Rep Range for Mass Gains

Q: You talk a lot about separating power sets and density sets. I think most research says that a rep range of around eight is best for muscle growth. Can’t I just do all my sets for around eight reps and grow?

A: Sure, you can stick to around eight reps for all sets, but we don’t think that’s efficient. In fact, always doing only six to eight reps may be one of the big reasons so many trainees build muscle so slowly. They’ve been brainwashed into believing that heavy training is the only way to big gaining. Not true.

We’ve found that to build the most mass as quickly as possible, you should divide your sets, doing at least some as heavy power hits and others for longer tension times—that is, density. The reason is the dominant fiber type in the biggest, freakiest bodybuilders—type 2A.

The 2As are dual-component muscle fibers, meaning that they have both power and endurance capabilities. That’s why, when trying to determine the one best rep range for muscle growth, researchers came up with eight reps—because it’s middle ground that puts a foot on both the power and endurance sides of the fence. If you use specificity on some of your sets, however, you can produce even better results.

In other words, do some of your sets for power and some for density, or endurance. For example, attack some low-rep work to train the power component, then finish off the bodypart with some higher-rep sets, drop sets or supersets for more of a density mass-building effect.

As we said, most bodybuilders are brainwashed with the must-use-heavy-weight-to-grow theory—and their gains are painfully slow. If and when they finally use something like 4×10 or another density finisher, they get a huge growth spurt. That’s because they’re finally targeting the endurance side of the key 2A growth fibers for a full-on, total fast-mass blast!

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com