Strength training

Loads, sets, reps, effort and progression for resistance training, the main lifts and how to set them up, and how to fit lifting around running. Why muscles tire is in energy systems, running training in endurance, blocks and deloads in training plans, and protein in nutrition and hydration.

Goals and rep ranges

The ACSM 2026 position stand (137 systematic reviews) found that most of the benefit comes from doing any progressive resistance training at all. Only a few variables clearly change results, listed below. The 2009 stand's per-goal ranges still describe common practice.

Load and effort for hypertrophy

Intensity: %1RM, RPE and RIR

%1RM is load as a share of your one-rep max. RIR (reps in reserve) is how many more clean reps you could have done. RPE on the RIR-based scale is 10 minus RIR (Zourdos et al. 2016).

RIR calls are most accurate close to failure and in trained lifters. Trained lifters were within about 1 rep at 1–3 RIR on the bench press (Refalo et al. 2024). Novices and high-rep sets misjudge more, so use RPE ranges early on.

%1RM and reps to failure

Average values from the NSCA training load chart: the most reps a lifter can do at each load.

• It varies between people and exercises, more so above 10 reps. Treat it as a starting guess.
• Reps done plus RIR gives reps to failure: 5 reps at RPE 8 means about 7 to failure, so about 83% 1RM.

Estimating 1RM

Take a set of $r$ reps with load $w$, taken to or near failure (add RIR to $r$ if it wasn't).

Volume

A hard set is a working set taken close to failure (about 0–4 RIR, by convention). Weekly volume means hard sets per muscle per week. Warm-ups don't count.

• Schoenfeld et al. 2017: each extra weekly set gave about 0.37% more growth. The under 5 / 5–9 / 10+ comparison was only a trend (P = 0.074).
• Pelland et al. 2025 counted indirect work as half a set (bench press counts 0.5 for triceps), which predicted growth best.
• Caveats: the studies ran 6–52 weeks, mostly with young men, and early swelling can inflate measured growth. Add sets only while you still recover and progress.

Frequency, rest and tempo

Tempo notation 3-1-X-0 means 3 s lowering, 1 s pause at the bottom, lift explosively (X), no pause at the top.

Movement patterns and main lifts

Cover each pattern at least once a week. Order the session big before small, multi-joint before single-joint and heavy before light (ACSM 2009).

Image: OpenStax, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab).

Common faults

What to watch: balance over mid-foot, depth and back angle, and breathing.

What to watch: the five set-up steps: bar over mid-foot, grip, shins to bar, chest up, drag the bar up the legs.

What to watch: shoulder blades pulled down and back, the bar pressed back toward the rack, and a hard grip.

Progression models

ACSM 2009: when you can do 1–2 reps more than the target on two sessions in a row, add 2–10% load (the smaller end for small muscles and upper body).

• Periodisation helped 1RM a little over no periodisation (Williams et al. 2017; Moesgaard et al. 2022). It made no difference to hypertrophy, and ACSM 2026 found no consistent effect. Pick a model you'll stick with.
• Stalled for 2–3 sessions? First check sleep, food and stress. Then drop the load 5–10% and build back, change the rep range, or take a deload.

Bracing, breathing and safety

Strength for runners and endurance athletes

• Lift heavy: 3–6 reps at RPE 7–8 on squats, deadlifts and split squats, plus calf raises and plyometrics. Low-rep heavy work builds force with little muscle mass.
• Put lifting on hard running days, after the run and ideally ≥ 6 h later (Robineau et al. 2016). Keep the day before a key session or race free of heavy leg work.
• In the last 1–2 weeks before a race, keep the load but cut the sets. Scheduling details are in training plans, the running side in endurance.

Beginners and older adults

• The biggest jump comes from going from no resistance training to some (ACSM 2026). Machines, dumbbells and bodyweight all work.
• For the first 2–4 weeks, learn the patterns with 2–4 RIR left. Then add load.
• With heart, lung or metabolic disease, or new chest pain or dizziness on exertion, see a doctor before starting.

Recipes

Full-body beginner, 3×/week

Alternate A and B on non-consecutive days (Mon A, Wed B, Fri A, then B-A-B). Rest 2 min, or 1–2 min on accessories. Stop sets at 2–3 RIR and use linear progression until it stalls.

Session A                          Session B
Goblet or back squat   3 x 8       Romanian deadlift      3 x 8
Bench or DB press      3 x 8       Overhead press         3 x 8
Seated cable row       3 x 10      Lat pulldown           3 x 10
Split squat            2 x 10/leg  Leg press or step-up   2 x 12
Plank                  3 x 30 s    Farmer's carry         3 x 30 m

Upper/lower, 4 days

For intermediates who want about 10–16 hard sets per muscle per week, each muscle trained twice. Heavy days at RPE 7–8 with 3 min rest; volume days at RPE 8–9 with 90–120 s rest.

Mon  Upper heavy   Bench 4x4-6, Row 4x6, OHP 3x6, Pull-up 3x6-8, Curl 2x10
Tue  Lower heavy   Squat 4x4-6, RDL 3x6, Split squat 2x8, Calf raise 3x10
Thu  Upper volume  Incline DB press 3x8-12, Cable row 3x10-12,
                   Lateral raise 3x12-15, Pulldown 3x10-12, Triceps 3x12
Fri  Lower volume  Deadlift or trap bar 3x5, Leg press 3x10-12,
                   Leg curl 3x10-12, Hip thrust 3x10, Plank 3x40 s

Double progression, worked

Dumbbell press, target 3 × 8–12, add 2 kg per dumbbell when all three sets reach 12.

