Is 3 sets of 12 good for hypertrophy?
For hypertrophy (building muscle), the sweet spot is 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps. And if your objective is muscular endurance, shoot for 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps. In each case, the key is to use the heaviest resistance that will allow you to complete all of your reps and sets with good form.
While both rep schemes are used in programs to grow new muscle, 3×10 is the best answer when hypertrophy is the goal. That said, this is only true if you are properly controlling for volume, frequency, consistency, and intensity.
If you've been training properly for less than a year, perform 10-15 sets per muscle group per week. If you've been training properly for one to five years, perform 15-20 sets per week. If you're very advanced and have been training properly for over five years, perform 20-25 sets per week.
If an exercise is listed as 3x12-15, the athlete will perform three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions of the exercise.
More specifically, the NSCA recommends executing 6-12 reps and having a rest interval in-between sets of 30-seconds to 1.5-minutes for muscular hypertrophy. Additionally, you want to focus on a load of 67-85% of your one-rep max or 1RM.
For example, a weight training workout plan including triceps dips might include instructions to do 3 sets of 12 reps with a 30-second rest in between sets. You might see these instructions written out in a kind of workout log shorthand, as “3X12, 30 secs.”
Reps 6-8 is Strength & Size. Reps 8-10 is Pure Size. Reps 12-15 is Size & Endurance. Reps 15+ is Pure Endurance.
What makes 10X3 unique? The primary benefit of this training is that it is an excellent combination of heavy weights and optimal training volume that provide strength gains and muscle growth simultaneously.
It all depends on what exercises you pick and how the workout weeks are structured. The 3X3 protocol is also a great prelude to the 5X5 program. Why? The 3X3 program will get you very strong, and the stronger you are the more effective the 5X5 program will be.
It turns out that 8-12 reps is actually good advice. It sits in the Goldilocks Zone of reps and loading, it's time efficient in that it can maximize the number of tough reps per set, it's energy efficient in that it doesn't require too many reps to stimulate hypertrophy, or involve loads that are unnecessarily heavy.
Is 12 sets a week too much for biceps?
Bicep Weekly Training Frequency for Intermediate and Advanced level. It is recommended that intermediate lifters should do 12-20 total training sets per week. The weights used to exercise the biceps can vary, but heavy weights (less than 8 reps) should be avoided because they might cause damage.
A moderate repetition scheme with moderate loads (from 8 to 12 repetitions per set with 60% to 80% of 1RM) optimizes hypertrophic gains. A high repetition scheme with light loads (15+ repetitions per set with loads below 60% of 1RM) optimizes local muscular endurance improvements.
Maximal Strength
Reasoning: 3 sets of 3 reps allows the lifter to handle near maximal loads without pushing to the point of a true one repetition maximum (1RM). In doing so, the lifter can achieve an adequate strength stimulus without worrying as much about technical breakdown.
Preferably you should do 3-5 sets in total to make sure you are getting that 100%, meaning maximum hypertrophy. If a muscle group contains multiple heads or areas you can optionally add another exercise for the lagging area.
Research and years of training have previously shown that the rep range of 1-6 per set is best for increasing muscle strength; 7-12 reps per set is best for increasing muscle growth; and reps of 12 and higher are best for increasing muscle endurance.
Reps for muscle growth
In order to get bigger and stronger, you must ensure your muscles work harder than they are used to. Generally, between 6-12 reps for 3-6 sets will help to build overall muscle size.
Sets of anywhere from 4–40 reps will stimulate muscle growth quite well, but most research shows that doing 6–20 reps per set is the most efficient way to build muscle. Bodybuilders often use the middle of that range, favouring 8–12 reps per set.
- Not Stretching or Cooling Down. This one tops the list because the majority of us simply NEVER do it. ...
- You Add Peanut Butter in Your Post Workout Shake. ...
- You Don't Eat Carbs Post Workout. ...
- You Eat Like a Stray Dog After Training.
The researchers concluded that heavy loads are best for maximal strength goals, while moderate loads of 8-12 reps are best suited for hypertrophy goals when performing the same number of sets.
If you're new to fitness or push-ups specifically, she recommends starting with five to 10 reps per workout and increasing from there. If that feels doable, Stonehouse suggests doing two or three sets of 10 push-ups with a short rest between each set.
Is 8x3 a good workout?
The 8x3 method is awesome because you are still using heavy weight, which contributes to strength gains, but you are putting achieving hypertrophy by doing a large amount of sets (8). You find a weight that you can perform 4 reps with but stop at 3.
The biceps and triceps should be trained using rep ranges between 5-20 reps to best maximize strength, muscle growth, and overall development of the muscles.
When the training goal is muscular hypertrophy, the combination of moderate-intensity sets with short rest intervals of 30-60 seconds might be most effective due to greater acute levels of growth hormone during such workouts.
Typically, 3-5 sets are recommended for optimal hypertrophy. Conversely, the development of strength may occur with a moderate volume. For this reason, Peterson et al. (2004) suggested that 2-6 sets were ideal for improving strength, with the NASM guideline being 4-6 sets (2018).
Anything between about 5–40 reps per set (between about 40–85% of 1RM) has been shown to be effective to build muscle. More or fewer reps than that and the muscle-building effect per set decreases somewhat. For practical reasons, it is a good rule of thumb to aim for about 8–15 reps per set for muscle growth.
1. Fast-twitch muscle fibers (type ll) Fast-twitch muscle fibers, also known as type ll muscle fibers, contract faster (hence the name) and have about a 25 to 75% greater potential for muscle growth than type l fibers.
