Ok confused now about sets and reps

[com34x]

I've been under the impression from reading that 3 sets of 8 is a good routine per exercise for mass building. I am seeing on this forum people who say they do upwards to 20. I never heard of these many sets and I can't see being able to do more than 3-4 before muscles are totally burned out. What is right? In case, I am just starting to lift.

[swanso5]

for mass you want a total of 36 - 48 reps per muscle group or movement...how you break these up into sets and reps is up to you but you need extra time under tension for muscle groth then strength which is why higher reps are the way to go...as long as your reps are in the 6 - 15 rep range you should be fine...just rememeber that the lowee the reps are per set the more strength focus you'll have and the higher the reps are will err towards endurance...switch it up a little for best results

[com34x]

Im getting conflicting formulas.

The Waterbery Method that everyone is talking about says 10X3. Is that 10 sets of 3 reps each? If so, I thought you were recommending a rep range of 6-15. Others were saying for mass you need higher rep than 3. Regardless, if someone is a beginner should they wait until they are strong enough before attempting the 3 rep 10 set formula? As a precaution to prevent injury from a stronger weight.

[swanso5]

yes 10 sets of 3 reps

6 - 15 total reps is for strength, not muscle gain

the total reps is what will get you bigger, not the actual reps per set

you could start off with sets of 3 at anytime if you wanted

[com34x]

and you use a weight that your able to lift about 5 times for the 3 rep sets? I think thats what you mean in another post I just want to be sure. Thanks

[swanso5]

might be 5 rep wt might be 8 rep wt depends on your make up, recovery abilitites etc...you want to keep the rest as is so you may need to decrease the wt if ou don't gwt all 10 sets or keep the wt the same and do do 1 extra set each wek until at 10 in total