Weight Training Sets and Reps
The Dictionary defines Hypertrophy as "the enlargement of an organ or tissue from the increase in size of its cells". If your goal is size and muscularity, hypertrophy is the best training method. However, I recommend using a periodization schedule of different schemes.
Set and Rep Schemes
|
Goal |
Muscle Groups |
Sets |
Reps |
Rest |
Intensity |
| Endurance |
1 Exercise per Muscle Group |
4 |
10 - 12 |
15s |
60 - 70% |
| Hypertrophy |
3 Exercises per Muscle Group |
3 |
8 - 10 |
45s |
70 - 85% |
| Strength |
1 Exercise per Muscle Group |
5 |
1 - 6 |
60s |
85 - 100% |
Periodization Schedule
Months #1 and #2: Hypertrophy
Month #3: Endurance
Month #4: Hypertrophy
Month #5: Strength
Rest two weeks and Repeat
Other Considerations
After you have been weightlifting for a year with Sets & Reps - Stop! You continue to do 3 exercises per muscle group, but you don't count reps.
As an example, lets use Concentration Curls. We target 8 reps but we are using the Super Slow Technique. While we target 8 reps, we will stop only when we have exhausted the Biceps for that set. Also, we will estimate the weight that we intuitively think will allow us to perform 3 sets of 8 reps.
Seldom will we know how many reps we'd done. But, we continue to do the number of sets that we have planned. If we do more or less reps than we planned, we might not be in the Hypertrophy bracket. If that is the case, we intuitively adjust our workout so that we know we are training properly. We need to be in the Hypertrophy bracket if that is our goal for this phase of our periodization schedule. |
