The classic gym question: should I do 25-35 reps each set or 8-12 reps, should be answered by common sense, but it always comes around when trainees are stuck between wanting rippling muscles and wanting to be strong.

Obviously if you want to get stronger the heavier the weight is the way to go! But a nicer physique?

Schoenfeld studied this and basically, it’s unsurprising to find that with heavier weight trainees got muscle bulk and strength. At lighter weights, they got bulk, but less strength!

Both regimens required training to failure

( check out: Effects of Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Well-Trained Men )

Schoenfeld also wrote “Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men” which evaluated muscular adaptations between low , moderate, and high-volume resistance training protocols in resistance-trained men.

These saw increases in strength and endurance with just three 13-min weekly sessions over an 8-wk period, and these gains are similar to that achieved with a substantially greater time commitment. However, muscle hypertrophy follows a dose-response relationship, with increasingly greater gains achieved with higher training volumes.

Well, now you know