Heavy lifting: sets v. reps?

alikat42

Ok, so I understand the basic premise of heavy lifting: more weight, fewer reps. The general consensus I've seen on here is 8 reps.

But, how many sets should I be aiming for?

zafferFL

There's so many different training regimes, some are 5, some 8-10, some are reverse pyramids, e.g. first working set is heaviest you can make 4-6 reps, lower weight for second set and do 5-7 and third set around 8 reps.

The general consensus is that if you go over 8-10 and you can still lift the weight with proper form, you are not lifting heavy enough.

BigL0s

The number of sets can vary depending on the program you're using, or the exercise, etc. and whether you're new to lifting or experienced. I normally see 3-4 as a recommended number of sets for one exercise. But again, it depends.

tuffytuffy1

My trainer has me do 3 sets in a 30 minute session. So we will move from bench press to pushups to lat pulldowns to something else, then repeat the sequence for 3 total sets. But like I said, I only have 30 minute sessions. In between each set I am usually doing something to burn calories like frogging across the gym or lunges with weights, that sort of thing.