How many repetitions to do in a set for volume, strength or endurance. Sets and reps for strength training

Absolutely in any gym You'll see people making a lot of mistakes during training - a guy on a bench press bouncing a barbell off his chest, someone doing leg curls with his pelvis more mobile than his hamstrings, another trying to do butterfly bench presses. These visible imperfections can significantly hinder your progress in training, however, they are not the only thing you should worry about. What about the errors you don't see?

None of these mistakes will harm your training efforts as much as choosing hard training over smart training. Many people can train hard, but it is training wisely that will help you get closer to your goal. For example, let's say you want to build muscle. You can choose light weights and do 50-60 reps, or take a heavy weight and lift it 10 times. In both cases you will work hard, but one method is more effective in building muscle.

Efforts are important, but you need to use them wisely! In order to optimize your efforts in the gym, you need to understand what rep range will best achieve your goal. Fortunately, research has already been done on this topic. And today we'll talk about how to choose the right rep range for your goals.

Three goals - three rep ranges

Training to increase muscle volume (Hypertrophy)

If you are training to increase muscle size, then you should select the weight in such a way that muscle failure occurs after 8-12 repetitions. In other words, after you've completed your warm-up sets - which will help you prevent injury - you should choose a weight that you can do at least 8, but no more than 12 reps with.

This means that if you only did 6-7 reps, then the weight is too heavy and you should reduce it on the next set. On the other hand, the option when you can do more than 12 repetitions is also wrong. The right approach– when you have reached failure – the point at which you can no longer do the same set on your own – in the 8-12 rep range. If you can easily do more than 12 reps, add weight on the next set to reach muscle failure in the range we want.

Of course, the guy who bounces the barbell off his chest and the guy who lifts his pelvis off the bench to perform a barbell press are grossly violating technique. If your technique breaks when performing an exercise, perhaps the weight of the apparatus is too heavy for you. Learn and practice techniques from books.

Choosing the right load to build up muscle mass, you can effectively target fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are more prone to increasing size and strength, when combined with resistance training, and this will be enough to stimulate growth. However, these muscle fibers fatigue very quickly, so you shouldn't lift very heavy weights for high reps.

Train like bodybuilders: If you want to increase muscle mass, aim for 8-12 reps per set and choose multi-joint movements such as the bench press, squats, overhead presses, bent-over rows and deadlifts. These exercises work more muscles than single-joint movements, allowing you to lift more weight.

Target the target muscle group with a variety of exercises and high reps and sets to stimulate growth. In general, the rest period between sets should be 1-2 minutes.

Strength training

When you select weights to do 8-12 reps to build muscle, you are also training strength, no question. But this weight is not optimal for increasing strength. When your goal is to maximize strength, you should train with a weight that you can only lift for 1-6 reps. Very heavy weights help you become stronger.

This is exactly the approach to training that the strongest men and women on the planet use, especially powerlifters. They lift inhuman weights in competition, and you can be sure they use a similar approach in training.

Of course, many of these athletes don't train hard all the time. They alternate between high-intensity training (heavy weights) and low-intensity periods, which helps them reduce the risk of injury, keep their joints healthy, and reach peak strength for competition. They usually use a 12 or 16 week periodization program, which helps them progress well. First they do a set of 5 reps, then 3, and finally 2 or 1 rep. Strength training also recruits fast-twitch muscle fibers. But it is aimed not only at increasing muscle volume and strength, but also at training the nervous system.

Train like a powerlifter: Training athletes for strength differs from training bodybuilders in that they avoid failure approaches because they can negatively impact the nervous system. The rest period between sets on working weights is quite long - 3-5 minutes - in order to fully recover before the next approach. After the main multi-joint exercises, auxiliary exercises are performed, which help strengthen weak spots in performing the main movement.

Muscular endurance training

You may be focused on getting as big or strong as possible, but not everyone is chasing those goals. Classic example runner on long distances(marathon runner) who needs to run 42 kilometers at one pace, to do this he develops muscle endurance. In the gym, this will mean lifting lighter weights and doing 15 reps or more.

Low-intensity training usually involves aerobic exercise because oxygen plays a key role in metabolism. This allows you to maintain your activity for a longer period of time. These energy processes occur primarily in slow-twitch muscle fibers, so by performing low-intensity, high-repetition training, you create mechanisms within the muscle cell that make it more adaptable to aerobic exercise.

This type of training increases muscle endurance without necessarily increasing muscle size. Well-trained athletes can perform high reps for long periods of time without fatigue, but you're unlikely to see a marathon runner with the body of a sprinter.

Train for endurance: the basis of training for athletes whose sports require good endurance is most often not related to gym, so it’s quite difficult to repeat their movements with weights. Multi-joint exercises performed with light weights and high repetitions, or even weightlifting exercises, can develop muscular endurance, as long as you can maintain it, of course. correct technique during execution.

The rest period should be short enough, because... Oxygen consumption and the process of removing lactic acid are not limiting factors in endurance training.

