What Rep Range is Best - Does it Matter?

LolBroScience

Repost from Bret Contreras which populated on his FB page earlier today. Some may find beneficial or useful ...

Effects of different volume-equated resistance training loading strategies on muscular adaptations in well-trained men.

PubMed:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24714538

Further explanation:

http://www.lookgreatnaked.com/blog/bodybuilding-vs-powerlifting-type-training-which-builds-more-strength-and-muscle/

ndj1979

Did not read the study, but I read the article that further explained and found it interesting…

I noticed that the hypertrophy group just did three day spit…curious what the results would of been if they had them do a upper/lower type routine four days a week …?

eric_sg61

Did not read the study, but I read the article that further explained and found it interesting…

I noticed that the hypertrophy group just did three day spit…curious what the results would of been if they had them do a upper/lower type routine four days a week …?

I was curious about this also. It seems like the HT group did a push/pull/legs split with 1x week frequency and the ST group did full body 3X a week. I would have liked to have seen the frequency matched because the study did match volume and intensity. Frequency has been a big topic that last few years there was a study out of Norway that showed higher frequency lead to more hypertrophy and strength. You can read about the study here, but according to the author those Norwegians are trying to keep this a secret. Read the heading titled The Frequency Project
http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/reignite-progress-with-new-science/

LiftAllThePizzas

Ok I am genuinely curious, is there a difference between the way bodybuilders look and powerlifters look, or is that just confirmation bias on my part? Or is it that bodybuilders are just leaner but don't have bigger muscles?

ndj1979

Did not read the study, but I read the article that further explained and found it interesting…

I noticed that the hypertrophy group just did three day spit…curious what the results would of been if they had them do a upper/lower type routine four days a week …?

I was curious about this also. It seems like the HT group did a push/pull/legs split with 1x week frequency and the ST group did full body 3X a week. I would have liked to have seen the frequency matched because the study did match volume and intensity. Frequency has been a big topic that last few years there was a study out of Norway that showed higher frequency lead to more hypertrophy and strength. You can read about the study here, but according to the author those Norwegians are trying to keep this a secret. Read the heading titled The Frequency Project
http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/reignite-progress-with-new-science/

I will take a look …

I would of assumed that with hitting each body part twice a week with upper/lower that they would ave had improved results..

I recently changed up my upper/lower routine from a strength based one to a hypertrophy based one…except for Fridays bc I still like to "try" lol to go bigger on deadlifts….and doing 8 -10 reps of reads sounds like overkill to me …lol just saying..

ndj1979

Ok I am genuinely curious, is there a difference between the way bodybuilders look and powerlifters look, or is that just confirmation bias on my part? Or is it that bodybuilders are just leaner but don't have bigger muscles?

this is just based on totally anecdotal evidence but bodybuilders do seem to be leaner, while power lifters keep a little extra fat on them ….but I could be totally wrong on that one..that is just my observation ….so anyone feel free to correct me.

FloyMcCaudie

Does for me. For cutting I do 12-15 for bulkin 8-12

LiftAllThePizzas

I'm glad the topic of injury was mentioned, because my first thought at doing 3RMs every workout was "nopenopenope." Not only injury but even two workouts like that would have had me overtraining. (But hey I'm old so the overtraining thing may just be me.)

The thing I didn't see addressed was how much they ate during this time. I think everyone knows that you can make strength gains even on a deficit, while muscle mass gains specifically require a surplus.

ndj1979

I'm glad the topic of injury was mentioned, because my first thought at doing 3RMs every workout was "nopenopenope." Not only injury but even two workouts like that would have had me overtraining. (But hey I'm old so the overtraining thing may just be me.)

The thing I didn't see addressed was how much they ate during this time. I think everyone knows that you can make strength gains even on a deficit, while muscle mass gains specifically require a surplus.

good point ..I believe the article said that they measured muscle before and after and it increased ….so I assume they must have been in a surplus…???

LolBroScience

Does for me. For cutting I do 12-15 for bulkin 8-12

explain

ndj1979

Does for me. For cutting I do 12-15 for bulkin 8-12

interesting…I have never change my routine based on cut/bulk cycle….

LolBroScience

Did not read the study, but I read the article that further explained and found it interesting…

I noticed that the hypertrophy group just did three day spit…curious what the results would of been if they had them do a upper/lower type routine four days a week …?

