It's not about the reps

Can I be honest for a moment?

I think too many people out there (some of my clients included - love you though) are leaving results on the table due to the lack of intensity in their strength training sets.

Which is gentle-talk for:

I don’t think people are training hard enough.

I’m often asked, ‘how many reps should I aim for, coach?’.

Which is a valid question. But there’s a big misconception I want to iron out:

You should not be aiming for some arbitrary number of 8, 10 or 12 reps.

I’m here to tell you that the number of reps don’t matter.

I’ll say it again, just in case you sneezed whilst reading that…

The number of reps. Don’t. Matter.

At least not in the way people seem to think. You could lift 4 reps, 7 reps, heck you could lift 19 reps. It’s not just about hitting a nice even number; it’s about how close you get to ‘technical failure’ each set that determines how effective it will be at improving your strength, building muscle and promoting positive tissue change.

All of which I’d imagine you want, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this email. (unless of course you’re here for my questionable jokes, in which case… also valid.)

So how hard should your sets be?

Generally, we’re looking to be 1-2 reps shy of failure. And in technical terms, we’d say ‘1-2 Reps in Reserve’ (RIR). In fact, you might argue that those initial reps at the beginning of the set serve very little purpose at all from a muscle- and strength-building perspective. It’s only the final few reps - you know, the ones that feel kinda disgusting and make you question your life choices - that really matter.

Now you might be thinking, how do I know when I’ve hit failure?

Great question.

First off, if you’ve never been to failure, it’s impossible to know.

So next time you’re in the gym, go there on purpose. Go to that dark and rather unpleasant place, and push to the point that you simply cannot lift the weight anymore without completely abandoning your technique.

It’s uncomfortable, sure. But it’s the best teacher.

A few common FAQs I get:

FAQ #1: “But I start to shake when I get close to failure!”

My response: Good. That’s your nervous system revving the engines.

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FAQ #2: “I don’t want to go too hard in the first set otherwise I won’t be able to repeat it for sets 2 and 3!”

My response: That logic doesn’t work here I’m afraid pal. A decline in performance over the course of your sets is not only normal, but is preferred. It indicates to me that each set was sufficiently challenging and therefore effective. If you’re holding back on intensity to preserve yourself for later, I can guarantee you’re leaving results on the table.

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FAQ #3: “I only managed to get 5 reps :(“

My response: Higher rep ranges are no more superior than lower rep ranges for building muscle. Ask yourself, did you end the set within 1 or 2 reps of failure? If so, it meant you gave everything you could for that set, so good job. Would rather 5 to failure than 12 with a bunch of reps left in the tank.

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I really hope you found this email interesting and as always, I’d be delighted to hear what questions you have, or even any other topics you feel you might be misunderstanding!

Always learning,

Michael