{"id":440424,"date":"2026-01-27T09:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T09:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/440424\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T09:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T09:42:11","slug":"how-many-reps-do-you-need-to-do-to-see-results-in-the-gym-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/440424\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Reps Do You Need To Do To See Results In The Gym?"},"content":{"rendered":"

My name is Cori Ritchey, and I am an exercise physiology nerd turned fitness journalist, and the fitness editor at Women\u2019s Health. When I\u2019m not writing, editing, and researching fitness, I\u2019m teaching it to my personal training and group fitness clients. In my new column, Between Sets, I\u2019m pulling back the curtain on the same advice, tips, and \u2018aha!\u2019 moments I share with my clients while they\u2019re catching their breath. Stick around for the strategic, science-backed nuggets that\u2019ll help you move better, train smarter, and actually enjoy the process.<\/p>\n

POV: You have 3 sets of 8 to 10 goblet squat reps. You\u2019re feeling good today, so you pick up a weight heavier than your normal. You only manage to crank out 6 reps, falling short of the goal of 8\u2014you feel defeated.<\/p>\n

My clients are constantly apologizing for not making it all the way to the end of the set. And I always assure them: \u201cIt\u2019s okay. It matters less than you think.\u201d <\/p>\n

Fitness professionals have been traditionally taught lower range reps (2 to 6) train power and strength, intermediate reps (8 to 12) promote hypertrophy, and higher reps (12 to 20+) work muscular endurance. <\/p>\n

But get this: New science is telling us it\u2019s not all that deep. <\/p>\n

A new study published in Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport<\/a> put two groups of people through two different six-week lower body training plans. Both groups worked to concentric failure, meaning working until they can\u2019t complete the “up” portion of the lift. One group did 10 reps per set, and the other did 20. Researchers tested all participants’ muscle size, strength, and skeletal muscle oxidative capacity (or, how efficiently the muscle uses oxygen as fuel). <\/p>\n

The results? The two groups had comparable changes in hypertrophy, strength, and energy efficiency. Meaning: Rep range didn\u2019t really matter. <\/p>\n

Of course, this is a small study and more research needs to be done to confirm its findings. But, it\u2019s a good reminder that you don\u2019t need to stress too much about hitting your target reps. The important common denominator of this study was that both groups worked to failure in each set. The reps you do are only as valuable as the effort you put into them. <\/p>\n

Science says so, too: A 2024 meta-analysis<\/a> shows that hypertrophy results were better when sets were taken closer to failure.<\/p>\n

TRY THE WOMEN’S HEALTH 30-DAY FULL-BODY FITNESS CHALLENGE HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

How To Gauge Whether You\u2019re Really Training To Failure<\/p>\n

Feeling your body give out under you is never comfortable, which is why many are afraid of truly training to failure. And of course, taking \u201cfailure\u201d too far can increase injury risk. The goal is to stop before hitting technical failure\u2014meaning, you stop just before you start to break form. <\/p>\n

It sounds simple enough, but technical failure can be difficult to self-diagnose. You\u2019re not always able to watch yourself in the mirror to see when your knees start to cave or your back begins to round. That\u2019s why I like to tell my clients to focus on rep speed. The last two to three reps should start to slow substantially. For me and my clients, that might mean taking three to four seconds to come up out of a squat. <\/p>\n

Your body isn\u2019t always going to feel capable of peak performance, and that\u2019s okay. Some days you feel stronger and more energized than others. That\u2019s why I always provide my clients a rep range rather than a strict number. If they\u2019re lacking energy on day, they\u2019re able to pick up a lighter weight and do more reps. If they feel good, they can pick up a heavier weight and do less. <\/p>\n

Your workout program is not law. Allow yourself to be more lax about hitting your numbers, and focus more on picking up weights that genuinely challenge you. <\/p>\n

Like in life, less can be more when it comes to strength training. <\/p>\n

Find the Perfect Women’s Health Training Program for You\"Chevron\"Chevron\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Cori Ritchey, C.S.C.S., is the fitness editor at Women’s Health, as well as a certified strength and condition coach and group fitness instructor. She\u2019s reported on topics regarding health, nutrition, mental health, fitness, sex, and relationships for several years. You can find more of her work in Men\u2019s Health, HealthCentral, Livestrong, Self, and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My name is Cori Ritchey, and I am an exercise physiology nerd turned fitness journalist, and the fitness…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[64,63,10236,538,137],"class_list":{"0":"post-440424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-core","11":"tag-fitness","12":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}