# FITNESS and NUTRITION FORUM > WORKOUT AND TRAINING >  High reps for mass?

## legend05

Currently I do 6 reps for each exercise, I have been told to increase the rep range when bulking to 10-14?

Do you find higher reps better for mass building?

----------


## helium3

> Currently I do 6 reps for each exercise, I have been told to increase the rep range when bulking to 10-14?
> 
> Do you find higher reps better for mass building?



totally depends on the muscle used.but i would include a broad spectrum of rep ranges and definitley not just 6 reps

----------


## legend05

That's what i had in mind, incorporating high/low reps to each body part,

----------


## stayinstacked

The bulk of my movements I keep in the 6-8 rep range, but I believe in occasionally throwing in higher rep schemes to keep your muscles guessing. And I think alot of this is also person dependant, some guys only do high rep arm training and their arms are huge, other guys only do 6-8 reps arm training. Some guys have naturally good sweep in their quads and they can do high leg reps 15-20/set year round and hold their size. What I've done is customized my training to work for my body.

----------


## Elexecution

Higher reps for mass building?

Not really no... lower reps would be better, you can mix some in if you want though

----------


## Homeguard

> totally depends on the muscle used.but i would include a broad spectrum of rep ranges and definitley not just 6 reps


Agreed. I alternate my routine every month. Low reps for strength and mass for a month, then up the reps for a month. etc..

Works for me  :Wink/Grin:

----------


## Elexecution

Stay at 6 reps and take 90 second rests between sets if you want size, if you want strength take longer rests

I wouldn't try high reps for size

----------


## Andorious

to b honest i don't put much thought into # of reps at all. as long as your doing quality reps, and completely exhausting ur muscles thn thts fine. Personally i think bulking or cutting has more to do with wht ur feeding ur muscles w/, thn how many reps you do. but i agree w/ some of the others tht you should switch it up, just because shocking ur muscles is a great way to encourage growth.

----------


## Motion

> Stay at 6 reps and take 90 second rests between sets if you want size, if you want strength take longer rests
> 
> I wouldn't try high reps for size



I agree.

I've gotten great results from the MAX-OT approach.

----------


## stayinstacked

> to b honest i don't put much thought into # of reps at all. as long as your doing quality reps, and completely exhausting ur muscles thn thts fine. Personally i think bulking or cutting has more to do with wht ur feeding ur muscles w/, thn how many reps you do. but i agree w/ some of the others tht you should switch it up, just because shocking ur muscles is a great way to encourage growth.



Agreed

----------


## URMaster

> to b honest i don't put much thought into # of reps at all. as long as your doing quality reps, and completely exhausting ur muscles thn thts fine. Personally i think bulking or cutting has more to do with wht ur feeding ur muscles w/, thn how many reps you do. but i agree w/ some of the others tht you should switch it up, just because shocking ur muscles is a great way to encourage growth.


I agree. People put WAY too much emphasis on how much they are lifting. The object of weight training is to shock the muscle into growing through exhaustion. I never max out anything anymore, thats for pure ego junkies. Do as many reps as it takes to exhaust the muscle. Generally 10-12 reps is good. Obviously if your doing 50 reps its time to increase the weight.

----------


## little_soldier

higer reps are for mucle endurance but not size , size and gains come from low reps ranging between 6-10 if less than 6 u will build strength but not size

----------


## Elexecution

> higer reps are for mucle endurance but not size , size and gains come from low reps ranging between 6-10 if less than 6 u will build strength but not size


I'll disagree with that, the 5x5 method is a good way to build size

----------


## SwoleCat

I do 10-12 reps for all bodyparts except legs in which I do 15-20.

Just find what works best for you.

~SC~

----------


## Rob

i also do about 10-15

the last few reps are the ones that count the most...the intensity you put behind them

----------


## theforce3169

> That's what i had in mind, incorporating high/low reps to each body part,


In your opinion, which body parts get high reps and which one's get low?

----------


## ascendant

though the most popular suggested rep range for mass building is typically between 6-10 reps, it all depends on your genentic predisposition. like others said, have to see what works for you. however, doing the same amount of reps over and over will eventually make you stale and your gains will slow or even stop without varying things up a bit.

what i do right now is start with a fairly light weight where i can do 14-16 reps. then, i add a decent amount of weight where i can get out about 6-10. if i'm doing 3 sets, then i go to an even heavier weight on my last set for about 4-6 reps.

a widely varying rep range such as this triggers both sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar hypertrophy, ensuring gains from both aspects of muscle growth.

----------


## theforce3169

The one common thing I have read around here the most is "find out what works for you." 
I guess I am inclined to agree on that at least. But, there are stickies in this forum and others that discuss bulking and cutting styles of lifting. I am bulking right now myself and am trying to follow the heavy weight low rep routine. I've been hearing this for years tho, even b4 I came here....

Higher reps, lower weight, less time= cutting

Lower reps, higher weight, more time= bulking

*personally, I don't follow the more time rule, I do some warm ups slap that weight to where I can't pull more than 7 reps.......

