#74: Rep Ranges: How to work with them & the best rep range for you

Did you know that a prevailing myth in fitness is that to get 'toned', you should work with low weights and high reps? That's just not true. 

So how many reps should you be doing? 

Well, it depends...

In episode #74 of 40+ Fitness for Women, I discuss: 

✔️ The pros and cons of working in low vs. high rep ranges, 

✔️ The recommended rep ranges for women in perimenopause and post-menopause

✔️ My recommendation for women over 40 who are just getting started

Enjoy the show!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 0:25 Understanding Rep Ranges
• 1:10 Muscle Building and Strength Maintenance
• 1:47 Scientific Insights on Rep Ranges
• 3:06 Individual Variations in Training
• 3:48 Factors Affecting Training Results
• 4:31 High Rep Ranges Explained
• 9:09 Low Rep Ranges Explained
• 11:05 Choosing the Right Rep Range for You
• 13:38 Practical Tips for Beginners
• 17:35 Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts
• 19:03 Final

Transcript

POD74: REP RANGES

Welcome to 40+ fitness for women. I'm Lynn Sederlöf-Airisto, your host, and I'm a certified menopause fitness coach helping women who are in perimenopause and postmenopause to build the bodies that they want to spend the rest of their lives in. And today we are getting back to nuts and bolts of lifting weights.

And we're going to be talking about rep ranges, what kinds of rep range you should be working in, kind of the pros and cons of different rep ranges, where you might want to start and what you might want to move over to as you become a more experienced lifter.

All right. And I want to say that I'm looking at this from the perspective of somebody who wants to build muscle and strength. So the two of them, there are maybe some fine line differences about how to do one versus the other. Like if you were to become a power lifter versus an onstage bodybuilder, but I'm not going to get into that nuance.

But I will say that I think for most of us, midlife women, we kind of want two big benefits out of our weight training. One is that we want to look more firm and toned, and that involves building muscle, having some muscle that will show underneath your skin. And, on the other hand, We want to maintain our strength because that is what's going to help us in everyday life and help us to be able to stay out of the nursing home down the line.

Right? So we have both aspects here. So it used to be believed that The different number of reps were equated to different results that you would get. So it used to be that if you did very, very small amount of reps, you would get a lot of strength.

And then if you did like a medium amount of reps, then you'd get more muscle growth. And if you did a high amount of reps, you wouldn't really get much muscle growth. Okay. And what we have learned studies have shown is that actually training somewhere between five reps and 30 reps is good for hypertrophy. In other words, for building muscle.

And I have to say this caveat that Whenever they do research, you know, , then you have to look at like, who are they doing the research on? Often it is young men or it might be trained men or untrained men. And a lot of times they've actually skipped women because of our menstrual cycle.

It skews results and not a whole lot has been done on simply, you know, postmenopausal women, But Even when we're talking about fairly homogeneous groups, um, there is a difference, right? There is a lot of individual variation, and when you look at the study results, you may have somebody who does a particular protocol, in other words, like trains a particular way, and they will get.

Great results, build lots of muscle, get really strong. And then another person doing the exact same stuff may end up with no results at all. So there is a lot of individual variation plus in the studies. I mean, really, if you were to try to make them really, really, uh, scientifically more useful, you would control for all the other variables.

So what about stress levels? What about protein consumption? Have they been drinking alcohol? Are they eating enough? Um, are they getting enough sleep? All of those factors, of course, play into the kind of results that you'll get.

But in any case, so when we're talking about rep ranges, you may find over time as you become a more experienced lifter and you try different things out, you may find that a, you enjoy one of the rep ranges more than another and that you get better results.

So always when I'm talking about these things, this is like where you could start out trying and then see how it goes for you. Okay, so let's get into the different sized or length of rep ranges. So when we're talking about high rep ranges, so we're talking like up 15 plus reps or even, you know, well, let me just take one more little step back because maybe you don't know what a rep range is or what even a rep is. 

So a rep is short for repetition. So it is The number of times that you do a particular exercise.

So let's say you're doing a bicep curl, five reps means that five times you would be bending and straightening your arm. And a rep range is. Something that we use for weight training to help ensure that we are applying progressive overload. 