The relationship between reps and weight

Once you understand how many reps you should be doing, you will also understand how much weight you should be lifting. These things are inseparable. If you draw a graph you will get linear dependence: The more weight you add, the fewer reps you can do; With a lighter weight, you'll be able to do more reps.

I'm always surprised when I train with a new partner who is stuck on a certain weight and rep pattern - say, 36kg dumbbell bench press for 8 reps. I tell him to take 40kg, to which he replies, “I won’t be able to do that!” In fact, he can, just not 8 times. Inevitably, after working with 40kg dumbbells and feeling this new sense of strength, he will be able to lift 42kg, and even try 45kg.

We touched a lot important point: You shouldn't train in the same rep range all the time. You can start your workout with heavy compound exercises for 5 sets of 5 reps. To focus on building muscle mass, you can add a few exercises in the 8-12 rep range. At the end of the workout, you can work the slow muscle fibers and finish the session with isolation exercises for 15-20 repetitions.

Over time, you will understand your personal strength curve and weight-to-rep ratio for each exercise you do. It will help you a lot if you write down the weights and reps you did in a notebook. This is important because as you get stronger, you will want to lift heavier weights in the same rep range. When building muscle, once you can do more than 12 reps on a main exercise, it's time to increase the weights by 5 to 10 percent.

The weight you select from your strength curve should match the number of reps you need to do for your training goal. In this sense, your workouts shouldn't be random, where you just lift the same weight every session; there are more appropriate weights and optimal number of repetitions you should do. It all depends on the goal you set for yourself!

Greetings, dear iron lovers! We have finished the brief theoretical part, and now we will talk about practical recommendations for beginner athletes. The topic of today's episode is how many approaches and repetitions to do to hypertrophy glycolytic muscle fibers (in the second part we will talk about training “oxidative” muscle fibers).

About WARM-UP and WORKING approaches (for beginners)

Before talking about the required number of approaches in training, I want you and I to learn to distinguish working approaches from warm-up.

The point is that when doing WARM-UP APPROACH We work with light weights and do not achieve muscle failure. We need warm-up approaches, firstly, to properly stretch our muscles and prepare them for work.

Secondly, when performing a series of warm-up approaches with light weights, our muscles seem to remember the trajectory of movement, and, thereby, we establish a connection between the brain and muscles, improving muscle coordination.

Thirdly, by doing warm-up sets and gradually increasing the weight to the working weight, we prepare the nervous system to recruit the muscle fibers we need.

well and WORKING APPROACHES(sets) are those that are a series of several repetitions that cause a stressful state (caused by failure, or burning in the muscles).

The fact is that only we, the smart monkeys of HOMOSAPIENS, know that we perform different exercises for the same muscle group. But, our muscles don’t care what they do: for example, a barbell bench press or a dumbbell press.

The muscle simply contracts when we tell it to, and that’s it! Therefore, our muscles don’t care, we do 3 exercises with 2 approaches, 2 exercises with 3 approaches or 1 exercise with 6 approaches.

In practice, you can even choose one of your favorite exercises for a certain muscle group and do only it if you consider it the most effective (however, practice shows that working in this way, although acceptable from the point of view of biological effectiveness, is sometimes psychologically difficult - time From time to time you want variety).

Eternal questions about training intensity

Now we will talk directly about the required quantity repetitions for gaining muscle mass.

Bodybuilders traditionally have divided opinions on this matter. Some points are gained well by completing 6-10 repetitions in one approach, and the others - in 20-30 . It always amuses me to watch how yet another “fitness guru” says: “muscles only grow from large quantity approaches and repetitions with a small weight of the projectile" , and another similar “guru” insists that “muscles only grow from large scales and low-repetition range, and there can be no other options" .

However, you and I are smart kids! Therefore, we will consider this issue based not only on empirical, but also from scientific approach. In other words, I believe that in the gym you should not just dumbly lift iron, but do it based on knowledge of the physiology of muscle growth.

To do this, you and I need not only to listen to bodybuilders (which, of course, also needs to be done), who, after years of training, have at random identified for themselves the optimal range of repetitions and approaches, but also turn to science.

And science hints to us the following. In order to talk about how to pump up, you first need to at least be able to define muscle growth. Previously, we already found out what causes muscles to grow (), but for those who haven’t read, I’ll remind you:

Muscle growth - this is an increase in the cross-sectional area of ​​muscle fibers (cells). And an increase in the diameter (hypertrophy) of muscle fibers is achieved by increase in the number of myofibrils(myofibril hyperplasia) in these fibers.

In other words, in order to pump up muscles, you must know how to increase the number of myofibrils in muscle fibers.

Therefore, I want to remind you that our muscle fibers (cells), depending on the number (mass) of mitochondria, are usually divided into oxidative And glycolytic(not to be confused with fast and slow - these are different classifications:).

How many sets to do for weight?

