Well....Why Not 15-20 rep range?!!

[quela]

I've been working out for quite some time now and my routine (3-day split) usually consists of 3 sets of 8-10 reps. However, I am curious as to why so many people are against high reps/low weight? What would be the difference in a person who works in the 8-10 rep range vs someone who works in the 15-20 rep range? Why is this rep range not a good idea? Any pics of those who have used both? It's killing me to not know. I'm curious enough to try this out for a few months just to see what result I would achieve.

[TurbulentFluid]

There is no "not".

Everything has it's purpose. 15-20 is a great rep range for increasing endurance and is great training for athletes that need to develop in sense of power movements. This rep range is often employed in off-season training of sprint and short-track runners, swimmers, volleyball players, etc.

The reason why you'll hear "not" in THIS particular forum, is that people here usually have goals such as "add muscle" and "lose fat", or, sometimes, "increase strength". For these goals, 15-20 rep range WILL WORK - you WILL add muscle and you WILL add strength and you WILL lose fat if you exercise this way in the long run. However this rep range is not ideal, because:

- based on relevant studies and personal experience of many IFBB pros, maximum adding muscle (hypertrophy) occurs at 8-10(12) rep range. (There's a range because some people add more on the lower side, some on the higher). So if you want to add muscle, it's wiser to use a rep range which will give you faster results.

- based on relevant studies and personal experience of many IFBB pros, fatloss occurs much more rapidly during HIIT, IIT or steady-state cardio than any form of weightlifting. So it is wiser to employ that as means of fatloss, than high rep-range lifting. However, the body is prone to lose muscle as well as fat, so it is recommended to stay in the hypertrophy rep range (or slightly lower, 5-8) to maintain muscle mass through the fatloss phase.

- based on relevant studies and personal experience of many IFBB pros, maximum increase in strength happens at a 1-4 rep range. So it would also be unwise to employ any other means to gain strength.

Hope this clears it up a bit! I never did such high rep ranges. I haven't played volleyball in a long time, and we didn't do weight training at all back then, so I haven't had the need for such training.

[quela]

There is no "not".

Everything has it's purpose. 15-20 is a great rep range for increasing endurance and is great training for athletes that need to develop in sense of power movements. This rep range is often employed in off-season training of sprint and short-track runners, swimmers, volleyball players, etc.

The reason why you'll hear "not" in THIS particular forum, is that people here usually have goals such as "add muscle" and "lose fat", or, sometimes, "increase strength". For these goals, 15-20 rep range WILL WORK - you WILL add muscle and you WILL add strength and you WILL lose fat if you exercise this way in the long run. However this rep range is not ideal, because:

- based on relevant studies and personal experience of many IFBB pros, maximum adding muscle (hypertrophy) occurs at 8-10(12) rep range. (There's a range because some people add more on the lower side, some on the higher). So if you want to add muscle, it's wiser to use a rep range which will give you faster results.

- based on relevant studies and personal experience of many IFBB pros, fatloss occurs much more rapidly during HIIT, IIT or steady-state cardio than any form of weightlifting. So it is wiser to employ that as means of fatloss, than high rep-range lifting. However, the body is prone to lose muscle as well as fat, so it is recommended to stay in the hypertrophy rep range (or slightly lower, 5-8) to maintain muscle mass through the fatloss phase.

- based on relevant studies and personal experience of many IFBB pros, maximum increase in strength happens at a 1-4 rep range. So it would also be unwise to employ any other means to gain strength.

Hope this clears it up a bit! I never did such high rep ranges. I haven't played volleyball in a long time, and we didn't do weight training at all back then, so I haven't had the need for such training.

Thanks for the quick response. I think I understand what you are saying. I was just under the impression that this seems like the better overall plan in the sense that you're getting in that extra cardio effect, especially for those who don't like to do cardio (me). Would this person look more toned vs. muscular. I know people hate to hear the word tone but I dont know how else to describe/compare the difference. Also, not everyone here is interested in competing but would like to achieve the healthy/fit look. So when I asked the question, I am speaking in general, not necessarily for competing, which I have no interest in.

