What’s “better” for building muscles: Higher weight and fewer repetitions… or lower weight and more reps? It depends.
We’ve all read or heard the baseline recommendation — three sets of 10 reps — but that’s an average answer. While it can be a great starting point, what you lift and how depends on your personal goals.
Let’s consider the following question: How many reps and sets for weight loss?
How Many Reps and Sets for Weight Loss: Consider Your Goals and Focus
Before you pursue any exercise, resistance training, or weight-bearing regimen, begin with the end in mind:
- If your goal is longevity — a high quality of life into your 80s and 90s — prioritize muscle development over other weight-loss factors.
- If your goal is hypertrophy (increase muscle size and shape), heavier weights and low reps can help. But that isn’t necessary for everyone.
- If your goal is fat-burning or gaining strength, you don’t necessarily need oversized muscles for effective results.
Another factor to consider is your training focus — the area(s) of the body you want to strengthen and through what type of activity.
Training Focus: Upper and Lower Body
We all have slow- and fast-twitch fibers, but their quantity and distribution depend on your genetics, age, and activity level. How you optimize them impacts your training goals:
- Slow-twitch (type 1) muscle fibers support activities that call for sustained effort, such as long-distance running or cycling, maintaining posture, stabilizing bones and joints, and making small movements. Slow-twitch muscle fibers, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves, are predominantly found in your lower body.
- Fast-twitch (type 2) muscle fibers contract quickly and powerfully to generate short bursts of energy — for instance, the explosive movements in sprinting, weightlifting, and jumping jacks.
Build Power and Strength
Lifting heavier weights with fewer reps is a simple way to build muscle mass. It’s not unusual for bodybuilders to attempt a single rep with heavy weights, particularly in bench presses, to see how far they can push their bodies.
It’s common to see men in their late 40s or early 50s — perhaps inexperienced with weights or who haven’t lifted in years — trying to “compete” with younger, fitter gymgoers. This might result in muscle-related injuries.
Our bodies and muscles change as we age. Muscle fibers shrink and decrease in number, reducing muscle mass and strength. While the high-weights/low-rep approach can grow muscles, it also places excessive stress on joints if you try to lift weight beyond your capacity.
But here’s an even more compelling fact: Even if your muscles increase in size, it doesn’t necessarily mean increased strength and power.
While larger muscles can generate more power, there’s no direct correlation. If training isn’t designed to optimize strength, even bigger muscles may be less efficient at producing force.
On the other hand, an individual with smaller muscles can be pretty strong, depending on their training focus and how they recruit muscle fiber. A viable option is to choose lower weights and do higher reps to increase strength.
Completing 20 or 30 reps of lighter weights will make you stronger. Your muscles will strengthen, and your metabolism will increase. The lighter weight/higher rep approach doesn’t wear out your joints, so you risk less injury.
Burn Calories and Lose Weight
Many people, advised by their doctor to lose weight, struggle with calorie-cutting.
Put your muscles to work to trigger fat-burning and lose weight. Add a weightlifting regimen to your daily routine to take a first step in the right direction. Muscle resistance exercises can expedite your metabolism, burn calories, and tone muscles.
Here are some tips to burn calories when you lift:
- If you’re new to a lifting routine (or getting back into one after several years off), start with perhaps three reps of 10 with a light weight. Build carefully — your strength will increase as you become more comfortable with the routine. When you can lift three sets of 12 reps per set, increase your lifting weight and begin the cycle again with the new, heavier weight.
- Good form is vital when lifting, especially weights. If six or eight reps become a struggle, your form will suffer, and you risk injury. Lighten your weights temporarily until your form is perfect and you can comfortably reach those 12 reps. Then, you can progress.
- With a heavier weight/fewer reps approach, you’ll add muscle, which speeds up your metabolism and supports fat burn throughout the day. Muscles can also improve your balance and enable other workout activities to burn additional calories.
- The lighter weight/more reps approach is cardiovascular and helps lower your risk of heart-related issues.
Find the Right Balance
Building muscle and burning calories are equally important to a healthy, long life. Whether your main focus is the number of reps and sets for weight loss, strength building, or both, find a workout that pushes you while avoiding injury.
Balance is key. How do you balance strength training with cardio or other forms of exercise to create a comprehensive calorie-burning program? Here are a few tips:
- Achieve a cardiovascular workout using muscle resistance or lifting lighter weights more quickly, or incorporate muscle resistance into your cardio by safely using a weighted vest during a run or other exertional activity.
- Follow the CDC’s “Physical Activity Guidelines” for the minimum recommended 150 minutes of exercise a week.
- Days off are just as important as exercise days. It gives muscles time to heal and grow.
- Muscle-resistant exercise breaks down muscles. As they build back stronger, include some form of protein in your diet to give them the foundation for growth.
Your Muscles: Use Them or Lose Them
Whether you’re 20, 50, or 80, strong, well-developed muscles improve your health, wellness, and quality of life. But you must use them or lose them.
Muscle mass can degrade by 3–5% per decade after age 30. So, once you’ve developed a weightlifting regimen, stick with it to preserve the fruits of your labor.
Do you have questions about finding the correct resistance or weight-training approach? Are you trying to determine how many reps and sets for weight loss? Are you interested in lifting to build strength?
Your Priority Physicians are here to help. Reach out to us today.
