How many reps should you do? 

We’re halfway through the year, and you feel your workout routine is not delivering the results you were expecting. There are plenty of reasons why that might be happening, and one of them might be a lack of variety in your fitness routine. The truth is our bodies need fresh action for us to adapt and get stronger. That’s why you ever so often need to change your workout routine. 

Building a workout routine is not easy, trust us. You must attend a series of aspects, such as personal preferences, time available, equipment or current fitness level. Doing this all by yourself can be challenging. After all, how many exercises should you include? And how many reps should you do? In this article, we’ll answer the last question with a simple goal: making it easier to build your workout routine.

But before we do, let’s clarify the meaning of reps. It’s the diminutive of repetitions. And what is a repetition? One complete motion of an exercise. 

How many reps should you do?

Like most fitness-related questions, there is no concrete answer. The number of reps you should do depends on your current fitness level, type of training, and type of exercise but mostly on your fitness goals. 

For example, if your goal is hypertrophy, the number of reps will differ from those whose goal is building strength. That alone explains why the answer to “how many reps should you do?” can differ. 

Number of reps for each type of goal 

Having established this, let’s see how many reps you should do for each type of goal: 

1 – Building strength

If you’re aiming to get stronger, you’ll have to lift heavy weights for fewer reps. We recommend around 1-5 reps per set or round. This will help you to build muscle mass and improve your overall strength.

2 – Building muscle size (hypertrophy)

On the other hand, if your goal is hypertrophy (increasing muscle size), you must aim for moderate to high reps — around 8-12 per set or round. This will create micro-tears in your muscles, which will then rebuild during rest periods, helping you get larger muscles.

3 – Increase endurance

Last but not least, if your goal is to increase endurance, that is to say, training your muscles’ ability to perform for an extended period, you must perform a high number of reps: around 15-20 reps per set or round. 

I have my reps all figured out, so why haven’t I reached my fitness goals yet? 

The reps you do is just one factor in your workout routine. Despite its importance, you can’t underestimate the importance of proper nutrition, form and recovery time. It’s the combination of all these factors that will put you on track with your fitness goals.