Hi CT,
Just following on from explosive reps wanted to get your take on rep ranges for hypertrophy. Do you think say 8-10 sets of 3-5 reps is more productive for gaining mass than say 3-4 x 8-12 reps? I guess theres no real right way but in your experience what has produced the best results in your trainees?
[quote]Chigishev wrote:
Hi CT,
Just following on from explosive reps wanted to get your take on rep ranges for hypertrophy. Do you think say 8-10 sets of 3-5 reps is more productive for gaining mass than say 3-4 x 8-12 reps? I guess theres no real right way but in your experience what has produced the best results in your trainees? [/quote]
From my experience there is NO DOUBT that the former will give you AT LEAST as much muscle mass (more for most people) but will also give you a much denser and solid look.
[quote]Chigishev wrote:
Hi CT,
Just following on from explosive reps wanted to get your take on rep ranges for hypertrophy. Do you think say 8-10 sets of 3-5 reps is more productive for gaining mass than say 3-4 x 8-12 reps? I guess theres no real right way but in your experience what has produced the best results in your trainees? [/quote]
As CT said it probably will, I think this is down to “activation”, by that I mean when you do a set of 8-12 repetitions, only the final few repetitions will activate all of the muscle fibers, where’as a heavier weight, all of the fibers will be activated on each and every single rep.
So really 10x3 would have 30 “activated” reps, where’as 3 x 8-12 would have maybe 12.
I’m addicted to lifting heavy regardless, so i’m biased.
If your stuck on using a higher rep range weight, my advice would be to go and use a rest pause routine, so you would do
1 x 8-12 (near failure), rest 20 seconds, 3 repetitions, rest 20 seconds, 3 repetitions and so on until you reach a repetitional goal (30-50 total reps).
That’s the most effective way I’ve found to lift “lighter-moderate” and gain muscle because each of the 3 reps after the initial set are “activated”. Go look up Kelei or Borge Fagerli, both use a similar system.
Different strokes for different folkes. If CT’s awesome layer system isn’t for you, which it isn’t for everybody, that is the system I would recommend.