The 5x5 workout is primarily for hypertrophy, or, muscle growth. For beginning to experienced lifters, 5x5 is appropriate for those who want to increase both upper body and lower body strength, and also muscle mass.
The best rep range for building muscle
Numerous research studies show that high-volume resistance training is the best method for building muscle. According to the American Council on Exercise, the eight to 15 rep range holds the most muscle-building potential.
Push/pull/legs is favorite training split which includes pushing muscles (chest, shoulder, triceps), the pulling muscles the next (back, biceps, forearms, abs), and lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves' w/ abs) on the next day. Add in rest days where needed, all while you don't miss any days.
Both yes and no. The base version of 5/3/1 doesn't offer enough volume for much muscle growth, and the reps are too low. However, when you add on something like the 'Big But Boring' assistance template and start doing 5 sets of 10 to finish off each workout, you will absolutely start to see some serious muscle growth.
Is hypertrophy better for size?
If you're looking to visibly build muscle mass, hypertrophy training will yield the largest size gains. To enhance muscle size, it's vital to increase the overall volume (reps and sets) during your session. To do it, increase your reps (8-12), and lift moderate to heavy loads (65 to 85-percent of one rep max).
Takeaways. The “hypertrophy rep range” isn't meaningfully better for hypertrophy than higher or lower rep training physiologically. When adjusting for factors like the number of sets performed and the rest periods between sets, it may be slightly better on average, but there's a lot of variability.
Research indicates that performing approximately 15-20 sets of challenging hypertrophy exercises per week is the optimum stimulus to enhance muscle size. Since maximal muscle response is achieved through 5-6 sets of a specific exercise, it is best to spread the workload throughout the week.
Most evidence-based fitness professionals recommend a training volume of 10-15 sets per muscle group per week. I've recommended 10-30 sets in my interviews the past years for most individuals with some outliers using higher volumes, like IFBB Pro Nina Ross.
A safe bet is to aim for 10–15 total sets per muscle group and week and work in a rep range from low reps (~5) with heavy weights up to high reps (20–30) with lighter weights. With that out of the way, let's look at exercise and set recommendations for all of your major muscle groups.
To increase strength and power, the best rest period is 2-5 minutes between sets. To increase hypertrophy (muscle growth), the best rest period is 30-90 seconds between sets. To increase muscular endurance, the best rest period is 30 seconds or less between sets.
Conventional bodybuilding wisdom tells us that muscle tissue hypertrophy (growth) occurs optimally in the range of 8-12 reps per set. Assuming you're lifting to near-failure on most sets, you should be able to use about 75-80% of your one-rep max while completing 8-12 reps.
Another review recommended 60–90 seconds to increase hypertrophy, or increased muscle size, while 20–120 seconds was recommended for muscular endurance ( 4 , 5 ). Thus, a weightlifting session featuring 7–9 exercises can take anywhere from 20–60 minutes to complete.
| Training type | Exercise | Rest period |
|---|---|---|
| Hypertrophy | Rows | 60 seconds |
| Strength | Rows | 3 minutes |
Typically, 3-5 sets are recommended for optimal hypertrophy. Conversely, the development of strength may occur with a moderate volume.
How many sets of 12 should I do?
| Training Goal | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| General fitness | 1-3 | 12-15 |
| Endurance | 3-4 | >12 |
| Hypertrophy | 3-6 | 6-12 |
| Muscle strength | 4-6 | <6 |
Research indicates that performing approximately 15-20 sets of challenging hypertrophy exercises per week is the optimum stimulus to enhance muscle size. Since maximal muscle response is achieved through 5-6 sets of a specific exercise, it is best to spread the workload throughout the week.
Research (Schoenfeld et al. 2017) suggests that hypertrophy can be achieved throughout a wide range of rep ranges, approximately 5 to 30 reps.
Muscular hypertrophy can be achieved through weightlifting at the gym. But you need to continuously break down and challenge muscles in order to see growth. A protein-rich diet is also important for muscle growth. Focus on lean protein sources like plant-based protein powder, lean meat, chicken, and fish.
Studies have found that to induce muscle hypertrophy, optimal rest intervals are between 30–90 seconds (3, 4 ). Muscle hypertrophy is best achieved with moderate rest between sets, such as 30–90 seconds.
Conventional bodybuilding wisdom tells us that muscle tissue hypertrophy (growth) occurs optimally in the range of 8-12 reps per set. Assuming you're lifting to near-failure on most sets, you should be able to use about 75-80% of your one-rep max while completing 8-12 reps.
Bicep Weekly Training Frequency for Intermediate and Advanced level. It is recommended that intermediate lifters should do 12-20 total training sets per week. The weights used to exercise the biceps can vary, but heavy weights (less than 8 reps) should be avoided because they might cause damage.
For hypertrophy (building muscle), the sweet spot is 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps. And if your objective is muscular endurance, shoot for 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps. In each case, the key is to use the heaviest resistance that will allow you to complete all of your reps and sets with good form.
Muscle hypertrophy can occur as a result of exercise, especially weight training exercise. Lifting weights and consistently (and safely) challenging muscle tissue can cause it to get bigger. Hypertrophy should not be confused with hyperplasia, which is an increase in the number of cells in your body.
Most beginners will see noticeable muscle growth within eight weeks, while more experienced lifters will see changes in three to four weeks. Most individuals gain one to two pounds of lean muscle per month with the right strength training and nutrition plan.