To start, remember gaining muscle doesn’t mean getting big. This can mean losing weight and leaning out. Rather if you are starting out or have been lifting for years. There is always something you can learn. If you are not changing, if you are not getting stronger, pay attention and take notes. The body is a wonderful thing and learning how to feel, look, perform better, and better yourself is a good thing.
Rep Range
Now, you can find a simple answer online such as “the muscle growth range is around 12-15 reps”. Sure, this can be true, but to a point. The most important thing to remember is putting stress on the muscles. If you perform 15 reps with a certain amount of weight, it’s okay to lower that weight and do as many reps as you can past 15. Yes, it’s also okay to focus on reps, but remember not to limit yourself. If you usually weight train around 10-15 reps, change it. Do sets of 20 plus reps until your legs, arms, chest, back, or arms are burning. The only way to grow is to change and get out of your comfort zone.
You can have a week where you perform heavy 10-15 reps, but the week after, don’t just keeping doing those reps because “that is the way”. If you perform 12 heavy reps Monday on chest for example, next time you work on chest, perform higher reps, or do lower reps for strength. If you feel like 15 reps is all you can do, rest 10 seconds and do more reps. That way, you are doing more with that weight than you are used to, so you get stronger, gain strength, and are pushing yourself further.
Let me give you a good example to make it clearer. If you perform chest twice a week, Monday and Friday, those days should be different with reps. The exercises can be close to the same, but shouldn’t be the same. So, if you perform 4 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 reps Monday on every exercise, when Friday comes, perform 4 to 5 sets of 20 plus reps. This way your muscles are having different stress levels on them to change. This can be the same for strength exercise. If you perform heavy 1-5 reps on bench Monday, your Friday bench should be higher reps. This will help your muscles gain more strength, gain size, and perform better. If you lift heavy too often, this can decrease your strength performance. Remember, it’s okay to stay in that 12-15 rep range, but you should not be performing that almost every time you lift weights. The only way you can grow and change, is if you change how you exercise.
Super-sets and Drop-sets
This is one thing to really focus on. If you don’t know what these are then take notes. Super-sets are exercises where you add 2 exercises back to back to equal one set. For example, performing a bench press and then doing push ups right after. A drop – set, is performing an exercise such as shoulder press with 30 lbs., and then dropping to 20 lbs. right after to equal one set. These should be into your workout routine every week. This doesn’t mean every day or every exercise, but add them to stress your muscles more.
Let me give you some examples to help put this into your mind. If you perform dumbbell shoulder presses one day for 15 reps, the next time to help your muscles grow, you can perform 15 reps if you want again, but add lateral raises right after. The reps did remain the same for the presses, but because the super – set is added, now you are adding different stress on the muscles. When doing a drop – set, you can perform this 2 or 3 times. For example, doing presses for lbs., for 10 reps, dropping to 20 lbs., doing 15 reps, and dropping again to 15 lbs., and do whatever you can do for reps. This is can stress the muscles more so they grow and your body changes.
Recap
Performing 12 – 15 reps is okay to do, but you need to change it up for your body to change.
If you perform 12 -15 reps one day, then next time do more reps, or less reps for strength.
Add super-sets and drop-sets to stress the muscles more and push yourself further.
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