What’s Better for Your Workout, More Reps or More Load?

A Study Finds Surprising Answers

Conventional wisdom tells us that adding more weight instead of more reps is always the way to add muscle, but a recent study says otherwise.

Milo is a famous ancient Greek wrestler who is believed to be the father of progressive resistance training. According to the story, Milo would pick up a calf every day and carry it until it turned into a full-grown bull. This act of progressive overload made him a stronger wrestler.

However, the story’s reliability is questionable because beef cattle used to weigh only 350 pounds in America before 1790, so Milo’s bull would have weighed much less than today’s bulls. Nonetheless, Milo’s practice of progressive overload is still valuable.

A recent study by Brad Schoenfeld and his colleagues compared the effects of progression through weight and repetitions. They found that both methods are equally effective for building muscle, although increasing weight may lead to slightly better maximum strength gains.

What the Researchers Did

The study included 43 participants who performed 4 sets of 4 lower body exercises twice a week for 8 weeks. One group increased load while keeping reps constant (the LOAD group), while the other group increased reps while keeping the load constant (the REP group).

After 8 weeks of training, the researchers assessed the participants’ 1RM in the Smith machine, endurance in the leg extension, countermovement jump height, and muscle thickness of the thighs and calves.

What They Found

The study found that both methods of progression produced similar increases in muscle size, though the REP group showed a modest advantage in the thickness of the rectus femoris. While both groups increased their 1RM squat, the LOAD group showed slightly better results than the REP group. Both groups exhibited similar improvements in leg extension endurance and no change in countermovement jump.

Implications of This Study

The study suggests that increasing repetitions instead of weight is a viable strategy for a short to medium term to build muscle and strength. This is good news for people who are injured or have bad joints, plateaued, or lack access to heavier weights. Moreover, it is a good idea to mix up the training method and periodically focus on reps instead of always worrying about adding more weight.

Charles Poliquin’s biceps workout is an excellent example of this type of approach. The load remains the same over six weeks of training, but the reps increase, ultimately leading to hypertrophy and strength gains.