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    Bill Starr - Sets, Reps and Getting Strong

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    TomSus
    The document discusses optimal sets and reps for strength training. It notes that for a long time, the standard was three sets of 10 reps for all exercises. However, research has shown that four to six sets of four to six reps is actually best for strength development. This lower rep range allows for better form and engages the tendons and ligaments more. The author recommends five sets of five reps for primary exercises, as this progressive system allows muscles to warm up properly.

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    Bill Starr - Sets, Reps and Getting Strong

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    TomSus
    184 views2 pages
    The document discusses optimal sets and reps for strength training. It notes that for a long time, the standard was three sets of 10 reps for all exercises. However, research has shown that four to six sets of four to six reps is actually best for strength development. This lower rep range allows for better form and engages the tendons and ligaments more. The author recommends five sets of five reps for primary exercises, as this progressive system allows muscles to warm up properly.

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    The document discusses optimal sets and reps for strength training. It notes that for a long time, the standard was three sets of 10 reps for all exercises. However, research has shown that four to six sets of four to six reps is actually best for strength development. This lower rep range allows for better form and engages the tendons and ligaments more. The author recommends five sets of five reps for primary exercises, as this progressive system allows muscles to warm up properly.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    184 views2 pages

    Bill Starr - Sets, Reps and Getting Strong

    Uploaded by

    TomSus
    The document discusses optimal sets and reps for strength training. It notes that for a long time, the standard was three sets of 10 reps for all exercises. However, research has shown that four to six sets of four to six reps is actually best for strength development. This lower rep range allows for better form and engages the tendons and ligaments more. The author recommends five sets of five reps for primary exercises, as this progressive system allows muscles to warm up properly.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    Sets, Reps and Getting Strong

    Bill Starr 09.09.2012

    Research has shown that the best way to develop strength is to do four to six sets of four to six
    reps each.

    Of all the many aspects of strength training, the one that seems to baffle more athletes and
    coaches is determining just how many reps and sets they should use for various exercises in a
    program. Any trainees who have laid out their own beginning programs understands the
    problem of not really knowing how to proceed in terms of sets and reps.

    For a very long time the accepted standard for everyone lifting weight was to perform three
    sets of 10 reps on every exercise in the program—no exceptions. That was the formula used
    by Dr. Peter Karpovich of Springfield College in Massachusetts when he conducted perhaps
    the very first study of the effects of weight training on 600 men, aged 18 to 30.

    The first instructional manual I ever saw on the subject of weight training was George
    Jowett’s Guide to Dynamic Tension. It had a section about using weights, but since I didn’t
    have any at the time, I stuck with the dynamic-tension exercises. When I did finally come
    across a barbell and dumbbells—when I attended medical corpsman school at Great Lakes
    Naval Training Center in North Chicago, Illinois—I recalled his advice on sets and reps: three
    sets of 10.

    So that’s what I started with—and it got the job done on only a handful of basic exercises. I
    stuck with that for a long time before I tried something different. I wanted to start using more
    weight, especially in my presses and cleans, so I lowered the reps to six and did two extra
    sets. That worked, so I decided to see what would happen if I did those lifts in sets of twos,
    threes and even singles every month or so. That change also helped me get a tad stronger.

    The data wasn’t available, so I had to find out what worked on my own. Nowadays, however,
    the problem isn’t lack of information but too much. So much that athletes and coaches
    become confused trying to figure out just how to lay out a systematic strength program. There
    are more experts than members of Congress, and they’re all striving to be “the voice” on the
    topic.

    Mingled with all the experts are the team doctors and trainers who still adhere to the three-
    sets-of-10 concept. The rationale behind it is that it restricts the amount of weight that can be
    used on an exercise. Less weight means less risk of injury. While that makes sense on paper,
    it doesn’t in reality.

    Here’s why: People just starting out on a strength program don’t have enough of a base to
    handle much weight—which also means that they don’t as yet have the strength to do 10 reps
    correctly with any weight that taxes them. Even with the basic, low-skill movements, such as
    the squat and bench press, their form will start to falter when they reach seven, eight, nine or
    10 reps because they’re growing tired.

    Another reason I don’t use three sets of 10 for beginners is that the higher reps do not hit the
    tendons and ligaments nearly as well as slightly lower reps. And anyone who has been
    involved in strength training for any length of time knows that the attachments are the keys to
    gaining strength. Research has shown that the best way to develop strength is to do four to six
    sets of four to six reps each. That has multiple benefits. With the slightly lower reps, you can
    concentrate on your form much better, and fours, fives or sixes will definitely hit your
    attachments.

    My favorite is five sets of five for the primary exercises for anyone just starting out in
    strength training as well as for those getting back into the flow of training. I use a progressive
    system on which you start out with a relatively light weight and proceed on to a heavier
    poundage. That lets your muscles get warmed up properly before tackling the more taxing
    weights and gives your nervous system a chance to get more involved.

    For example, a bench press progression might be 135, 175, 195, 205 and 215.

    I’ll have more on this next month.

    Editor’s note: Bill Starr was a strength and conditioning coach at Johns Hopkins University
    from 1989 to 2000. He’s the author of The Strongest Shall Survive—Strength Training for
    Football, which is available for $20 plus shipping from Home Gym Warehouse. Call (800)
    447-0008, or visit www.Home-Gym.com.

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