Is there a 'formula' to help determine the appropriate rep range to use from the 5-30 range for a specific exercise?

[sugarcookies]

@conner74

You implied more was better with “1 rep would not be as good as 5 or 30”

No, he didn't. 5-30 is the documented rep range that aids most in muscle hypertrophy, which is why he used those numbers.

 

[conner74]

@sugarcookies Yes he did, now you’re saying the same, 5-30 is better than 1.

“5-30 is a documented rep range that aids in most muscle hypertrophy”

Source?

 

[sugarcookies]

@conner74

Yes he did, now you’re saying the same, 5-30 is better than 1.

He wasn't implying that 100 is better than 30, and 5-30 is better than 1 for hypertrophy.

https://mennohenselmans.com/optimal-program-design/

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/hypertrophy-range-fact-fiction/

 

[indybap]

@conner74 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28834797/

 

[leena2016]

@jdez Literally just kinesthetic awareness. Your cardio is shot from 20 rep squats, ok maybe go heavier. Your joints hurt from 5 rep lateral raises, ok go lighter. Your 8 reps on shrugs means the set is over in 12 seconds due to the intrinsically short ROM, ok maybe do more reps.

 

[braynman]

@jdez

https://imgur.com/PiT6MIo

 

[jdez]

@braynman This is perfect!

 

[stencil]

@jdez Here is a good place to start: https://rpstrength.com/training-volume-landmarks-muscle-growth/

In general your goals, body, diet, sleep, injuries, age, etc determine the ranges you should train in. Averages are nice when you dont know. You adapt as you learn and progress.

 

[grace91]

@jdez I’m almost certain there’s a lot of research supporting it, and there are a lot of people advocating relatively low rep ranges, around 5-7. 5 reps seems to be the minimum in order to stimulate hypertrophy, and that rep range gives you a happy medium between training for strength and training for size. It’s also a lot more efficient, more or less the same result yet a lot fewer reps done so overall less time spent performing each set and therefore less time needed lifting, and less overall fatigue. Personally I do 5-7 reps for EVERY exercise. The only exercises I’d go a little higher on, perhaps 8-10 or 10-12, is when using a weight heavy enough that would keep me within the 5-7 rep range causes my form to break down. For example going up a weight on cable lateral raises where I’m unable to complete a rep without shrugging the weight up, or I can barely do 5 without becoming totally fatigued. The same 5-7 rule applies to ‘smaller’ muscle groups like biceps and triceps as well which people traditionally train with far more reps and less weight. Your body doesn’t recognise weight or reps, just mechanical tension. So subject it to as much mechanical tension as it can handle by using a weight that lands you in the 5-7 range.

 

[needheaven]

@jdez Personal preference is the biggest factor here

 

[questjan]

@jdez It's somewhat easy imo.

Pick a goal(strength or hypertrophy. And yes I know there is hypertrophy within strength training but in terms of protocols to follow I've broken it down to 2 metrics)

And apply said goal to compounds.

Example:

Squats, 5x5 at 85%
Deadlifts, I'd personally do one top set 1x5 at 85%( working your way up to your top set of course). Because if your doing 1 top set, not only can you go relatively heavy/max effort, you will be forced to manage fatigue better.

For things like bench and dips, I'd stick in the 6 to 8 range. The idea behind this failure range, so to be within the appropriate intensity needed to activate that growth mechanism.

If you do weight dips with 50lbs and do 3x8, but on your last 2 sets you only get 6 reps, continue this same weight the following week until all 3 sets of 8 at 50lbs is achieved.

I wouldn't worry too much about anything more then 10 reps because you get into this bell curve of higher reps vs intensity, which is the whole point of training in the first place.

Besides, if your doing reps of 20 and up, the intensity will not be there by virtue of the amount of reps performed. Which won't facilitate much of anything other then overuse in your joints.

 

[garwo123]

@jdez From my experience with myself, training partners, past clients, family members, all that, I've learned to trust the pump for what rep range you should work in. Whatever rep range gives you the craziest pump seems to be the best rep range for that given body part. For my chest and biceps it's 6-10, for my triceps and abs it's 8-12, for my shoulders and most of my back it's 10-15, for my calves it's 12-18, and so on. Others I've worked with have had it be nearly opposite from me and got better results from doing high rep bench press and low rep OHP. It's very individual

 

[heartfire]

@jdez No exercise requires a different rep range than another. I typically keep it below 10, preferably 8, to limit fatigue. But if you don’t find that enjoyable, higher reps works too

 

[overcoming1]

@jdez easy. if you feel in danger while do low reps and ur heart or cns hurts at high reps that exercies aren'T for that rep ranges and it can change person to person.

as example if you do 30 reps squat with weights ur lungs and health gonna hurt and if same with deadlift ur cns gonna crash.

if you do 5 reps of precher curl or lateral raise you can easly hurt yourself etc etc.

 

[marinam91]

@jdez Any set in the 6-30 rep range performed near failure will result in similar amounts of hypertrophy. My primary considerations when choosing a rep range for an exercise tend to be focused on time or physical constraints. Can I handle this weight in a 6-12 rep range without joint pain and with good technique? If so, I'll opt for that weight so I'm not spending 3 hours in the gym doing 300 reps across all exercises. If it's a set of a really centrally fatiguing exercise like a squat or deadlift, I will usually opt for a higher rep range near failure to limit the damage to my old busted ass knees.

 

[vloggle]

@jdez Not really formula, but some muscles are considered slow twitch muscles, whereas others are fast twitch muscles.

Calves for example are slow twitch muscles and apparently respond better to a higher rep range for hypertrophy.

Learned it from a few videos on youtube you can search up.
Obviously this doesnt mean doing the opposite wont work. Knowing this, i like to try and include both lower and higher rep ranges

 

[kimmyk401]

@jdez I don't remember the formula or the percentages or where I read it, but it goes something like this:

Take your 1rm in a particular lift, take 80% of that weight, and then do as many reps as possible to failure, and that's your optimum rep range. However I don't know if that works or not.

This is a fairly well researched video that discusses this topic after about the 4:00 minute mark. Jeff seems to be fairly scientific in his approach, but this video doesn't really come to a definite conclusion unfortunately...

 

[averagedude]

@jdez Generally, higher weight and lower reps are better for all exercises. You CAN get the same results with regards to hypertrophy from both high and low rep range, but you're MORE likely to get better results from low reps bc with higher reps you are more likely to reach failure due to cardio or CNS fatigue, not target muscle fatigue.