Another Back to the Basics Video for you! Many people starting out or even who have been lifting weights for a while question how many sets, how many reps in each set and also how much weight they should be using...
It' really hard to tell you exactly how much weight to use because everyone has different levels of strength and endurance but you will find out quickly by figuring out how much weight you need to use to hit each target amount of reps in your sets. Too heavy and you will not get enough reps, too light and you will do too many reps. You will need to play around a bit but over time you will figure it out.
In this How Many Reps & Sets Do I Need to Do video, I focus mostly on using a 4 set system with incremental loading of weight and a lowering of the reps with each set. Usually my starting set I will try to hit around 15-20 reps, my second set will be around 10-15 reps, my third set will be around 8-10 reps and my forth ending set I will shoot for 6-8 reps with a drop set to end this last heavy rep set. (A drop set is when I keep lowering the weight and pump out another 3-5 more reps to really tire out the muscles).
I also talk a bit about the pros and cons of lifting really heavy weights with less reps versus lighter weights with more reps and how this relates to body builders and power lifter types in general.
The bottom line is this - you directly get back what you put into your workouts. So more importantly than how many sets, how many reps, how long you workout, how much noise you make... If you give 100% and use all your intensity in your workouts, you will get very productive workouts and will start seeing results. Don't fall victim to making your workouts a routine that becomes easy and unchallenging. Always push yourself to do better, either try and hit more reps than before using the same weight or more weight than before with the same amount of reps.
I hope you find this information useful and if you do, please share my YouTube Videos and Website with others who may also enjoy them :)