So you're aiming for a certain number of reps. It also helps us to decide what weight of resistance we're going to be using because, , well, if you think about it, if somebody said to you, Hey, choose a weight from there that you can pick up once you could choose a fairly big weight, most likely off that weight rack.

But if they said, Choose a weight that you can lift 30 times or bicep curl 30 times. Well, you're going to go to the way other end of that weight rack and choose something much, much lighter. So your rep range is absolutely going to affect how heavy you lift. And I think that's an important thing to understand in this discussion of rep ranges.

So when we talk about a higher rep range, that means that you are going to be doing more repetitions of that same exercise in each set. And that means that you are going to be working with a little bit lower weight than you would if you're doing a short rep range. And the advantage there actually is that you can pay a little bit more attention to your form, or it's easier to pay attention to your form because those first reps, let's say you're working and, uh, trying 15 to 20 reps in your rep range.

So you're going to be doing that exercise. Let's say it's a shoulder press. You're doing the shoulder press. You're going to do it 15 times. Well, the first rep, the second rep, third rep, fourth rep, fifth rep. You're going to be able to do them. Uh, fairly easily and also rep six through 10, it's actually going to start only getting harder after rep 10.

And this has a couple of benefits. One is, you know, you were really able to concentrate on your form. You're not yet needing to, or you don't have the temptation to kind of skew or start like doing some weird wiggle to get the weight up there. So you can really solidify your form and think about, okay, this is how I need to be moving my arms.

My elbows need to be aligned like that. My hands like that, you know, while you're doing those first reps at the same time, it's a bit of a warmup for your body before you need to press hard, right? You can imagine that if you went in cold and picked up a really heavy weight, like you could pull something, right?

 So the higher rep range makes it easier for you to practice your form and to kind of warm up at the same time to avoid injury.

Now, on the con side, because you are doing so many more reps, you will get more tired, right? Then, I mean, if you're going to do. 15 to 20 reps, you're going to get more tired than if you are doing six. It just takes more energy to like move your arms that many times. And then the other thing is that it's going to take more time.

So your training session or your, your one set is going to take longer. If you're doing five reps versus 20 reps, the 20 reps will probably take you about four times longer to do than the five reps, right? So those are kind of the cons there.

Now, if we look at the other extreme when you're doing short sets So a short rep range, smaller rep range, there, your sets are going to be quick, okay. If you're like doing four to six reps, that doesn't take very long. So you will get through your training session a bit faster and it won't be quite as tiring because you're not kind of exercising for as long.

I know you're, you're pushing harder on those reps, but it actually, you, you don't get as much fatigue into your body when you're doing the shorter sets than you're doing the longer sets.

Now, if you're going to do fewer reps, it means that that very first rep is going to be hard. So most likely you will want to do a warmup set before that, where you are working with smaller weights. So you can kind of remind yourself of, yes, this is the movement pattern that I want to be doing. Kind of warm up your muscles.

So you're not going in there cold and asking your muscles to go you know, at their max capacity or close to their max capacity, because then you could get injured. So you kind of eat away at a little bit of that time savings because you may need to do a little bit of a warmup. And then the other thing is.

That you don't get the chance. Okay. If you've done the warmup set, then you do get it there, but you know, in your actual set, you, you are more tempted immediately to break form because it is heavier. You know, you're going to be closer to your limit right there from rep number one.

So which should you choose? Now, ideally for women who are 40 plus, we should be lifting heavy. Okay. So this kind of shorter rep range with heavier weights is what is more recommended for us. But, and I really want you to hear this, but I would not start out that way. I have watched too many clients who are unfamiliar with weight training and You know, you actually, if you get started when you're mid thirties, 40, even, even if you've been exercising, doing yoga, whatever, like other kinds of exercises, it's amazing how challenging just doing the weight training exercises are. 

So I think shoulder press is a really good example of one. So shoulder press, you have a dumbbells in your hands and you've got your arms kind of out to your sides and you straighten them up above your head. Fairly simple movement. But I tell you when I am with clients and watch their videos and they're just starting out.

