Rep Schemes
How many reps do I do? That’s probably the most asked question a coach gets from anyone he or she trains. One of the most important parts of training is understanding rep schemes to elicit adaptations and minimize unnecessary chronic injury. If training is like taking medicine, reps are the dosages. Too much will hurt you and not enough won’t work. There is ascending and descending linear rep schemes and undulating rep schemes. Each are unique to exercise selections and each utilize different energy systems and result in different adaptations. To really understand reps you first need to understand intensity and volume. Don't forget to grab the free training day all the way at the bottom!
Intensity
Intensity is the sum of the load, the effort and the exertion from the lifter. The load refers to actual weight being lifted. Usually people will associate a % of their 1 rep max with load but that doesn’t tell the whole story, which is why we need to understand effort and exertion.
Effort
Effort is tempo, and in my opinion the single most important part of this equation. There's only 2 options here IN MY OPINION let me explain. I don't believe in purposely slowing down a compound exercise. Many people will incorporate slow tempos and most of the time I'm not sure they know why other than it's something that's been done forever. Most people don't question this, I question it. I have found the origin of slow tempo, specifically in the eccentric phase, comes from olympic lifters. There are many benefits to the eccentric phase, and guess who doesn't use a lot of eccentrics due to the nature of their sport? OLYMPIC LIFTERS. They are diving under falling barbells over and over, so to me it may make more since for them to compensate and include slow eccentric work. For everyone else, I don't think it's necessary. Everyone else is regularly exposed to eccentrics therefore there's no need to spend time purposely slowing a weight down. Tissue tolerance you say? Absolutely important, I think you can build tissue tolerance much more efficiently with simply adding and titrating volume. So back to my 2 options for effort....it's either HIGH effort or LOW effort and no in between. All compound lifts should be HIGH effort. You should move the weight as fast as you can. This is specific to the ability of the lifter. If you are moving a load so fast that you compromise form, than you're moving it too fast. If you move it in a way that results in injury, you guessed it, too fast. The concept is simple, you will naturally move lighter weight faster and heavier weight slower. Light and heavy is relative to each person, and speed is the objective way to look at your abilities. Since Force=Mass x Acceleration, we always want to practice getting FASTER. If you practice moving a load slow, you are telling your body to be slow. If you follow this mindset you will be trying to move heavy weight fast, although the bar will be slow, and that's a key contributor to increasing contractile components as well as increasing your rate of force development. Low effort is for single joint exercises. Compound lifts are primarily for mechanical tension and that aligns best with strength specific concepts. Single joint exercises are more specific to metabolic stress, which I believe to be more aligned with low effort sustained for a given time period, usually much longer than sets for mechanical tension.
Exertion
The third aspect of intensity is exertion and that is simply you are going to failure, or you’re leaving some in the tank. The more you leave in the tank the less exertion, the closer to failure you get, the higher the exertion. This is why I developed a color system for those of you that have been training with me since 2018, and that is why I use RPE, RIR and even velocity to guide you on your program these days on the app and on printable programs.
“Programming without prescribing appropriate effort and exertion is an incomplete program”
-Jake Hicks
I personally did not start online programming until I was able to solve this barrier. For single joint exercises I use RIR or reps in reserve. If I prescribe 3x10 on bicep curls with an RIR of 5, I'm asking you to use a weight that you could do 15 times but you are only doing 10, purposely leaving 5 in the tank. If I prescribe 3x10 on bicep curls at RIR 0 then I'm asking you to goto failure. Failure means you choose a weight you will only be able to do 10 and goto failure. If you end up doing 15 reps maybe add weight, or think of fatigue and the second and third may be right at 10. The actual number of reps you do on single joint doesn't matter as much as following the level of exertion. At the beginning of training I like to use low effort single joint exercises with low exertion so it's common to see RIR 5+ to activate muscle fibers but avoid exhaustion and fatigue.
Below are some examples of different combinations of load, effort and exertion that may benefit certain aspects of training. Of course there are many other combinations, but to make a point, you can almost find a benefit in any combination.
+High load, high effort, low exertion- Compound lifts, high tonnage, strength, myofibril hypertrophy
+Low load, high effort, medium exertion- Compound lifts, Power, speed strength, power endurance
+Medium load, low effort, high exertion- Single joint, hypertrophy, endurance
Volume
Volume is simple, there are two interpretations, number of total reps and total weight lifted. Depending who you ask, some people will have other terms for total weight lifted but let’s keep it simple.
