What are Reps and Sets?
If you’re reading this post, you might feel confused by some of the language used in the gym. Don’t worry, you are not alone. Fitness and healthcare professionals often use these terms without ensuring you actually know what they mean.
I’m often asked some of the following questions:
- What do sets and reps mean?
- What does train till failure mean?
- What is meant by reps in reserve?
- If an exercise feels easy should I do more reps or add more weight?
- What rep range should I use?
- What is meant by hypertrophy vs strength?
- How many sets to build muscle?
- How long should I rest between sets?
- What is active rest?
- How many exercises should I do per workout?
- What are DOMS?
This post will cover all the questions above in more detail.
After reading this post you will feel more confident in being able to answer all of these questions and more. You’ll probably know more than most of the younger gym goers.
Definition of Reps and Sets
First, I will define what reps and sets mean in exercise.
What does reps mean? A rep refers to a repetition of an exercise. So, for example, you might perform 6 repetitions of an exercise before resting.
What do sets mean? A set refers to a group of repetitions (or reps) of that exercise. So, the group of 6 reps you just did before you had a rest would have been your 1st set. You may go on to do a further group of 6 reps of that exercise, meaning that you will have done 2 sets of 6 reps.
Train to Failure (Train to Fatigue)
This is probably the most important part of this post. When doing strength training you should aim to train to failure. This means you should aim to fatigue your muscles during the exercise. For example, when doing the sets of 6 reps used above, you should find the 6th rep challenging enough so that if you tried to do a 7th rep you wouldn’t be able to complete the exercise. In this case you will have trained to failure.
Reps in Reserve
One of the ways to gauge if you are close to training to failure is to record your reps in reserve. Especially when you first start to train, you’ll be unsure of how much weight you can lift safely. Most people tend to stay too safe and never challenge themselves enough, resulting in a lack of progress and not achieving your goals.
Reps in reserve are the number of repetitions you think you could have continued to do after you reach your target.
Should I Do More Reps or Lift More Weight?
This brings us nicely onto the next question of whether you should do more reps of an exercise or add more weight.
What should you do if you complete 6 reps and you felt that you had 6 reps in reserve?
You could either:
- Do 6 more reps
- Add more weight/resistance to the exercise
If getting stronger is your main goal from being in the gym, then you should aim to add more weight/resistance. This would then bring the number of reps in reserve down until you are able to train to failure.
Remember training to failure should mean you have 0 reps in reserve.
How Many Reps and Sets Should I Do?
You can manipulate the sets and reps you do during your workout along with the amount of weight or resistance used. This manipulation of set and reps will result in working towards different goals.
The main goals within strength or resistance training are to increase:
Strength
This refers to the ability to exert a maximal amount of force over a short period of time.
Hypertrophy
This refers to building muscle size, i.e. making muscles bigger.
Endurance
This refers to the muscles ability to do something over and over for an extended period of time.
What Rep Range Should I Use?
It is generally considered that for each goal, the number of reps you should be aiming for are as follows:
Strength: 1-5 reps
Hypertrophy: 8-12 reps
Endurance : 12-15+ reps
Remember, to achieve your goal, you should aim to train to failure at the target number of reps you are aiming for. You should have 0 reps in reserve.
Finishing on 5 reps with 10 reps in reserve would not result in you achieving your goal. In this case you would need to add more weight.
Hypertrophy vs Strength
As mentioned above, strength is the ability of a muscle to produce force, whilst hypertrophy refers to the size of the muscle.
A lot of people tend to naturally train in the hypertrophy range (8-12 reps) because they want to stay safe and are scared of using more weight.
When training for hypertrophy you will get some strength gains but these will be less than if you increased the weight so that failure occurred in the strength rep range. It all comes down to your workout goals.
Don’t you want to be efficient and use the time spent working out to achieve you goals sooner?
Your Workout Goals
If you’re reading this blog, it is likely that you are over the age of 60. With that in mind, I would suggest that your initial goal is strength.
Remember, as you get older you naturally lose muscle mass and strength.
This is referred to as sarcopenia.
You can prevent and even reverse the effects of sarcopenia by training specifically for the goal of muscle strength.
You want to ensure that as you get older you have the strength to:
- Playing with your grandchildren.
- Lift and carry the shopping bags into the house.
- Climb a ladder to get into the loft.
