Combining Light Weights, High Reps And Heavy Weights, Low Reps

The key to creating a balanced physique, whether you’re training for fat loss or muscle and strength gains is to incorporate all the different rep ranges into your routine.

The main benefit of heavy weights is that they stimulate the muscle fibers known as “fast twitch” or Type 2. These are the muscles responsible for producing power and building strength.

Lighter weights for higher reps on the other hand work your “slow twitch” or type 1 fibers. These are the muscle recruited when you’re performing more endurance-based activities.

As discussed, the number of reps you do has little effect on body composition. If you’re working hard, you’ll see positive changes in your physique – muscle size, body fat, definition, etc. Plus, the main factor in determining whether you lose or gain weight is your diet and overall calorie expenditure. When it comes to performance though, choosing the right rep ranges is absolutely critical.

To set up your training cycle to get the best of both methods, you need to break your training down into blocks. A typical cycle comprising all the potential set and rep boundaries would look like the following –

Weeks 1-3: Power phase
Weeks 4-6 Strength Phase
Weeks 7-9: Muscle Hypertrophy Phase
Weeks 10-12: Muscular Endurance
Week 13: Rest
Repeat

If all this looks completely confusing, fear not, it’s explained below:

Power Phase

Training Split: 3 Full Body sessions per week
Sets per Exercise: 6 to 10
Reps per Set: 1 to 5
Weight: 40 to 60% 1 Rep Max

This phase is all about building explosive power. You’ll focus on explosive lifts, such as box jumps, broad jumps, speed squats, speed deadlifts, clap pushups and Olympic lifts. The weights used aren’t particularly heavy, but you must lift them as quickly as possible, and focus on quality rather than quantity.

Strength Phase

Training Split: 2 upper body, 2 lower body sessions each week
Sets per Exercise: 4 to 6
Reps per Set: 3 to 6
Weight: 75 to 90% 1 Rep Max

Pick basic strength exercises such as squats, deadlifts, presses, pullups, rows and dips.

Hypertrophy Phase

Training Split: 2 pushing sessions, 2 pulling sessions, 2 leg sessions each week
Sets per Exercise: 3 to 5
Reps per Set: 8 to 12
Weight: 65 to 85% 1 Rep Max

Focus on creating as much muscle damage as possible, by concentrating on the mind muscle connection and using a controlled tempo on every rep.

Muscular Endurance Phase

Training Split: 3 Full Body sessions per week
Sets per Exercise: 2 to 4
Reps per Set: 12 to 20+
Weight: 45 to 65% 1 Rep Max

Aim to increase your time under tension each set, and use weights that are light enough to allow you to complete all the reps, but heavy enough to be challenging.