Historically, it was believed that oxidative fibers are not capable of hypertrophy, and therefore you only need to pump glycolytic fibers.

I’ll tell you right away that this is bullshit! Research recent years, including the practice of bodybuilders, show that oxidative fibers have absolutely the same potential for growth as glycolytic fibers.

Absolutely any muscle contains both oxidative and glycolytic fibers. It’s just that their composition is different in different muscles, and it is, as a rule, subject to change depending on a person's lifestyle.

However, if we take the usual normal possons, namely - newcomers who just want to pump up, then most often they have everything about the same: in the muscles of the legs there are approximately the same amount of oxidative and glycolytic fibers, in the muscles of the chest and arms there are more glycolytic ones. Back and shoulders - most often selected at random.

In general, both methods work equally well, with the exception of some nuances, which we will talk about in. Now I want to talk about the most universal method, which will help to gain weight most quickly, in my opinion, absolutely anyone FOR A HEALTHY PERSON (there are contraindications - consult your doctor).

Number of approaches to GLYCOLYTIC muscle fibers

So our goal is increase the cross-sectional area of ​​glycolytic muscle fibers. To do this, as mentioned above, we need to create new myofibrils in these fibers.

You know that to trigger muscle growth, you need to ensure that an increased concentration of the following substances accumulates in the muscle fiber:

1. hydrogen ions (the main thing here is not to exceed the concentration)
2. anabolic hormones
3. free creatine
4. free amino acids

Well... The last - fourth point, that is, amino acids, are the result of protein consumption and do not depend on training. And the first 3 conditions directly depend on severe physical activity .

A feature of glycolytic fibers is that they are very few mitochondria, which means that these fibers use these fibers as the main method of restoring creatine phosphate (for further resynthesis of myosin ATP) anaerobic glycolysis- that is, the breakdown of glucose without oxygen and, accordingly, without further oxidation of pyruvates in mitochondria. Therefore, there will be no problems with the accumulation of hydrogen ions, as well as free creatine, the main thing is to choose the right weight of the projectile.

So, guided by my own training and coaching experience, the experience of professional bodybuilders of different eras and scientific literature, including the literature of methodologists I greatly respect: Viktor Seluyanov and his student, Andrei Antonov, I propose to select such a weight of the projectile so that the operating time until complete failure is 20-30 seconds, depending on the amplitude of the movement and the presence of relaxation at the end.

In practice, this means that you need to select a weight on the bar that you can do with it. 6-12 reps to failure.

By the way, I remind you that in the case of natural training muscle failure is the most an important condition for maximum production of anabolic hormones- testosterone and growth hormone. If you complete a working approach on the eighth repetition, even though you can do two more, the effect of such training, of course, will be, but not the same as it could be.

Muscular failure or at least a “pre-failure state” (1 repetition before complete failure) must be present in every working approach if you train naturally. If an athlete uses steroids, then this is no longer so important to him, since he receives those same hormones from the outside. For such an athlete, working to failure will be useful not so much for the production of hormones, but for the accumulation maximum quantity free creatine in muscles (let me remind you, this is one of the main conditions for triggering muscle growth).

In general, reaching muscle failure in the range of 8-10 repetitions (±2-3 repetitions is acceptable, but I prefer 6-10), you will definitely not go wrong. However, the accumulated free creatine and hormones produced in one approach will not be enough for growth (more precisely, there will be some growth, of course, but you always want more).

To increase the concentration of these substances in muscle fibers, you will have to do several approaches.

How long to rest between sets?

Based on the above, in combination with information studied in the scientific literature and personal experience, I recommend for myofibril hyperplasia in glycolytic fibers to perform 4-10 approaches. At the same time, between approaches you need to rest not 60-90 seconds, as professional bodybuilders recommend, but at least 3-5 minutes, or even more.

The fact is that with a short rest period between approaches, the concentration of hydrogen ions in the muscle fiber increases to such an extent that instead of having a positive effect (indirect) on the synthesis of messenger RNA, hydrogen has a direct effect Negative influence on lysosome activity. The latter can swell, increase in size, and pores will open in them, through which, in turn, enzymes responsible for protein catabolism (protein kinases) will come out, including the destruction of myofibrils.

As a result, instead of starting muscle growth, you start the process of their destruction. To ensure that hydrogen ions do not accumulate in excess, the rest interval between approaches should be increased - preferably up to 5 minutes.

Wherein rest between approaches should be active. This is necessary so that excess lactic acid is “eaten” as energy by active muscles - it has been proven that during aerobic work during rest, lactic acid leaves the trained muscle faster. Personally, for this purpose, in the interval between approaches, I pedal the bicycle at low resistance, but in principle, any other cyclic load will do - for example, regular fast walk. Take my word for it: this recommendation really noticeably accelerates the release of lactic acid from the muscle, and therefore allows you to do more total approaches and, therefore, accumulate more “anabolic factors” in the muscle fibers.

