Sets, Reps, Weight and Rest Time…

Always remember to train hard but also smart. A little research goes a long way. To answer the question about reps, sets, weights and rest times you must first determine what your goals are. Are you looking to build muscle, boost your strength and power or are you looking to improve your muscular endurance?
If you’re looking to increase the size of your muscles (Hypertrophy) then you typically want to stick within a rep range between 6 to 12 at 70-85% of your 1 Rep Max. Muscle gain is best accomplished by doing between 3-5 sets of each exercise performed. Rest time between sets should be between 60 and 90 seconds.
To increase Strength and Power use rep counts between 1 and 5 at 85-90% of your 1 Rep Max and an increased rest time of 2-3 minutes. Building strength and power is best accomplished by doing between 5 and 8 sets of each exercise performed..
If you’re looking to improve your Muscular Endurance then you need to be using 12 reps or greater when you lift. A range between 12 to 20 reps at 40%+ of your 1 Rep Max is ideal. Rest a minimum of 30 seconds and no more than 60 seconds.
There is a near-linear inverse relationship between reps and weight. As you add more weight you can do fewer reps and when you use lighter weight you can do more reps. The weight you choose should correspond to the number of reps you want to do. As far as reps go typically the fewer reps you are doing per set, the more sets you do. The more reps you do per set, the fewer sets you do.
To recap:
• Power and Strength 1-5 reps per set at 85-90% of your 1 Rep Max for 5 to 8 sets with a 2 to 3 minute rest
• Hypertrophy 6-12 reps per set at 70-85% of your 1 Rep Max for 3 to 5 sets with a 60 to 90 seconds rest
• Endurance 12-20+ reps per set at 40%+ of your 1 Rep Max for 1 to 3 sets with a 30 to 60 second rest
You can expect Survival Of The Fittest Health and Wellness to go above and beyond to help you reach your goals in 2020. If you are interested in more information please visit www.sofhealthandwellness.com or you can reach me directly at 661.713.7576 or James@sofhealthandwellness.com