I Don’t Count Reps

I Don’t Count Reps

Upon easily completing the tenth rep of your final set of bicep curls, you proudly go rack your weights.

Having had another “successful” bicep workout, you wake up the next morning to realize that your arms are not sore at all and begin to question whether you’re working out intensely enough.

“I don’t understand—the article I read said that if I do three sets of ten of these exercises, I would certainly feel it in the morning and have huge biceps within a few weeks.”

Let me ask you a question… Does your body know how to count?

The answer is invariably no. Now of course you can say that the person in the example above could have—and should have—just used heavier weights to perform his or her bicep curls. This is true, however the chance of someone being able to select a weight that at any given moment in time brings them to optimal failure in precisely ten repetitions is abysmal at best.

This brings me to my “Listen to your body” philosophy.

I never set a ceiling on the number of repetitions that I’m going to perform during a given set.

Let’s go through an example where I’m going to do four sets of a particular exercise.

For the first set, I typically select a weight that I believe I can do between 16-25 reps of and stop once I feel a burn—this is predominantly a warm-up set.

For the remaining sets, I will select weights that I believe I can do between 6-15 repetitions of.

I increase the weight with each of the final three sets. For sets two and three, I use a weight that I estimate I can do closer to 10-15 times and for the final set, closer to 6-10. I simply conclude earlier sets once on the brink of failure, then finish off the last set when my body tells me that it can no longer perform another rep.

It’s important to note that if on any particular set the actual number of repetitions performed falls outside of the range, that is perfectly fine; your body knows best. I have personally found that when I lift to failure, my muscles grow the same way regardless of if I do sets of 7 or sets of 13—the most important part is lifting until failure.

It may help you stay focused to count each rep you do. This is perfectly fine, however you should not allow numbers to limit the potential benefit you can get by performing a set of an exercise.

In other words, you can count but do not stop until your body tells you to, not once you reach a number that makes you feel comfortable.

This may seem quite stressful at first because as humans, we love numbers and feel like if we don’t follow our workout routine precisely, our heads are going to pop off.

After putting the “Listen to your body” philosophy in action however, I have found quite the opposite to be true. It’s far more enjoyable and less stressful to just be at one with your body and enjoy the exercise—as opposed to spending most of your workout in your head counting. Besides, numbers are man made. What are the chances that the laws of nature state that the best workout benefits come strictly from performing a number of repetitions divisible by 2 or 5?

Don’t limit yourself. Step outside the box and have fun my friends!

**Note: if it seems like I’m contradicting myself by saying that I don’t count reps and then providing rep ranges, allow me to explain.

There is a difference between the two scenarios below..

1. Actually counting reps and stopping once you get to a certain number—this is something I do not do. This often leads to concluding a set too soon.
2. Estimating a weight you believe you can do within a given rep range and not stopping until you can’t do another rep—this is what I do.

You can of course still count to remain focused, just don’t force yourself to stop once you reach a certain number—knowing how many reps you ended your set with can also help with deciding what weight to choose next time.

I just wanted to clear up any potential confusion.

The overarching moral of this article is, do not stop lifting just because you reach a specific number of reps—instead you should listen to your body and stop once you can’t complete another rep.

One final note… When I say lift to failure, what I actually mean is lift up until the point where you feel like you would not be able to complete another rep—you don’t have to lift until you actually fail a rep. **

If you enjoyed this post, check out a similar article below containing a tip to help you get the most out of your workouts!

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