Most people start their lifting career doing the typical 4 sets x 10 reps of each exercise.  You were probably told by your buddy who’s been lifting for longer to do 4 x 10’s, and you never deviated from that rep scheme.  However, you ought to know that there are a lot of other set/rep schemes that will do better to satisfy our different training goals.

The 3 x 12’s or 4 x 10’s rep schemes we mentioned before typically belong in a body builder’s program. But if your goal is strength gains, your program might look a lot more complicated.  Some program may have you do 5 x 5’s, 8 x 3’s, or even 10 x 2’s…

How do you know what rep schemes are best for strength gains? Is there a science behind these numbers?

It turns out that there IS!  That science is called the Prilepin’s Table, and the table looks like this:

The table was developed by Russian sports scientist, A.S Prilepin, and took over two decades to compile using training logs of over 1,000 elite weightlifting champions in world class competitions.  The table is very simple, and it summarizes the correlation between training intensity and optimal rep ranges that seem to yield the greatest strength gains.

Although the Prilepin’s Table is developed using the training logs of elite weightlifters, it can still be used by anyone who desires to gain strength.

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Here’s how to use this table in two simple steps:

Step 1: Find out your one rep max (1RM)

First thing, you have to find out your baseline 1 rep maximum. 1RM is defined as the maximum weight you can lift, unassisted, in one repetition.

Now you can find out the old fashion way, at the gym, preferably with a good spotter. Or you can estimate this by using a 1RM calculator you can find online, like this one: http://www.miniwebtool.com/1-rep-max-calculator/

Just enter a weight you’ve used in your past trainings, and enter the number of reps you were able to perform with that weight to failure.  Although not 100% accurate, you should get a decent estimate of your strength limit.

Step 2: Program with reasonable training intensity

Once you know your 1RM, it’s time to figure out how much to load on the bar for each workout to find the rep scheme for your program.

If the goal is to gain strength, you obviously would want to train heavy, so you can get stronger faster. But don’t get tempted to train so heavy (90%+ of 1RM) all the time. Space out your heavy days with moderate effort days so you don’t end up overloading your central nervous system.

To put it in practice, here’s an example:

If your 1 RM on bench press is 250 lbs, and you want to train in moderate effort (around 75% of your 1RM), you would load 185 lbs on the bar and use the second row on the table to find that the optimal reps per set is 3-6 reps, and the optimal total reps is anywhere between 12 to 24 reps.

Therefore according to the table, you should be able to get similar stimulus to your muscles if you do any of the following variations: 4 x 6 reps, 5 x 5 reps, 6 x 4 reps, or 8 x 3 reps.

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There are obviously other factors that would determine which rep schemes would be better for you, such as how much time you have, and what other exercises that are on your program. But the table should provide a little basis to examine the level of exertion required for different rep ranges at different training intensities.

So next time when you come across a new program that has different rep schemes than the ones you were used to.  Don’t be afraid! Just use the Prilepin Table to figure out if it’s something you can effectively incorporate into your workout.