The human body is capable of tremendous adaptation to stress. In fact, in 1936 scientist Hans Seyle, developed his General Adaptation Syndrome, a theory specifically stating that the body will adapt to the stress applied to it up to its physiological limit in a manner that will help the organism survive.
Applied to strength training and bodybuilding, when muscles are exposed to stress in the form of tension and fatigue levels, muscles develop thicker contractile fibers and the brain improves it's ability to recruit more fibers upon demand to improve the ability of the muscle to produce force (strength). The muscles also increase their production of key enzymes which help to maintain higher levels of energy substrates within the muscle tissue.
You basically get bigger and stronger in response to progressively increased tension and fatigue in the muscles. Now if we return for a moment to the original question which is how many sets and reps for maximum strength and muscle mass, the problem is that muscles don't understand sets and reps. They simply respond to tension and fatigue levels. So how many sets and reps is dependent on how much tension you want to produce in the muscles, and how much fatigue you want to accumulate.
We know that with practice, the more tension you attempt to place on the muscle, the stronger it gets. We also know that if you expose a muscle to a certain amount of tension for a long enough time, it gets bigger. So somewhere there has to be an answer right? Well.. still not really.
The answer depends on many factors including but not limited to:
- Training age (how long you have been training in years)
- Motor control development (a history of sports and exercise will allow someone to build strength and muscle mass initially with heavier weights)
- Mechanical leverage of the muscles (Different muscles will respond to different repetition ranges depending on the exercise, for example, nobody will ever build maximum strength of their deltoids with the lateral dumbbell raise using sets of 3 reps... a more suitable exercise would be the overhead press)
- Individual biochemistry (Different hormone profiles allow some people to build muscle more quickly than others)
It is commonly held that the following repetition ranges produce the following effects:
1-3 reps:strength without size
3-5 reps:strength with some size
6-9 reps:size with some strength
9-12 reps:size without much strength
12-15 reps:size without strength
16+ reps:strength endurance
The most important thing to understand is that the concept of repetitions is a way to measure the time spent under the tension produced by the load. It is helpful in that it is easy to give someone instructions to do X number of reps. The problem is that everyone does them differently and consequently results are all across the board and we get well meaning instructions from hundreds of internet gurus that all conflict with each other. No wonder there is so much confusion?
CONFUSED YET?
Ummm... so like... they asked me to come down here and explain to you how many sets and reps are needed for maximum strength and muscle mass gains. And uh, well I'm kinda confused!!?!
Here's an example.
A 16 year old football player wants to start lifting weights in attempt to get stronger. He is 5'10" and weighs 145 lbs. This person would not increase their strength as quickly by strictly adhering to the repetition protocol listed above. If he only does sets of 3 reps, he will have a difficult time getting bigger, although he may get stronger over time and if he really stays with it, he may get as strong as possible at his weight, but the lack of increased muscle size will slow his ability to get strong.
A BIGGER MUSCLE CAN PRODUCE MORE FORCE THAN A SMALLER MUSCLE ALL THINGS EQUAL
So for this athlete to develop maximum strength and muscle mass in the shortest period of time, he would need to work on developing both strength and muscle mass at the same time. If this athlete has exceptional motor control, they may be able to incorporate both some heavier lifting in the 3-5 repetition range as well as some lighter training in the 9-12 repetition range which would help him build muscle more quickly.
If this athlete has a less than exceptional motor control, then they may need to start with training limited to the 3-5 repetition range with very light weights on basic strength exercises while using the 8-15 repetition range for accessory lifts. As the months progress, the 3-5 repetition range would be kept but heavier weights would be used. The accessory lifts might be reduced to the 6-12 rep range for subsequent months as well.
Notice I've mentioned two repetition ranges here that weren't mentioned up above. This is again because there really isn't a set answer. Every person has their own completely unique situation that needs to be addressed and then a plan set forth based on their requirements which will help them build maximum strength and muscle mass.
For argument sakes, here are two sample programs with set and rep protocols that this athlete might follow if they have (1) very good motor control and (2) fair motor control. Both programs are designed to build maximum strength and muscle mass.
(1) Good Motor Skill Athlete Program
Weeks 1-4
3 Circuits with a 1:2 work to rest ratio using between a 20-30 second work interval with the following bodyweight exercises: pushups, lunges, pull-ups, squats, inverted rows, medicine ball throws, hops, jumps.
Weeks 5-8
Squats 3-5 sets of 5 reps. The weight used should be light enough that all reps are performed with perfect technique. With the squat, often the weight cannot be increased very much at all initially due to insufficient flexibility of the hips, glutes, and hamstrings. In such cases, more than 5 sets might be prescribed to help improve the flexibility of the muscles involved.
Bench Press 3-5 sets of 5 reps.
Weighted Pushups 3 sets of 10 with 10 lb plate on back (excellent exercise for developing the anterior kinetic chain)
Pull-ups 4 sets of max-2
Dumbbell Step-ups 3x10
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts 3 sets of 8 reps
Plank 3 sets of 60 seconds
Side Plank 3 sets of 30 seconds
Weeks 9-12
Squats 3-5 sets of 5 reps.
