How many reps should I do?

There is no exact answer – your rep range choice depends on a lot of factors including:

– Your goals
– Compound vs Isolated exercise
– Power exercise
– Muscle fiber types

First of all: what are your specific goals? Build strength, increase muscle size, general health?

1️⃣Lower rep ranges 1-8 will help build max strength / ultimately power if also trained.

2️⃣ Generally compound or multi joint full body exercises can be done in a variety of ranges (1-30) but usually aren’t done to failure due to safety.

3️⃣Accessory lifts or single joint exercises are usually done in rep ranges 8-failure (100 or so…)

4️⃣Power exercises when done properly to generate true max power, should be done in rep ranges 1-6, past that you’re getting into other energy systems/ reducing trained power output.

5️⃣All muscles are made of a combination of muscle fibers but will have a majority type that will help determine which ranges are best to train them in. Type I fibers will see greater benefit with lower rep, slower, heavy movements. Type II fibers will benefit more from higher rep, lighter, faster exercises.

Posterior chain exercises that work our posture muscles should always be trained with endurance in mind because good posture is an endurance task.