then maybe 15-20 on cable flys kinda thing?

A good approach is to ruthlessly divide your lifts into a few big basic exercises which are trained mainly low reps for strength, with possibly high rep pump work after, and many assistance exercises for high reps. The latter can be switched up depending on the day, circumstances etc.

Thus you would chose your main movements from:

Squat
Dead
Bench
Press
Clean
etc

You might do the big movement(s) of the day something like 3 x 3 after low rep warmups, followed by downset(s) like 1 x 20, or even 5 x 10 if you want to be a monster.

And your assistance work from a host of barbell, dumbbell and machine exercises. You would do them high reps, like 3 x 10, 1-3 x 20, 5 x 10 or whatever to drive size, strength endurance, conditioning, strengthen weak links etc.

This is exactly the approach of 5 3 1 with high rep Boring But Big:

5 x 10 for the main movement after the low rep strength work. And 5 x 10 for a complementary movement, like row after bench, chin/pulldown after press, goodmorning after squat etc. If you have any energy left, you can do more high rep work for smaller stuff like facepulls, abs, etc.

You would not do BBB on a cut.

For a cut you want to maintain muscle and strength, but don't have the calorie intake to sustain a huge workload. So you would cut volume, usually by reducing sets and reps. But you keep the intensity(percent of max) high.

Lift well and prosper.

[TigerStealth]

reps do not affect mass vs cuts. diet affects that, you should always vary your rep range to hit all muscle fibers

[jgreystoke]

reps do not affect mass vs cuts. diet affects that, you should always vary your rep range to hit all muscle fibers

Agree with the first part that cut is about diet.

If you do low 1-5 rep sets @ 85%+, you'll hit all muscle fibers, including the very small slow twitch, even from the first rep.

If you do low rep sets explosively @ 60%, you'll hit all muscle fibers, including the very.........

Those two approaches are great for a few big basic barbell exercises to drive strength and power.

The reason to do high rep sets like 10-20 reps, is strength endurance, conditioning/work capacity, pump to drive blood and nutrients into the muscle fibers to promote hypertrophy.

If you want to be a monster, you do that for the big basics after your low rep strength/power work.

High reps are also best for all assistance work: machines, small stuff like laterals etc.

[tovtov]

I'm a big fan of low reps on main compound lifts (long pause between sets), and high reps on assistance exercises (short pause)

[jgreystoke]

I'm a big fan of low reps on main compound lifts (long pause between sets), and high reps on assistance exercises (short pause)

Sounds like a great recipe FTW.