It’s understandable why there is so much confusion regarding the ideal rep range for sculpting a lean, muscular, detailed, and athletic physique…
…On one end of the spectrum you see advice in female fitness magazines, suggesting high reps to ‘tone’ your body.
The common ‘belief’ among these women is that if you lift anything for less than 12-15 reps and you’ll get big and bulky… which is a myth that refuses to go away.
On the other end of the spectrum you’ll find a segment of strength coaches preaching to “Just lift heavy shit” if your goal is to pack on muscle.
Somewhere in the middle you’ll find the wise Physique Athletes who utilize all rep ranges.
With a goal to maximize the full potential of their body… Physique Athletes recognize the benefits each rep range has to offer.
Physique Athletes love to lift heavy IRON too. I feel like a MAN when I do heavy deadlifts and my fellow female Physique Athletes have mentioned feeling EMPOWERED from lifting heavy weight.
I have never fully understood the beef some strength coaches have with bodybuilders and physique athletes…
…Often times I’m left feeling confused, because in one sentence they criticize bodybuilding workouts… yet in the next sentence they praise some of the greatest bodybuilders from multiple eras, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronnie Coleman, because they included heavy lifting into their training.
NEWS FLASH!!!
…That’s exactly what the wise Physique Athlete and bodybuilder does… include heavy lifting in addition to pump workouts in the mid to high rep range.
How Rep Ranges Impact Your Physique
Mid to high rep ranges hit your muscles on a cellular and metabolic level… causing swelling of the muscle cells, which is commonly referred to as the “PUMP”.
Some strength coaches will joke that training for hypertrophy with these ‘pump’ exercises is useless, because it just creates a temporary puffiness of the muscle, which quickly disappears.
…but recent research is revealing the contrary… that the impact of ‘pump’ training can be long lasting, as discussed by Dr. Brad Schoenfeld and Bret Contreras in their paper, The Muscle Pump: Potential Mechanisms and Applications for Enhancing Hypertrophic Adaptations. (NOTE: click the pdf icon on the right side of page for the full article).
Lower rep ranges (1-6 reps) hit your muscles on a neurological level… which increases your ability to recruit more muscle fibers. Training in the lower rep range tends to build dense, hard muscle.
Your muscles are made up of slow twitch (Type 1) and fast twitch (type 2) muscle fibers… and are found in fairly equal proportion throughout your body as a whole… although there are individual variances.
Slow twitch muscle fibers are activated when you lift lighter weight for higher reps and are slow to grow… which is most likely the reason why you see high reps prescribed in many female fitness mags… because they are afraid to build muscle… even though lean muscle creates strong, sexy curves.
Fast twitch muscle fibers are activated when you lift heavier weight for fewer repetitions and have a much greater capacity for growth… which is most likely the reason why you see some strength and muscle building coaches suggest you only “Lift heavy shit”.
Yet, when you consider there is a fairly even distribution of slow and fast twitch muscle fibers throughout your body, doesn’t it seem silly to neglect half the fibers if your goal is to maximize the full potential of your physique?
Furthermore… the distribution of fiber types vary with each muscle. Take the soleus (calve muscle) as an example, which is made up of approximately 75% slow twitch muscle fibers. If you’re only lifting heavy weight for your calves you are leaving some serious results on the table.
Ironically, some strength coaches who rarely recommend isolation exercises… suggest that if you are to do any training for your arms it should be in the mid-high rep range. Interesting thing is… the arms have a higher distribution of fast twitch fibers… which means they will respond better to the heavier loads.
The ART and SCIENCE of Physique Training
This is where science and art blend harmoniously to sculpt the physique you desire.
Science provides us with details about the approximate ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch muscle fibers within each muscle and how each fiber will respond to the various loads and rep ranges it’s faced with lifting.
The ART comes from strategically selecting the optimal combination of low, mid, and high rep exercises in an effort to sculpt an aesthetically pleasing physique.
For this reason, I refer to physique athletes as Physique Artists. Training is an art form… with an approach based on science you can sculpt your body into a work of art… a masterpiece.
Take A Synergistic Approach
So what’s the ideal rep range for Physique Athletes?
If your goal is to maximize the full potential of your physique… and look your absolute best… All of them!
As concluded in the research paper above, it’s likely that there is a synergistic relationship between hypertrophy training in the mid-high rep ranges and strength training in the lower rep ranges.
This is a huge reason for the incredible results experienced from the Physique Phreak… Elite Physique… and Metabolic Masterpiece body sculpting workouts for the past several years. Every one of these workouts takes a synergistic approach by including all rep ranges.
It’s time to get science on your side… and view training as an art form. Your body is indeed a work of art.
Sculpt a Masterpiece,
Scott Tousignant
About The Author
Scott Tousignant, BHK is a Certified Fitness Consultant and Elite Natural Bodybuilder with the UFE.
Scott specializes in helping regular men and women sculpt their body into a chiseled work of art. Viewing training as an art form and your body as a sculpture is a simple shift in mindset that brings out the beauty in your ongoing body transformation.
The art of molding and chiseling an aesthetically pleasing physique with ideal proportions, spectacular symmetry, and magnificent detail is one of life’s most rewarding and fulfilling experiences. It’s an opportunity for self growth and self discovery that will impact every area of your life.
Learn more about Scott’s physique-focused training programs:
Get a taste of Scott’s hardcore physique training programs with Physique Phreak
When Scott needs to urgently strip away stubborn sacks of fat for a photo shoot or bodybuilding contest, he turns to his time-tested proven system… Elite Physique system.