Every coach has a favorite set scheme. When I started in the industry, I tried as many different programs as I could.
Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1. The DeLorme protocol. The crushingly brutal 5×5. Easy Strength.
Each of these programs has a different take on sets vs reps.
And they all work. The problem is that they don’t work forever. Strength coach Dan John has a quote that sums this up beautifully.
Everything works for about six week…and then it doesn’t.
How do you change things up so you can still keep making progress? Hopefully this post will help answer that question.
Why Should You Change Your Sets And Reps?
Your body adapts to exactly what you ask of it and not one bit more. Ask it to move a weight for ten reps and it gets very good at moving that weight for ten reps.
Then it stops. Your body has solved the problem you handed it.
This is called the SAID principle. Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.
Progressive overload is the standard answer to this problem. Of course you can’t simply add 5 pounds to every lift every 4 weeks. The longer you’ve been training, the slower your progressions or adaptations will be.
Varying the number of reps, sets and loads will allow you to continue making progress.
Your training goal is the primary factor in the sets vs reps discussion. Training for max strength, strength, hypertrophy or endurance will change the rep ranges, loads and number of sets in your workouts.
For busy professionals just looking to get stronger, build some muscle, and overall feel better, we recommend cycling through a few of these goals every 4 weeks. This exposes you to different training variables which allow you to keep making progress.
The chart below is a fantastic guide to help you answer the sets vs reps question for your training.
Rep Range and Rep Max Chart
Please keep in mind that the Reps Per Workout in the chart below are per exercise. The number of exercises in your overall workout will ultimately determine the total number of sets in your session.
If you don’t know your current Rep Max for a given lift, click here to use our Rep Max Calculator.
| % of 1RM | Rep Max | Goal | Reps Per Workout |
| 95% | 2RM | Max Strength | Under 10 |
| 90% | 4RM | Max Strength | 10 to 20 |
| 85% | 6RM | Max Strength & Strength | 10 to 50 |
| 80% | 8RM | Strength & Mass | 20 to 60 |
| 75% | 10RM | Strength & Mass | 20 to 60 |
| 70% | 12RM | Mass | 30 to 60 |
| 65% | 15RM | Mass & Endurance | 30 to 60 |
| 60% | 17RM | Endurance | 60 to 100+ |
| 55% | 20RM | Endurance | 60 to 100+ |
Your training goal will dictate the Rep Max Percentage ranges you should be using. This will ultimately guide your sets vs reps approach to your training.
Keep in mind that the closer a set is to a Rep Max, the more fatigue you’ll have and the more rest you’ll need between sets.
Let’s use the 5×5 as an example which is 5 Sets of 5 Reps using 85% of your 1RM. This would be a total of 25 reps and each set is taken very close to a max effort (5 Reps of a 6 Rep Max). This set rep scheme is incredibly difficult and will require at least 3 to 4 minutes of rest between sets.
If you can pull off the 5×5 with less than 2 minutes of rest between sets, I have news for you. The weight is NOT 85% of your 1 Rep Max. Start with a fresh set (completely rested) and see how many reps you can perform with this weight. Then double check your numbers again with the One Rep Max Calculator.
Another approach to using the same weight as the 5×5 for a given exercise would have you simply change the number of reps per set. This could be 7 sets of 4 reps (total of 28 reps) or 8 sets of 3 reps (total of 24 reps).
Using Rep Ladders
One of my favorite approaches to accumulating volume with heavier loads are rep ladders. Let’s use the same weight as earlier which was 85% of your 1 Rep Max.
Using a 345 rep ladder, you can probably get in 9 sets of work in the same amount of time it takes you to complete 5 sets of 5 reps because you won’t need as much rest between sets.
Your first set is for 3 reps, your second set is 4 reps and your third set is 5 reps. This gives you 12 reps after completing the ladder once. Two more trips up the ladder will give you a total of 36 reps with your 6RM weight.
Reps In Reserve
The concept of Reps In Reserve is used by plenty of strength coaches. After a set, they will ask a client how many additional reps they could have performed. Everyone has a different level of experience and a different gauge on how much more they could have done.
This is where knowing your Rep Max Percentages can help guide your training.
Generally speaking, the closer you push the number of reps in a set to the asssociated Rep Max, the more recovery you’ll need between sets. Using the above ladder example, a set of 3 reps of your 6 Rep Max is much less fatiguing than a set of 5 reps of your 6 Rep Max.
If you have 90 minutes or more to spend in the gym, you may not be concerned with Reps in Reserve. You can afford to push each set as close to the Rep Max as possible because you have plenty of time to recover.
For busy professionals, this isn’t the most efficient way to train. Leaving 2 to 3 Reps in Reserve with each set will allow you to recover faster and complete your workout in a more efficient manner. If you’ve ever completed 20 reps at 55% of your 1 Rep Max, you know just how awful that set can be. Stopping this set around 15 reps will still provide a great stimulus without as much fatigue.
Here’ s a very general rule for your sets vs reps approach to your workouts: keep the majority of your sets below 80% of the Rep Max for a given weight.
Using Multiple Rep Max Percentages
The DeLorme Protocol is an incredibly popular approach to strength training. This set up has you using 3 different weights for 10 reps each. The most common application of this uses the Rep Maxes of 55%, 65% and 75%.
Referencing the chart above, you’ll notice that 75% should be your 10RM which makes the 3rd set of this the most difficult.
If you wanted to begin adding difficulty to this approach, you could begin by adding reps to the first two sets (55% and 65% of your 1RM respectively).
55% is your 20 Rep Max and 65% is your 15 Rep Max. You could make a nice 4 to 5 week progression with this approach by simply adding a few reps each week. In week 1, perform the 3 sets of 10 as originally designed. In weeks 2 through 5, you could add 2 reps to the set at 55% and 1 rep to the set at 65% each week.
The cumulative fatigue to this approach will improve your muscular endurance and make you stronger.
Guiding Philosophy For Your Training
There are countless approaches to strength training and multiple takes on the entire sets vs reps debate.
Vladimir Zatsiorsky ran the biomechanics for the entire Soviet sports program through the 1980s. There is a line attributed to his work that remains the guiding philosophy for our training at No Limits Fitness.
Train as often as possible, as heavy as possible, as fresh as possible.
Notice that it doesn’t say as hard as possible or to failure. Train with enough volume, enough weight and enough frequency to demand the adaptation you actually want.
Hopefully this helps guide your training. If this is more thought than you want to give your training or you’d rather have a coach program it for you, that’s exactly what we do at No Limits Fitness.
