Hey, Tauri here, back with another educational email.

When I first started lifting weights, I didn't really know what rep ranges meant.

I just followed the most basic advice, 8-12 reps per set for hypertrophy.

Now studies show that you can see almost identical gains in muscle growth doing anywhere from 5-30 reps per set. (Volume equated)

I'll now separate the 5-30 range into 5 smaller ranges and explain what each is best for, then I'll also go over three important principles when it comes to choosing a rep range.

1) 1-3 repetitions

This is best for developing peak strength.

This where competitive powerlifters spend a lot of time in.

And for them, it makes sense.

Their entire goal is to lift as much weight as possible and you need to lift heavy weight to do it.

But for the general lifter looking to build muscle or even strength, 1-3 rep sets should be set to a minimum.

It's not really good for hypertrophy, generates tons of neurological fatigue, and has a bigger risk of injury due to it requiring heavy loads.

2) 3-6 repetitions

This is best for developing general strength since it still requires quite heavy loads but not ideal for hypertrophy.

Though it will produce hypertrophy it's not ideal since it can be hard to get adequate volume in.

If you did 3 sets of 8, to get the same amount of volume, you'd need to do 8 sets of 3.

And the latter is so much more fatiguing due to heavy loads taking a toll on the system. (Neurological fatigue)

This rep range can be implemented for movements you want to get stronger at. (For many it's the squat, bench press, and deadlift)

3) 6-15 repetitions

This is best for developing hypertrophy.

Most of your working sets should be in this rep range if your goal is muscle growth.

It also doesn't generate nearly as much neurological fatigue as the first two since it uses moderate loads in a moderate rep range.

4) 15-30 repetitions

This is also great for hypertrophy and is best for isolation movements that involve small muscles like rear delts and medial delts.

It's also good for other single joint exercises like the tricep pushdown and leg exension. (Especially for those who experience knee or elbow pain. Lighter loads can make it less painful or completely eliminate the pain)

Three rep range principles

1) With volume equated, hypertrophy is similar in the 5-30 rep range but it's important to understand what exercises should be done in what rep range.

In the 1-3 and 3-6 rep range should be only multi joint movements.

These are movements that involve multiple muscle groups, for example, squat, bench press, and deadlift.

It's not smart to do lateral raises for 3 reps. Since it would require such a heavy load, it would most likely hurt your shoulder.

All single joint exercises should be done in the moderate to high rep range. (Usually 10-30 reps)

Exercises like the shoulder press, rows, lat pulldowns, that aren't the main compound movements but still involve multiple muscles, can be done in a variety of rep ranges. (Usually 6-15 reps)

2) The target muscle has to be the limiting factor

Whatever rep range you want to train in, the target muscle has to be the limiting factor.

For example, doing a set of squats for 30 reps, it's going to be your lungs that give out before your quads do.

That's not good.

So exercises like squats that involve large muscles shouldn't be done in the high end of the rep range.

3) Hypertrophy is same only when volume is equated

Early on I mentioned that hypertrophy is same in the 5-30 rep range.

Many people will naturally ask, well why would I do more reps if I get the same gains from doing less.

Once again, I just want to mention that this holds true only when volume is equated.

It's likely that if you were to do 3 sets of 5 or 3 sets of 12, both RPE 7, you'd get more gains from the latter.

Why?

Because volume is higher in 3 sets of 12.

That's it for today, thanks for reading!