Warm-up ramp to a heavy single

Squat, target single at 140 kg (about RPE 8–9). The reps drop as the load climbs, so warm-ups don't tire you. Rest 1–2 min early and 2–3 min over the last three jumps.

Set   Load      % of target   Reps
1     20 kg     bar           10
2     60 kg     ~45%          5
3     80 kg     ~55%          3
4     100 kg    ~70%          2
5     115 kg    ~80%          1
6     127.5 kg  ~90%          1
7     140 kg    100%          1   (work set)

Estimate a 1RM from a working set

100 kg bench press × 6 reps at RPE 8, which is 2 RIR, so about 8 reps to failure.

Epley     100 x (1 + 8/30)   = 126.7 kg
Brzycki   100 x 36/(37 - 8)  = 124.1 kg
NSCA      8RM ≈ 80% 1RM      = 100 / 0.80 = 125 kg
Estimate                     ≈ 125 kg
Next block at 75% x 10 max:  ~94 kg; heavy triples
at RPE 8 (≈ 5 to failure, 87%): ~109 kg

Runner's strength, 2×/week

For runners doing 3–6 runs a week. Lift after a hard run day or on an easy day, not the day before a key session. About 40 min. In race week, do session A at half the sets.

Warm-up    5 min easy + leg swings, 2 x 5 pogo hops
Session A                          Session B
Back or trap-bar squat  3 x 4-6    Deadlift or RDL          3 x 4-6
  RPE 7-8                            RPE 7-8
Box jump or CMJ         3 x 5      Bounding               3 x 20 m
Single-leg RDL          2 x 8/leg  Rear-foot split squat  3 x 6/leg
Standing calf raise     3 x 8-12   Bent-knee calf raise   3 x 10-15
Side plank              2 x 30 s   Pallof press           2 x 10/side

References

• ACSM: Resistance training prescription for muscle function, hypertrophy, and physical performance in healthy adults, position stand (Currier et al. 2026) (opens in a new tab): current evidence-based variables, from 137 systematic reviews
• ACSM: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults, position stand (2009) (opens in a new tab): loads, reps, rest, frequency by goal and training status; older adults
• ACSM: Quantity and quality of exercise for healthy adults, position stand (Garber et al. 2011) (opens in a new tab): 2–3 days/week resistance baseline
• WHO 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior (Bull et al. 2020) (opens in a new tab): muscle-strengthening ≥ 2 days/week, older adults ≥ 3 days/week multicomponent
• NSCA: Training load chart (opens in a new tab): %1RM against max reps, from Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning
• Schoenfeld et al. 2017: Low- vs high-load resistance training, meta-analysis (opens in a new tab): hypertrophy across load ranges; strength favors heavy loads
• Schoenfeld et al. 2017: Weekly volume and muscle mass dose-response (opens in a new tab): +0.37% per weekly set
• Baz-Valle et al. 2022: Resistance training volumes and hypertrophy, systematic review (opens in a new tab): 12–20 sets/week in trained men
• Pelland et al. 2025: The resistance training dose response, meta-regressions (opens in a new tab): volume and frequency with diminishing returns; fractional set counting
• Robinson et al. 2024: Proximity to failure, strength and hypertrophy, meta-regressions (opens in a new tab): RIR and growth
• Zourdos et al. 2016: RPE scale measuring repetitions in reserve (opens in a new tab): the RIR-based RPE scale
• Helms et al. 2016: Application of the RIR-based RPE scale (opens in a new tab): using RPE to set loads
• Refalo et al. 2024: Accuracy of intraset RIR predictions (opens in a new tab): trained lifters within about 1 rep
• LeSuer et al. 1997: Accuracy of prediction equations for 1RM (opens in a new tab): seven equations on bench, squat and deadlift
• Schoenfeld et al. 2016: Training frequency and hypertrophy (opens in a new tab) and 2019 update (opens in a new tab): 2×/week, then volume-equated frequency
• Singer et al. 2024: Inter-set rest and hypertrophy, Bayesian meta-analysis (opens in a new tab): rest over 60–90 s
• Schoenfeld et al. 2015: Repetition duration and hypertrophy (opens in a new tab): 0.5–8 s per rep
• Williams et al. 2017 (opens in a new tab) and Moesgaard et al. 2022 (opens in a new tab): periodised vs non-periodised and linear vs undulating
• Reynolds et al. 2006: Predicting 1RM from multiple-RM tests (opens in a new tab): 5RM predicts best; at most 10 reps in linear equations
• Hackett & Chow 2013: The Valsalva maneuver during resistance exercise (opens in a new tab): intra-abdominal pressure and safety
• Blagrove et al. 2018: Strength training and distance running performance, systematic review (opens in a new tab): running economy, time trials, dose
• Schumann et al. 2022: Concurrent aerobic and strength training, meta-analysis (opens in a new tab): the interference effect, same session vs ≥ 3 h apart
• Wilson et al. 2012: Concurrent training meta-analysis (opens in a new tab): running vs cycling interference
• Robineau et al. 2016: Concurrent training and recovery duration (opens in a new tab): 0, 6 or 24 h between strength and aerobic sessions
• Spiering et al. 2021: Maintaining physical performance, the minimal dose (opens in a new tab): maintenance volumes