Take this however you want, quote what “so-and-so” said, or what (insert your favorite IG influencer) said worked for them, but this scientifically researched fact won’t change.  MORE MUSCLE HAS BEEN GROWN USING THE 8-12 REP RANGE THAN ALL OTHER RANGES PUT TOGETHER.  That's not an opinion, something I culled from some "godfather," it's just scientific metadata from more peer-reviewed studies than I can count.

The current BULK (see what I did there?) of scientific research on muscle hypertrophy shows that muscle hypertrophy is directly correlated with how many hard sets you perform along with taking each working set to MOMENTARY muscular failure. 

So, although you can argue sets of 2-3 all the way to sets of 20+ can build muscle, and many have done so…in practical terms, there are reasons why you shouldn’t go that route, at least not all the time.

Let’s go with this, the LOW rep ranges, let’s go with 1-5, require heavier weights, if you are going with the goal of momentary muscular failure.  Some problems with that include:

• Greater risk of injury.
• Greater sympathetic nervous system stress.
• More warm-up sets needed.
• More rest time between sets (more time in the gym).

If you have all the time in the world, don't work, and have no life...go for it! 

The high rep scheme (13+) only has one really crappy drawback…again, if you’re going for momentary muscular failure, you will find that the last few reps are the most productive for growth.  If you’re working with a set of 20, the first 18 or so only serve to get you to the failure state, leaving 19 and 20 as the productive ones.  They are necessary, but utilize a whole lot of time.  However, if you go with sets of 8, it changes to 5-6 reps to get you into the growth zone. 

So it really comes down to time in the gym vs time for "life."  Most of you out there don't have 2+ hours a day to workout, it's not your whole life.  Most of the "gurus" on social do this for a living.  Take me for example, I work from home and I'm also an IFBB pro, different life situation from the parent that works 40 a week, or the student that's taking 15 credits on top of a part-time job.  Most of us need to maximize our time spent working out.

But does that mean you throw out the low or high rep scheme workouts?  No.  Periodization is the key to all results.

NOW, given those scientific facts, there are reasons to place some well scheduled mesocycles using those low and high rep ranges:

• Low reps (1-5) have a GREAT impact on strength and power.  And, let’s be honest, you should care about being stronger.  Getting stronger will help you move more weight when you head back into those 8-12 ranges/macros.  Or, your goal may be strength/power…in that case you’ll want to seed in some 8-12 cycles.  Everyone benefits!
• The high rep ranges (13+) have more of a cardiovascular benefit…so, more calories burned.  You also won’t need as many warm-up sets.
• Finally, if you ALWAYS stay in the 8-12 range, your body will habituate to that stimulus and will eventually react, or grow, less than before. 

Either way, no matter “what worked so-and-so,” programming a 6-8 week mesocycle of 1-5 or 15-20 reps, to work along with your typical 12 week mesocycle of 8-12 reps will provide really great long-term results.

COME BACK NEXT WEEK!   We'll address working in those low and high rep workouts and their benefits.  Or you can check out Flex's eBook on Amazon, everything is broken down for you!