I was curious about this also. It seems like the HT group did a push/pull/legs split with 1x week frequency and the ST group did full body 3X a week. I would have liked to have seen the frequency matched because the study did match volume and intensity. Frequency has been a big topic that last few years there was a study out of Norway that showed higher frequency lead to more hypertrophy and strength. You can read about the study here, but according to the author those Norwegians are trying to keep this a secret. Read the heading titled The Frequency Project
http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/reignite-progress-with-new-science/

I also agree with higher frequency leading to better strength & hypertrophy. What i gathered from it was that both groups can lead to hypertrophy provided that total volume/load is equal. However, when it comes to training for purely hypertrophy... HT group can be more efficient at managing time, less injury, less cns strain.

This is my assumption, but... if the HT group did in fact on hit the parts 1x per week there is probably room for more growth. I think he also mentioned this was a study back from 2008 which just got published too. Interested to see any of the updated information that he will release.

Cortelli

Interesting study / article.

What i gathered from it was that both groups can lead to hypertrophy provided that total volume/load is equal. However, when it comes to training for purely hypertrophy... HT group can be more efficient at managing time, less injury, less cns strain.

That was my main takeaway as well.

LolBroScience

Ok I am genuinely curious, is there a difference between the way bodybuilders look and powerlifters look, or is that just confirmation bias on my part? Or is it that bodybuilders are just leaner but don't have bigger muscles?

I think the answer is that it depends... largely because of the particular goals in mind. If your goal is purely aesthetic, you are probably more inclined to be more strict with you approach to dieting, tracking intake etc.

If your focus is on power, strength, etc; diet may take a bit of a back seat so I suppose it could reflect in ones physique.

And then of course you will have individuals who are more of a hybrid approach who care about strength and performance first with aesthetics being a byproduct. There are many bodybuilders who compete in powerlifiting in their off seasons as well.

ie:

Ben Seath
Steve Kleva

GradatimFerociter

Jason Blaha has a video(s) on this which I watched earlier (JuggernautFitnessTV on youtube, if you care). An interesting study, but not a huge deal.

Cherimoose

PubMed:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24714538

No surprise that 3 RM routine better preps someone for a 1 RM than a 10 RM routine.

iPlatano

Im so glad that I started my power/ hypertrophy program not too long ago! I want to increase my strength of course but I also want to make sure I train the muscle to the point where it burns to maximize muscle gains. Also dont have too much time to do those 7 sets of 3 reps with 3 mins of rest in between most of the time! Good post!

SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish

Its a very interesting study, but I think it has major holes that make it hard to find a useful conclusion from. Among them are the fact that few people strength train 7 sets of 3 reps over and over 3x/week, the fact that the weight was controlled and balanced so as to keep the same weight total in each group ("The volume load (sets x reps x load) was equated so each group essentially lifted about the same amount of total weight per week. "), and only one exercise per muscle group per day in each group. I dont find that very representative of either bodybuilder type workouts or strength athletes really, but his own hybrid.

From what I've seen, most strength athletes seem to employ variation and less sets, do some moderate sets as well and and may not even train each muscle group specifically 3x/wk. Whereas most bodybuilders I have seen info on do more than one exercise per muscle group in a workout 3x/wk and commonly they split workouts. So it is an interesting study, but I don't think its very truely representative of the types of training and it shows to me that increased resistance and less reps will lead to greater gains in strength vs more reps, and a high volume of high weight sets at 3x/wk over time may cause injury. Both of these are pretty much "known" previously.

LiftAllThePizzas

PubMed:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24714538

No surprise that 3 RM routine better preps someone for a 1 RM than a 10 RM routine.

Yeah, I was wondering what would be the results if they also tested them for 10RMs at the end too. Would the HT group have outperformed the ST group on that?

Also, because of my injury I am staying within the 8-20 rep range and not going past that anymore. I am now duplicating my prior PRs and will be attempting to progress beyond them while using only these higher rep ranges.

LolBroScience

PubMed:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24714538

No surprise that 3 RM routine better preps someone for a 1 RM than a 10 RM routine.

No surprise to those of us who are more experienced sure... However, not everyone here is.

Also the focus of the study was to determine which would be superior for hypertrophy.

Wonderob

Good article thanks