The default rep range

I had an hour-long conversation with Pavel Tsatsouline on Sunday and, as usual, his probing questions brought up a few things I had forgotten. One thing he asked was, “Over the years, was there a single rep range that you preferred?” What was ‘normal’ for me? Put another way, what single rep range did I use most often in my weight training and why? Without hesitation I said sets of 5 reps. I was a little surprised at how quickly I responded, but on reflection I thought it might be worth sharing the whys and wherefores.

As a teenager, I wanted usable athletic strength, with an emphasis on explosive power. It was isolated and I took my cues from the John McCallum articles. Mac was the first expert to argue that high reps build muscle tissue and super low reps achieve maximum power, so finding a rep range that splits the difference would provide the balance between high rep muscle size and pure torque. low reps. Since 10 reps and above were ‘normal’ and 1 to 3 reps were ‘low reps’, 4 to 9 reps would be mid-range. Split the difference and 5-6 reps seemed like the answer. Bill Pearl, another mentor, used 6-8 reps to build his incredible mass, and Mac suggested Fives. I started using five reps, particularly on my squats, overhead presses, and power cleans. Being determined and ambitious and given all the training time I needed, over time I developed the ability to take a 3 and turn it into a five through sheer willpower and grit.

In hindsight, this was physiologically correct and to this day, once a person has gotten past the beginner stages and wants to take their physique to the next level, 5 rep sets is my ongoing prescription. Later, when I started lifting weights and came under Cassidy’s tutelage, I found it ironic that he also used 5 as his ‘default’ rep range. By default I mean unless the trainee was peaking for a strength meet or athletic event of some kind (where it was appropriate to use low reps) or in the deep ‘off season’ and looking to add something in size (where it was appropriate to use high reps) at normal training times, the idea would be to push the 5 rep threshold up, higher and higher, on all major lifts.

When I first started working with Ed Coan and Doug Furnas, it seemed more of a coincidence that they both used sets of 5 reps more than any other rep range. Doug came up under hall of famer Dennis Wright, who was a 5-rep big man. Doug finally squatted 900×5 in the old George Zangas supersuit. I passed my love of the 5 on to Karwoski and they became the backbone of his training regimen. Typically, an athlete preparing for an event will take 12 weeks to get into peak condition. The first 2-3 weeks are used for “conditioning” and generally the athlete will use sets of 8-12 reps. For the vast middle section of the preparatory cycle, 5 are used. In the last 3-4 weeks, low rep sets are used to achieve maximum power and strength. It is no coincidence that each of the men I mention has developed incredible muscle mass and functional power. Furnas could do a standing backflip with a 280 weight and could still run a 4.7 forty.

Does any of this exoticism of ‘insider baseball’ have anything to do with the training of normal people? Absolutely: In my experience, the average trainee sticks with sets of 10 reps (or more) for a litany of lame reasons: “Low reps are dangerous” and my favorite, “I don’t want to build big muscles.” (As if it were that easy, as if within a few weeks of doing 5 they accumulated more mass than Arnold in 1975). This last excuse is universally used by women and defies rational thought and basic biology. We lift weights to build muscle and strength. Period. There is no other reason. We coordinate cardio and diet to oxidize body fat. All three elements intertwine to deliver the complete package, that is, increased muscle size and function combined with low body fat. No matter who you are (assuming you’re past the beginner stages), a dose of 5-rep sets can knock you out of any training routine you find yourself in. Forty-three years down the road of progressive resistance, I still believe that 5 reps have magical attributes. Maybe you should consider giving them a test ride.