If you've ever wondered how to build muscle in the gym you have probably also asked yourself how many reps you need to do to get best muscle gain results. Today we are going to answer that question for you.
First of all don't worry. If you're a little lost on your training and what you should or shouldn't be doing, one thing is for certain. You are not alone. In fact, most people are in the exact same situation, they just don't do anything about it and spend years going through the motions without seeing any results. Today, you separate yourself from that crowd.
The reason most men get a bit lost with fitness is they're training for two different goals simultaneously. Whereas the majority of girls just want to shed fat, guys want to build while losing unwanted fat.
The human body only changes when it is forced into it. If you are not doing that, not progressing in your workouts, your body won't change. Why? Because it doesn't have to! How many people do you see in your gym who have been doing the exact same thing for months and don't seem to be getting any results? Quite a few, I imagine, because this is a common issue which most people never address properly. Your body adapts to your workout. Even though you're working hard, your body knows it can handle it. Why? Because you probably did the same thing last week and it can remember. To get change you need to force change.
There are two main ranges of reps which will help you to determine what type of results you will get:
* The hypertrophy zone.
* Endurance.
The fact that you are reading this article, given it's title, tells us that you are here because you want to learn how to gain muscle and therefore you should be swinging for the hypertrophy zone. You should be aiming the majority of your sets at the 8-12 range.
If you were to continue pushing you reps, say, into the 15-20 zone, you would find yourself in the muscular endurance category. This would help you to tone up and really build up the stamina of whichever muscle you were training but it wouldn't work as effectively as the hypertrophy zone if your goal is pure size.
Most people can openly tell you what they want to achieve in the gym, what type of body they are striving for, but for some reason that's as far as it goes. They never actually tailor their workout plan to be specific to that goal. Now you know what you are doing, you will begin to notice this all the time in your local fitness center.
The majority of people don't learn the different training methods and as a result they don't make much progress. It's up there with common gym myths, such as women who are afraid to touch resistance machines for fear they'll get big.
The second thing you need to do to make the most of hitting the hypertrophy zone is to progress. Your body's only job is to keep you alive, it does not care about your desire to build a more appealing look. It's not going to change unless you force it to change.
The rep range we brought your attention to is a good way to do this. Many people ask us how much weight they should be using on a particular exercise and your rep range will determine this for you. For hypertrophy, find a weight which forces you to quit at around eight reps and then keep working with that weight until you get stronger. Once you can manage twelve reps at that level it's time to increase the resistance, forcing yourself back down to eight reps at a slightly heavier level and beginning the cycle again.
And there you have it, guys. You now know the two things which many gym users never discover. You know how to build muscle with the right amount of reps for your goal and you know when to increase the resistance. Say hello to new results.
First of all don't worry. If you're a little lost on your training and what you should or shouldn't be doing, one thing is for certain. You are not alone. In fact, most people are in the exact same situation, they just don't do anything about it and spend years going through the motions without seeing any results. Today, you separate yourself from that crowd.
The reason most men get a bit lost with fitness is they're training for two different goals simultaneously. Whereas the majority of girls just want to shed fat, guys want to build while losing unwanted fat.
The human body only changes when it is forced into it. If you are not doing that, not progressing in your workouts, your body won't change. Why? Because it doesn't have to! How many people do you see in your gym who have been doing the exact same thing for months and don't seem to be getting any results? Quite a few, I imagine, because this is a common issue which most people never address properly. Your body adapts to your workout. Even though you're working hard, your body knows it can handle it. Why? Because you probably did the same thing last week and it can remember. To get change you need to force change.
There are two main ranges of reps which will help you to determine what type of results you will get:
* The hypertrophy zone.
* Endurance.
The fact that you are reading this article, given it's title, tells us that you are here because you want to learn how to gain muscle and therefore you should be swinging for the hypertrophy zone. You should be aiming the majority of your sets at the 8-12 range.
If you were to continue pushing you reps, say, into the 15-20 zone, you would find yourself in the muscular endurance category. This would help you to tone up and really build up the stamina of whichever muscle you were training but it wouldn't work as effectively as the hypertrophy zone if your goal is pure size.
Most people can openly tell you what they want to achieve in the gym, what type of body they are striving for, but for some reason that's as far as it goes. They never actually tailor their workout plan to be specific to that goal. Now you know what you are doing, you will begin to notice this all the time in your local fitness center.
The majority of people don't learn the different training methods and as a result they don't make much progress. It's up there with common gym myths, such as women who are afraid to touch resistance machines for fear they'll get big.
The second thing you need to do to make the most of hitting the hypertrophy zone is to progress. Your body's only job is to keep you alive, it does not care about your desire to build a more appealing look. It's not going to change unless you force it to change.
The rep range we brought your attention to is a good way to do this. Many people ask us how much weight they should be using on a particular exercise and your rep range will determine this for you. For hypertrophy, find a weight which forces you to quit at around eight reps and then keep working with that weight until you get stronger. Once you can manage twelve reps at that level it's time to increase the resistance, forcing yourself back down to eight reps at a slightly heavier level and beginning the cycle again.
And there you have it, guys. You now know the two things which many gym users never discover. You know how to build muscle with the right amount of reps for your goal and you know when to increase the resistance. Say hello to new results.
About the Author:
About the Creator: Russ Howe PTI is the UK's most subscribed Personal Trainer. Discover how to build muscle with our free video guide teaching the five rules to a more muscular body.
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The Ideal Rep Range For Muscle Building