Sets and Reps: What type of training am I doing?

Talk around the gyms lately has brought something to my attention: how little the typical user (recreational lifter) understands about resistance training.  This is no fault of their own.  I attribute it to the apparent simplicity of picking up something heavy, putting it back down, picking it up again, then putting it down... All the BS in the muscle, fitness, and men's and women's magazines complicates things.  There you get journalists and writers (not biomechanists, nor exercise physiologists) trying to explain something they don't comprehend, using the simplest form of language, to a target audience  of readers who have an interest in but no knowledge of exercise science.

This post will be a primer on resistance training for the recreational gym member.  Everything that follows is a simplification to for the sake of brevity.  Expect a more detailed explanation in a later post.  Better yet, hire a strength and conditioning coach to work with you.


First, let's clear up a few terms:
Weightlifting is an Olympic event that involves two lifts: the clean & jerk, and the snatch.  (Both are more accurately described as power movements.  In fact, weightlifters exhibit the highest power outputs of any athletes.)  Powerlifting is also a competitive event, but involves the deadlift, squat, and bench press. (All three are more accurately described as strength movements.)  Resistance training involves deliberate repetitive movements against (and usually overcoming) some sort of opposing force, such as: barbells, dumb bells, cables, bands, chains, rocks, sandbags, medicine balls, training partners, and countless other implements.


How many reps?
Resistance training to increase lean muscle mass is called hypertrophy training.  These types of protocols generally promote local muscular endurance, therefore endurance training is synonymous with hypertrophy training and is not a separate entity.  Hypertrophy training is most effective when each set is comprised of 8-12 repetition (reps), and with  60 to 90 seconds of rest is provided between sets.

Strength training is done to improve strength.  The majority of the improvements here come from improving the co-ordination of a number of muscles (and their respective sub-units called motor units) to produce force in unison.  Strength training is best done with sets comprised of 4-6 reps for recreational exercisers, with 2-4 minutes of rest between sets.  (For experienced athletes training under a strength and conditioning coach, 2-4 reps may be ideally prescribed for large movements –still using 4-6 reps for smaller actions– but this carries far too much risk for recreational training and minimal reward.  In fact, probably no reward, since they are training for health and/or cosmetic reasons.  If they were training for a competitive goal they would employ a certified strength and conditioning specialist to coach them.)

Power is the product of speed and force.  Therefore power training is based on fast movements.  Power training can employ a broad range of repetitions per set, and a myriad of loads depending on the training outcome.  Typically these training outcomes are performance driven and apply to athletes, but not to recreational exercisers, therefore power training doesn't need to be discussed any further in this post.


How many sets?
For any given workout, the number of sets per exercise doesn't really seem to matter a whole lot.  What does matter is the number of sets for a given muscle group.  If you think about it, this makes sense.  Whether you do three sets of one exercise for the chest, or one set of each of three different exercises for the chest, your chest is going to be tired.  You've provided the desired training stimulus to the chest in both cases.  They differ slightly, in that the first is focused, and the second a bit more broad, but if the relative loads are the same, the body will respond and adapt similarly (if not identically).

The number of sets per muscle group per week is more important than the number of sets per muscle group per workout.  For novice recreational exercisers 2 sets/week for each muscle group in the upper body and 3 sets/week for lower body muscle groups is appropriate.  For advanced recreational exercises with more than 6 months of consecutive training history, 6 sets/week for each muscle group is usually optimal.  What's great about this is that it allows all sorts of variety in designing a training plan!   Provided the a minimum 48 hours is provided between working out the same muscle group, almost anything goes.   Whether...

• two sets of a total body circuit on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays;
• or a 5-day split routine with 6 sets of one exercise per muscle group per day;
• or a 5-day split with 1 set of 6 exercises per group; 
• or a 2-day alternate split where days 3 and 4 are similar to days 1 and 2 but use dumb bells for the 3 sets instead of a barbell,

 similar (not identical, none better than others) training outcomes can be expected.