I have just finest my first year of bodybuilding.I put on 24 pounds and have good sizes.There is two things I need help with,the first is what will happen in the year to come,as far as growth?(i’m a lean body type very ripped). The second is what is the best rep range? I ONLY do mass exercises at 8-6-4-2 reps doing 4 sets.I do four exercises per body part.I make 20 pound jumps between sets,finesing only able to get 2 reps.I read a lot about bodybuilding,one thing will tell you for mass to do 2-4 reps and another will say 4-6,and something else will say 8-10.whats the deal? I know this is a time thing but I’m in it for the long haul.I just want to get the most out of my work outs.It’s funny I put workout to me I don’t go to workout now I go to WAR.(When I started I had a hard time bench pressing 100 pounds, 3 weeks ago I did a max bench of 270 pounds and I think I could have got a second rep.)Thanks for help.
8-12 reps is ideal for hypertrophy purposes. Workouts with a lower rep ranges are ideal when on a cutting cycle for numerous reasons, but the foundation of hypertrophy is found in the 8-12 range.
Thats great results. I personally think you should stick to what works! 24lbs in one year is going to be hard to beat no matter what rep range you would have used. And yes I agree 8-12 reps is traditionally used for hypertrophy, but there are individuals (including Poliquin) who have said they only started growing when they limited their sets to 3 reps. It widely depends on genetics. So you have to experiment a bit. All the studies and findings you read about should just be used as guidelines for your training.
Also I believe that time under tension is much more important than number of reps per set.
bump