Reps and Sets are more than a numbers game

A common discussion I hear in the gym is about how many repetitions are going to be performed on a given exercise.

‘Let’s go for 10 reps’ or ‘We need to keep our reps above 20’ is what I hear on a regular basis.

I question the rationale behind these specific variables as it seems that most gym goers are just pulling numbers out of thin air.

Repetitions or ‘reps’ in its abbreviated form is the number of times you perform a complete motion of an exercise. There is a general misconception with weight training that eight reps will simply make you big, 10 reps will keep you strong and anything above 15 will tone you up.

It is not that simple. There is a science behind strength training and reading the works from experts like Tudor Bompa and Charles Poliquin will illustrate just how much detail goes into designing a resistance training programme. Most of us are on the tired programme of 8-12, 10-15 and 15-20 rep ranges and have been using that formula for years.

The truth is that the number of repetitions is just a means to an end. The most important factor to consider is time under tension or TUT. This is the real secret to achieving your goals with weight training. TUT is the amount of time the muscles are working and is dependent on our objectives. In addition, the tempo of an exercise is the number of seconds lowering the weight, holding the weight and lifting the weight.

If we wish to increase strength and power then TUT is 4-30 seconds, for sculpting and shaping our body (hypertrophy) TUT is 30-70 seconds and to improve muscular endurance TUT should be 60 to100 seconds.

With this in mind, let’s use a typical example found in the gym. A man who wants to get bigger muscles picks up a heavy pair of dumbbells and performs 8 reps of the Bicep Curl exercise with a tempo of 1 second up and 1 second down as he can’t really control the weight properly. This is a total TUT of 16 seconds and is not enough time to elicit the desired response for hypertrophy.

Toned

Another example is the woman who wants to tone up her legs and aims for 20 reps or above on the Leg Press machine, keeping the reps high in fear of bulking up. She performs them faster than you can blink and manages only 20 seconds of TUT. Again, this is only targeting strength and power and is too short for any muscle shaping benefits. You need a bare minimum of 30 seconds to achieve this goal.

These two examples should demonstrate how most gym goers underestimate the importance of time under tension and place all the emphasis on the number of reps completed.

The most effective way to weight train is to maintain the correct TUT for each exercise.

Simply determine the amount of time you need to keep your muscles under tension and then decide on the rep range, you can calculate the tempo of the exercise by dividing the TUT by the number of reps.

You also need to ensure the weight is heavy enough so that it’s challenging towards the end of the allocated number of reps and fatiguing the muscles. The load has to stimulate the neuromuscular system for adaptation to occur.

So, if you are performing a bicep curl and your main objective is hypertrophy I would aim for 10 reps making sure the tempo was 3 seconds up and 3 seconds down. Simple math tells you this is 60 seconds TUT and is perfect for achieving your aim. Make sure the weight allows you to keep to a strict speed of movement.

Sets are also critical. A set is the group of consecutive repetitions. There is an inverse relationship between sets and reps. The more reps performed, the less sets you should do and the less reps performed, the more sets you need to include.

Resting time is also important when it comes to designing a resistance training programme. Pay attention to how much time you are taking between sets because again it is paramount to your desired objectives. Most people lifting weights either rest too little or chat too much in between sets and lose the training effect.

Next time you are in the gym, rather than thinking up numbers on the spot, grab a stopwatch and refer to the guidelines below and maximise your workout. It is evident to see there is a lot more to it than simply applying three sets of ten reps to everything!