How many repetitions should I do when I weight train?

How many repetitions should I do when I weight train?

John Spencer Ellis (Author, TV Show Host, Trainer and CEO, National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association) gives expert video advice on: How do I design a strength training program?; How often each should I train each muscle group?; How much weight should I use when I train? and more...

How do you select your number of repetitions? Well, this will depend on a number of factors. What are your goals? How long have you been doing this? What had you done the weeks preceding? Most people who want general fitness; I'm speaking about an adult exerciser who wants general fitness, 10-12, perhaps 15 repetitions per set would be appropriate because you get enough to get into a rhythm of the exercise. It's not so much that you are not focusing on strength if you did, for example, a really light weight and you did 5-10 repetitions, which is a lot; that would be more for muscular endurance. We want resistance training to be primarily for strength and the way to do that, to gain optimum results for the general consumer, is about 10-12, perhaps 15 repetitions per set, and generally between 1-3 sets per exercise that you complete.