Sets and Reps Simplified!

3 things overheard in the gym...
"How many reps should I do? 6? 10?"
"Light weight, lots of reps!"
"8-12 reps will help you build muscle"

The truth is.... unless that last repetition of each set is really challenging you then you're not working hard enough!

When someone says "Do 5 reps" that doesn't mean just do 5 aimless reps and then stop, it means that 5th rep should be hard and you couldn't manage a 6th!

If you're looking to increase your strength, then yes working with a weight where you can only do 4-5 reps is a good place to start. I'm a big fan of 5x5 (5 sets of 5 reps), old school but highly effective.

If you're looking to add muscle (called "hypertrophy") then yes, increase these reps, sets of 8, maybe 10 or 12, adding lots of volume to the session with 4-5 sets and 3-4 different exercises.

"but what about toning?" - i'll write a post on this, keep an eye out...