What is the “ideal” repetition range?

“How many reps should I do?” is often a question I get asked by clients. And there is no single answer, as it depends on a variety of factors which I am going to unpick so hopefully you can decide what is best for YOU.

The number of repetitions performed for an exercise can depend upon the individual’s fitness goal, ability, type of exercise being performed and time constraints for a workout. This topic is still highly debated and many different sources will come to different conclusions. The general consensus is that rep ranges exist on a continuum based predominantly on goals with pure strength being at the low end and muscular endurance being at the higher end. You can achieve some aspects of all goals at a given repetition, but the bold indicates which feature dominates. Here is a simple guide which you can follow.

Starting off

If you are novice or newbie to weight training, begin with a low load and relatively higher repetitions somewhere between 12-20, according to the American Collage of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines. This initial phase is imperative to build a good base of conditioning because it allows for a period of anatomical adaption. During this phase, tendons, ligaments and muscles become accustomed to the new stressors and the progression must be steady enough to allow adaptation but not induce injury. This principle is also known as General Adaptation Syndrome (Hans Selye, 1936). When you begin lifting weights, this creates a stimulus and in turn your body will respond and adapt by increasing in muscle fibre size.

The next question is when to increase the weight? A good principle to follow is the 2 for 2 rule; if you are able to perform 2 or more repetitions than the goal for 2 consecutive workouts, then the load can be increased in the next session.

This is followed by the question of how much to increase the weight by? There are no strict guidelines but a good rule is 2.5-5% for the upper body and between 5-10% for the lower body (Baechle and Earl, 2000). For example, if you are able to squat 40kg for 14 reps in 2 sessions (with the target being between 8-12 reps) then in the next session you would increase it by 1-2kg the next session and aim for 8-12 of reps.

Hypertrophy goals

Hypertrophy refers to an increase in the size of muscle fibre. It is usually a normal response to an increased demand on the muscles due to continuous resistance training or the SAID principle; specific adaptations to imposed demands.

If your goal is to gain muscle then research and recommendations suggest 8-12 repetitions at 60-80% of your maximum (1RM: the maximum weight you could lift for 1 rep) The can be an estimate for novices or use a rate of perceived exertion scale (RPE) with a value of 0-10 with 10 being maximum effort.

Muscular endurance goals

If your goal is to increase muscular endurance (the ability of a muscle/ group of muscles to sustain repeated contractions against a resistance for an extended period of time) then you should focus on a higher number of reps with a lower workload. This can be between 12-20 reps or more, at around 50-70% of your maximum, again dependant on your ability and experience.

It is useful for endurance athletes such as long distance runners, cyclists, rowers and skiers. However, it’s also useful for the general population- I’m sure we’ve all been in the situation where we’ve needed to carry heavy shopping bags around, or have been lugging boxes around moving house!

Strength goals

Muscular strength is the maximum amount of force a muscle can produce with a single effort. If you want to increase strength, then fewer repetitions with a heavier workload will achieve this. It is more often seen in intermediate or advanced individuals who have a couple of years training experience. The rep range can be anywhere between 1-2 reps at 80-100% 1RM, but generally if you are aiming for pure strength it is <6 reps.

Between 3-6 sets can be carried out with advanced trainers often doing 3-6 exercises per muscle group. These are often compound or multi joint exercises, as heavier loads can be tolerated across more joints, for example a squat or deadlift. If you are doing single joint exercises such as a bicep curl, limit this to 8 as it puts more stress on the joint, especially if you are less conditioned.

If you’re not quite sure which category you fit into or are just happy training for health related muscular strength and endurance, then the ACSM recommends that 8-12 reps to the point of approximate momentary muscular fatigue is sufficient. This is based on an exercise session performed 2-3 times per week, consisting of around 8-10 exercises with 1-4 sets of each, focussing on all major muscles.

Sessions should be completed within an hour as longer than this lead to higher drop out rates and boredom!

So, think about what you GOAL may be and apply this to the rep range. Also have a think about the effort you put in when lifting a certain weight- are you pushing yourself hard enough to achieve hypertrophy? Are you doing enough repetitions to tap into the endurance range?

It may be difficult to put this into practice due to the current Covid-19 situation but once gyms are back open you can ramp up your training! Alternatively, maybe focus your goal towards endurance or hypertrophy if you feel your weights aren't heavy enough. However, you can still achieve strength goals if your overall VOLUME is the same. Perform more sets of the exercise, slow down the tempo of the movement or reduce rest times to increase the intensity and make your muscles work harder. Rest times and tempo are topics also to be discussed in another post!

As mentioned at the start there is a lot of debate about this topic, but hopefully a few questions have been answered!

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