Rep question

teaspoon43

Does it matter if you do sets of 5 vs 10 vs 15 ect? If I plan on doing 50 reps does it matter how I get there? I've been doing 5 sets of 10 but there's one machine where I can only do like 7 and the numbers are odd like that until I can finally do 50

DopeItUp

Yes.

youngfart

As far as I am aware, higher reps and lower weight works muscle endurance and is the key to hypertrophy. lower reps with higher weight works pure strength and power, and builds tighter, more dense muscle.

Aside from that, as long as you hit your goal, I don't see any real reason why breaking the sets up differently should be a problem. Without more info on what exactly you're trying to do, it's hard to say for sure.

Sutnak

What are your goals? You sound like someone that needs a structured program with planned progression.

teaspoon43

I guess I forgot some important information, this kind of question isn't as general as I thought. I'm approx 100 lbs overweight and just started working out. I'm doing strength training 3x a week and cardio 3x a week to lose fat and keep muscle.

NJGamerChick

If you're doing it for strength, you want high reps in lower weights. I used to do 3 sets of 15, stepping up weights from the last to the first in whatever plate increments the machine had until I felt the muscles were adequately fatigued. It worked really well until I started hitting the higher weights.

zipa78

NJGamerChick wrote: »

If you're doing it for strength, you want high reps in lower weights.

No, you'll want heavy weights and 3-6 sets of 3-6 reps. Sets of 15 is borderline cardio.

CA_Underdog

There's not much evidence that more than 2-3 sets are necessary for optimal strength gains.

A recent meta-analysis found no strength gains in going from 2-3 to 4-6 sets, and only two of its eight studies showed a strength gain going from 1 to 2-3 sets.

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19661829

T-Nation advocates 2 sets.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/get_buffed_how_many_sets_should_i_do_per_exercise

Note: All of these assume you put in maximal or nearly-maximal effort in your final set.

brightwell44

Do one short failure each set no matter how many it is. This will give you muscle and cut the fat