If the rest is not active, but passive, a much longer rest is allowed - from 10 minutes. But in this case, it is necessary to add warm-up approaches again. By the way, when I have time, this is exactly what I do - I have my own gym in my house (where I, in fact, trained clients), and in free time For example, on chest day, I would simply step up to the bar every half hour, do a few warm-up sets, and then a full bench press failure set. I think this training method is the most effective for a natural athlete - if you also have a lot of free time and constant access to equipment, then be sure to try this method! If this is not possible, rest for 5 minutes, and in the interval do light cyclic work (walking, exercise bike, elliptical).

Important !

Don't listen to professional bodybuilders who advise resting 60-90 seconds between sets! They, unlike you, have adapted to the decrease in pH over the years of training, and therefore can afford to rest less and also do various methods increasing intensity (dropsets, supersets, trisets, giant sets, etc.).

Moreover, without exception, they all use steroids. And steroids almost completely suppress the destructive effect of excessively accumulated hydrogen ions, leaving only their positive effect (more precisely, hormones do not suppress the destructive effect of hydrogen, but significantly “override” it due to the overall significantly greater accumulation of messenger RNA).

Therefore, the generally accepted belief that “during training you need to acidify your muscles as much as possible” is nothing more than nonsense. Everything should be in moderation!

conclusions

Now let’s put an end to the number of approaches. Usually they recommend a specific number of approaches, but this is not entirely correct. In general, to achieve the maximum possible anabolism, natural athletes need to do exactly as many approaches as until the time under load from set to set begins to decrease- this is provided that the weight of the projectile is the same in all working approaches.

For example!

If in the first approach you did 10 repetitions to failure, in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th you also got 10 repetitions, and in the fifth approach failure occurred already on the 9th repetition - this indicates that it's time to stop. Further continuation of training this muscle will produce less and less results (compared to previous approaches), or even completely destroy the results of previous approaches.

As you train, you will understand when you can increase the number of approaches. Again: For many beginners, even 3 approaches are enough, so that in the fourth the failure has already occurred earlier, which is a reason to stop (especially if the athlete is resting passively, and not, say, pedaling a bicycle at low resistance). Therefore, in this case, try to forcefully do the 5th, 6th and subsequent approaches there's no point- In this way, you will only over-acidify the muscle, which will only reduce the total anabolic factors accumulated in the first approaches (when the number of repetitions did not drop).

However, it is possible that as you train, you will be able to increase the number of sets to 10 or more, without reducing the number of repetitions - this can come with experience on its own. Especially if, as was recommended earlier, you will not just do nothing while resting between approaches, but will pedal an exercise bike at light resistance or at least walk on a treadmill - in this case, sometimes the number of “effective” approaches can increase to 10. 12, or even up to 15, and in this case the effect will be simply amazing (most likely, your gym mates who “kill” their muscles with all sorts of “dropsets” or rest for 60-90 seconds between approaches will think that you - cheater).

That's why, again: main feature The only time you need to stop is when in the next approach it was no longer possible to do the same number of repetitions that were set in the first approach. Otherwise, further continuation of training of this muscle group will only be harmful.

One more moment!

We all have different recovery abilities - it depends on a number of factors, including power endocrine system, nutritional habits, daily routine outside of training and much more. Therefore, it makes sense for one person to conduct such developmental training for a specific muscle group no more than once every 1-2 weeks (as Seluyanov advises, and many practitioners also train, including me), and for another person it may make sense to conduct such training 2, and even 3 times a week - I’ve met a lot of such guys in my practice, but let’s face it, there are much fewer of them than those who are suitable for a less frequent training frequency (once every 1-2 weeks).

Most often, if you are a beginner and do only 3-4 approaches for a specific muscle, then it makes sense to conduct such training approximately once every 4-7 days. In my opinion, in a very quick recovery in the first few months you can even train 2, and in some cases even 3 times a week. If you are recovering slowly (for example, at the beginning of my own training, when my working weight in the bench press was 50kg * 10 repetitions, I did only 3 working sets, but my chest hurt for 5-6 days after training), then in your case it makes sense to train no more than once a week (perhaps even less often).

But even if you recover very quickly, but at the same time, due to high aerobic capabilities, you manage to do not 3-4, but 8-12 failure approaches per muscle group in one workout (although I rarely met such people - most often, with passive rest, the number of repetitions fell after 3-4 approaches, and then the athletes just do sh... it), then I would still do such training no more often than once every 7-10 days, even if you do not have outstanding strength indicators. *Most athletes most often work in this mode once a week, but this is not a postulate!

For athletes with serious results (for example, a working weight in the bench press of 120 kg in situ), it makes sense to carry out such heavy training no more than once every 10-14 days, and in between, perhaps, perform training on oxidative fibers, cycling with unloading microcycles . You will see this for yourself when you reach this level (for example, when I bench pressed over 130, I just couldn’t recover in a week - I rested between workouts, as a rule, for two weeks. I came to this purely empirically, and then found This is confirmed in the works of Professor Seluyanov).

