THE MAGIC NUMBER
Assuming you’ve done the analytical work to figure out how to reach your physical goals, and that you’ve come to the conclusion that you need to perform loaded human movements (squatting, pressing, deadlifting) with a barbell, 2 to 3 days a week, the issue of how much volume to program still remains, especially which rep-range to choose.
For those who are unfamiliar with these terms: in a training program, VOLUME is the amount of sets and repetitions executed at a given load for that workout. So if I’m squatting 100kg for 3 sets of 5 repetitions each, the total volume will be 15 reps at that load.
What we want to figure out on a very basic level is, why do 5 reps? Why not 10 or 20 or 2? And why 3 sets and not 6 or 4?
Well this is not a random choice.
If we try to come up with a range of reps for a given exercise, we’ll start with the minimum amount of reps possible, 1, up to the most amount of reps that can still give us some sort of useful stimulus, let’s say 20.
These opposite sides of the spectrum, induce very distinct adaptations, because they require very different metabolic and neurological pathways to deal with the stress induced.
Since our goal is strength – the ability to produce force against an external resistance – we will focus on demanding high force production from our body, which translates to heavy loads.
We define a load heavy based on how much muscle recruitment and proficient technique is necessary to move it for the required number of reps, how slow the barbell moves and how quickly it can be lifted again.
We can determine that if you move a load very fast it is by definition a light weight, and if you try to move a load fast but it moves slow, it is by definition a heavy weight.
So which number of reps will allow us to train for strength? Or in other words, with which rep range is force production gonna be the limiting factor determining whether or not we can complete the reps?
To answer this, we gotta know what the different rep ranges require of us, adaptation being specific to the stress.
When we lift a very heavy weight for a few reps, let’s say between 1 and 5, we are producing mechanical tension between the contractile components of the muscle cell, and we are recruiting as much muscle mass as we can, mostly the type responsible for high energy outputs in short amounts of time - because that is what’s required of us. We utilize the energy stores readily available in the muscle. Because we need A LOT of energy, and we need it NOW.
A very hard set of 5 reps, will feel like an eternity, but it will likely last 1 minute at the most.
A set of 20 reps will take much longer than that if taken to actual failure
As we increase the amount of reps, the load must get lighter, time under mechanical tension for each rep decreases, to the point where our body doesn’t need to use a whole lot of energy for each rep as quickly as possible, and other systems come into play. Oxygen becomes a lot more important, and other types of muscle fibers start to get prioritized, to deal with the accumulation of lactic acid and other “fatigue metabolites” in the muscle cells. This type of stress doesn’t occur with higher loads and fewer reps - therefore it doesn’t induce the same type of adaptation. Because now we are training our body’s ability to increase the oxygen supply and get rid of acidic metabolites in the cell. You can see how this doesn’t really require our muscles to get stronger or bigger, just better at sustaining long bouts of medium to low effort repetitions (have you ever seen a marathon runner with big arms or deadlifting 300kg?)
The higher the amount of reps, the less force production becomes a limiting factor between each subsequent rep. There is a huge difference in force production and neurological requirements between rep number 4 and 5 of a limit set of 5, than that between rep number 13 and 14 of a limit set of 15 – although both cases require high levels of effort.
But remember, hard is not the same as strength.
What is fascinating about this, is that someone who does sets of 10 to 20 reps will never increase their maximum load for 1 or 5 reps past the very beginner stages of lifting. But the opposite can happen. The lifter who prioritizes strength, will be able to lift more weight in a higher rep range than the lifter who prioritizes endurance, even if the strength lifter might be more out of breath or take longer to recover from the event. Because although force production is not a LIMITING factor, it is still the factor determining the ability to move higher maximal loads, and therefore higher sub-maximal loads.
If force production is not trained with maximal loads, sub-maximal loads will also not increase.
Below is an example of world-class powerlifter and strongman Eddie Hall - someone who definitely doesn't prioritize endurance - beating the Crossfit world record of 30 muscle snatches in the shortest time possible by 30 seconds!
If you follow this continuum you will realize that somewhere in the middle lies the magic number.
No, it’s not exactly in the middle. 10 reps are still too many to induce a strength adaptation because no heavy stressful load can be moved for 10 reps.
The magic number is 5.
5 reps allow for the load to increase consistently over a long span of time, to be heavy enough to call into action the type of metabolic system that induces a strength adaptation (structural, neurological and hormonal changes), and it’s also a good number of reps for practice and correction of the movement during a set. It is easier to correct someone, or oneself, during a set of 5 as opposed to a set of 2. And higher reps than 5 cause more local muscle fatigue which interferes with concentration and proper form.
Now we have our magic number of reps that allows us to become better at lifting weights, increase muscle mass, and get stronger. We just have to choose the number of times we are gonna perform 5 reps at that weight.
3 sets of 5 reps will usually be enough of a stress for most of the population when it comes to squatting and pressing, while the deadlift, being the exercise where we lift the most amount of weight and which doesn’t have a high technical learning curve, can be executed for just 1 set of 5 reps.
Our rep range determines the SPECIFICITY of the stress induced by a certain exercise
Our sets determine the overall amount of STRESS induced in the session.
This is how we manipulate volume to get the adaptation we want.
And there you have it, the programming foundation of your Novice Linear Progression.
