Are Low Reps Ideal for Strength?
Written on December 17, 2023 - 7:37 am | by Terra
Every now and then, you will articles saying bodybuilders should do low reps since that will help them increase their strength. And you will also see training programs for muscle which will have a mix of low and high reps to target both strength and muscle.
But are low reps ideal for strength?
Why is low rep considered ideal for strength?
Powerlifters: Powerlifters are the strongest blokes around, and their training involves a lot of low reps ( 1-6 reps).
Guidelines: According to text books and exercise guidelines, the repetition range for strength is 1-6 reps.
So what is the problem?
Types of strength: There are different types of strength: Maximal strength is the amount of weight you can lift for one repetition. And people are usually refferfing to maximal strength when they say just strength.
On the other hand, strength endurance is the maximum amount of weight you can lift multiple number of reps, say 15-20.
Specificity of strength: According to the theory of specificity, strength is very specific to the repetition range.
So if you want to increase your maximal strength, you do a lot of low reps (1-6). If you want to increase the weight you do for 10 reps, you do a lot of reps around 10 (8-12). If you want to increase your 20 reps, you do a lot of 20 reps ( 18-22).
Example: Consider 3 people A, B, and C with the same genetics, diet, body weight and motivation. A does a lot of bench press in the range of 1-6, B does a lot of bench press in the 8-12 range, and C does a lot in the 20-25 range. Who is stronger?
A is the strongest in 1-6 reps
B is the strongest in the 8-12 reps
C is the strongest in the 20-25 range.
Is there any evidence for this?
The above example was tested in a study. The first figure shows what happens when they were tested for maximal strength. As predicted, A was the strongest.
In the second figure, they were tested for strength endurance. And guess what, A was the weakest!
Practical Applications
- Strength is very specific to the repetition range.. There is no magic to low reps that is missing in high reps in increasing strength
- If you are training for muscle, there is no reason to add low reps to increase “strength” as most people say.
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