----------


## theforce3169

> though the most popular suggested rep range for mass building is typically between 6-10 reps, it all depends on your genentic predisposition. like others said, have to see what works for you. however, doing the same amount of reps over and over will eventually make you stale and your gains will slow or even stop without varying things up a bit.
> 
> what i do right now is start with a fairly light weight where i can do 14-16 reps. then, i add a decent amount of weight where i can get out about 6-10. if i'm doing 3 sets, then i go to an even heavier weight on my last set for about 4-6 reps.
> 
> a widely varying rep range such as this triggers both sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar hypertrophy, ensuring gains from both aspects of muscle growth.


When i was in rehab.....(oops the secret is out....LOL) I met up with a dude who was there with me who said he was about 58 years old.....the dude was friggin huge (he was all disappointed because he said he hadn't worked out in 5 years)......I was like damn if he can still look like that with 5 years off.

The guy said he worked out with people along the lines of Arnie.....(who knows how true that is, but he had the 70's orange-skin tan, and the hair implants on his head, so maybe....LOL)

ANYWAY, he told me this same thing. To start out with low weight on the first set and increase the weight with each following set.......3 to 4 sets.......
I've done this and it worked.

I agree with what someone else said on this thread too, about changing your routine around in order to keep the muscles guessing. I am going to follow the stickies for my bulking and cutting cycles to see how they work, then I'll probably go back to this style for a minute

----------


## theforce3169

> though the most popular suggested rep range for mass building is typically between 6-10 reps, it all depends on your genentic predisposition. like others said, have to see what works for you. however, doing the same amount of reps over and over will eventually make you stale and your gains will slow or even stop without varying things up a bit.
> 
> what i do right now is start with a fairly light weight where i can do 14-16 reps. then, i add a decent amount of weight where i can get out about 6-10. if i'm doing 3 sets, then i go to an even heavier weight on my last set for about 4-6 reps.
> 
> a widely varying rep range such as this triggers both sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar hypertrophy, ensuring gains from both aspects of muscle growth.


If thats you ascendant under that mask, I think I'll follow your advise........look big to me!!!!! :AaGreen22:

----------


## theforce3169

Riddle me this.....people talk about going to "muscle fatigue" or "muscle failure" I can, and have done this. BUT, when I do, my sets are cut more than in half........QUESTION.....IS THAT OK? To only do like 3 to 6 sets TOTAL on one muscle group if you are working to "muscle failure?"

----------


## Slowhand

it depends on the bodypart... sometimes i'll do a 20 rep squat... but would I ever do a 20 rep bench press??? NO!

----------


## Bigun

It depends on what your goals are, what your training experience is, the muscle group and more importantly the exercises used. I would personally not use low rep schemes (0-5) for single joint movements such as bicep curls, calf raises, shrugs and most shoulder movements (I know they multi-joint)

----------


## theforce3169

> it depends on the bodypart... sometimes i'll do a 20 rep squat... but would I ever do a 20 rep bench press??? NO!


Are you referring to my comment slowhand? If so, on the squats you say 20 reps....(how many times do you do that)?

My question is if you work any body part to muscle failure, how many sets do people consider is enough........Anybody???

----------


## spywizard

i count the amount of stress that i am trying to accomplish on the body part.. 

heavy weight = low reps static training
lighter weight = high reps 

vary these two routines every 6 weeks or so to keep the body working.. i have done the 15-20 reps like swole stated but i mostly do that as a finish, seems to be working but really makes recovery longer..

----------


## IronReload04

> The bulk of my movements I keep in the 6-8 rep range, but I believe in occasionally throwing in higher rep schemes to keep your muscles guessing. And I think alot of this is also person dependant, some guys only do high rep arm training and their arms are huge, other guys only do 6-8 reps arm training. Some guys have naturally good sweep in their quads and they can do high leg reps 15-20/set year round and hold their size. What I've done is customized my training to work for my body.


imo, the 20 rep rep range for legs definately grows legs. almost better than heavier weight. but its a good thing to use because

squats for instance might not be the safest exercise to really really push yourself with heavy weight. but you do a heavy set first, than finish up with a 20 repper, and this allows you to really annihilate yourself safely

on top of i think they are great

----------


## gr8gear

> to b honest i don't put much thought into # of reps at all. as long as your doing quality reps, and completely exhausting ur muscles thn thts fine. Personally i think bulking or cutting has more to do with wht ur feeding ur muscles w/, thn how many reps you do. but i agree w/ some of the others tht you should switch it up, just because shocking ur muscles is a great way to encourage growth.


well put, I definitely agree with Andorious......i've tried doing low reps (4-8) in the past and found that my body reacts better from 10-15 reps. When I was doing low reps, they were not quality repetitions b/c I was cheating more. When I switched to higher reps, my form and strength drastically improved, as did my muscular gains b/c I was exhausting each muscle group on a much higher magnitude. IIMO that everybody is different, and what works for some will not work for others. I believe the secret to bodybuilding is finding what training method works best for you, by trying all of the possible training routes.

