By Michael Krueger
For as long as I can remember, one of many fitness controversies swirling around has been the question of how many sets of how many reps is optimal. I’m certain that this controversy will continue long after I’m gone and an entirely new generation of trainers, trainees, researchers, and athletes comes along.
Your goals should dictate how you train. As you know, the volume, intensity, and frequency with which you train will have an effect on your results. There are many studies demonstrating just that, as well as many years’ worth of anecdotal evidence; even Broscience backs it up.
But, even more important than the volume, intensity, and frequency of your training is that you actually have to do it in a way that works specifically for you in a long-term, balanced, and sustainable way.
Basically How It Works
It’s mostly agreed that high reps and many sets with lower weights will improve muscular endurance. Moderate reps with moderate sets and moderate weight works well for muscular hypertrophy while low reps with fewer sets and higher weight is for building strength. Of course, then there is lifting for explosive power, but I’m not getting into that right now.
Here’s the odd thing: If you lift regularly, you will improve all three of these areas, no matter which of the protocols you chose to use. Of course, if you desperately want just endurance, hypertrophy, or raw strength, your results would be better if you trained just for the one. You would also see results quicker by following a program designed specifically for your goal. On the other hand, unless you plan on competing in just one area, you’ll need a balance of all three to be truly fit.
When asked, most trainees will put forth a somewhat vague idea of what they want to achieve. It’s generally a little bodybuilding, a little strength training, and then some endurance. When you don’t have a specific goal, it’s difficult to follow a proper program; you tend to be all over the place. But if you redefine your goal as “base fitness,” then while the program may still seem a little undefined, there is actually a “method to the madness” that may not be initially apparent.
That is why some people use periodization in their training. This means they might work on each one of these three areas for four weeks and then take a week off and start over again. This is a common way that trainers work with clients with nonspecific goals. It gives the impression that they are covering all the bases, while in actuality they are just bouncing from one thing to another with not much good happening in any of them.
True periodization is a finely tuned and very personalized way of training that is often used by elite athletes to peak for a competition. It’s difficult to implement the way it was meant, because if you miss even one workout it can mess up the whole progression. While it can be very effective when used properly, it usually isn’t and rarely is.
So, what’s the answer?
Purposeful Training
The short answer to the “What’s the answer?” question is to not worry about it and just consistently train your whole body aerobically and for strength about five days per week.
Unless you have the desire to be a competitive athlete, there is little reason to specialize in any one area. Most of us need to have general strength and endurance to get through our day and to live our life to the fullest. Having extreme strength and huge muscles doesn’t do much other than create an obsessive maintenance nightmare. When you are trying to attain an elite status with regard to competitive physical culture, you need to be dedicated to it to the exclusion of most everything else. This is why I don’t recommend specialization in training and rather encourage doing full body workouts on a regular basis. It doesn’t really matter what the reps and sets are, since you will more than likely fall into a rep/set scheme that you most enjoy and that fits with your schedule, equipment, training environment, and personality.
After you have been regularly working every muscle group with whatever protocol you have chosen, you will begin to notice changes in how you look and how you feel. Over time, you will come to realize that your body and mind respond in a particular way to a specific stimulus, though the result may not be (and frequently isn’t) the exact result that you had originally hoped for.
I know people who secretly hoped they would get bigger muscles and instead “just got stronger,” while others who wanted to get massively strong ended up with just “big muscles” and not as much strength as they had hoped for. This can be partly blamed on their program, but if they are looking for the real culprits, they need to blame their parents.
Your genetics will to some extent determine how your body reacts to the more extreme training. I’m not saying that you can blame genetics for your failing to get strong or build muscle, but rather genetics will determine how far you can take any one attribute with regard to physical development.
Some people may be able to run long distances easier than others can but may not be able to sprint well at all. I know people who are very strong but to look at them you wouldn’t think that. I also know one guy in particular who has muscles on muscles, and he is amazingly weak, considering his size. Your genetics play a big role in specialization but not so much in generalities. By just training your whole body in a way that for you is sustainable over time, you can achieve great results.
Balance
Being a great big guy isn’t an advantage to being a firefighter. Big muscles get in the way more than they benefit your performance. Squeezing through tight spaces, finding equipment that fits, and performing nutritional maintenance on a big body are all complications that can be avoided.
A strong and lean body has many advantages. Obviously, there are health effects to take into consideration that can be addressed by maintaining a low amount of body fat. Limiting the amount of weight your knees, hips, and ankles have to bear is also of great benefit in the long run. It doesn’t matter if the mass you carry is muscle or fat, the pounds per square inch still continue to pound step after step.
For most people with a job and/or family, the amount of time required to specialize in fitness is prohibitive. A balanced fitness program, splitting time between full body strength training and aerobic work, seldom takes more than three hours per week, whereas a specialized bodybuilding program may take upward of three hours per day.
Identifying your needs and quantifying your wants along with accepting your strengths and limitations will guide you toward your optimal workout. You’ll learn what you don’t like to do and also what makes training a joy. You may hate doing three sets of ten reps but have no problem doing five sets of six. The thought of crawling under a very heavy weight for two reps may leave you cold while ripping off sets of 15 with a lighter weight gets you totally stoked.
The great thing about this is that your strength, endurance, and appearance will improve on any of these protocols. The fact that your workout has evolved into something you enjoy doing guarantees that you will continue doing it, and by doing it you will continue to improve.
Lastly
When it comes to training, you do get what you train for but you may not get what you think you’re training for. If you work your whole body in a way that makes you want to come back for more, you will improve. If you pay attention to your results, you can tweak your program here and there to focus a bit more on one parameter or another, and you will improve even more.
Just remember, “Balance is where it’s at.” Keep that simple dictum in mind, and your training will complement every aspect of your life, be it work, play, physical, emotional, or psychological.
Michael Krueger is an NSCA-certified personal trainer. He got his start in fitness training while serving in the United States Coast Guard. He works with firefighters and others in and around Madison, Wisconsin. He is available to fire departments, civic organizations, and athletic teams for training, consulting, and speaking engagements. He has published numerous articles on fitness, health, and the mind-body connection and was a featured speaker at the IAFC’s FRI 2009 Health Day in Dallas, Texas. E-mail him at MKPTLLC@gmail.