Many bodybuilders also believe that large muscle groups (legs) need to do many approaches, and small ones (arms) need fewer sets. Contrary to their opinion, I consider this complete nonsense, because physiological processes in muscles go the same way, regardless of their size.

Therefore, I believe that the number of approaches for both small and large muscle groups should not have a direct relationship with muscle size. Again, look at how you feel - if in the next approach the number of repetitions remains the same as in the previous one, then you can continue. If the number of repetitions has decreased (failure occurred earlier), there is no point in training this muscle further. Depending on aerobic potential, the same person can do 6 approaches for one muscle with a certain rest interval, and for another muscle - after 3 approaches, the number of repetitions may fall, although the rest between approaches is exactly the same in duration.

In we will talk about how many approaches and repetitions to do for growth oxidative muscle fibers. In the meantime, ask your questions.

Lord of the entire site and fitness trainer | more details >>

Genus. 1984 Trained since 1999 Trained since 2007. Candidate of Masters in powerlifting. Champion of Russia and South Russia according to AWPC. Champion of the Krasnodar region according to IPF. 1st category in weightlifting. 2-time winner of the Krasnodar Territory championship in t/a. Author of more than 700 articles on fitness and amateur athletics. Author and co-author of 5 books.

Now I will tell you about such an interesting and rare method as the one-approach method. What it is?

The one approach method is that you do each exercise only one working approach but until complete failure.

What does this look like in practice? Well, for example, you want to practice your back today. Typically (for example) you do 3 exercises on your back:

• 3 approaches
• 3 approaches
• 3 approaches

But if you suddenly decided to shake your back using one approach, it would look like this (it would take the same amount of time and effort):

• 1 approach
• 1 approach
• 1 approach
• 1 approach
• 1 approach
• 1 approach
• 1 approach
• 1 approach
• 1 approach

Of course, I didn’t give an example of the entire workout, but only one muscle group. Do you agree that it looks much more interesting? I think you get the point. Let's now look at the advantages of this method.

Advantages of the One Approach Method

1. More inclusion of muscle fibers. By doing 3 sets of different exercises to failure, but aimed at the same muscles, you will engage more muscle fibers in the work than if you did 3 sets of one exercise. This means that there will be more stress on your muscles, and they will grow in mass and strength more easily.

2. This method makes your workouts more varied and not boring. After all, you will do several times more exercises in one workout. And you will agree that doing several identical approaches is quite boring.

3. For those who put less weight in the first working approach with the words: “This is so that in the last approach I can do required quantity repetitions” - now you can forget this fear of yours. After all, you no longer have a first and last approach. Every approach is the last! And you must make the most of it!

Disadvantages of this method

1. Not good for home use. After all, a larger number of different exercises requires an equally large amount of different equipment.

2. At the beginning of each such training you need to do well. The fact is that with this method you should have almost no warm-up approaches. They can only be in some basic exercises. If you spend time on a warm-up approach for each exercise, this will reduce the effectiveness of the workout and greatly delay it. Therefore, do a good general warm-up at the beginning. And you can also do 1-2 warm-up approaches before each first exercise in a chain of exercises for one muscle group.

For example, you are planning to pump your legs and your first exercise is squats with a barbell. Before this you can do 1-2 warm-up approaches. You need to understand that after squats, your legs are already stretched and there is no need to stretch them before other leg exercises. The same goes for other muscle groups.

3. From the above point it follows that this method is not suitable for beginners. To immediately hang the working weight, you must be very good. That is, they should already thoroughly study your physical capabilities.

4. You must be able to. That is, in such a way that you will not be able to do another repetition under any circumstances. This is a required condition this method. Without this condition, it loses its effectiveness.

5. You will have to constantly assemble and disassemble the shells after each approach. Not everyone likes it.

Combination with other methods

. This method works best with it. One approach to failure – 2-3 minutes rest. Then again one approach to failure, but this time a different exercise.

. Also an option. Accordingly, you should do each superset in one approach. Then - a new superset.

. It's better not to combine with it. First, circuit training usually consists of 7-8 exercises and 5 circuits. It turns out that every circle you should do is from new exercises. You just won't remember the sequence. You can, of course, write it down. In general, it is theoretically possible to do circuit training using this method, but it will be at least inconvenient, and you should be almost alone in the gym.

. It is also better not to combine it with it, for the reason described in the circular method. It will also be extremely inconvenient to keep so many exercise machines and equipment under control.

. Can be combined well. 5 – 8 exercises, one set per muscle group, then 5 – 10 minutes of cardio. Then 5-8 exercises for another muscle group and again cardio. But I just gave you this as an example.

In general, combine this method with splits, combinations, and supersets.

