Q: I know I’m not the first person to ever ask about rep ranges. It may sound like a boring question, but I am curious to know where my own personal workouts should head? I was a sprinter in high school and have good, somewhat dense limb muscle, but I am also lean and don’t really have a problem with body fat. It’s like I’m two people in one. I find that sometimes my workouts produce results, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason why. Then again, I am also not keeping logs. Can you recommend the sort of workouts I should be doing for major muscle groups, as well as set/ rep ranges?
A: Tall order. Usually when results are hit and miss, it is how we apply workouts and whether we are really paying attention to what our bodies are telling us. However it can also be because we are two different kinds of fiber types, which I suspect you are. When you say you’ve got appreciable limb muscle, but are not massive and don’t carry a ton of excess body fat (at least subcutaneous fat) then you probably have a fast-twitch predominate type, but also carry enough slow twitch and intra-muscular fat to cause fullness while still being lean. This is ideal for bodybuilding or any other sport and is a true indication of a mesomorphic body. But many people believe that being a true mesomorph means that they can do no wrong in the gym because they are the ultimate type – that their bodies and individual body parts will respond to almost anything. Truth is, you need to use higher rep ranges for large muscle groups like legs and back, moderate rep ranges for chest, shoulders and calves, and lower rep ranges for small body parts such as biceps, triceps, and shoulders. I’d also play around with sets, mostly with large and medium body parts. That means doing giant sets sometimes for legs and back, and drop sets for chest and shoulders. Your legs, calves, back and chest can probably withstand less rest between sets, and you should probably take a little more rest between sets for biceps and triceps. Try this for awhile, keeping in mind that your legs are a true combination of fibers – both fast and slow twitch – and therefore, need both heavy weight and higher rep (intensity) in order to grow, change, develop and become more and more finely tuned in both appearance and function. If you think 6-10 reps for your upper body parts, in general, and 15-20 for lower, you probably are in the correct range. I could see pushing your back chest and shoulders into the 8-12 range, really, and also keeping your legs, at times, in the 12-18 range. But don’t adhere to regular training dogma that suggests that 4-6 reps will make your legs grow and 10-12 reps will build endurance and lean you out. It’s just a bunch of hooey!