TLDR
- Rep ranges 8-12 60% of the time, 5-15 80% of the time, 3-30 100% of the time
- Think of 3 styles of performing sets; load sets, pump sets, control sets
- Figure out true full ROM failure, then partial ROM failure
Rep ranges
Decades ago the 8-12 rep range for hypertrophy became common knowledge. Then various exercise science studies suggested that rep ranges spanning 5-20 or potentially even 3-30 produced equivalent hypertrophy results.
Of course, things aren’t quite that simple.
The issue with lower rep ranges, say 3-5 reps, is increased joint stress, less time to build a mind muscle connection and potentially a slight increase risk of niggling injuries and discomfort.
The issue with higher rep ranges above 12 or 15 reps is it’s extremely difficult to actually push to failure. You need a lot of extra focus to keep rep speed consistent, and eek the last few reps to true muscular failure to get equivalent results. What we know for sure is very high rep sets not taken to failure are not nearly as effective as 8-12 reps sets not taken to failure.
All up, it makes sense to include all these rep ranges, but to still keep much of the work in the 8-12 rep range, and the vast majority of the work in the 5-15 rep range.
Tempo
Starting out, the typical 3111 tempo is all you need. That’s a 1 count controlled eccentric, 1 count pause (without relaxing), 3 count explosive concentric, and 1 count pause (without relaxing). This will be sufficient for the first several years of lifting.
When we go beyond that point, we need to be a bit more intentional with tempo. It’s easiest to conceptualise into 3 different tempos:
- 2010 – a relatively fast moving set without pausing at the shortened and lengthened positions, focus on piston style reps (but still a 2 count eccentric, it’s not speed work). We’re going to call this a pump set.
- 3110 – a standard set but generally not pausing at the shortened position. We’re going to call this a load set.
- 4111 – a slower than usual eccentric with an extra focus on moving under control into the stretch. We’re going to call this a control set.
This segues into our next point…
Set types
Again this is more of an intermediate to advanced concept. Starting out, good quality sets is you need.
Afterwards, we need to realise all exercises fall into one of three categories by definition. It must be:
- Midrange biased
- Lengthened biased
- Shortened biased
We can also think of three different types of sets.
- Load sets
- Pump sets
- Control sets
Knowing this, there are some logical combinations that simply make the most sense.
A midrange biased exercise can be done for a load set, pump set, or control set.
A lengthened biased exercise can be done for a load set or a control set.
A shortened biased exercise can be done for a load set or a pump set.
Failure points
The first point to understand is taking a set to failure with full ROM.
The next point is taking a set to failure with partial ROM.
Let’s visit the first point. There’s a few identifiers we universally see when a set is taken to true muscular failure.
- There is some decrease of speed in the concentric part of the lift for several reps.
- An attempt is made on the next rep, where on the concentric portion the movement grinds to a halt.
- Without shifting the neck or the hips or the feet or any other part of the body, you are maximally braced and continue straining in this stuck position for (at least) a solid 1 count.
- If you are unable to move the rep, that’s failure.
Note that we’ve been quite specific here as this is one of the most common mistakes, even for many experienced intermediates. There are many ways you can (unintentionally) cheat yourself out of a true set to failure.
- The set generally feels hard so you stop the set.
- The set generally feels hard so you include yanking, heaving, and other forms of cheating to extend the set.
- You fail on the eccentric portion of the rep.
- The eccentric portion of the last rep was a struggle. At the bottom of the rep, you reset, give a token attempt to push the load back up for a split second, and the rep doesn’t come up.
- You’ve pushed fairly hard on the set, as the reps start slowing down you transition to partial reps to extend the set.
None of these are truely taking a set to failure. Now do you need to take every set to failure to progress? Absolutely not, but we need to at least understand what it is. And as you get more advanced, the more important it’ll be to make each set as efficient as possible.
That’s full ROM failure, but we’re still not done. To eek the most of a set, it may need to be taken to partial ROM failure. This doesn’t apply equally for all exercises; generally it’ll make more sense for shortened biased exercises and some midrange biased exercises. This will ultimately require judgement and experience. For example, a leg extension is a prime candidate for partial ROM failure, a barbell squat not so much.
A partial ROM failure is:
- At the point of full ROM failure, continue with the eccentric portion of the lift
- Start the next rep and repeat the process of fighting to the end range of motion possible
- Continue until half or quarter range of motion (depending on the exercise)
The most common issue, as alluded to above, is skipping steps to jump into partial reps. If you’re not giving it 100% to ensure you can’t perform a full rep, switching over to partial reps will not have the same effectiveness.
Rest times
There’s not much to gain from overthinking rest periods. We’ve known forever that 2-3 minutes rest between sets is the way to go.
Muscles in your extremities, i.e. forearms and calves, need much less rest time, around 30-60 seconds.
The delts can also have an advantage with reduced rest times down to 60 seconds for pump work.
But generally most muscles will sit between the 2-3 minute mark; with the upper body trending towards 2 minutes and the compound lower body movements taking a full 3 minutes or so.