Why “3 Sets of 8 to 12 Reps” Might Be Killing Your Gains (2024)

FAQs

Is 3 sets of 8-12 reps good? ›

You can still build muscle with 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps — provided you train close to failure and progressively overload. But it isn't the most optimal, instead: Choose your rep range based on the exercise — the larger and more the muscles involved, the lesser the reps. Even then, don't venture below 3 reps or above 30.

One of the key factors in muscle growth and strength development is the intensity of the workouts. The 3x12 approach often locks individuals into a specific weight range, potentially neglecting the benefits of training with heavier weights at lower repetitions or lighter weights at higher repetitions.

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.

Increasing the number of sets taken to failure from one set to two, three or four provides no more benefit than doing just one set to failure. In fact, taking more than one set to failure may actually blunt strength gains. Take-home message: for strength, do no more than one set to failure per exercise.

If you're trying to build muscle and get bigger, doing sets of 3 or sets of 5 or sets of 10 will ALL help you get bigger, if you're eating enough to get bigger! If you're trying to lose weight, it doesn't matter if you do sets of 15 or sets of 5 if you are consistently overeating by 1,000 calories a day.

After all, it's “common gym knowledge” that 8-12 reps per lift is the magic range for building muscle.

Research suggests lifting smaller weights and doing more repetitions (or, in gym parlance, “reps”) can have a role to play – but it all depends on your goals. In short: if your goal is to build serious strength and bone density, lifting heavy is an efficient way to do it.

Or, Mix Things Up? So, in general, low reps with heavy weight tends to increase muscle mass, while high reps with light weight increases muscle endurance. This doesn't mean that you have to rely on one method exclusively. Alternating between the two may be the best approach for long-term success.

When your cardio training is so intense that it's stealing all your fuel, this can then impact your muscle gains. So you want to make sure your cardio is in balance with your resistance training. You don't want to do an intense and exhaustive 45-minute HIIT workout, and then follow that with resistance training.

Anywhere between 1-8 reps for a total of 3-10 sets may be programmed, with the higher number of reps being geared more towards a strength/hypertrophy goal. More on this below. For hypertrophy (muscle growth) the number of reps will generally be higher. Somewhere between 3-6 sets of 7-12 reps is a good rule of thumb.

Is 6 8 or 8 12 reps better? ›

Rep Schemes

5-8 Reps is used for what is known as functional hypertrophy. This is for people who are looking to gain some size, strength and speed, without too much muscular building. Here we get equal amount of strength and muscle gains. 8-12 Reps is more you're traditional hypertrophy or muscle building.

Rest Time: 1 to 3 minutes

The classic advice for maximizing muscle growth (i.e., hypertrophy) is to rest one minute between sets of 8 to 12 reps. But recent research suggests that three minutes might be the true sweet spot.

Hypertrophy. If your aim is hypertrophy (to build muscle), the sweet spot is 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps.

One set to failure works for beginners because it's a good way to start learning how to do exercises with good form while avoiding overdoing it. It's also appropriate for people who don't have a lot of time for exercise.

Regardless of whether your fitness goals are to gain muscle mass, increase strength, or lose weight, most people could benefit from doing between 10 and 20 sets per muscle group per week. You don't want to go too high because this could lead to injury or fatigued muscles, which may negatively impact your next workout.

You need to stop doing 3 sets of 12 reps for muscle growth right now. But isn't that the sweet spot for hypertrophy, you might ask. Well, it could be, but it can also be far off what is optimal to build muscle.

All in all, based on the research that's out there, you can expect greater gains in strength and size if you do 3 sets as opposed to 1. On the other hand, going beyond 3 will only deliver slightly greater gains and you have to weigh that against the extra time you're spending doing more sets.

In general: For fat loss: One to 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps using enough weight that you can only complete the desired reps. To gain muscle: Three or more sets of 6 to 8 reps to fatigue. Beginners should give themselves several weeks of conditioning before going to this level.