Update 913: Customize Your Rep Range to Focus on Building Muscle and Strength or to Burn More Fat

Back in 2001, I was reading my first book on building muscle (Delavier’s Strength Training Anatomy), looking for the best reps range to build muscle.

At the time, most coaches agreed there was a “hypertrophy range”. Usually 8-12 reps, but sometimes 6-12 reps. Even textbooks relayed the idea. But there wasn’t much evidence for it, as Brad Schoenfeld explains in What is the Best Rep Range for Muscle Strength and Size?

Today, new research has shown that the “hypertrophy range” isn’t meaningfully better for hypertrophy than higher or lower reps (Nuckols, 2016). In other words, all reps build muscle.

But you may still want to train using lower or higher reps. For example:

Low reps are better at increasing strength
High reps burn more fat
High reps are easier on your joints

To that end, we’ve just updated Dr. Muscle to let you choose your rep range, and focus on:

– Building muscle and strength (5-12 reps)
– A mix of building muscle and burning fat (8-15 reps)
– Fat-burning mode (12-20)
– Custom (any range between 5 and 30 reps)

Have a look:

You can now customize your rep range inside Dr. Muscle

About fat-burning mode: on this mode, you work out with high reps. So, you burn more fat during and after your workouts. But to burn a lot of fat, you should also watch your diet. If you need help with that, please get in touch.

The update is live on Android and under review by Apple (give it 1-2 days).

Thanks for your patience and support as we build this app. I really appreciate the support from forward-thinking lifters like yourself.