If you go to the gym for a specific purpose, you should adhere to an appropriate training pattern, or in simple terms, a program. And the program implies not only a set of exercises, but also how many approaches to do for mass, endurance, strength or relief, as well as how many repetitions should be in each of these approaches. Depending on what result you want to achieve, these values ​​will vary.

Why follow the rules

Sets and repetitions are an important part of training.

In order to increase the effectiveness of training and achieve certain results, the entire training process is divided into rest and work. Each muscle needs to be worked several times, giving it time to rest. Such cycling is necessary for the muscles to work as efficiently as possible.

If you just take a barbell and do the maximum number of repetitions, it will not bring much effect. Endurance and strength will increase too slowly from such an ineffective waste of the body's physical resources.

If you do, for example, 10 repetitions and move on to the next exercise, there will be no progress either. The only thing you will get is a “preventative” load on the muscles. This approach is only useful if you do exercises in the morning. The purpose of this method of doing exercises is to maintain muscle and circulatory system V in good condition and no more.

And here's the most effective option– first load the muscle, then give it a rest, repeat this until the desired degree of depletion of its resource. The rest period should allow the muscle to restore its energy reserves for further work. However, if this interval exceeds the time after which the muscle begins to “cool down,” such a break can lead to injury.

Typically the rest lasts from 30 seconds to 4-5 minutes. We’ll tell you later how to individually choose this time for you.

Thus, sets and repetitions are needed to achieve best result from training.

The reps and sets you perform depend on your training goals and training weights accordingly. There is a completely natural logic here: the higher , the fewer repetitions you can do with it.

That's not all: the heavier the weight, the longer you need to rest before doing the next set.

Different goals - different number of repetitions

You need to understand how many sets and repetitions you need to do in different situations.

For example, a bodybuilder must know the number of repetitions for muscle growth, that is, how many repetitions to do for mass (if he is gaining weight), and how many approaches and repetitions to do for relief (if he is drying out).

The number of repetitions per set depends on what you want to get out of your training.

1. To increase strength, usually perform 2-4 repetitions per set. In this case, the weights are taken to be large, close to the maximum.
2. To gain mass, the athlete needs to perform 5-10 repetitions. The working weight will be less than when working on strength, but still quite significant. The number of repetitions per mass should not be large. Often mass and strength gains are designated as separate training sessions. Although force grows along with mass, mass does not always follow force. It happens that a small muscle volume is more effective than pumped up mountains of muscles. You can find this in your life - it all depends on what percentage of muscle fibers are involved in the work.
3. When working on relief or losing weight, it is important to burn a lot of energy from fat. A large number of repetitions with medium and light weights will allow you to do this. Do 15-20 repetitions until your muscles start to burn.

Please note again that for optimal training you need to adequately select working weights. You need to ensure that with this weight you can do exactly the planned number of repetitions. If you can't do even 1 extra repetition, that would be ideal. In practice, this rarely happens, so don’t despair.

It is also worth mentioning how many repetitions are done per mass when increasing the working weight. Everything is simple here. When you switch to new weight, do it first minimal amount times in the range (that is, 5), and then increase to the maximum (up to 10).

When to increase quantity

There are times when a person participates in competitions where the maximum number of repetitions is required (for example, in CrossFit). Here you need to train for quantity. You will have to forget about how many reps and approaches to do for mass, relief, or anything else.

So, how to increase the number of repetitions. Here are a couple of techniques:

1. First, you need to work for maximum repetitions with have a good rest. Naturally, in each subsequent approach you will have fewer repetitions than in the previous one.
2. The second technique is various “ladders”. For example, increasing working weight and working to the maximum in quantity. Or you can choose a specific weight and do 50 reps with it. Then increase the weight and do the same number of repetitions. One day there will come a time when your muscles will no longer be able to perform a single repetition.

Approaches

Everything is clear about repetition. But with how many approaches to do, the situation is more complicated.

A set is a continuous exercise. For example, even one repetition can be called a set. When you put the bar down, the approach is over and rest begins. Then, when you start doing the exercise again, the next approach will begin.

So, the number of approaches is also selected individually. It will be very good if you find your own minimum. That is, such a number of approaches for each exercise that will not allow you to degrade in muscle terms, and even better, will give you the opportunity to grow further.

• So, what to do to grow muscle mass: perform 3-4 approaches, not counting the warm-up ones.
• The same number of approaches should be done to lose weight. Warm-up in this case can be comprehensive for the whole body before starting the workout.
• And to increase strength, it is better to perform a couple more approaches.

As you noticed, the number of repetitions decreases, and the approaches increase.

Rest time between exercises

The standards say to rest for 45, 60, 90 seconds. But blindly following your stopwatch is stupid. Of course, from an anatomical point of view, all people are similar, and their bodies function in the same way. But every person has his own physical characteristics. This manifests itself in differences in recovery time, speed of mass gain, and strength. Thus, we are all similar, but still different.

Your task is to develop your own time limits based on the standards.

