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They'll all fall

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Repetitions and set counts in strength exercise

Just talked to my main reference on exercise. His summary of the available research on repetitions and sets was as follows, under the assumption that you are going to use a single repetition range (which is an OK assumption for beginners and intermediates).

Use 8 reps per set for the upper body, 12 reps per set for the lower body.

Beginners (first three to six months) should use one or two sets; more sets damage. Two sets may damage in some cases, and seem to be only neutral for exercise effect.

Intermediates (first 1-2 years) should use two or three sets. The third set gives about 5% extra exercise effect (and can be seen as a waste of time.)

Well-trained people should use two or three sets. The third set gives 25 to 30% extra exercise effect. Note: This is if you are going to do the same every time. Varying between high-rep and low-rep gives even better results for the well-trained.

2 Comments:

  • Hand painting vases is a great strength exercise, man! Think about it, Eek, I can really recommend it.

    :P

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:53 PM  

  • (Damn you, BG, for making such a funny comment that I can't delete the spam...)

    ;)

    By Blogger Eek, at 2:18 PM  

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