How to know how many sets & reps to do?

Loveedove1
Loveedove1 Posts: 40 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I've always been so confused about this topic. I'm a 23 year old female. I want to lose weight, and gain muscle of course. I know exercises, but I never know what amount of sets and reps I should do. I always hear to do 3 sets of 12. But I workout with others and they do it differently. Idk. Help please!

Replies

  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    have you asked the 'others'?

    the canonical 'wisdom' when i started lifting in 2014 was that 8-12 rep sets stimulate muscle growth, while 5-ish rep sets with heavier weight train your body to deal with heavier weight. there's crossover, but that's the basic idea.

    i've always trained in the 5-rep zone. but i just started adding longer sets at low weight to my existing workout and i can certainly attest that they don't feel the same as the short heavy sets. but what i've been hearing more recently is that it's sort of irrelevant in a way. apparently now the idea is that volume is what makes muscles grow, and it doesn't much matter how you go about getting it. it's just that if you do 10 reps at 30 pounds you'll move more weight overall (300 pounds) than if you only did five reps at 40 pounds (200 pounds). so the high-rep routine might be expected to make your body build more muscle mass.

    that's the theory at least. but then again, it's not like most women ever grow huge muscles no matter which way they go about it.

    idk if that makes any sense. i've got bronchitis atm and i feel like i'm speaking in tongues half the time.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Loveedove1 wrote: »
    I've always been so confused about this topic. I'm a 23 year old female. I want to lose weight, and gain muscle of course. I know exercises, but I never know what amount of sets and reps I should do. I always hear to do 3 sets of 12. But I workout with others and they do it differently. Idk. Help please!

    Follow a programme that tells you how many sets & reps?
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Loveedove1 wrote: »
    I've always been so confused about this topic. I'm a 23 year old female. I want to lose weight, and gain muscle of course. I know exercises, but I never know what amount of sets and reps I should do. I always hear to do 3 sets of 12. But I workout with others and they do it differently. Idk. Help please!

    Follow a programme that tells you how many sets & reps?

    ^ This. I'd only add "follow a well designed program that tells you how many sets and reps". Too many people try to throw together their own workout routine without having any idea of what they should actually be doing relative to their goals. Most often it ends up being a sub-optimal, random mish-mosh of movements and they wonder six months later why they're still where they were six months ago.

    There are a ton of great, well-designed programs listed in this thread.

    It's worth emphasizing that your diet will be the primary driver of weight loss. A good strength training program will help you retain muscle (and possibly even build a bit of it) to optimize your body composition as you lose weight. Or as I've seen it said before, "A diet makes you look good in clothes. Lifting weights makes you look good naked". :)
  • MrsCoby78
    MrsCoby78 Posts: 14 Member
    I run, half marathons mostly, and I do 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise 2-3 days per week. I really focus on good form, rather than the amount of weight. It has improved my running tremendously, and when I eventually lose the layer of fat covering them, my muscles will be lean and a bit cut.
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