- Continue to play golf, tennis, squash, etc.
- Go on hill walking holidays.
- Do everything you need to in the garden.
- Anything else that you can currently do but might be taking for granted.
My existing clients tell me that they would rather achieve these functional tasks than to have bigger looking muscles (for aesthetic reasons). If this is the case you should aim to progressively increase the weight used to reach failure within 5 repetitions.
However, your goal might to have bigger muscles. This is absolutely fine, but remember you should be looking to train in the hypertrophy rep range (8-12)
You will have your own reasons for working out and I want to give you the knowledge to be able to create a program that will meet your individual goals.
How Many Reps and Sets to Build Muscle?
This will depend on what your goal is.
If are working out just because you know that you should do strength training to prevent muscle loss, you might only want to do the minimum needed.
However, you might have a more specific goal that you’re working towards that you want to achieve in the most efficient way.
It is generally considered that 25-45 reps per muscle group, per week, is the range you should aim for. There is no specific scientific evidence to state how this is split, but I would suggest 2-3 sessions per week.
The 2-3 Sessions per week is in keeping with the UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines. This states that all adults should aim for at least 2 sessions of muscle strengthening exercises per week.
To read my post on exercise vs physical activity, Click Here.
As indicated at the start of this post, this is aimed at helping those new to strength training. If you have been training for years and are looking for a more comprehensive plan, there are more specific weekly routines that you can incorporate.
I will not go into that here. However, if you would like a more in depth insight into this topic, I highly recommend you check out this post from the Get Back to Sport S&C blog.
How Long Should I Rest Between Sets?
When you finish your 1st set of an exercise, regardless of how many reps you performed, you should have aimed to train to failure.
If you jump straight into a second set without any rest, you will have effectively merged the two sets together to complete one longer set. In this case you are no longer in your target rep range and not achieving your goals.
It is important that you rest between sets so that you are performing multiple distinct sets rather than one longer set. It is generally recommended that the rest period between sets is 2-3 minutes.
Active Rest
3 minutes is a long time to sit and do nothing whilst you wait for your muscles to recover for the next set.
If you do that between every set, you’ll have spent more time resting in the gym than actually doing the exercises.
For that reason I introduce the term ‘active rest’. You only need to rest the muscle group that you have just taken to failure. I recommend using that time to perform a second exercise that utilises a different group of muscles.
By the time you have completed that exercise the muscles from your first exercise will have almost had time to rest sufficiently before the second set.
This will make your time in the gym far more efficient.
How Many Exercises Per Workout?
Once again this is dependent on several factors. You have to consider the goals that you want to achieve, the time you have available per workout and the number of workouts you plan to do per week.
As a starting point I suggest doing around 4-5 exercises that challenge different muscle groups and functional movements.
Click Here, for more information on the 7 Functional Movements and how to progress, regress and adapt them around pain.
If you want a more personalised plan it is worth seeing a strength and conditioning coach, physiotherapist or any other form of specialist who has an interest in strength and conditioning.
What are DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)?
It is worth noting that if you are new to strength training, you are very likely to experience DOMS. DOMS is an acronym for delayed onset muscle soreness.
You are likely to feel an ache in your muscles (those that were targeted in your workout). This generally starts between 24-48 hours following your workout and can last several days.
The newer you are to exercise, the more severe and longer the ache tends to last. The more experienced you become the less intense the DOMS becomes.
This nothing to worry about and is a good sign that you have worked the muscles sufficiently to illicit a positive response. I see several people that are new to exercise become concerned and disheartened by the DOMS response.
There are many gym goers out there that are disappointed if they don’t experience DOMS following a workout.
How to Start Strength Training?
If you are new to exercise (or are returning after a long hiatus) I recommend easing into you target rep range. Spend some time getting confident with the movement patterns and establishing a routine.
Trying to lift too much weight too early may result in you experiencing pain. This post on Load Tolerance explains this concept in more detail.
After having established your goals and motivations for starting I would then pick 4 exercises from the 7 functional movements.
In the sessions within the first week, work towards 3 sets of 15 reps. By the end of that week, try to find a weight that results in you having no reps in reserve after the 15th rep. This is your 15 rep maximum.
Once your 15 rep max is established, you can progress over the course of 12 weeks to reach your 5 rep max (no reps in reserve after your 5th rep).