----------


## theforce3169

> i count the amount of stress that i am trying to accomplish on the body part.. 
> 
> heavy weight = low reps static training
> lighter weight = high reps 
> 
> vary these two routines every 6 weeks or so to keep the body working.. i have done the 15-20 reps like swole stated but i mostly do that as a finish, seems to be working but really makes recovery longer..


Yeah, on my little routine right now (bulking) I do the low rep/High weight, then end it with a burnout set.

Like let's say on bench, I'll do 5 sets, somewhat quickly ( 1 minute - 1:30 between each). My first set is my warmup and its light, like half my whole load. I'll pump out 15- 17. My next 3 sets are at a weight that I can't push for more than 7. The 4th is done within 15 seconds and it goes back down to my warmup weight and I do burnout set.

I pretty much do this on all my muscle groups.......I am beginning to think I need to treat them differently. After reading swole's sticky on arms, I am going to try that out next time.....

RIDDLE ME THIS.....WHAT IS YOUR RECOVERY TIME after you work a certain muscle group?

THANKS FOR THE ADVISE....I'll keep the switch every 6 weeks and give it a shot.....

----------


## theforce3169

> well put, I definitely agree with Andorious......i've tried doing low reps (4-8) in the past and found that my body reacts better from 10-15 reps. When I was doing low reps, they were not quality repetitions b/c I was cheating more. When I switched to higher reps, my form and strength drastically improved, as did my muscular gains b/c I was exhausting each muscle group on a much higher magnitude. IIMO that everybody is different, and what works for some will not work for others. I believe the secret to bodybuilding is finding what training method works best for you, by trying all of the possible training routes.



I'm going on my second week of a bulking AAS cycle, so I think I am going to stick with the low rep/high weight, because that is where I started. I have to agree with you tho about the inevitability of cheating......It's almost impossible to not cheat. It's hard to keep slow, concentrated movements on high weight.
ONLY on my legs do I not have much of a problem with this.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, for me, I have seen great improvements in strength and definition in my legs from this style. When I begin my cutting cycle, I am going to go with the low weight, higher rep routine tho and I do get a much bigger burn from that style.......

----------


## x305x

don't only look at your reps for increasing hypertrophy, rest time between sets are very important as well. Don't rest more than 60s between sets and try and maintain a 10-12RM. Volume is key to hypertrophy...

----------


## Motion

> don't only look at your reps for increasing hypertrophy, rest time between sets are very important as well. Don't rest more than 60s between sets and try and maintain a 10-12RM. Volume is key to hypertrophy...


Definitely disagree, all depends what kind of routine your following. MAX-OT and HIT both recommend 2-3 minute rests. I also prefer lower reps, higher weight for mass.

----------


## biglouie250

personally i think that your diet will dictate whether you are going to put on mass or not. Your going to need to lean bulk to put the mass on. The rep range like swole said is whatever works best for you. Your diet is the most important factor here. if your calorie deficient or arent getting enough protein you cant expect to put mass on. i have modified my workout over time and ive found that a rep range of 8-12 is optimal for me. On some exercises i do go as low as 4 reps but that is exercise specific to get that burn. For instance i find that with incline DB's i need my last set to be higher in weight and get 4-5 assisted reps out to really shock my chest.

----------


## Prada

> I do 10-12 reps for all bodyparts except legs in which I do 15-20.
> 
> *Just find what works best for you.*
> 
> ~SC~



Totally agree, I find 8-12 puts on quality muscle size. For legs I prefer 12-15. Nonetheless he is totally right you have to explore and find out what works out best for you.

----------


## Venum

i try to avoid getting numbers stuck in my head and just execute the movement with the best form that I can for as many reps as I can, anywhere from 5-10 reps

----------


## mario_ps2

In my humble opinion, I believe the heavier the weight is - the harder it gets to have perfect form!!!!

If you lose the form, not only do you lose the benefit of the exercise but risk yourself for an injury.

----------


## Kristofer68ss

> I'll disagree with that, the 5x5 method is a good way to build size


i agree with the 5 reps scheme. At least for people with 2-3 years experience.

I have been using Starting Strength since May and am very happy with results. This program utilizes a 5-rep scheme. 

I plan i using this program for awhile. Until I am happy with all my poundage for my core lifts. My goals are at least 300 or more on all core lifts.

----------


## suprman09

10-8-8-6

----------


## Smak

My scheme right now is 15-15-12-12-25

Strange, but hey it's ****ing gravy.

----------


## Jucinator 2

I think the most important thing for B.B. purposes is that you squeeze the muscle you are traing . You need to make the muscle fail with good clean reps that train the muscle you are trying to train, when you go to heavy , you lose the ability to control and squeez the muscle , I am a firm believer that you should mix it up. Again for B.B. purposes I believe 8-12 rep range is the best but I dont think its the main focus. Just remember always push yourself , weather its shorter rest periods between sets or more weight , or drop sets or negitives, You've got to make the muscle grow because the body would rather stay the same. So bust ass.

----------

