How many reps and sets to gain muscle mass or strength?
The ideal number of reps ranges between 1-20 reps, while the ideal number of sets ranges between 1-6 sets per exercise. In this article we introduce an objective way to understand how many reps and sets you should do, depending on your goal: hypertrophy, strength, power or muscular endurance.
Content menu:
- Reps and sets to build muscle mass
- Reps and sets for strength and power
- Reps and sets for muscular endurance
- FAQ: more weight or more reps?
- FAQ: more reps or more sets?
- Important: repetition quality
Before diving straight into the numbers, we have to acknowledge that other parameters should be taken into account when looking at the ideal rep and set range per exercise. Variables we cover in this article: load (duh), rep tempo (slow vs fast reps), rep intent, rep quality.
Sets vs Reps
A rep (short for: repetition) is one single complete movement. One push-up is one rep. A set is a collection of reps without rest in between. When you perform multiple sets of one exercise, you add rest (recovery) between sets.
The ideal number of reps and sets per exercise depends on your goal. Jump straight to:
How many reps and sets to gain muscle mass (hypertrophy)
The ideal number of reps and sets for building muscle size is explained by the size principle. This principle states that as more force is needed, more muscle fibers are recruited, from small to large. Large motor units need to be activated to induce muscle hypertrophy.
You can activate large muscle motor units in two ways:
- High load – low repetitions. The high load causes immediate recruitment of large muscle motor units.
- Low load – high repetitions. Due to fatigue after many repetitions, large muscle motor units kick-in at the end of the set.
Let’s get a bit more precise.
How many reps per set to build muscle
Literature shows that the number of reps per set for muscle growth is not that important, as long as you keep adding reps until you’re close to failure. For high loads, this already occurs after a few repetitions. For low loads, you need a high number of repetitions.
“Whether you go heavy or light in regards to load, the only thing that matters is the number of sets to near failure.”
Travis Mash
Based on our short summary of the size principle and the recruitment of large motor units, this should come as no surprise.
Coach Travis Mash recommends 5 repetitions per set for gaining muscle mass, when using high loads (80-85% 1RM). He suggests beginners should consider starting with low loads (30-60% 1RM).
“When training heavy, the latest literature suggests that heavy sets of five repetitions is the rep scheme yielding maximum hypertrophy and strength.”
Travis Mash
Either way, it’s important to get close to muscle failure, without actually reaching failure. By not reaching failure, you limit fatigue and the risk of injury. This enables you to do more sets and more workouts per week.
An easy way to train close to failure is by looking at your bar speed. As fatigue increases, movement speed decreases. The velocity at which failure occurs is pretty fixed per exercise.
For instance, literature shows that the minimum velocity threshold required to complete a full squat is 0.32 m/s. Getting close to this squat velocity means getting close to failure, assuming you’re lifting with maximal intent.
You can measure velocity with a velocity measuring device. This allows you to individualize the number of repetitions per set for increasing muscle size. For instance by implementing a velocity stop of 0.4 m/s for your squat:
Boost muscle hypertrophy by adding repetitions to your set until bar velocity drops below 0.4 m/s, regardless of the load.
This set close to failure ensures large muscle motor unit recruitment, necessary for muscle growth, without accumulating too much fatigue and risking injury.
When using high loads (80-85% 1RM), you will automatically do less reps compared to when using low loads (30-60% 1RM).
Learn more about the benefits of velocity based training or download our free Hypertrophy VBT program:
How many sets per exercise to gain muscle mass
Literature shows that a range of 12-20 sets per week per muscle group is best for increasing hypertrophy in trained men.
However, the way sets per muscle group are counted can be confusing. Imagine you do one bench press set and one triceps dips set. While you might count only one triceps set, many scientific studies will count two, because the triceps are active during the bench press as well.
In other words, you’re probably fine doing less sets than advice in literature, if you counted only one triceps set.
That’s why coach Travis Mash recommends 5-10 sets to near failure, per muscle group, to build muscle mass. While beginners can get away with only 1 set to near failure, more advanced athletes require more sets to induce hypertrophy.
“Research has shown that hypertrophy is maximized at around 5 to 10 total sets to near failure.”
Travis Mash
With 5-10 sets per muscle group and e.g. 3 muscle groups per workout, you end up with roughly 20 sets per workout. With 5 reps per set, this means doing about 100 reps per workout to gain muscle mass.
How many reps and sets for strength and power
Hypertrophy is not the same as improving muscular power and strength. That’s why the recommended reps and sets for strength/power are different from the hypertrophy rep ranges. Let’s dive into it.
How many reps for strength and power
Traditionally, a rep range of 1-5 reps per set with a heavy load (>80% 1RM) is used to increase strength.
Here are two things you need to know about rep ranges for strength, according to the latest scientific literature:
1. Perform all reps with maximal intent
Recent literature shows the importance of doing reps with a maximal intended velocity, lifting the load as fast as possible. In this study, moving with maximal intent improved strength (1RM) by +18.2%, while moving without maximal intent improved strength “only” +9.7%.
