do the ammount of sets and reps matter?

[shanemicek]

when I was in high school my junior year I started to lift weights by the end of my senior year I wasn't beastly or anything I was able to curl 45 or 50 and I was able to bench 135. well it has been a year since I was able to lift and I picked up lifting weights early September. I want to surpass what I was able to lift back than but I noticed I don't like doing 3 sets of 10 reps I do what my school would do which was 3 sets of 7 well except I do 5 sets of 7 so not too much the same. My question is will that cause problems with muscle growth like will I gain muscle slowly?

[Clint Cora]

In general, the higher the reps, the more endurance training you will get. The lower the reps, also assuming higher weights, the more muscle bulk you will be building. But I'm not so sure that a difference from 7 to 10 reps will be that much, unless it's a big difference in how much weight you can handle.

For example, for my pre-season ski training, I'm doing 25 to 30 rep sets with my legs. That's endurance training.

[lycan]

The rule of thumb is, if you can do at least 3 reps and at most 15 you are gaining muscle. If you can do more you need more resistance (heavier weights). If you can't do that many you need less resistance (lighter weights).

A self-correcting way of doing this would be to do as many sets as you can do at least 3 reps in, with a maximum number of sets (be it 5 or more). If you reach the maximum number of sets, you increase the resistance. You shouldn't stop a set until you reach your limit. If you are pretty sure you can do another rep and are just trying to "spread the reps", don't. If you rather do 7 than 10 but can do 10, use weights heavy enough for 7 to be your limit.

The basic idea is that your muscle adapts to total weight lifted, which means weight x reps. There are some caveats to this but they are not relevant to "should I do 7 or 10 reps" because the important question is, are you pushing near your limit or are you just going through the motions?

[Focus Driblet]

Originally Posted by Clint Cora

In general, the higher the reps, the more endurance training you will get. The lower the reps, also assuming higher weights, the more muscle bulk you will be building. But I'm not so sure that a difference from 7 to 10 reps will be that much, unless it's a big difference in how much weight you can handle.

For example, for my pre-season ski training, I'm doing 25 to 30 rep sets with my legs. That's endurance training.

I've read that with maybe 3-5 reps you are more likely to stimulate the nervous system than to break down muscles. Higher than that, I guess up to 12, you're breaking down the muscles which will stimulate them to grow more. So the really low reps actually doesn't necessarily cause one to bulk up that much, but rather it trains the nervous system to contract the muscles more (and I guess use more of the available muscle fibers). Or?

[JDuff]

What I heard was that 4-6 = power, 8-10 = size, 12-15 (or even 18) more endurance. This might not be entirely accurate but it did come from a gym manager! I think the power and endurance rep ranges are not so much about increasing muscle size, but being able to do different things with those muscles.

Although that's obviously a big generalisation.

[Clint Cora]

The real experts on especially low reps will be the power lifters for sure. They are a niche group. Most general strength training workouts will likely have reps in the 8 to 12 range. I like an even 10 reps except for specialized circumstances like my pre-season training for skiing. This is all seasonal for me as I'll go back to 10 reps per set even for legs near the end of the ski season.

The physiotherapists may recommend something different for rehab purposes but in general, one can't go wrong with 10 reps average per set.