There’s a LOT of information and opinions out there regarding rep ranges. But I’m curious - say that one day you just want to go really heavy on a compound lift (such as squat, leg press, bench, etc.) Would 8 sets of 3 reps help stimulate a hypertrophic response, given that the weight is HEAVY and CHALLENGING?
Depends on what % of 1 Rm your talking about?
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IMO, a single day of heavy, low reps on compound lifts would be a nice change of pace and would stimulate muscle strength growth. But I would not recommend that any set end in failure. Maybe 2 reps in reserve. Guessing the weight would be a challenge the initial time.
What rest period would you use between sets? I would think 2 minutes would be the absolute minimum, but I would likely pick 4 to 5 minutes. That exercise would consume between 30 and 45 minutes. Especially if you hope to not need to drop weight to get in all 8 sets.
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The idea is that accumulating a threshold of reps above 80% will stimulate hypertrophy. Chad Waterbury has some old articles on this site about the exact protocol you describe. Brian Alsruhe (look him up on YouTube or as Alpha in old posts here) often did that as well, and he was a very big and impressive athlete.
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So today I was doing that protocol (8 sets of 3 reps) on leg press. A little backtrack - I program the sled leg press into my workout every week. Last week, I did 1x11, 1x10, and 1x7 at x weight. Today I wanted to go a little heavier, and thought that if I tried a weight at x + 10 pounds, then surely I’d be able to get 6 reps for 3 sets if I pushed hard enough. But I could only get 3-4 reps. I didn’t feel like going down in weight, so I just decided to do those very low reps (3-4) with a higher number of sets, that total set # being 8. I personally don’t know my 1rm on leg press, I’ve only ever maxxed out on squats.
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For all my lifts I do a rest period of 3 minutes minimum, 4 minutes when doing squats. Yeah I’m not gonna lie, I was at the gym a lot longer than I planned to be because of doing those 8 sets. It’s not like I had anything else to do, but definitely not ideal during the work week.
Oh yeah, I’m familiar with Brian Alsruhe! I’ll have to look into Waterbury’s articles. So from what you’re saying, is it reasonable to say that 8 sets of 3 reps works for hypertrophy? I typically work in the 6-12 rep range, so part of me feels like what I did today (see my reply to @bulldog9899) was a waste of time since I couldn’t even get the rep number I was aiming for.
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I think it’s certainly reasonable.
Are you considering sticking with it as a system or working up to getting your total reps in at that weight over fewer sets?
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It’s honestly pretty hard to perform resistance training and NOT get hypertrophy from it. You have to really go out of your way to not achieve it.
It’s more a question on if it’s the IDEAL what to train for hypertrophy.
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Makes sense. But we had a 132lb lifter on our powerlifting team who was a lock for a first place every meet. He was the same size the entire time he was on our team. Strong little guy.
He definitely sounds like the exception that proves the rule, which is probably why he was a 132lb powerlifter.
From my experiences I would not go to low reps to increase the volume of my muscles. I did low reps to build strength, so that I could use more weight when I went back to hypertrophy work doing 10 rep sets.
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Depends on the lift really. I’ve always made the most progress on my deadlift from 3’s. Squat 5’s. Bench 8+. But strictly hypertrophy, i’d suggest bumping them all up a little bit. But if you’re look to build size from low reps; big lifts, heavy weight, lots of sets.
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Sounds similar Scott Stevenson’s Muscle Rounds, which is a cluster set of 6 sets of 4, which definitely builds muscle
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This is similar to one of my favourite progression models, the “Hypertrophy Clusters” from Jake Tuura
The full send version is: 8 x 5 → 10 x 4 → 12 x 3, but I’ll often soften it to 6 x 5 → 8 x 4 → 10 x 3
Stay at each scheme for 3 weeks, adding load each session
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Yep, it can work well. I think, especially for people newish to lifting.
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You can grow off of 1 to 20 reps. 8 x 3 can do that, but it’s not the most efficient way.
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Yup, I plan on working up to get my total reps in at the weight, likely 3 sets!
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Got it thanks! Yeah I plan on trying to get more reps in, ideally 8-12, at this weight before going up in weight again.
Thanks!