(This is the case if increased muscle strength is your primary goal).
12-Week Beginner Strength Program
A 12 week program might look like this:
| Week | Number of Reps per Set |
| 1 | 15 rep max |
| 2-3 | 12 reps max |
| 4-5 | 10 rep max |
| 6-8 | 8 rep max |
| 9-12 | 5 rep max |
This is a program I use for people I see who are new to strength training. If you are already experienced in the gym, this might look different for you. Find someone who can help you create a program to meet your goals.
Please note I said someone who will help you to create a plan rather than make one for you. I tend to find your compliance and motivation will be better if you had a part to play in the planning phase.
What if I'm Injured or Unwell?
If you are currently carrying an injury or have any health complaints, then I urge you to go and seek out relevant medical attention prior to starting any strength training.
It doesn’t mean you can’t start to train. You will just need to learn to adapt the exercises around your injury in the early stages. The strength training is often part of the treatment rather than something that should be avoided.
Any Questions?
I’ve tried to be as comprehensive as possible in this post and answer as many of the commonly asked questions that I get in the clinic.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have a question that you would like answered. Either comment below with your query or send me an email chris@nevertoooldtolift.com
24 Responses
This is very helpful information as I always wonder what would be the proper number of sets vs. reps for me when I am doing strength training.
Glad you found it helpful, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.
Super helpful post! Thank you for sharing. Now I’m off to lift!
Thank you, have fun!
Great breakdown on lifting! I can’t wait to lift again!
Thank you!
My trainer does mix up my workouts every few weeks. We mostly do more reps for 2 sets.
Yes, if you’ve got a good history of training behind you its good to mix up the training and vary the reps and sets.
I’ve never been great at lifting so this will be great.
Glad it’s helped, Let me know how you get on.
Thanks for providing a simple breakdown of the sets and reps for those who are inexperienced with strength training.
No problem, thank you for taking the time to comment
I don’t lift or use weights. Since I’ve been injured, I started going to the gym and use the machines to strengthen my arms.
This is super helpful.
Thanks. If you wanted to get an idea of what exercises might help with your injury then feel free to send me an email with some more information. chris@nevertoooldtolift.com
Interesting. I always seem to go for 10-15 reps, but maybe I should be shooting for 6 with heavier weights. I should give that a try and see how it goes.
Thanks for that information!
No problem, let me know how you get on.
Great information on lifting and would be very helpful to people just starting out!
Thank you!
Very well explained. My question: if you choose a weight that is heavy enough that you can just barely finish your first set, surely you can’t come back after a few minutes of rest and complete the same number of reps again in a second set? Is the recovery really that fast, or do subsequent sets have ever fewer reps? Just the number you can barely finish maybe?
You suggest going onto another exercise while the first muscle group is resting. How long is too long to pause between sets? What about doing an entire routine, and then doing it again, where the time in between sets of the same muscle group might be half an hour?
Hi Dieter, apologies for the delay in replying to your question.
You often actually find that it is the second set where you feel the strongest and could do more repetitions. On the first set, although the muscles are fresh, the brain almost has to be reminded on how to use them in the most efficient way. Then on the 3rd set the muscles fatigue more quickly.
It might well be that you feel you have a rep or two in reserve when you finish your earlier sets, but you should certainly aim to achieve failure by the end of the 3rd set. If you do reach failure after few reps in your last set then it is not an issue as it a range of reps that you are aiming for.
I would suggest that up to half an hour is too long to get the optimal strength benefits. The benefit comes from pushing the muscle to failure in quick succession.
I hope that helps.
Chris
Hi Chris ive just started weight training at 39 i need to get my arms more toned and stronger.
Ive been doing 4 lots of 8 reps with 5kg dumbells are these too light in respect of what i want? Or shall i start then move up.in weight
Hi Shamus. I know I replied to your email directly but wanted to respond here for others benefit too. If you get to 8 reps with the 5kg dumbbells and feel like you could manage any more, then you have picked a sufficient weight. If you get to the 8th rep and feel like you could have done several more reps, then the weight is too light and you need use a heavier weight. Hope that helps, Chris
Hi chris i have just read the above and i am a beginer i hope this information will help me alot and i would like to know more and more as i progress
Hi Omondi, I’m glad you’ve found this helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions as you progress.