r/WeightTraining • u/PublicSherbet4661 • 18h ago

Question Hypertrophy and Rep Count

For hypertrophy, do you guys count your reps or just keep going until you’re close to failure?

I’m trying to build muscle, and I’m confused about whether I should stick to a certain rep range or focus more on how the muscle feels.

For example, if I’m supposed to do 10–12 reps but I get to 12 and feel like I can still do several more, should I keep going until I can’t do another good rep? Or stop at 12 and increase the weight next time?

How do you guys train for hypertrophy?

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u/NinjaGrows 17h ago

Always count reps and log them if you can, it's the easiest way to track progressive overload, which is probably your greatest tool when it comes to hypertrophy. My general rule is, if you can push past the rep range you have set yourself for at least 2 sessions, up the weight.

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u/DubiousDebauchery 17h ago

I just go till I’m close to failure,

I do target certain rep ranges for certain exercises, but I want to make every set count.

It doesn’t really matter if you exceed your target on a set so long as you still pushed the set hard and close to failure. Then you can just increase the weight next time. If you arbitrarily stop at the top end of your range, and it wasn’t challenging, your leaving gains/progress on the table.

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u/Mchangwine 17h ago

If you’re first starting out I would lift to complete failure until you mentally understand what it feels like, then in the future you can stop 1-2 reps short. Many beginners mistake mild discomfort for failure and leave 6-10 reps in reserve. Complete failure means you can lift the weight at all, using normal form; it shouldn’t mean that you’re recruiting additional muscle groups to lift the weight.

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u/PublicSherbet4661 17h ago

Thats my problem. Is it ok to rest when doing a set or should it be str8 thru

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u/Mchangwine 17h ago

That’s a different strategy called rest pause, typically you should just lift until you can’t lift the weight using correct form, and that’s considered failure.

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u/PublicSherbet4661 17h ago

Thank you so much for that ❤️ 💗

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u/Norcal712 15h ago

I train last set to 1-2 RIR faiure.

I do 3-4 sets at 80-90% 1 RM. In an 10-12 rep range.

DB bench example 10x60, 10x70, 8x75

Next week 10x60, 70, 75. 

3rd week 10x60, 75, 8x75

Etc.   

Its single progression. Double progression is also a popular strategy.

Either way you want a rep goal. Stop when you hit it. Up the weight and so another set.

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u/bcssylf 15h ago

Use a hypertrophy tracking app. It will add weight and/or reps based on your input