The standards are:

• To gain muscle, rest for 60–90 seconds.
• To lose weight, try to rest for a minimum amount of time.
• And when you work on strength, you can rest for three or five minutes. Be guided by your feelings. It is important to allow the muscles to recover, but to begin the next approach before they cool down.

Based on these numbers, be guided by your feelings. If after the next rest you cannot do even 2-3 repetitions, although 10 were planned, you took heavy weight or simply had very little rest.

For a beginner or an athlete after an injury

After a long break or when a person first comes to work out in the gym, you need to train in an easy mode. This means not only light weights, but also a reduced number of approaches.

Beginners who first came to lift iron are recommended to start with two approaches for each exercise. You can immediately do as many repetitions as required.

Experienced athletes themselves know what is best after a break, so there is no point in recommending anything to them. If you don’t have enough experience to decide on this, do two approaches in the first workout, three in the next and then according to the usual program.

By the way, in a warm state, muscles do not feel damage so well. A muscle fiber rupture will only become clear when your muscle “cools down.” Until this point, other than minor discomfort, you may not feel anything.

This phenomenon is dangerous when you decide to do several additional approaches. The muscle is torn and damaged. During training, naturally, you cannot notice this. Therefore, a fanatical race for the number of approaches is dangerous to health. Observing your own body will help you protect yourself - if you can no longer perform 1 repetition correctly, it’s time to stop.

In other words, choose the number of approaches and repetitions based not only on your goals, but also on your physical condition and well-being.

Remember, in our previous article we looked at theoretical issues in determining the number of sets and repetitions. So, I decided not to procrastinate and wrote its continuation. From this note you will learn about two (and one more, my favorite) methods in determining quantitative indicators of the training process. We will break everything down piece by piece and as a result, you yourself will decide on the option you like and learn how to derive similar numbers, without even resorting to the help of a personal trainer, i.e. without throwing money away :).

Make yourself comfortable, there will be a lot of interesting things, let's go.

Number of approaches and repetitions: so how many?

For those who have just joined us (or just in a tank), let me remind you that the first part of the article is here: . And we’ll start the second one with this...

As I said earlier, the numbers regarding the number of approaches and repetitions have long been known and they look like this (see image).

...where, under the numbers, such functional indicators as development are indicated:

1. maximum strength;
2. strength, speed and power;
3. functional muscle hypertrophy (sarcoplasmic, SG);
4. structural muscle hypertrophy (myofibrillar, MG);
5. endurance (including the ability to train for a long time).

Note:

SG – associated with an increase in the size of the non-contractile part of the muscle;

MG - increase in the contractile apparatus of muscles (number and volume of myofibrils).

This is the so-called generally accepted extended (American version) template for the “dosage” of approaches and repetitions. The Russian version, which is most often fobbed off and advised to everyone actively visiting the gym, looks like this (see image).

As can be seen from the figure, to develop strength it is necessary to perform 1-5 reps per set. Here you can use the maximum weight of the projectile and perfectly stimulate muscles to grow due to MG. Number of reps in range 9-12 times, it has the best effect on SG. As soon as the number of repetitions exceeds the mark in 12 times, the processes of muscle hypertrophy decrease and anaerobic endurance begins to develop.

It is believed that if you want to get as big as possible you need to balance between the two types of hypertrophy and work both types of fibers (fast/slow), which means that the set should consist of 6-8 repetitions, the total number of them (approaches) should ideally be 3 . Beginners are usually advised to “job” in the gym according to 3 once a week and train the whole body while doing 2-3 exercises for each muscle group. Everything you need to do 2-3 approach to 10-15 repetitions. All this will allow you to pump up well a basic level of physical activity and prepare the body for more serious stress in the future.

So, this concerns the standard scheme for the number of approaches and repetitions, there is also a scientific and intuitive one, which I consider the most adequate and correct and which I will teach you at the very end.

Now let's look at the scientific approach to the issue of the number of sets and repetitions, so here we go.

Recently, wandering around the Internet in search of new research in the field of bodybuilding, I came across an interesting study on an authoritative foreign resource related to our topic today. It said that definitive answers had been found regarding the ideal number of reps and reps to achieve maximum results. It is precisely his calculations that I will give below.

Note:

The study was conducted on both beginners and advanced athletes, so its results are valid for these categories.

Let's start with...

BEGGINERS

No. 1. Number of approaches.

The study found that newcomers (experience up to 1 of the year) should work with more repetitions and less weight. Per approach it is necessary to perform from 12 before 15 repetitions. This amount allows you to develop the strength of adaptation of the nervous system to the load. Lifting weights teaches the nervous system how to quickly and efficiently turn on required amount“correct” muscle fibers for lifting weights. Using a high number of repetitions allows the nervous system to get more practice in this matter, because. she must control every repetition performed.

The study says that to get good “volume” results, beginners should perform about 3-4 sets for each body part. Those. must be fulfilled 3 approach one exercise for each muscle group.

