# 8 reps vs 12 reps, which is better for mass?



## OpethDisciple (May 9, 2009)

Hi people.

I was at the gym today, and I asked some dude some questions about the weights etc...

He told me for mass building, and by mass building I take it he meant BIGGER muscles, 8 reps was what I should be doing.

Any one shed some light.

I am like every one else looking to get bigger!!


----------



## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

8 reps but i think youre thinking too much matey.

keep it simple and do rather than think


----------



## OpethDisciple (May 9, 2009)

Very true!


----------



## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

lol its very easy to get into..done it myself


----------



## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

i never go below 8 and never go above 12 reps but as Cal mentioned you are thinking to much


----------



## dan danz (Jan 17, 2009)

hehehe im one for thinking too much that the only muscle that gets worked is my brain  ...but yeah 8-12 will do fine bud


----------



## splinter1466867924 (Aug 5, 2005)

been on 8 reps for about 6 months now.... been working well on size and strength


----------



## wints (Jun 3, 2008)

Was going to start a new thread when i read this so thought i would just ask my question here if thats ok? anyway the guy i train with insists on doing every set to faliure im sure this cant be right or any good for you but he's been doing training for 11 years now and i'm only on me second year so who im i to argue, what do you guys think to his way of thinking? cheers


----------



## freddee (Mar 2, 2009)

I don't think there are many professionals that would agree with him and everything i've researched is pretty much against training every set to failure some say the last set of a certain exercise can be. but just imagine is if you worked chest then shoulders in a session, you would be failing on shoulders without them getting worked.

I pre-exhaust my chest with single joint exercises that don't hit my tri's so when I bench, Its my chest that starts to fail not my triceps

does that make sense

when you say to failure do you mean that some of the reps are assisted?


----------



## wints (Jun 3, 2008)

freddee said:


> when you say to failure do you mean that some of the reps are assisted?


Thanks for the reply, but i mean to the point where you cant finish the last rep, but we have somtimes do negatives (assisted) towards the end of a set


----------



## freddee (Mar 2, 2009)

Ye get ya but only right at the end of working a muscle group.

At the moment I'm working abit lighter, with say bench press I do 12 reps for three sets and no more, but I don't hang around, and I have incline dumbell and and dips to do so i don't want to distract from them too much.


----------



## krashslaughta1466867960 (Apr 2, 2009)

With response to the initial question, 8 - 12 is ideal but don't stop just cos you get to 8. Try not to put numbers on your workouts but tax yourself so you're failing around 10 reps ideally. 8-12 has always worked for me although I do like a 2/3 week cycle around 3-6 reps only and large poundages.

Like the corporate whores say "Just Do It"


----------



## wints (Jun 3, 2008)

Well i trainned alone last night did chest and upper back so i did 5 sets of 10 reps (up to the point of failing) for a change and it felt good


----------



## Philips1962 (Mar 17, 2011)

You can train every set to failure, it just means you won't be doing many sets.

Compare yourself to a sprinter, quick and explosive gives power. Marathan runners plod all day, and are SMALL. Up to recently all my sets were to failure. I'd start light, for example 12.5 kg d/bells for laterals, but doing smooth, controlled reps to failure, say in the region of 25-30. Then I would go as heavy as I could for 8-12 reps, drop the weight, continue the set for another 8 or so reps, drop the weight again and to failure and end of set. So thats one hi rep set and one triple drop set. Body part done.

I am taking a break from that now and trying something different. I do three light sets for up to 15 reps. Then use my max weight for 8-10 reps,put down the weight, take 10 deep breaths and go again do as many as I can, 10 more deep breaths and do your last few reps. So its like a triple drop set but without dropping the weight, rest pause I suppose you would call it. I do three exercises per major body part like this. Shoulders I do two, and arms I do two. Must confess to enjoying this, something I haven't tried before and I ache like a bitch for a few days afterwards. So something is working !

Never be afraid to try new things, even if its not perfect, because its new to you it will probably have a positive effect.


----------



## Oakey (Jul 7, 2009)

I do last sets to failure but to be completely honest failure is usually between 10-12 reps lol.


----------



## Pikey1466867920 (Apr 24, 2004)

To throw a spanner in the works I don't think either rep range is best and I don't think there's a right and wrong answer...

A novice athlete will make progress doing 8 or 12 reps.

The key to continued progress is know your body and what it responds to and keep mixing it up. A natural athlete won't recover as fast as an assisted athlete, a gentle workout for an advanced athlete would half kill the average intermediate.... Someone making sure they are getting enough rest and optimum nutrition will progress much faster than someone who takes little notice of rest and nutrition, and then there's genetics to consider.

Low rep ranges with higher weights target fast twitch fibres high rep target slow doing either will stimulate muscle growth, keeping cycling reps. weight and intensity and you will stimulate more muscle growth.

In my experience not many advanced bodybuilders follow set regimes. I would recommend listening to your body and train by feel but this comes with experience.

I would say anyone training to even positive failure on every set of every workout is overtraining and at best will limit their progress


----------



## Oakey (Jul 7, 2009)

Pikey said:


> To throw a spanner in the works I don't think either rep range is best and I don't think there's a right and wrong answer...
> 
> A novice athlete will make progress doing 8 or 12 reps.
> 
> ...


Have to agree with this.

Especially the bit about listening to your body.

Yes, it helps to keep a log of things but don't worry too much about set routines.

All I do is work-out depending on when I last worked the muscle and how much work it needs.

Then I log down what I've done after, so I can improve on it.


----------



## nick500 (Dec 12, 2005)

Agree with Pikey that not many advanced bodybuilders follow set regimes.

One man's 8 reps is another man's 16 reps. By this I mean that focusing on a number is ridiculous.

If you approach a set with a goal in mind, but not make it your focus, it is much healthier in my opinion than the set yourself at 8. If you set at 8, you might be at 60% of failure at 8, whereas if you had aimed at 15, you might reach 90% at 10 reps, and push that extra hard to make 12. But you set yourself too tightly and you don't work hard enough.


----------



## crazycal1 (Sep 21, 2005)

i think the keywords there are "advanced trainer"

usually suicide for a newbie tho.

was for me..


----------