Bench Press 3-5 sets of 5 reps.
Weighted Pushups 4 sets of 10 with 10 lb plate on back (excellent exercise for developing the anterior kinetic chain)
Pull-ups 5 sets of max-1
Dumbbell Step-ups 4x8
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts 4 sets of 8 reps
Plank 3 sets of 60 seconds (add weight on back)
Side Plank 3 sets of 45 seconds
Week 13-16
Squats 3-5 sets of 3 reps.
Bench Press 3-5 sets of 3 reps.
Weighted Pushups 4 sets of 5 with 25 lb plate on back (excellent exercise for developing the anterior kinetic chain)
Pull-ups 6 sets of max
Dumbbell Step-ups 5x6
1-Arm Dumbbell Row 3x10
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts 5 sets of 8 reps
Plank 3 sets of 75 seconds (add weight on back)
Side Plank 3 sets of 60 seconds
(2) Fair Motor Skill Athlete Program
Weeks 1-4
3 Circuits with a 1:3 work to rest ratio using between a 20-30 second work interval with the following bodyweight exercises: pushups, lunges, pull-ups, squats, inverted rows, medicine ball throws, hops, jumps.
Weeks 5-8
Squats 5 sets of 3-5 reps. The weight used should be light enough that all reps are performed with perfect technique. With the squat, often the weight cannot be increased very much at all initially due to insufficient flexibility of the hips, glutes, and hamstrings. In such cases, more than 5 sets might be prescribed to help improve the flexibility of the muscles involved. The range of reps being 3-5 here is because a fair motor skilled athlete may fatigue too much by 5 reps when trying to learn the technique, so a lower number of reps helps to manage fatigue levels.
Bench Press 5-8 sets of 5 reps. A higher number of sets is prescribed to the fair motor control athlete to give them more pratice at the technique. The weight needs to be lower to assure that all reps through all sets is done with strict technique.
Pushups 3 sets of 10 (excellent exercise for developing the anterior kinetic chain)
Pull-ups 3 sets of max-3
Dumbbell Step-ups 2x10
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts 4 sets of 6 reps (again lower reps to prevent accumulation of fatigue, and not indicative of a heavier weight which is normally the association)
Plank 3 sets of 60 seconds
Side Plank 3 sets of 20 seconds
Weeks 9-12
Squats 3-5 sets of 5 reps.
Bench Press 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps.
Pushups 3 sets of 10 with a 5 lb plate on back(excellent exercise for developing the anterior kinetic chain)
Pull-ups 4 sets of max-2
Dumbbell Step-ups 3x8
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts 5 sets of 6 reps (again, lower reps to manage fatigue, but not to handle a heavier weight than the higher motor skilled athlete and an additional set to maintain sufficient time under tension to elicit the growth response)
Plank 4 sets of 45 seconds (add weight on back)
Side Plank 3 sets of 40 seconds
Week 13-16
Squats 5-8 sets of 3 reps. (A lower motor skilled athlete will not be able to control as heavy of a weight, so lower weight is used, but more sets are employed to continue to refine the technique and elicit a higher growth response)
Bench Press 5-8 sets of 3 reps. (same rationale as above)
Weighted Pushups 4 sets of 5-10 reps with 10 lb plate on back (excellent exercise for developing the anterior kinetic chain)
Pull-ups 5 sets of max-1
Dumbbell Step-ups 4x6
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts 5 sets of 7-8 reps (increased reps with same weight as previous 4 weeks)
Plank 4 sets of 60 seconds (add weight on back)
Side Plank 3 sets of 50 seconds
With all programs, the athlete should always strive to lift the maximum weight possible for the given repetition range so long as they can do so with strict exercise technique. From week to week within a four week phase, the athlete can increase the weight if they are able to. And from one four week phase to the next four week phase, if the repetition range stays the same for a particular exercise, the athlete still tries to use the maximum weight possible. It may increase, or it may not. If the repetition range increases from one four week phase to the next four week phase, this may indicate lowering the weight if the athlete was at their limit in the previous phase. On the other hand if the athlete feels that they can still manage the same weight for the indicated increase in reps, then they should do so.
All of these if's are due to the requirement of individualization of a program.
Generally with assistance and accessory exercises, the higher motor control athlete will be able to manage higher levels of fatigue with a given weight than the lower motor control athlete, and so will often be prescribed either more reps, or the same reps but more sets.
One final word, variety, although it sounds so un-scientific, contributes significantly to long-term progress towards building maximum strength and muscle mass. If you have spent the past 3-4 months working within a specific sets and reps range with a specific goal in mind, and you find that you are not progressing as much anymore, try a different set and rep scheme for a few weeks and then return to your previous set and rep scheme and you may notice that you begin progressing again towards your goal.
I hope you have found this article useful. As you might now understand there really is no perfect answer that will satisfy every situation for how many sets and reps for maximum strength and muscle mass. If you require specific answers for your individual needs, please don't hesitate to contact me at shane@spectrumfitness.ca
I'm looking to build core strength and stumbled across your blog on the internet. Some of this stuff will be really helpful - thanks for the tips.
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