Moreover, it should be taken into account that this one exercise should be basic or conditionally basic - not a single muscle group should be included in the work. The following exercises are perfect: bench press lying on a horizontal (incline) bench; dumbbell shoulder press; squats; lifting barbells/dumbbells for biceps, close-grip triceps press. Given the low volume of exercises, you can do one workout for the whole body at once or divide muscle groups into 2 day (1 day – chest, thighs, triceps, quadriceps; 2 day – back, shoulders, calves, biceps).

Note:

The best type of training is considered 2-3 day split (separation of muscle groups on different days).

No. 3. Training frequency.

Beginners should train each muscle group three times a week. They can split their split into two workouts, resulting in 6 days of classes per week. High frequency training trains the beginner's nervous system faster and it adapts to working with iron at a faster pace. At first glance, it may seem that it is nonsense for a beginner to practice so many times. However, the basis of this concept, “bicycle”, is one simple phenomenon - practice, i.e. The more often certain actions of the same type are performed, the faster the body learns them. Remember when young children ride a bicycle; the more often they “climb on it,” the faster they begin to ride.

We're done with the beginners, let's move on to a more advanced level...

ADVANCED

No. 1. Number of approaches.

For more advanced athletes (more than 1 of the year) the greatest benefits come from heavy weights and lower (unlike beginners) number of repetitions. The optimal number of repetitions per set for the development of strength and muscle performance is from 6 before 8 . The principle of gradual overload already works here; this is when the muscles have adapted to the weights and they must be retrained with heavier weights.

No. 2. Total training volume.

Research says that optimal quantity sets are counted from 4 before 6 for each part of the body, i.e. This results in three approaches in two exercises for one muscle group. The most the best option is to choose one main exercise for each muscle and one auxiliary (exercise help).

Basic exercises include: chest – barbell/dumbbell bench press; shoulders – vertical barbell/dumbbell overhead press; back – one-arm dumbbell row to the waist, cable row on the machine; legs – squats or “cart” (leg press in platform) followed by lunges; triceps - weight press down on a cable machine, close-grip press, dips; biceps – lifting a barbell while standing or extending an arm with a dumbbell.

As auxiliary exercises, it is necessary to use those that are performed in a similar manner to the basic ones and prepare it for the main work. Examples of such “helpers”: chest - butterfly on the simulator, bringing the arms together in a crossover; shoulders – raising the bar to the chin; legs - extensions in a sitting machine; triceps - extensions on a block with a handle, etc.

No. 3. Training frequency.

Advanced athletes should not train a muscle group more than twice a week. Nervous system such people are already adapted to the loads and therefore increase strength (and as a result muscle mass) occurs due to adaptation of the muscle fibers themselves. Heavy weights and more sets put a serious strain on the body and therefore it needs more time to recover. During the recovery period, increased regeneration of muscle proteins occurs and the muscles become larger and stronger.

Actually, we’ve also finished with the advanced level, now let’s sum it up...

Global output

The research presented here tells us what “number tricks” work best for most athletes, but that doesn't mean those recommendations will work best for you. Try the proposed calculations in practice and record the result. If it is positive (there is an increase in strength/muscle mass), then use them often in your training program, otherwise change any “variables” and try again.

So, I laid out everything I knew on this topic, now you just have to re-read everything again and draw a conclusion, and it’s simple - listen to your body and determine the required number of approaches and repetitions yourself. Well, in order to do this as correctly and effectively as possible, and in general, in order to once again “settle down” all the above information, remember the following tips:

• don’t adhere to any standard clichés, just take it, try it, record the result and adjust the numbers depending on it;
• include work in the entire range of “repetitions” in your training program (for example, Monday - 5 ; Wednesday – 15 , Friday - 10 repetitions);
• Focus on these extreme rep ranges: 1-3 – development of maximum strength; 4-10 – simultaneous increase in muscle endurance and strength development; more 11 – working out the relief/burning fat;
• focus on the following extreme ranges of approaches: work on relief - 2-3 ; weight gain – 3-4 ; strength development – 4-5 ;

It is also very important in determining the number of approaches and repetitions to answer yourself simple questions: 1) how old am I; 2) training experience (physical fitness level); 3) body type.

Based on the answers, your logic and the above information, you can easily deduce specific digital values taking into account your body characteristics. They will be the one Starting point, in the matter of pulling iron, from which you will have to dance.

Actually, that’s all for me, about three methods (standard, scientific, independent) I told you about determining the quantitative indicators of the training process, so my conscience is clear :).

Afterword

Today we dealt with the questions - “who, what and how much?” do in the gym. I’m just sure that now you can easily answer this question, not only for yourself, but also help your less experienced hardware brethren understand it. Well, something like this, see you again my dears, don’t be bored!

PS. We write down comments, questions, wishes and other miscellaneous things, I will be glad!

P.P.S. Did the project help? Then leave a link to it as your status social network- plus 100 points for karma, guaranteed :).

With respect and gratitude, Dmitry Protasov.