How many reps and rest between for you??

[Zocas]

Sorry all not trying to hog the forum, but quick question for anyone.

I always thought it goes like this
1-6 reps for power
6-8 or 6-10 mass
10-12 for mass but generally focused isolation
12 and up endurance and/or cutting for lack of a better word.

I ask since many say my reps are too low. I stay between 6-8 or 8-10.. a few I jump up to 12 from time to time, but that's for overhead press or other moves that I am scared to go to heavy.

Also what are most of you doing on time between sets?

[jrw77]

Sets / Reps / Rest is all a personal preference. If you do a search in the forums you will probably find hundreds of different threads all saying X is the right way. It may be for them, but not for everybody. I have read almost every single article I could get my hands on regarding this and they are the same way, each is boasting about the combination the article is about.

Personally I usually stick with 3 sets, 8 reps, and usually 1 to 1.5 min rest between depending on the lift. Abs, Forearms, and Calfs though I do upwards of 20 reps and 4 sets. Sometimes I will do 5x5 for some of the big 3 with a higher amount of weight and I have also done 5x8 with lower weight for a few weeks. It's all about how you feel doing the lift.

[silverlightning]

If i'm doing a cable or machine I don't go lower than 8 reps. on compound movements I go as low as 2. everything else no more than 15 reps and that's usually an isolation exercise or back down sets .

[anonymous]

It's about the set in the overall context of a workout and the frequency used.. one set of jerky half reps done for 12 reps ("hyper trophy") at 6 rpe isn't going to stimulate anything

For pure hyper trophy training I find it more useful to think of total tul with a meaningfully heavy load ie 45-60 seconds per set for upper,60-120 for lower with the total number of sets being whatever allows the most volume with the heaviest weight and allows me to recover within 5 days

[Goldeneagle76]

heavy sets (under 6 reps), usually about 3 minutes rest time. Moderate rep ranges (8-12) usually about 1.5-2 mins rest time

[aperry580]

on bench squats an deads I rarely go over five reps. really the only thing I do many reps on is biceps, triceps an latereal raises.
I do a lot of sets though like 12 on flat bench alone . six or seven singles and doubles in there . 6-8 sets on squats an like 3-4 sets on deads. I guess it all depends on what works for you

[enaphal]

3 sets, 5-15 reps, rest just enough so breathing is not labored. You have to experiment to see what works for you on compound exercise 5 maybe enough, on isolation you may want 10, it really is trial and error it takes time to find the right ranges, sets, reps and rest. I do not know what your goals are either. You may have different goals for different body parts. The only way to know for sure is to try something and by that I mean for at least 8 weeks. 8 weeks is what it takes to make physical changes that is why most boot camps are atlas 8 weeks long.

[Zocas]

Thanks for replies. I have done a lot of research, but again I am curious of what the majority do in real life settings. I would assume most responding are making progress or they would change. A lot of different variations... more than expected and only got a few responses. Thanks again

[angrypenguin54]

They all work for a while and nothing works forever. Experiment and change it up. There are enough good designed programs out there that you can alternate between those for a while to get a good feel of what works best for you. When you start to plateau, change it up.

Right now I am on a cut, so keeping my volume low. Working up to a heavy triple on compound lifts and then doing one back off set of 6 to 8 reps. On accessory lifts 3 sets of 8 to 10.

[Jdizzlean]

heavy lift days, or PR attempts i usually do between 2-5

normal days i go for 10-12 all sets

i generally rest very little, and will almost always super set if the opportunity is there, and/or i'm not seeing stars from pushing to hard.

occasionally i'll go at 50% max weight and try to push out 20-30 reps. when doing cable crunches, i go to failure at machine max everytime.

I haven't yet tried any 1RM attempts, that can wait til I get a little further down the road. Generally speaking I always try to do more than a given rep range anyways, damn noob enthusiasm takes over.

[Richie71]

12 and up ........cutting for lack of a better word.

This is one of the worst, but most common, myths out there. High reps does not help you cut, and worse, does not give the stimulus to maintain strength during a calorie deficit that lower reps would.

[Mojoke]

excessive resting is time wasted in the gym. I go with an activation set, can be for 5's or for 10's, followed by myo-sets with no more then 25 seconds rest for big exercices like squats. For rows, bench press, rest is nog longer then 10 to 15 seconds rest. iso work can even do with less, 8 to 10 seconds.

Makes things a bit more efficient, never in the gym for more then 30 minutes doing a full body workout each time

[angrypenguin54]

excessive resting is time wasted in the gym.

Depends on what you consider excessive. It can take 3 to 5 minutes to recover from high intensity work, if you cut your rest short you are leaving strength gains on the table.

[v4lu3s]

1-50+ reps per set, rests from 30 seconds to as long as 3+ minutes. Work out in all rep ranges to maximize what you get out of it.

I have noticed that guys that tend to ONLY workout one way tend to only look one way, and that is often very similar to what they looked like the first day they walked into the gym.

[wesleytimmons41]

Rest 2/3/4 minute depending on exercise, 4 minutes for big 3, 3 minutes for exercises like military press , pull ups,dips , rows , 2 minutes for isolation exercises like curls, extentions or raises.

Rep range is 5 to 15, often pyramid like 6/8/10/12 or vice versa. My heavy set usually targets 6, but usually every second week when increasing weight I will get a 5 with compound movements.

Isolation movements usually 8 reps minimum.

[Juggertha]

"heavy"
4-10 reps. 1-3 min rest

"medium"
8-12 reps. 1-2 min rest

"light"
12-100 reps. 1-2 min rest

[Zocas]

Juggs thatso interesting. That is a ton of reps. I think once I get a good basis down I will start a variety of reps in my routine. I am talking way down the road. I did some studying on the various groups of fibers and it is very interesting. I will experiment when I get over my initial. For now I will probably stay within 5-15

[congore]

1-5 reps for main compound movements (press, deads, bench, squats, cleans) and 10+ reps for accessory exercises (chins, pulls, GHD, abs, arms, calf's...). Main movements are kept between 70-90% of competition/true max. Accessories are light/fast and done for weak links. Focus is strength and power with 2 days for hill sprints or some other activity (hoops, racquetball, jujitsu...). Main focus for me is not overdoing it, so body is able to recover before the next workout.