Gym Progress Strategies: Reps vs. Load
In my classes, I teach ways of progressing in the gym, and researchers from the US compared 2 of them.
Increasing load or increasing reps during 8 weeks.
Interestingly enough, having subjects that were experienced lifters, both protocols produced significant changes in strength and hypertrophy.
From all the variables measured, the researchers found that:
- The group that increased the loads showed slightly more strength gains than the group that increased the reps.
- And that the group that increased the reps showed slightly more hypertrophy gains than the group that increased the load.
In essence, if you are an experienced lifter and you want to increase strength, it’s a good idea to progress by increasing the loads, or if you want to increase hypertrophy it is a good idea to progress by increasing the reps.
Link:
https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC9528903
Reference:
PeerJ. 2022 Sep 30;10:e14142. doi: 10.7717/peerj.14142.