Like we said, Bill was prescribed 24 total reps for his session, but really only performed 15-18 quality reps. So we can break it down to say that 15 of his reps were perfect, 3 reps were ok and 6 reps were sloppy.Īs a coach and as an athlete, I’m not satisfied with Bill’s 6 sloppy reps where he may have encountered a few problems such as not hitting proper depth, falling forward, or having a weight shift to one side. His form is perfect through 5 reps, the 6 th is ok but 7 and 8 are sloppy. That means 24 reps of squats total.īill uses 205lbs for all 3 sets. Bill’s program calls for 3 sets of 8 reps.

Let’s use a metaphorical athlete named Bill and look at his squats for a particular session. To illustrate this, lets take a look at a couple of common set and rep schemes and how we can possible tweak them to maximize your gains. While this may be true, there are arguably more effective set and rep schemes that can help you reach your goals.

The thought that every set has to go to muscular failure or that every set has to get progressively heavier is one that seems to be universally accepted. Old bodybuilding methods and theories have trickled into the general public as the only way to train even while most males who go to the gym regularly, are working on getting bigger. Traditional thinking says when someone is working to add muscle, you want to be in the rep range of 8 to 12. Whether you are working on getting bigger, getting stronger, or increasing your endurance, you can always manipulate your sets and reps. But I’m willing to bet that’s not usually the case. I’ll give some people the benefit that they are on their “size” phase. I’m sure some have a a good reason for doing so. Most gym goers are infatuated with performing an exercise for 10 repetitions. Then pan to someone else, 8…9…10, and so on. Walk into any gym and begin watching people lift weights.

A deeper look into set and rep schemes