. Even some people who, when training others, generally stick to certain
rep ranges, apply something else in their personal training. Experience has
shown them that, at least for some exercises, they have very specific rep
needs if they are to gain in their own training. For example, Dr. Ken Leistner
in issue stated this:
What I have found in both my own case and those of so many others, despite
what is written in the books, is that the effective number of reps will vary from
exercise to exercise, and to body part within any individual trainee. Forget the
comparison of individuals to each other. Some do really well if their rep range is
– for direct biceps or triceps work, or so in the bench, and for the low
back; or vice versa.
In my own case, all of my pressing movements make no progress whatsoever if I
work over – reps. Except for the skill work necessary for contest preparation,
I never recommend reps that low, but for me, it is a necessity in the overhead
press, push press, and bench press.. rough the experience of sensibly trying different reps for different exer-
cises you may find for a given exercise the rep number you can increase your
poundages most easily on. is will not be the same for all exercises you do.
While some people gain well on reps over , others find reps of or fewer to
be more productive. Some people try low reps and cannot gain much from
them, but gain well on reps over . In some exercises, perhaps especially the
squat and deadlift, you may gain well from high and low reps, done in differ-
ent cycles.The “ideal” rep count
. With experience you may get to know—for a given exercise—the rep num-
ber over which it is almost impossible for you to go even if you stick with the
same weight for a few weeks. But at that ceiling you can probably get it again
next time with a pound or two more on the bar, and then again the next week
with another small increment on the bar, and again the next week. When
you get to know what that rep number is for a given exercise, do not try to
exceed it. Keep to it, or better still choose a rep target under it, and then
focus on adding poundage.. Some people prefer a fixed rep number for a given exercise, while others
prefer the double-progression method. In practice, and over the long term,
most people use a mixture of both approaches.