Total reps is something that can increase, decrease or stay the same week to week in programming depending on the intent of the program. 3x10 is a very typical rep scheme. The volume of total reps for 3x10 is 30. Total reps for 10x3 is also 30, however the difference will be the total weight lifted.
Total weight lifted = reps x sets x loads (tonnage)
Think of the bench press and the weight you would use for 3x10. Now think of what you would use for 10 sets of 3. Which one has a higher total for weight lifted? What benefit might that have? Again these things must be considered in programming or you might just spin your wheels and wonder why you are plateauing.
“There is no genetic potential, just time to change your training”
-Jake Hicks
Ultimately reps are a measure of time. Time is the most critical barrier to maneuver around in training and understanding how it correlates to energy systems.
Linear Ascending Rep Schemes
Linear refers to a straight line, and ascending refers to a direction, in this case up. Question now becomes what are we progressing? Volume? Intensity? Or both? We have covered the depth of volume and intensity so you can imagine there is a lot of wiggle room to what it is you want to progress. The most common progression you will see is a linear progression of total reps. One week you might do 3x8, the next is 3x10 and the next is 3x12. The progression started at 24 total reps and ended at 36 reps. This option is a great tool for increasing skill of an exercise, and for increasing work capacity, hypertrophy and tissue tolerance. If you struggle to execute a certain lift, this kind of rep scheme may help safely learn and improve technique while allowing your body to adapt at the same time.
Linear Descending Rep Schemes
Again linear is straight line, this time descending or going down. Let’s use the same numbers appropriately. First week is 3x12, second is 3x10 and third is 3x8. This time you start at 36 total reps and finish at 24. This method may be used to introduce higher loads. Lifting heavier weight is a complete different skill that might take time to learn. If you have ever been around youth athletes they are a great example. A 14 year old might be able to bench 65 points for 10 reps, you add 5 pounds and they can’t do 2 reps. It would be a good idea to use this strategy if it’s been a while since you have performed heavier lifts or if you are new to the movement.
Undulating Rep Schemes
Undulating is rising and falling, not a straight line. I would not recommend using these numbers for programming undulating schemes but for simplicity let’s use the same numbers from above. Week one you use 3x12, week two 3x8, and week three is 3x10. So you hit 36 total reps, 24 and then 30. You start high, go low, then medium. This is a strategy for programming heavier strength waves. The intensity will naturally be undulating and this allows for the lifting to lift heavy at different speeds while managing stress and allowing for super compensation. Many people use progressive overload to get stronger. The problem with progressive overload is it doesn’t work forever. The body doesn’t just keep getting stronger, progress comes in waves. If progressive overload worked then the story of the man who picked up the calf everyday as it grew up would be true and he would eventually be able to pick the full grown cow up. The answer to progressive overload is undulating rep schemes.
Summary
Reps are complicated, it takes a lot of doing to truly understand reps. My advice is to not know what these rep schemes are but to know what they feel like. For those interested in transitioning to a low rep/high set rep scheme, below is a great example you can put to practice for yourself
2 Steps:
Take you max (compound lifts only) and multiply it by 16, 18 and 20.
Step 2 is to then divide that number by 80%. Below is an example of how to do this
Step 1 will create 3 "waves" or 3 different zones of tonnage. High, medium and low. We will use this to create our low rep set waves over a 3 week time period. Where did the numbers 16, 18 and 20 come from? I took them from my experience training this way which was sparked from the chart below of "optimal rep ranges". With low rep sets you are using sub-max loads, high effort and low exertion by staying around 80% maybe even as low as 65%.
Step 2 is going to come up with a rough estimate of how much weight we should use for each set. This is not set in stone and often times you are going to use different loads, but this example is great for anyone newer to the concept.
HOW TO DO THIS
Your bench press max is 250
Complete step 1:
250x16= 4000
250x18= 4500
250x20= 5000
Complete step 2:
250 x 80% (.8) = 200
So using 200 pounds we will lift 4000, 4500 and 5000 pounds. Here's a week to week outlook over 3 weeks
Week 1: 10x2 @200lbs- This will equal 4000 lbs lifted
Week 2: 11x2 @200lbs- This will increase your lbs lifted from 4000 to 4500
Week 3: 8x3,1 @200lbs- This will increase your lbs lifted from 4500 to 5000.
The reps 10x2, 11x2 and 8x3,1 were created by dividing 4000 by 200. Thats 20 reps. I need 20 reps of 200 to reach this goal. Logically thinking I feel comfortable lifting 200 for sets of 2 until I reach that goal. I do the same thing for week 2 and week 3.
If you this is interesting and you want a customized training program click HERE to start. I will create a program for you on an app or printable version, which ever you prefer.
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