The world of fitness and nutrition can be extremely intimidating and confusing at times. People expect fitness (and nutrition for that matter) to be a cut and dry. When in fact, there is no “magic pill” or simple answer. Everyone’s body is different, and our body’s respond differently.
If you have a few different goals in mind, you can mix and match the number of reps to perform per workout. If you want to get bigger and stronger and improve the endurance of those muscles, you can do a heavy workout one day and a lighter workout the next time out.
Setting a goal between hypertrophy vs. strength:
Hypertrophy in a nutshell: referred to as increasing muscle size via exercise. The average persons reference to wanting to achieve “tone and muscle definition”.
Strength in a nutshell: referred as overall muscle strength. “I can lift heavy sh**”.
Different set types:
Super sets: 2 exercises performed right after the other with no rest in between.
Giant sets: 3-5 exercises performed right after each other without rest.
Drop sets: perform exercise to failure, drop weight by 20-30% and go to failure again.
Pyramid sets: start with a light weight set then slowly increase weight and work up to a heavy set, then do the same in reverse, slowly reducing the weight.
What are they good for:
Super set: increase muscle endurance, build muscle, and to save time.
Drop set: increase endurance and muscle size.
Giant set: improve cardiovascular and muscular endurance, save on time and increase athletic performance.
Pyramid set: provide an intense conditioning workout and burn fat in a short period of time.
Different # or Reps/Sets/Rest:
Muscle Endurance: 12-20 reps, 1-3 sets, 0-90 second rest
Hypertrophy: 6-12 reps, 4-6 sets, 0-30 second rest
Strength: 1-5 reps, 3-5 sets, 3-5 minutes rest Note: everyone’s strength level is different and should never be compared to others. With that being said, at the end of your set, you should be struggling to complete the final set.