Should you do low reps, high reps, heavy weight, light weight, do slow reps, or do fast reps? Well, although we do have quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to the way we should perform our reps to grow muscles faster, it has also shown that for you to build muscle fast, it would be in your best interest to execute your reps in the following fashion. First, stick MOSTLY to a hypertrophy rep range of roughly 6-12 reps for each of your sets. Second, use moderately heavy weight or resistance. And last, use a lifting tempo that is around 1 second on the way up and 1 second on the way down of each rep. These 3 “rules” will, for the most part, help you build lean muscle faster. However, there is another major area most people tend to overlook: tension. Because if you want to gain muscle fast, then maximizing tension needs to be your priority. And when it comes to the fastest way to gain muscle, there are 2 steps to start applying right away.
The first step you need to implement to grow muscles faster is mastering the execution of every single rep. Because your body is designed to cheat. While you may be lifting heavier or doing more reps, you’re not actually providing more tension to your target muscle and hence won’t experience the growth. Take a look at your exercises, and see if you’ve been compromising your form during your reps. If so, lighten the weight or decrease the reps so that you can execute your sets to the point where every single one of your reps are identical and executed with precision and optimal form.
The second step to implement to gain muscle fast is to apply internal focus, the idea that we can stimulate and grow our target muscles to an even greater degree by shifting more of our focus to them working during each rep. Meaning that as you perform your reps for any exercise, your main goal should NOT be to simply do your required number of reps and sets for that day. You need to realize that we don’t just “lift weights” or “do reps”. With each of our exercises all we are doing is contracting our target muscle by bringing its origin and insertion points closer together, which then as a result then moves whatever load or resistance we’re using. And that’s what I want you to try to think about as you perform your reps, as opposed to externally focusing on just getting the weight up or doing a certain number of reps.
This idea goes for something as simple as biceps curls too, if you want to build muscle fast. Rather than thinking about just lifting the weight up, note the origin and insertion points of the biceps, and instead just think about bringing those two points closer together to fully contract the biceps as you curl, which will then as a result lift the weight up. So think less about the action or movement involved and more about fully contracting the right muscles every single rep, as this will result in far greater growth and with less work.
Applying this will inevitably result in your exercises now becoming considerably more challenging. It can be tempting to stop using this internal focus purely in order to achieve your target number of reps or hit a certain amount of weight for that day. But these extra reps and weight just do more harm than good, because that extra tension isn’t being directed towards growing your target muscle. Put your ego aside and realize that this is indeed the fastest way to gain muscle (instead of mindless reps). The only exception to this is that for heavier sets of lower reps, and especially for compound lifts like the deadlift for example, you would want to instead focus your attention on execution and simply getting the weight up.
All in all though guys, you need to realize why you’re doing your exercises. If your aim is to use those exercises to stimulate your muscles to grow them, then you’re going to get far better results in the long run by prioritizing your execution and focusing on the muscles you’re supposed to be working as opposed to just moving weight from point A to point B. Apply this simple concept to each one of your reps and I guarantee that you’ll start to build lean muscle faster as a result. And for an all in one, step by step program that comes complete with both exercise tutorials for each and every exercise, AND follow along guides showing you exactly how to maximally activate each of your muscle for growth so that you can see faster results with less work, then simply take the analysis quiz to discover which science-based program would be best for you and where your body is currently at below:
Filmed by: Bruno Martin Del Campo
MUSIC:
Subscribe to my channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/jeremyethier/?sub_confirmation=1
PSA: I do not endorse the unlawful act of curling in the squat rack. Hope you enjoyed this one! Comment below what other topics you’d like me to cover and I’ll get on it in the upcoming months!
hey buddy i starting to be really good with my dumbbells and due to quarantine i can’t get heavier for the moment 🙁 Im doing 3×12 easy, do u advice me to do 3×14 or 4×12? thanks 🙂
Series on correct form of commonly used excersizes and mistakes usually commited
Hi, you say in this video that 6 to 12 reps is ideal for growth, but on your “science based push pull leg workouts” there are some exercises that require 15×3
Just Subscribed!
Proper breathing when lifting weights.
Appreciate the amazing content!
Jeremy I been following you since 2016 and you always put out the most backed scientific info. that works. Amazing as always!
Over time you also get to know what your body likes because it “feels good” working out that way.
My brain definitely doesn’t like it but it is the most effective method I have used in the last 3 years.
Hey you’re looking more confident in the way you speak.
Yes, he’s speaking more clearly too. I notice the improvement as well.
Maybe he started nofap
Im certified fitness and if we talk about science behind building muscle then both slow and fast rep is beneficial to grow muscle but in order to build strength you have lift heavy with proper from and technique by controlling your eccentric and explosive concentric. And if we talk about slow reps then no one is going to ask you that what is your bench press at slow reps PR. Give it a thought guys.
Yes, but this video is more for beginners. Prevents ego lifting. What you write about can be added when someone has no effects because it works well but at the beginning it can get complicated
This video is so important.
Can you do a video on sprinting and how to incorporate it into your workouts.
For that type of information, especially for free, you can’t go past OvertimeAthletes.
You just sprint
He has a video on hitt which talks about sprinting
man i literally just came home from the gym, i can’t do 5 push ups right now.
anyways, great tips as usual. i’m already starting to feel early cues of improvements
Well done 😀
Lol it’s called training to failure nice. I remember in 2006 I trained with a friend in the basement and after squats we couldn’t get out of it xD
the gym just added 12 more squat racks so there is much more room for curls lol
Waiting for the Greg response be like
I could be wrong but this video seems correct lol
I wait for Greg to response harder than last time
He wont disagree with any of this.
Yea all this stuff is correct bruv nice try tho
HARDER THEN LAST TIME
Great video Jeremy. My daughter bought your program for me in Oct last year. I was 213lbs. So far I am 177lbs…. Thanks….
You’re welcome
@Pedro Dumper are you jeremy?!
Just here for the Coach. Earlier than last time!
I’ve never thought about this. But does jeremy always wear the same gym shirtish thing lol?
Maybe he just got multiple.
Heavy and slow is the key.
“for example, a recent emg analysis paper from 2019 among a group of teenage novice lifters shows that curls in the squat rack elicits much higher growth of the long head of the bicep, and of course the ego”.