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Sets and reps chart
Pick your goal, the kind of exercise, your experience and how many times a week you train it. You get the sets, the rep range, how close to failure to take each set and how long to rest, plus the same exercise charted for every goal.
Example result
4 × 8–12
2
2 min
When every set reaches 12 reps with 2 left, add weight and start again at 8.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | RIR | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build muscle | 4 | 8–12 | 2 | 2 min |
| Get stronger | 3 | 6–10 | 2 | 3–5 min |
| Muscular endurance | 4 | 15–25 | 2 | 1 min |
Sets and reps for four lifters
A chart row is only a starting point. The exercise, the goal and how often you train it change the answer.
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Example 1
Squats twice a week to build muscle
A beginner putting on size, squatting on Monday and Thursday.
- Goal
- Build muscle
- Exercise
- Compound lift
- Experience
- Beginner
- Sessions a week for this exercise
- 2
- Sets × reps4 × 8–12
- Reps in reserve2
- Rest2 min
Pick a weight you can squat 8 times with 2 reps left in the tank and do four sets with it. When all four reach 12, add 2.5 kg or 5 lb and work back up from 8.
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Example 2
Lateral raises three times a week
An intermediate lifter adding shoulder width with raises at the end of each upper-body day.
- Goal
- Build muscle
- Exercise
- Isolation lift
- Experience
- Intermediate
- Sessions a week for this exercise
- 3
- Sets × reps3 × 10–15
- Reps in reserve1
- Rest1:30 min
Small lifts take higher reps and end a rep closer to failure. The smallest dumbbell jump is a big share of a light raise, so earn every rep up to 15 before going heavier.
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Example 3
A strength block before a meet
An advanced lifter benching twice a week in the last block before a competition.
- Goal
- Get stronger
- Exercise
- Compound lift
- Experience
- Advanced
- Sessions a week for this exercise
- 2
- Sets × reps3 × 3–5
- Reps in reserve2
- Rest3–5 min
Heavy triples to fives with full rest. Three sets are enough here, because extra sets add little strength; the second weekly session does more for the meet than a fourth set would.
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Example 4
Push-ups for a fitness test
A beginner preparing for a timed push-up test, practising three times a week.
- Goal
- Muscular endurance
- Exercise
- Bodyweight
- Experience
- Beginner
- Sessions a week for this exercise
- 3
- Sets × reps3 × 15–25
- Reps in reserve2
- Rest1 min
Endurance comes from long sets and short rest. If 15 is out of reach, do push-ups with your hands on a bench until you can, then lower the bench as your sets get longer.
The classic sets and reps chart
Most charts online trace back to the American College of Sports Medicine's 2009 position stand. It splits training by goal and experience: heavier loads and long rest for strength, moderate loads and shorter rest for muscle, light loads and short rest for endurance.
Use it as a map, not a rule. The calculator above adds what the chart leaves out: how many sets for how often you train the lift, and how close to failure each set should end.
| Goal | Load | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Strength, novice | 8 to 12 RM | — |
| Strength, intermediate and advanced | 1 to 12 RM, emphasis on 1 to 6 RM | 3 to 5 min |
| Muscle growth | 1 to 12 RM, emphasis on 6 to 12 RM | 1 to 2 min |
| Muscular endurance | More than 15 reps at 40 to 60% of 1RM | Under 90 s |
Rep range chart: what each range really trains
Heavy sets build the most strength. In Campos and colleagues' study of untrained men, 3 to 5 RM sets gained the most strength and 20 to 28 RM sets the most endurance, while both the 3 to 5 RM and 9 to 11 RM groups grew their muscle fibres and the high-rep group did not.
Later work changed the muscle-growth part of that picture. Schoenfeld and colleagues' 2021 re-examination of the repetition continuum found muscle can be built across a wide range of loads, and the 2026 ACSM stand found no difference in growth from loads of 30% to 100% of max when the sets are hard. Strength still favours heavy loads. The best rep range for muscle growth and high reps vs low reps go further.
How many sets per exercise?