[TurbulentFluid]

Thanks for the quick response. I think I understand what you are saying. I was just under the impression that this seems like the better overall plan in the sense that you're getting in that extra cardio effect, especially for those who don't like to do cardio (me). Would this person look more toned vs. muscular. I know people hate to hear the word tone but I dont know how else to describe/compare the difference. Also, not everyone here is interested in competing but would like to achieve the healthy/fit look. So when I asked the question, I am speaking in general, not necessarily for competing, which I have no interest in.

For the cardio effedct that you mention, most stuff I read suggests 3x FBW or circuits with hypertrophy rep range (8-10), and very short breaks between sets (45-60s). It's what I'm currenty doing and I warrant it will DEFINITELY get your sweat out and burn the extra kcal! There's a lot of good info here: http://www.stumptuous.com/

Also, if you dislike cardio, maybe opt for HIIT instead of moderate.

[Adelaide.]

Would this person look more toned vs. muscular.

Looking toned and looking muscular are different levels of the same thing. Kind of like obese vs overweight. People look toned when they have some soft muscle definition. You can see their muscles, but they still have a decent level of BF that softens the look. The lower the BF% goes, and the bigger the muscles get the more defined the person will look.

[swindled]

There is no "not".

Everything has it's purpose. 15-20 is a great rep range for increasing endurance and is great training for athletes that need to develop in sense of power movements. This rep range is often employed in off-season training of sprint and short-track runners, swimmers, volleyball players, etc.

The reason why you'll hear "not" in THIS particular forum, is that people here usually have goals such as "add muscle" and "lose fat", or, sometimes, "increase strength". For these goals, 15-20 rep range WILL WORK - you WILL add muscle and you WILL add strength and you WILL lose fat if you exercise this way in the long run. However this rep range is not ideal, because:

- based on relevant studies and personal experience of many IFBB pros, maximum adding muscle (hypertrophy) occurs at 8-10(12) rep range. (There's a range because some people add more on the lower side, some on the higher). So if you want to add muscle, it's wiser to use a rep range which will give you faster results.

- based on relevant studies and personal experience of many IFBB pros, fatloss occurs much more rapidly during HIIT, IIT or steady-state cardio than any form of weightlifting. So it is wiser to employ that as means of fatloss, than high rep-range lifting. However, the body is prone to lose muscle as well as fat, so it is recommended to stay in the hypertrophy rep range (or slightly lower, 5-8) to maintain muscle mass through the fatloss phase.

- based on relevant studies and personal experience of many IFBB pros, maximum increase in strength happens at a 1-4 rep range. So it would also be unwise to employ any other means to gain strength.

Hope this clears it up a bit! I never did such high rep ranges. I haven't played volleyball in a long time, and we didn't do weight training at all back then, so I haven't had the need for such training.

Yep yep yep, great response!

to OP, I used to do a combination of low reps high weight and high reps low weight for sprint kayaking. The fall and winter training was bulk time, so low reps high weights. and the spring and summer was high reps low weight for endurance.

As far as the muscle build, I was definitely a lot smaller then (125lbs), but had a pretty decent mass to strength ratio (I could bench almost 20lbs over my body weight). As far as muscle build, I was "ripped" but mostly because my body fat was low due to constant training.



Sorry I dont really have many pictures of me outside a boat, lol.

I've moved towards a bodybuilding way of lifting weights just because I want to see more muscle mass on my body, and after coming out of a three year bulk it would be nice to see muscle again without the bodyfat. At this point in my life, I'm just not interested in being as tiny as I was when I was paddling...and being tiny doesnt fly well with rugby.
I am tempted to go back to the way I used to train, endurance/strength, but I will probably just try and gain as much mass as I can in the next year or 2.

[runner03]

Agreed with above posts. High rep is not out of the question, I train and do both heavy and endurance days, I feel like this keeps my muscles growing in different ways. Plus, as a runner it helps with endurance (obviously). It is good to switch your program up, you may see a lot of improvement if you start a new program.

[EricaJuneBaby]

I also think everyones opinion of looking toned and muscular is very different, for example some people think Madonna is very muscular, while I think she looks "toned".. or Jessica Biel for example but she looks bigger because of more body fat (and great too I might add!)
But as for training to be toned or muscular, well it's the same training really but it would tak a heck of a lot longer and a lot more food to get really muscular for a woman so it can't really happen by accident and even possibly without the use of supplements, the best way to look toned though would be not to "train to be toned" but to train like a bodybuilder and the toned look will come in.

