Your Repetitions Will Help You to Achieve Your Fitness Goals
It is an advantage to know how many repetitions you need to do, in order to achieve your fitness goals. You should structure your exercise and consider what you want to achieve before hitting the gym.
Most people exercise in order to achieve a certain goal, like gaining muscle mass, defining muscles or increasing endurance. So it makes sense to figure out how to achieve these goals by calculating the number of repetitions you need to reach your goal.
Remember that each body and person is different, and not all exercises work for everyone. You should also calculate your body mass index, to know where you are starting. While you are working out, you should pay attention to your diet. Aim for a low fat diet, with a high level of protein and a small amount of sugar.
Once you settle on your goals and diet, you can then figure out how many repetitions are needed. Getting fit is such a complex process that most people with serious fitness goals end up overhauling their whole lifestyle.
Calculate repetitions according to your goals
As you probably know, you can shape your body based on the number of repetitions you do for specific exercises. Here, we present guidelines that are general and not restrictive, so modify your routine to fit what you want and what feels best for your body.
Your goal: gain muscle mass
When you work out with weights, you break down the fibers that make up your muscles. Your muscles then repair themselves “with more resources,” to adapt and be resilient to future muscle trauma. This causes an increase in muscle volume, which means that your muscles grow and become toned.
If your goal is to gain muscle mass, you need to find a consistent way to break down your muscle fibers and promote muscle growth.
Challenge your muscles by performing three to four sets of between six and ten repetitions each of weight training or body weight exercise. To increase the size of your muscles, you should continually train with more and more weight so your muscles do not get used to a specific weight load and they are constantly challenged.
Your goal: increase muscle endurance
An increase in the number of repetitions you do in a given exercise works to extend your muscles’ fatigue threshold. This is a good thing, because it means that next time you can do more repetitions.
To gain muscle, you need to progressively increase weight loads so that your body does not get used to a specific exercise. But increasing the number of repetitions you do will result in a muscle with greater endurance.
Doing any exercise for a long time (like endurance running or lots of push ups) is great for strengthening your muscles and burning fat and calories. Doing lots of repetitions with a light weight load is also important because you can understand the moves before you add more weights. This can help you to avoid injuries due to bad movements or incorrect postures.
Once you nail a move (like a perfect push up), you can increase the number of repetitions per series until you reach 20 in a set. By slowing increasing the number of sets you do at a low weight load, you’ll notice that your muscles get stronger.
You goal: tone your muscles
If your goal is to tone and define your muscles, you should do repetitions with an average weight load. Your muscles need to activate the hormones responsible for burning fat. With a medium weight load, your muscles will have the necessary energy to do movements correctly, while still burning fat.
To tone your muscles, you should do between 15 and 25 repetitions per series. Make sure your weight load is moderate, and rest for about three or four minutes in between sets.
Your goal: gain muscle power
These routines are recommended for advanced athletes. To gain muscle power, you need to make explosive movements that hit various muscle groups,such as, weight baring squats. Do these moves at maximum speed and without reaching muscle failure to get the most out of your exercises.
Aim to do a couple of sets with two or three repetitions each, to demand maximum effort from your muscles. Make sure to take more breaks than usual. For most athletes, it is necessary to stop for three minutes between sets.
You will get the most out of your exercise if you combine goals. You could spend a gym session just focusing on toning your muscles, and then another focusing on gaining muscle mass. Keep changing the number of sets, repetitions and even the rest intervals between your exercises.
Above all, make sure you prevent your muscles from getting used to specific exercises. Keep putting stress on your muscles to make them progress.
As a final recommendation, you should check in with a fitness coach or teacher to monitor your progress. A coach can show you exactly how to exercise to quickly reach your goals.
