How many sets, how many reps
What exactly are you training for?
Distance runners don’t train their vertical leap. Hockey players don’t practice like pole vaulters. These are obvious extreme examples, but your training specificity will affect your results.
So what target are you aiming at? Max strength? Endurance? Let’s make sure you’re training for the correct result.
We’ll break it down into 3 different categories, and then break down the set/rep schemes that will help you achieve greatness.
According to Men’s Health:
Strength and Power
If your objective is strength or power (think: heavy lifting or explosive movements), the textbook advice is to perform 3 to 5 sets of 2 to 6 reps per exercise. Low reps means we’re lifting a bigger weight. That also means we’re taking a minute or two between sets to recover and gear up, mentally and physically, for the sets to come.
Hypertrophy
If your aim is hypertrophy (to build muscle), the sweet spot is 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps. More reps= a moderate weight. You’ll only need about :60 recovery here.
Muscular Endurance
If your objective is muscular endurance, shoot for 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps. Lots of reps= lower weights. Aim for short recoveries here as well.
Those guidelines look pretty solid. But rules are meant to be broken.
My friend Paula incurred two stress fractures in her legs while training for/ running the Boston marathon. When the time came to run the following year she sought out the advice of a trainer. Conventional wisdom suggested she should run/cross train during the week, run long on the weekend, and lift for muscular endurance.
That’s kind of how she trained when she fractured both legs. So she switched it up. She ran less, kept her long runs faithful, and lifted for strength 2 x’s a week. Some would argue that because increased strength comes with larger muscles (that are heavier and require more oxygen) and this was a mistake. But she ran much faster that year and, more importantly, without injury. I credit her trainer with recognizing that increased strength would make her more efficient and resilient to the distance running.
In sum, know the rules, but know yourself enough to recognize when it’s time to break them.
And it’s always great to have an experienced coach who you can bounce ideas off of.