There are several scientific papers showing that the instant velocity feedback from velocity devices can enhance lifting intent by up to 10%.
Australian National Rugby League Team using GymAware’s velocity feedback to boost lifting intent.
2. Doing less reps can be equally effective
When lifting every rep with maximal intent, velocity will decrease during a set due to fatigue. This velocity loss turns out to be an important metric to determine the number of reps you should perform to optimize strength gains.
Stopping your set before velocity loss occurs (VL0) leads to suboptimal strength adaptations. You’re simply not doing enough.
However, this study shows that the strength gains between a velocity loss of 20% (first rep vs last rep) and a velocity loss of 40% are similar. Even though the VL20 group did 40% less repetitions, their strength gains were similar to the VL40 group.
This systematic review, meta-analysis concludes:
“Prescribing low to moderate VL thresholds (i.e., 10 and 20%) during resistance training seems to be more time efficient and a generally advantageous strategy compared with higher VL thresholds (i.e., > 40%) for optimizing muscle strength.”
By combining these two recent insights, another study concludes that:
“Performing repetitions at maximal intended velocity and ending each set well ahead of muscle failure, seems to provide better conditions to increase strength”. – Scientific source
Start boosting your intent and measuring your velocity loss with the gold standard Velocity Based Training device: GymAware RS or FLEX.
How many sets for strength
If your goal is to gain strength, 3-5 sets per exercise are considered optimal.
This set range is commonly accepted, but probably more based on anecdotal experience than scientific evidence.
Similar to the ideal rep range, we can add two recent scientific insights when it comes to determining the ideal set range for strength:
- Perform all sets with maximal intent
- Use velocity loss to stop a set and exercise
Instead of using an arbitrary number of sets for your strength training, use a moderate velocity loss threshold (e.g. 20%). Whenever your rep velocity drops 20% below the velocity of the very first rep, stop the set. Whenever the first rep of a set drops 20% below the very first rep, stop the exercise:
This scientific review shows that low to moderate VL thresholds (i.e., 10 and 20%) are more time efficient and equally effective if strength is your goal.
Learn more about the benefits of velocity based training or download our free Power & Strength VBT program:
Sets and reps for muscular endurance
Muscular endurance is the ability of your muscles to generate force repeatedly. The best way to find out whether you should improve it, is by doing a muscular endurance test.
Improving muscular endurance is best done with 3 sets of 15-20 reps per exercise. The high rep volume requires lighter loads. There is no need to reach failure. Depending on your endurance goal, you should determine a velocity loss threshold (e.g. 10% between first and last repetition).
Keep in mind that muscular endurance training is not per se the best resistance training for endurance athletes like runners or cyclists.
More weight or more reps?
Should you add more weight or more reps to your workout? When you implement progressive overload in your training, you can choose to add weight or reps. The best option depends on your goal:
If your goal is to increase muscle size: add more weight instead of more reps whenever your current weight is below 30% 1RM. Using a too low weight requires you to do many reps. This could lead to (metabolic) fatigue, which makes it harder to reach reps close to failure.
Advanced lifters who want to build muscle mass are also probably better off adding weight instead of reps unless their current weight is already above 85% 1RM.
In other words, start adding reps instead of weight, when your weight is above 85% 1RM. Here’s the ideal number of reps to increase muscle size.
Once you have chosen the weight, always keep adding reps to your set until you are close to failure.
If your goal is to increase strength and power: add more weight instead of more reps whenever your current weight is below 80% 1RM. Here’s why adding more reps is not always increasing your strength gains.
More reps or more sets?
Should you add more reps or more sets to your workout? Both options are a way to implement progressive overload, but the best option depends on your goal:
When you try to gain muscle mass, add more reps instead of sets to your workout. You need to add reps to your set until your set is close to failure. Here’s why. Only when all your sets are close to failure, you start adding more sets.
When you try to increase strength or power, add more sets instead of reps to your workout. Assuming you already have a sufficient amount of reps in your strength set, there is no need to add more reps. This would lead to unnecessary fatigue.
Instead of adding more reps, add more sets with plenty of recovery in between sets.
The importance of rep quality
We’ve talked about rep and set quantity, but what about rep quality? Using the ideal rep tempo, rep range and number of sets is useless if you lack rep quality.
Maintain good form, even when you start to fatigue. Use objective feedback to confirm your technique is consistent throughout the entire set.
GymAware is here to help by providing you live feedback on your:
- Bar path
- Dip-, height-, lift- and vertical distance (m)
- Rep duration (total vs concentric vs eccentric)
- Video mode
Learn more about implementing GymAware’s Velocity Based Training metrics in training, using our free white paper:
Loek Vossen
Human Movement Scientist | Marketing and Education