That movement is shaky. Okay. Because there are some supporting muscles that also need to be working in there because your shoulders and your arms are not that strong yet. All these kinds of things. So for that reason, I think it is really important to go form first in the beginning and really learn the exercises, not start with a heavy weight, get really comfortable with the motion.

And that's not going to happen in a session or a week or two weeks. And even if you had an in person trainer watching you and making sure you're doing it exactly right even holding their hands next to your arms or whatever, it's not going to help you in the sense that you need to develop the, the kind of fine motor skills in way to do that motion with confidence, with a repeatable, you know, strong looking form.

And once you get that down, then sure, start decreasing the length of your sets and increasing your weights.

So if I think about people who start to weight train with me, my learn to lift courses, and even if you join the monthly membership, because I don't know what kind of background you have, I will start you with a larger rep range okay. So a larger amount of reps because I want to be sure you're practicing your technique. I also want to be sure that you have a chance for your muscles to warm up. A lot of women, you know, they're not going to really actually take the time to warm up properly like their arms and the motion movement patterns that you're doing in your weight training session.

So by doing a little bit larger rep range. Those first reps are at least getting you warmed up to some degree. And please, if you're listening to this, don't skip your warmup. Okay. Just because you might have a higher rep range. Don't skip your warmup. Still do the warmup. The light mobility only takes about five minutes to get going.

And then what I will do is as people get more experienced, more advanced, maybe two months with my one on one clients, maybe two or three months, then I start decreasing their rep ranges. So they're shorter than they are lifting heavier at that point. Um, And that means that their sessions are a little bit shorter and we're getting closer to, you know, the optimal in a way.

But I wouldn't do that with absolutely every lift because there are some muscles that are kind of, seem to be a little bit easier to pull and that kind of thing. So, and myself, When I train, I do some lifts where I will do a very short rep range. Okay. When I do chin ups right now, I'm working on getting solo, you know, chin ups unassisted.

I'm now down to the smallest rubber band in our gym and I can get four reps. Right. But the first time I did it with a rubber band, it was three reps. Okay. So there are like a small amount of reps, but I don't just walk into the gym, you know, hang that rubber band and get going. No, I do a long warmup for that movement to make sure that my technique is, you know, primed and that my muscles are ready to go.

Okay. So I hope that helps a little bit when you're thinking about what kind of rep ranges to work in. So if you're brand new, brand, brand new to weight training, I would err on the side of higher rep ranges, maybe even 15 to 20, maybe 12 to 15, you know, at, at the very shortest amount. And then as you start to feel really confident and strong in that movement, I mean, video yourselves.

Check if there's any kind of like wiggle or are you looking super powerful and like your arms are moving like greased, uh, like they're on some greased tracks because you're so solid in the movement that you're doing. Then you can start shortening your rep ranges and really challenging yourself with heavier weights.

And the last thing that I'll say is that even if we women are encouraged to work heavy, which means the shorter lifts, In the end, if you hate that, okay, if you hate that, and that's going to be the thing that keeps you from lifting, then please work in a slightly larger rep range, like higher amount of reps so that you keep going.

So some key takeaways. There are advantages and disadvantages to having the lower rep ranges and the higher rep ranges. And we women in midlife are encouraged to lift heavy, which means lower rep ranges, but be sure that you are always paying attention to form because that is how you're going to avoid becoming injured.

Also be sure that you're warming up. So if you're working in low rep ranges, make sure you have some warmup set, at least one before you hit your working set.

Train with intensity so that you are pushing your muscles to develop and to get stronger and bigger. And one way to measure that is to notice this involuntary slowdown in your reps as you get close to the end of your set.

And finally, applying progressive overload will help you to make sure that you're continuing to challenge your muscles. And that's one of the reasons why you want to keep your particular program for a particular length of time. I would suggest at least the 8 to 12 weeks before swapping exercises out.

For sure. Every one of you can continue to progress in an exercise for that long before wanting to, needing to change.

Okay. So that was it for my more technical episode. I would love to hear which episodes you guys enjoy more. So please drop me a line in the comments. On Instagram, maybe the easiest way chat with me or in messenger, uh, either way, or even send me an email.

I'm always happy to hear from you and what kind of episodes, or if there are topics you'd like to hear more about. So that was it for this time have a wonderful week and happy training.