How Many Reps Should I Do To Lose Weight?

Repetitions are repeated efforts in which your muscles exert force to overcome resistance. As a physical activity, repetitions are part of a set of an exercise or workout for improved physical fitness. Physical activity places an increased demand on your body to provide energy. This demand increases the number of calories burned and when combined with proper nutrition resulting in decreased calories eaten, reduces excess body weight and body fat. The number of repetitions required for weight loss depends on the intensity of the exercise.

Guidelines

Weight training can result in increases in muscular strength and muscular endurance. The number of suggested repetitions is based on the amount of weight that can be lifted once for each exercise, referred to as the one rep max, or 1RM. With lower weight amounts, more repetitions can be completed. Training for strength and mass gains is geared towards increasing the 1RM while training for endurance gains and muscle tone is geared towards increasing the number of repetitions. Increases in muscle mass and tone increase your metabolism, the rate at which your body burns calories.

Strength Training Repetitions

While strength training results in increased muscle mass, when combined with cardio training, decreases in weight can occur with reduced body fat. Suggested training guidelines consist of three to four sets of six to 10 repetitions. To increase exercise intensity, the amount of weight selected should result in reaching muscle failure with the final repetition. An adequate warm up prior to training will elevate heart rate and respiration levels resulting in increased metabolic rates.

Endurance Training Repetitions

Training for muscular endurance is designed to define and shape your muscles. The American College of Sports Medicine in 1998 suggested that workouts consist of four to five sets of 10 to 12 repetitions. While lower amounts of weight are used compared to strength workouts, enough weight is required to reach muscle failure by the final repetition. For increased intensity, shorter rest times, as brief as 30 seconds between sets, are also recommended.

Plyometric Training

Plyometric training is a form of resistance training requiring explosive bursts of movement. Muscles train to exert the most amount of force in the shortest amount of time. A variety of repetitions is recommended depending on the exercise intensity. For squats, as many as 25 to 30 repetitions are suggested while jumping drills require only 10 to 15 repetitions. Plyometric training is a challenging workout and is not recommended until a strength base is developed.