Bodybuilding TIpsHow Many Reps Build Maximum Muscle Mass?Bodybuilding Tips for More Muscle Mass You hear a lot of different bodybuilding tips regarding reps such as:
Is it really that simple? Well, sort of. While there is science to back up the idea of various rep ranges such as the one's above for different goals such as building strength or gaining muscle, the confusion comes when individuals try and put these ideas into practice. The intensity, form (quality) and speed of the reps performed are going to vary from person to person. These things will also be altered by the person's bone and muscle structure. For example, a short barrel chested guy is going to have a completely different rep performance, as well as outcome of results when compared to someone who has small bones, a sunken chest and long arms. Those are just the physical aspects that alter the rep when performed by different people. It doesn't even take into consideration genetic traits such as muscle fiber makeup, length of the muscle belly, recovery ability, etc. What do you consider a rep to be? Sounds like a simple question, right? But it's not and here is why. (continued below)
Even today, you see a lot of so called experts talk about Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty Training System as being primarily a strength training system with heavy weights and low reps. There are a lot of reasons this is an inaccurate statement but let's stick to the one that is relevant about reps. First, Mentzer advocated standard sets be done in the 6-10 rep range so it's hardly a powerlifting, strength only rep range. More importantly, the way Mentzer advocated the reps be performed is much different than the way most people their reps. For most weight trainers, a typical rep on an exercise will take from 1 - 2 seconds. So 6 reps will only take 6 - 12 seconds to perform. And if you're trying to build muscle mass, that is just too short a time under tension for the muscles to ignite hypertrophy. But Mentzer advocated a rep speed of at least 6 seconds and sometimes longer. Using the minimum of 6 seconds per rep, a set of 6 - 10 reps as Mentzer proposed, would last from 36 - 60 seconds. That doesn't include the fact that Mike advocated that you hold the weight as long as possible once you can't complete any more reps. This can take another 10 seconds or more. This is far longer than reps done by most people. In fact, the other day in the gym I saw a man perform 12 reps in the seated dumbbell press. It took him a whopping 10 seconds! He would have to perform 4 sets to approach one 6 rep set the way Mentzer advocates in his bodybuilding tips. And those four sets wouldn't be nearly as effective as the one properly performed set. Arthur Jones recommended that people use (most of the time) 8 - 12 reps per set. However, he also recommended a 2 second up and 4 second down cadence. For 8 reps, that would mean that your muscles are under tension (ie, working) for a good 48 seconds. Arthur also recommended that you push or pull against the weight for another 20 seconds AFTER you've reached failure and could no longer perform another rep in good form. So that's a minimum of 68 seconds to complete an 8 rep set. How many bodybuilders do you see doing that? Now, I'm not saying you have to do each rep in 6 seconds. While I do vary my rep tempo from time to time, I am most comfortable doing "natural" reps without momentum, which take me 2 - 3 seconds. Thus, I should do higher reps to get more time under tension. But, I enjoy lower reps and I think they are an important ingredient in the muscle building recipe. So what I do is add end of set techniques like partials, multi-rep rest/pause and drop sets in order to extend the time under tension for the set. Remember, so many different variables come into play when devising a productive weight lifting routine, from the number of sets to complete each rep, to how many reps per set, how many sets, how many exercises, in what order you perform them, how hard each set is and on an on. So don't take bodybuilding tips and training advice without knowing the full picture. If someone says to perform 4 sets of 5 reps on the bench press, that means nothing, unless you know all the other variables involved. You can't take training advice in a vacuum. For a better understanding of performing more effective sets and reps check out the bodybuilding tips in 2 Weight Lifting Tips for Explosive Muscle Growth, especially the second tip on muscle fiber recruitment and number of reps. For a lot more muscle building tips on weight training, and gaining muscle mass, check out our hundreds of weigh tlifting tips and articles For the ultimate info on muscle building tips, check out the Building Mass Fast Program
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