The Perfect Repetiton Range for Building Muscle
The amount of repetitions you do per set can make a big difference on how much muscle you gain…
There are so many opinions out there…some say high reps, while others say low reps. Some believe in feeling the “muscle pump”, while others claim that the “pump” doesn’t help at all.
Just incase you don’t know what a repetition is, its simply completing a lifting motion followed by a lowering motion, one time. So if you do 1 pushup, you’ve completed 1 repetition. Or, if you lift a pair of dumbbells over your head and then lower it, you’ve competed 1 repetition. A set refers to the amount of consecutive repetitions you perform for a given exercise.
The best way to discover the perfect repetition range for building muscle is to look at the science on how each repetition range affects the muscle, and more importantly, how it affects the processes that induce muscular hypertrophy (growth).
Don’t let all these complicated terms confuse you…its really quite simple. In general, there are 3 basic repetition ranges:
1) 4-6 repetitions of heavy weight
2) 8-12 repetitions of medium weight
3) 15+ repetitions of light weight
The 4-6 heavy weight repetition range works different muscle fibers than the 15+ light weight repetiton range. Heavy weight (4-6 reps) typically works the fast-twitch muscle fibers that are responsible for strong, explosive movements. It is understood that these muscle fibers have a very dynamic growth potential…
On the other hand, light weight (15+ reps) works…
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