Strength, Hypertrophy & Endurance

Mark Wahlberg

When you’re weight training, how do you know the number of reps you need to do as well as the number of sets? Do you ever think about the amount of time you should rest between reps?

Well here are the basics of what you need to know according to what your goals are. There are 3 categories:
1. Strength: basically this is if you want to get stronger. This is typically followed by a muscular endurance program or a hypertrophy program.
2. Hypertrophy: this is for actual muscle size increases; for example if you want bigger arms or bigger legs etc.
3. Endurance: this would be for those who want to have better stamina; for those who want to be able to lift heavier for a longer period of time.

So what kind of reps and rest times are we looking at here? I’ll break it down for you.

Strength: 1-6 reps and a rest time of 2 to 5 minutes in between each one.
Hypertrophy: 6-12 reps and a rest time of 30 – 90 seconds.
Endurance: 12 + reps and a rest time of 30 seconds or less.

Now that we know how many do to of the above, we need to know the percentage of the needed load for the weight to accomplish what our goals are. There is a specific formula to measure what the exact weights should be per person but since everyone is so different and I’m not working with just one of you, I will write down the percentage of what your specific weight needs to be. Keep in mind this is a certain percentage of what your ONE REP MAX (1RM) is. A one rep max is how much weight you can lift ONE time, properly without being able to lift anymore with proper form.

Strength: > or = to 85%
Hypertrophy: 67-85%
Endurance: < or = to 67%

Hopefully this makes sense to you and now when you go to lift weights at the gym, you will have specifics to follow to more accurately design your program.

 

Hypertrophy phase

Endurance phase

Strength phase