[juliacheh]

I am using different rep ranges in my training, form 4 to 20. IMO, it's important to hit different muscle fibers and have some muscle endurance too.

[Legendsneverdie]

the primary goal of weightlifting is to build muscle.4-12 rep range is known for building muscle more effectivly. look at men who leave military boot camps. they do what, high rep push ups and stuff. they build more endurance then muscle there really and no hate they do not come out big at all. they come out skinney (no hate i <3 the military). if they wanted soilders to come out "big" they wouldnt train them the way they do. primary instance: sprinter vs long distance runner, who has more muscle? muscle burns fats. so keep ur rep range wehere it is. yah its not bad to switch high reps once in a while for a shock. but if u just wanna burn fat throw in some cardio after or weightlifting.

[Adelaide.]

^^^ That is a good example.

I used to live near a military base that received a lot of new guys fresh out of basic. They are usually pretty darn fit, but the vast majority are not muscular.

[quela]

Thank you all for the responses. I think I will incorporate all ranges just to change up from my norm, which I've been doing for a while.
So, my take-away from your responses is that the different rep ranges acivate different muscle fibers and/or cause growth at different levels. Did I get that right? lol

[runner03]

yes. slow twitch vs. fast twitch

[sport102]

good****

[krazy_kurly]

My body is one of high reps! I started working out 5 years ago.

The month of Dec 2009 was the ONLY month since I've started working out that I'd ever done 10 or less reps. And that's cuz my partner was my hubby so I had to lift like him :P I must say, I did see some amazing results, but...

I do high reps because
1) I'm not competing
2) I workout at home so I have lighter weights and therefore higher reps are needed
3) I love the cardio effect and I sweat sweat sweat when I do higher reps and I love it!

So yeah, you can check out my pics if you'd like. Bear in mind, I'm not competing and I have a higher bodyfat than most here.

[quela]

My body is one of high reps! I started working out 5 years ago.

The month of Dec 2009 was the ONLY month since I've started working out that I'd ever done 10 or less reps. And that's cuz my partner was my hubby so I had to lift like him :P I must say, I did see some amazing results, but...

I do high reps because
1) I'm not competing
2) I workout at home so I have lighter weights and therefore higher reps are needed
3) I love the cardio effect and I sweat sweat sweat when I do higher reps and I love it!

So yeah, you can check out my pics if you'd like. Bear in mind, I'm not competing and I have a higher bodyfat than most here.

Not bad Krazy Kurly. I'm not really training for any type of sport either but i do want the fit look and to be overall healthy. I guess I should track my progress with pics as I incorporate all ranges. I'll post a current pic later today. Should be interesting I think.

[Xhuljan01]

I've been working out for quite some time now and my routine (3-day split) usually consists of 3 sets of 8-10 reps. However, I am curious as to why so many people are against high reps/low weight? What would be the difference in a person who works in the 8-10 rep range vs someone who works in the 15-20 rep range? Why is this rep range not a good idea? Any pics of those who have used both? It's killing me to not know. I'm curious enough to try this out for a few months just to see what result I would achieve.

The best way for muscle mass is with heavy weight and low reps so you can push max 12-10-8 or 10-8-6 if you do high reps like 30-25 or 20 your cutting.

[welshlad31]

I want to put on size and get the strength up... but also want to work on pbs.. what's the best wat to do that... i know that compounds are the way to go for size and strength.... though when it comes to isolation stuff... shrugs lat raises.... what kind of reps do you guys hit.. 12 to 15... 20 at the highest? I love body building... but also want that size and strength.. but want to get my compounds up there.... im natty asf... im on a 5 day split..May go to 6... but get sooo frustrated with training.... how do you guys change things up.... i have started talking creatine.. diet is now clean as... but i do find it hard to change things up.... how do you guys set daily and weekly goals... my bench is well under 100kg... so many people say to me go by feel... but i want to progress ... ... aplogies hope i am making some sense.....