Muscle Building

1. Observe & Questions

Reps

A repetition (rep) is one completion of an exercise, such as one deadlift, one bench press, or one arm
curl. A repetition maximum (1RM) is your personal best, or the most you can lift once in a single
repetition of an exercise. Therefore, a 12RM is the most you can lift and successfully perform 12
repetitions with proper form.

Sets

A set is a series of repetitions performed sequentially. For example, eight repetitions can be one set of
bench presses.

 how many sets and reps to build muscle?

2. Research

To gain muscle: Three or more sets of 6 to 8 reps to fatigue. For beginners, give yourself several weeks
of conditioning before going to this level. You may need a spotter for many exercises. For health and
endurance: One to 3 sets of 12 to 16 reps using enough weight that you can only complete the desired
reps.

Types of Workout Sets

How to use each of them, and for what

Whether you’re new to weight lifting or not, it is advised that every weight lifter knows about how to
choose and apply different sets types in his/her workout sessions. Arranging your workout according to
your training goals is paramount for training effects to emerge, randomization has no place in smart
planning! In addition to that; manipulation of sets, weights, exercises and repetitions from time to time
is important to avoid accommodation or plateau.For that, here we gathered a group of the most known
types of sets, each with its purpose of use.

 Straight sets

Straight seta (or sets system) means doing exercises in the old fashion way, performing all sets of each
exercise one after another with rest in between. This system is used to apply maximum adaptive
response for the trained muscles.
  Super sets

In super sets you perform exercise set immediately after another exercise set, with no rest in between,
only that required for taking the position of the second exercise.

Super sets allow you to perform more work in less time, they are especially useful if you have short time
to spend in training, plus they can be used as a mean to increase training intensity due to less rest time.

Super sets can be categorized to the following:

Antagonist super set: in this you alternate opposing (antagonist) muscle group exercises (such as leg
curls and leg extension, or biceps curl and triceps extension for example).

Compound (or agonist) sets: in this you alternate between two exercises for the same muscle group
(such as seated dips and triceps extension).

Tri-sets: using this type of sets, you do three exercises for the same muscle group with little rest in
between.

Giant sets: if you perform 4 or more exercises of one muscle group this is called giant set.

 Circuit sets

Circuit sets involve performing all workout exercises in succession with short rest in between, only that
required for taking the new position. Circuits reduce workout time, and are great to increase stamina,
muscle strength and muscle conditioning.

 Pyramid training

When doing pyramid sets, you start your body part session with high reps and lighter weight, and then
gradually increasing weight loads and reducing reps. (For example you do barbell upright row with 12
reps holding 30 kg, and then doing 10 reps with 35 kg, after those 8 reps 40 kg).

Pyramid sets allow for gradual increase in intensity (difficulty) and warm up of muscles as you go
through your workout.

You might also be interested in learning these 12 proven ways to speed up recovery from training.

 Drop sets

In drop sets you reduce weight lifted after each set when fatigue sets in, for example you do bench press
with 50 kg, and when you fatigue and can’t do any more reps, you reduce weigh usually by 10% and so
on until you finish your sets.
This way increases muscle endurance and allows for more reps to be done, while consuming your
muscle strength to the last drop.

Stripping or (descending sets) are similar to drop sets, except that spotters reduce the weights for you,
and hence no rest at all between sets.

 Rest-pause training

Rest-pause sets allow you to do more reps with the same weight to increase muscle endurance. In this
you do a set to failure, rest for about 10 seconds, and then do another set, rest, and so on for a total of 3
to 4 rest-pause circles. These short rest-pauses help in restoring ATPs in muscles, and partially flushing
accumulated lactic acid.

 Pre-Exhaustion principle

As the name implies; in pre-exhaustion technique you exhaust the targeted muscle with isolate exercise
first, and then you perform a compound exercises.

Each progressive set incorporates additional muscles to aid the work of the muscle under focus. For
example, do lying dumbbell fly (which is a chest isolate exercise) and then perform bench press (which
works chest and triceps).

Another example for lower body part pre-exhaustion is to perform leg curls (hamstrings isolate
exercise), followed by straight leg dead lifts (hamstrings and glutes) and then lungs (hamstrings, quads
and glutes).

This way is used to induce more muscle hypertrophic growth, having that said; it isn’t advised for
strength training beginners to avoid overtraining muscles, intermediates and advanced trainers can do it
with caution to frequency.

3. Hypothesis

So, in general, low reps with heavy weight tends to increase muscle mass, while high reps with light
weight increases muscle endurance. ... Lifting lighter weights with more reps gives the muscle tissue and
nervous system a chance to recover while also building endurance.

4. Experiment

I interviewed one of my gym colleagues what he prefers the number of sets and reps for the faster
growth of his muscles in the body and what he always does are low sets and reps with high weight
because heavy weights helps him build more muscles faster which compared to lower weights

5. Gather and analyze

Why use reps and sets?

Using reps and sets to organize your workouts has many benefits. To start, they can be very useful in
gauging your baseline strength and measuring your progress.

Following a defined workout plan can also help take the guesswork out of strength training.

Knowing your rep and set goals each time you exercise can be motivating when you might feel like
quitting early. Plus, following a reasonable set and rep goal for your fitness level can help reduce your
chances of accidentally overdoing it and injuring yourself.

6. Conclusion and Recommendations

If you’re seeking a more moderate increase in strength and size — for example, if your goal is to
improve your health or shape your muscles — aim for 8 to 12 repetitions to failure. This will help
improve muscle endurance, or your ability to continuously work a muscle over a long period of time.

The number of repetitions, or reps, you perform of weight training exercises matters a lot. In general, if
your goal is to build the largest, strongest muscles that your genetic makeup allows, perform relatively
few repetitions, about four to six (perhaps even as few as one or two).