It depends on how often you train the lift. The 2026 ACSM stand advises at least two sets per exercise and found strength gains flatten beyond about 2 to 3 sets per exercise per session. For muscle, the week matters more than the session: the sets per muscle group calculator gives the weekly target, and this page spreads it so each session's sets stay hard.
How the sets and reps are chosen
Sets follow how often you train the exercise: 4 sets at 1 to 2 sessions a week, 3 at 3 to 4, and 2 at 5 to 6. For muscle growth the rep range, reps in reserve and rest are the ones the RIRLift app gives an exercise of that type: 8 to 12 reps at 2 in reserve for compound lifts, 10 to 15 at 1 in reserve for isolation lifts, 8 to 15 at 2 in reserve for bodyweight work, with the typical rest in the app's exercise library for that type.
For strength, beginners use 6 to 10 reps, the ACSM's 8 to 12 RM stopped 2 reps short, and trained lifters use 3 to 5 reps at 2 in reserve, both with 3 to 5 minutes of rest and at most 3 sets. For endurance it is 15 to 25 reps at 2 in reserve with 1 minute of rest.
Sets = 4 (1–2 sessions a week), 3 (3–4), 2 (5–6)
Add weight when every set reaches the top of the range at the target RIR
Compound lift, build muscle, 2 sessions: 4 sets × 8–12 reps at RIR 2, 2 min restMake it fit you
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Choose the weight from a test set
Do one set to about 2 reps in reserve and let the how much weight should I lift calculator turn it into the weight for your rep range.
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Let reps lead, then weight
Add reps each session until every set reaches the top of the range, then add the smallest jump you have. The double progression method walks through it.
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Different ranges for different lifts
One plan can mix them: heavy fives on the squat, tens on the leg press, fifteens on leg extensions. Pick the row per exercise, not per program.
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Bodyweight lifts need a harder version
When the top of the range comes easily, move to a harder variation or add a weight belt or vest instead of adding endless reps.
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Be honest about reps in reserve
A set of 10 with 5 left does little. If you are unsure how many you had left, assume fewer, and read how to use RIR to calibrate.
Questions
Is 4 sets of 5 reps enough?
For strength, yes. Sets of 5 stopped 2 reps short are heavy, about 83% of your max by the Epley formula, and strength gains flatten beyond 2 to 3 sets per exercise. For muscle it works too, as long as the sets end close to failure.
Is it better to do 20 reps or 2 sets of 10?
Two sets of 10, if each ends near failure: that is two hard sets, where 20 easy reps are one or none. Effort per set matters more than the total rep count.
When should I increase reps or weight?
Add reps first. When every set reaches the top of your rep range with the reps in reserve you planned, add weight and start again at the bottom of the range. When to increase weight covers how much.
What does 4 sets of 30 reps mean?
Four sets of 30 repetitions each, with rest between sets. That is endurance work at a light load; it still builds muscle if the last reps are hard.
How many reps should a beginner do?
Sets of about 8 to 12 with a couple of reps left. The ACSM recommends novices train with 8 to 12 RM loads even for strength, which leaves room to learn the lifts before going heavy.
Is there a rep range calculator for weights?
Yes. Enter any recent set in the rep max calculator to see the weight for each rep count.
Related calculators and templates
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How many sets per muscle group per week?
The weekly sets these per-exercise sets add up to.
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How much weight should I lift?
The weight for your rep range, from one test set.
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Rep max calculator
Your weight for every rep count.
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Session builder
Put the sets and reps into a full session.
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The best rep range for muscle growth
Why the range is wider than 8 to 12.
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High reps vs low reps
What heavy and light sets each train.
Sources
- American College of Sports Medicine (2009), position stand: progression models in resistance training for healthy adults
- Currier et al. (2026), ACSM position stand: resistance training prescription for muscle function, hypertrophy and physical performance
- Schoenfeld, Grgic, Van Every and Plotkin (2021), loading recommendations: a re-examination of the repetition continuum
- Campos et al. (2002), muscular adaptations to three resistance-training regimens: specificity of repetition maximum zones
Set the range once and lift
Give each exercise its rep range and RIR target, log every set, and RIRLift adds weight when every set reaches the top of the range, then starts you again at the bottom.
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