My own strength training - how many reps?

balancedbrunette

Hi guys, so just looking for some advice from people on here....i've read so many different things in passing on here before and now i'm not sure exactly what to do.

At the moment I'm not following a programme as i'm back in college and going to classes two nights a week and i work my strength training in 2 making up to 3 times a week where poss. I'm just doing a mixture of exercises at home such as barbell press, bicep curls, overhead press,...a mixture of anything really i learned from the classes i took during the summer. However, i'm not sure exactly how many reps I should be doing? In classes we were under a timer rather than reps.

If i want to maintain muscle mass and decrease fat (which i'm working on with HILT and kickboxing training) would 12 reps of these exercises be enough....as in just about being able to make it to the 12th or should i be doing less/more

Any advice will be much appreciated!

psuLemon

Low rep = explosive power, high rep = endurance. 8-12 is usually a hypertrophy range. Fat loss is the same. I generally like 3 days of 8-12 rep and 1 day of high rep and 30-60 secs of reps.

Or if you don't dedicate a day, you can always do a few sets of high rep, low weight. This way you hit both slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers.

Chadomaniac

Its not how many reps you do that build/maintain muscle , its keeping the muscle under tension that forces muscle fibres to tear down and repair which ultimately result in muscle growth over time on a calorie surplus.

With that being said , make sure the weight is enough to cause tension on the targeted muscle group with perfect form . Try doing something like

example:

set 1: 12 reps
set 2 10 reps increase weight
set 3: 8 reps increase weight
set 4: 6 reps increase weight

jimmmer

Your list of exercises seems a bit upper body dominant if you don't mind me saying so.

You should aim for a balance of upper and lower work. In the upper body, you should at least do one pulling to one pushing exercise. Many people think that you should do two pulls for every push since most people have an asymmetry.

You should probably do some form of squat or deadlift variation on lower days.

Having said all that, programming is an art for more experienced lifters. Beginners often make a hash of it because of an incomplete understanding of the principles.

If you are intent on devising your own schedule, I would at least read practical programming by Rippetoe, 5/3/1 by Wendler and Anything about conjugate periodisation (probably by SImmons or Tate). After that, you'll have more arrows in your quiver.

angelzprophecy

To maintain muscle and decrease fat... so like a cut. well you would have to do strength training parameters to maintain strength and therefore maintain muscle.
strength training parameters would be like 5x5 (5 sets of 5 reps), 5x3 (my favorite strength parameter), 4x4. sets with 1-5 reps y'know with the right weight
and focus on the major compound movements like always

and decreasing fat is going to have to come from your diet for the most part, not your training

for me, personally i dont like to aim for a specific number of reps but more of a rep range. i've been doing 4x6-8 reps for like 10 months now. i like it for my aesthetics - gaining strength with only moderate size gains but the muscle will look denser from the strength gain.

balancedbrunette

Thanks for the replies everyone, very helpful. And yea most of the fat loss will come from diet, i'm actually down to desired weight but looking to loose few more inches on my midsection so perhaps decreasing fat overall by 10%, strength training to maintain the lbm I have and to look better.Guess I just need to experiment a bit and start doing proper sets with repetitions.

Your list of exercises seems a bit upper body dominant if you don't mind me saying so.

You should aim for a balance of upper and lower work. In the upper body, you should at least do one pulling to one pushing exercise. Many people think that you should do two pulls for every push since most people have an asymmetry.

You should probably do some form of squat or deadlift variation on lower days.

Having said all that, programming is an art for more experienced lifters. Beginners often make a hash of it because of an incomplete understanding of the principles.

If you are intent on devising your own schedule, I would at least read practical programming by Rippetoe, 5/3/1 by Wendler and Anything about conjugate periodisation (probably by SImmons or Tate). After that, you'll have more arrows in your quiver.

Sorry yea it is much more upper body dominant at the moment if i'm honest but I have been incorporating squats and lunges into my exercise, this is more of the bodyweight type exercises though as I havent been using my weights with these. Deadlift seems to be one of the primary ones to do so I need to do this. Also am working my way through the Starting Strength book.

balancedbrunette

Bump.

stt43

Well, it depends how heavy your weights are.
8-15 reps is typically more for muscle building. If you are just looking to maintain muscle mass while on a cut then there is no point trying to build muscle.
1-5 reps is typically more for strength, which would probably be more useful for you if you are trying to retain muscle mass and strength.
However, if your weights are too light then doing 5 reps (or even 15 reps) will be a waste of time as you won't be putting your muscle under enough tension.

balancedbrunette

working with 6kg (I know its very low compared to women squatting at 20kg but i'm just starting out and want to get my form right instead of hurting myself) at the moment and doing usually 3 sometimes 5 circuits with reps lasting 30 seconds, i usually find after about 8 though my muscles start getting sore to the point of dropping the weights so I kind of know myself where i'm at at the moment.
Thanks for the replies guys.

balancedbrunette

bumping for any more advice.

SezxyStef

I personally like my current program

SL 5x5 which allows you to increase your weight each workout and deload if you are failing at a higher weight.

2 workouts

Squats, Bench, Rows
Squats, OHP, DL

All 5x5 sets except DL which is 1x5.

You get to start with the empty bar and keep increasing each workout. (depending on gender and strength)

For example I only went up 5lb on my DL tonight when it could have been 10 but I felt more comfortable at 5lbs more.

balancedbrunette

I personally like my current program

SL 5x5 which allows you to increase your weight each workout and deload if you are failing at a higher weight.

2 workouts

Squats, Bench, Rows
Squats, OHP, DL

All 5x5 sets except DL which is 1x5.

You get to start with the empty bar and keep increasing each workout. (depending on gender and strength)

For example I only went up 5lb on my DL tonight when it could have been 10 but I felt more comfortable at 5lbs more.

I've heard a lot of positive things about Strong Lifts, seems to be quite a simple one to follow as well, may look into the group on here. thanks for replying !