How many sets and reps should you do?
Strength, muscle size, endurance: the number of reps changes what you're training. Simple guidelines to make sense of it.
Progressive overload: the principle behind progress
Do a little more than last time, consistently. How to apply it safely, in the gym and on the road.
Your body adapts to what you ask of it. If you always do the same workout with the same weight, it eventually has no reason to improve. Progressive overload means gradually raising the challenge so you keep moving forward.
Ways to do more
- More weight: an extra 5 lb on the bar.
- More reps: going from 8 to 10 with the same weight.
- More sets: one extra set per exercise.
- Less rest: the same work in less time.
- When running: a bit more distance or one extra interval.
One thing at a time
Change one variable at a time, and not every session. Adding weight, reps and sets all at once is the fastest way to stall, or get hurt.
When to go up
A good sign: you finish every planned rep with good form and still have something left. That's when to nudge things up. If the session was genuinely hard, repeat it as is.
That's what Volta's coach does. After three workouts in a sport that felt easy, it suggests moving up a level. For lifting, it also suggests a slightly heavier weight than last time, without ever filling it in for you.
Let Volta plan your week.