Rep range for bulking?

**pipper0916** · 01-03-2013, 04:11 PM

ive heard that
1-2 reps=power
2-4= strength
8-12= hypertrophy
15+= endurance

I am most interest in hypertrophy. Since I am bulking should i keep the rep range to 6-8, or is benefical to do the 10-12 reps.

I feel like the 6-8 range is bulk hypertrophy while the 10-12 range is cut hypertrophy but thats just bro science.

I am currently doing 12-10-8 with increasing weight,

any input or expierence would be appreciated

**copaaz** · 01-03-2013, 10:26 PM

Look into HIIT training. How close to failure are your sets with 12 & 10 reps?

**Turkish Juicer** · 01-04-2013, 07:06 AM

Both 4-6 rep range and 8-12 range will serve bulking purposes; however, you will be more prone to injuries with the former and your conditioning as a bodybuilder as well as endurance will be higher with the latter.

You will need 2-3 min. rest time in between sets when you train 4-6 rep range, which is basically power-lifting then, but you should see significant improvements in both strength and size.

On another note, 4-6 rep range is only applicable to large muscle groups, do not even think of training small muscle groups with that rep range, you will get injured and it is altogether pointless.

A smart system would be following a progressive 5x5 routine for about 4-6 weeks and then returning to the typical BB hypertrophy routine where weights are lower, rep range is higher and rest time between sets is by far shorter.

**swolehead** · 07-05-2014, 04:35 PM

I know this is old but it still comes up in a Google search 1 to 2 reps is not power power has Nuthing to do with reps power is explosiveness such as a med ball throw very commonly mixed because of the term power lifter when in reality there achieving feats of strength and not power and to the other post saying that you can't train 4 to 6 reps with small muscle groups I don't know where you think you can't max curl for example that like saying if a table is connected to the ground and I pull up in a curling motion. with my palms up are you saying I'm going to hurt my self I don't think so and to say that it is altogether pointless is I hmm or ant if it pointles then you wouldn't see results I agree that doing strength training with lower reps such as 4 to 6 should be left for compound excersizes but smaller muscle Groups will still benefit from that training. also just notices op you said 10 to 12 is cutting hypertrophy there's no such thing and cuting has nothing to do with reps except to keep the heart rate up cutting is diet calories in being less then calorie expenditure not trying to bash on anyone just saying

**Chicagotarsier** · 07-07-2014, 03:55 AM

All you ever need to know about hypertrophy is German Volume Training. If you do GVT properly there is no other form of lifting that can claim it is better at hypertrophy. HIIT is just a modification of GVT...and not really a modification because if you read the training books published by football teams from the 70s HIIT was labeled under GVT....so no magic there.

One of the members on here posted a video of a guy from Vegas (that was obviously a peptide freak because of the facial distortions) and the guy said some pretty profound words of wisdom....

Lighten up the weight....perfect your form....increase your reps to the 10-15 range....

Something that simple is the greatest training advice most people could ever hope to receive

**swolehead** · 07-09-2014, 02:49 PM

german volume training always gets me past any plateau it's my go to I second giving it a try

**Docd187123** · 07-09-2014, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by Chicagotarsier

All you ever need to know about hypertrophy is German Volume Training. If you do GVT properly there is no other form of lifting that can claim it is better at hypertrophy. HIIT is just a modification of GVT...and not really a modification because if you read the training books published by football teams from the 70s HIIT was labeled under GVT....so no magic there.

One of the members on here posted a video of a guy from Vegas (that was obviously a peptide freak because of the facial distortions) and the guy said some pretty profound words of wisdom....

Lighten up the weight....perfect your form....increase your reps to the 10-15 range....

Something that simple is the greatest training advice most people could ever hope to receive

There are many programs great at developing hypertrophy, GVT is just one of the many.

**fitnesstrainer** · 07-15-2014, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by swolehead

I know this is old but it still comes up in a Google search 1 to 2 reps is not power power has Nuthing to do with reps power is explosiveness such as a med ball throw very commonly mixed because of the term power lifter when in reality there achieving feats of strength and not power and to the other post saying that you can't train 4 to 6 reps with small muscle groups I don't know where you think you can't max curl for example that like saying if a table is connected to the ground and I pull up in a curling motion. with my palms up are you saying I'm going to hurt my self I don't think so and to say that it is altogether pointless is I hmm or ant if it pointles then you wouldn't see results I agree that doing strength training with lower reps such as 4 to 6 should be left for compound excersizes but smaller muscle Groups will still benefit from that training. also just notices op you said 10 to 12 is cutting hypertrophy there's no such thing and cuting has nothing to do with reps except to keep the heart rate up cutting is diet calories in being less then calorie expenditure not trying to bash on anyone just saying

Power absolutely has to do with reps. It can and should be trained in the weight room initially, power is the speed at which you perform any physical work the faster you perform the work the greater the amount of power you have generated, there are multiple kinds of "strength" when it comes to sports. Your example of an "explosive" movement is not directly defined as "power", it is "speed strength." Speed strength is trained by changing your "starting" and "explosive" strengths. These are increased by improving the angles of A and Q in the strength curve and also by following the "principle of overload" and the "SAID principle". If you arent familiar with the strength curve, the 7 kinds of strength and the 7 grand daddy laws of training you should do some research on them. Very informative.

Now to the OP, to train for hypertrophy you need to overload the muscle. This causes the muscle to adapt in an attempt to lessen the stress that you put it through, the muscle does this by getting bigger, which allows certain functions within the muscle to become more efficient. You have to train the muscle and not the movement. Repetitions are going to be somewhere between 8 and 12, that is the most conducive repetition range for hypertrophy. You will have to figure out for yourself what works best from there. As stated above theres no bulking or cutting hypertrophy, there is just hypertrophy. You should try and find yourself a good periodized program for hypertrophy. Should not be hard to find online. Do it for around 12 week and then evaluate what kind of progress you have made.