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The age-old debate about the ideal rep scheme for stimulating
muscle hypertrophy has yet to be resolved. Whereas some bodybuilders
believe that you need higher reps to elicit the greatest gains,
others have found that a somewhat smaller number works equally
well.
The stimulus for muscle growth remains something of an enigma
to scientists and laymen alike. Granted, some possibilities
seem more likely than others, based on observations and available
scientific data, but the exact cellular mechanism by which
muscular force is converted into the alterations in contractile
protein synthesis that lead to fiber growth is unknown. So
it should come as no surprise that there’s no agreement
about the optimum rep range.
While I can’t settle this debate, I can give you a better
understanding of the repetition itself; in the hope that you
can find the range that works best for you.
A Question of Load
How many reps should you perform? When you ask that question,
you re really asking (or should be asking), How heavy should
the weight be? In other words, assuming that you’re
training to muscular failure, the number of reps will dictate
the maximum load per set, and vice versa.
If the answer to the question is a 10-repetition-maximum load,
or 10RM, then you select a weight that enables you to perform
10 reps of the exercise in question before reaching muscular
failure on the 11th attempt. If you’re a neophyte lifter,
you may be responding to this answer with another question:
What is muscular failure?
Understanding Muscular Failure
Muscular failure is by definition a failure to generate the
required force output. If you’re performing 100-pound
barbell curls, for instance, muscular failure will occur when,
despite full motor unit recruitment and optimal firing rates,
the force-generating capacity of your biceps falls below what’s
required to curl 100 pounds.
The load is your index of muscular failure; however, a load
that will get you to failure more efficiently is not the most
effective for building muscle.
If 100 pounds represents 90 percent of your 1RM on the barbell
curl, then lifting this load until you hit muscular failure
will only fatigue the muscle fibers very slightly. It’s
such a high percentage of your maximum that you won’t
get out many more reps beyond the first 90 percent-of-maximum
effort. In other words, the force-generation capacity doesn’t
have to drop very far for the output to fall below what you
need to continue the set. The evidence suggests, however,
that performing more reps may fatigue the muscle fibers more.
Obviously, this calls for a lighter load.
For instance, if you use 50 percent of your 1RM on barbell
curls (50 pounds in the above example) and curl until you
hit failure, you experience a greater level of fatigue, as
the muscle fibers will be fatigued enough that the force output
drops by a full 50 percent, a considerable amount.
This explains, in part, why lifting lighter loads to muscular
failure produces a greater degree of discomfort and exhaustion,
particularly in the case of compound movements such as the
squat or deadlift. Because the working muscles are lifting
a load that represents something far less than the maximum
for this movement, the muscles accumulate a large quantity
of metabolic by-products, such as lactic acid, before the
number of contractile protein interactions falls below what
it will take to continue the set. Since some of these byproducts
are associated with the well-known “burning” sensation,
the sensation is more pronounced when you lift lighter loads
to failure. Extending the set, that is, reducing muscular
force further by performing drop sets or forced reps, fatigues
the muscle fibers even more, adding to the discomfort.
In Conclusion
As discussed above, the debate over the ideal rep scheme for
stimulating muscular growth is by no means settled. It’s
safe to say, however, that in all likelihood there’s
no one perfect number of repetitions; that is, no one perfect
load.
Studies have shown that human muscle has a range of fiber
types, and studies involving nuclear magnetic resonance imaging
have suggested that there are metabolic differences among
the different fibers in human muscle and among the muscles
at distinct training levels.
For instance, as lactate accumulates during heavy resistance
training, the pH may drop at a greater rate in type II fibers
compared with type I. It’s also important to note that
there are differences in fatigue recovery times both between
individuals and between muscle groups. In short, a one-size-stimulates-all
repetition scheme is perhaps more fantasy than reality Nevertheless,
you should understand what the physiological objective of
training should be in order to find what works best for you.
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Strength and Size with Speed Reps
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