# Rep Range Guidance

Map rep ranges to exercise category, not goal label. Within category constraints, hypertrophy is rep-range agnostic across ~5–30 reps when effort and weekly sets are matched.

## Default Mapping by Exercise Category

| Category | Examples | Hypertrophy | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy compound barbell | Squat, deadlift, bench, OHP, weighted pull-up/dip | 5–10 | 1–6 at ≥80% 1RM, 3–5 sets, RPE 7–9 |
| Moderate compound | Machine chest press, Hammer/T-bar/cable rows, lat pulldown, leg press, hack squat, pendulum squat | 6–15 | 4–8 primary; 6–10 accessory |
| Unilateral compound | Bulgarian split squat, lunge, single-leg press, single-arm DB row, step-up | 6–15/side | 5–10/side |
| Large-muscle isolation | RDL/SLDL (as ham iso), leg extension, leg curl, pec deck, reverse fly, hip thrust | 10–15 | 6–10 if loaded as accessory |
| Small-muscle isolation | DB/cable curls, triceps ext, lateral raises, calves, rear delts, wrist curls | 10–15 | Not primary; 6–8 acceptable if joints tolerate |
| Power/explosive | Power clean, hang clean, snatch, jump squat, push press, MB throws | N/A — do NOT count toward hypertrophy volume | 1–5 reps; 30–60% 1RM (speed-strength) or 60–85% (strength-speed); terminate on 10–20% velocity loss |

### Prescribe the band, not a window inside it

**The rep range written into the program IS the category band.** A squat is prescribed 5–10, a lateral raise 10–15. Do not invent a narrower window inside a band — writing "16–18" on an exercise whose band is 10–15 is out of range, and writing "13–15" is a sub-range the double progression rule below cannot operate on.

The band is what the exercise tolerates AND what gets written. The user's working position inside it is decided by progression, not by prescription: they start near the bottom, work to the top, add load, return to the bottom.

The only thing permitted to shift a band is the mesocycle's stated rep theme, and only to the windows tabled under "The mesocycle theme moves the floor" in Within-Mesocycle Progression below. Do not invent any other window. A strength-emphasis block may narrow a compound toward its floor; a metabolic block may narrow isolation toward its ceiling. Both must stay inside the category band. "Variety" is not a reason to move a band.

### High-rep allowance

Cable and machine isolation may run to 15–25 where the load is controlled throughout and the target muscle is the limiting factor. This is available only as a stated block emphasis, never as a default. Keep it to roughly 10–20% of weekly hypertrophy volume; the rest belongs in the bands above.

Free-weight isolation does NOT get this allowance. At 20+ reps on a dumbbell lateral raise the load is light enough that form drifts and synergists take over before the target muscle reaches failure, which defeats the purpose of the exercise.

### Note on tempo techniques

Published high-rep isolation sets (e.g. 3×20 lateral raises with 5-second eccentrics on the opening reps) are TEMPO interventions aimed at mind-muscle connection on muscles a stronger synergist can take over. The rep count is a by-product of the tempo, not the prescription. Do not reproduce the rep count without the tempo — the two are not separable, and a bare 20-rep prescription is a different exercise from the one being cited.

## Goal-Specific Rules

### Hypertrophy
- ~10–20 fractional sets per muscle per week, building toward upper end across mesocycle. Per-muscle landmarks in volume-landmarks.md take precedence over this figure where they differ.
- Most sets at 1–3 RIR
- Load distribution across the session: heaviest on stable compounds, moderate on machines and unilateral work, lightest on isolation. Note this is a statement about LOAD, not rep count — an isolation band tops out at the same 15 as a moderate compound.
- Below 5 reps: under-studied for hypertrophy and joint stress accumulates. Equivalent growth has been shown at 3–5 reps to failure, so this is a caution rather than a cliff.
- Above 30 reps: requires very close proximity to failure

### Maximum Strength
- Heavy primary lifts: 1–5 reps, 80–95% 1RM
- Accessory: 5–10 reps
- Isolation for connective tissue / weak points: 10–15 reps
- Volume plateaus at ~3–6 hard sets per powerlift per week
- RIR-insensitive across 0–4 RIR — 1–3 RIR is fine

### Body Recomposition / Fat Loss
- Do NOT change rep ranges. Use hypertrophy plan unchanged.
- Expect ~1 RIR drop in failure tolerance and ~5–10% performance lag in late deficit

### General Fitness
- Any range 6–15 with adequate volume, frequency, and proximity to failure, staying inside each exercise's category band

### Sport-Specific
- Layer power/velocity-loaded movements over base of strength and hypertrophy work
- Power athletes: velocity-based loading. Strength athletes: near 1RM. Field sports: both plus higher-rep accessories.

## Within-Mesocycle Progression

**Default: double progression.** Work to top of rep range, add load when ceiling reached, return to bottom of range.

Adjustments:
- Rep range bottom routinely exceeded → load-only progression
- Joints flaring under added load → rep-only progression
- Two sessions stalled with no RIR change → abandon double progression

**How this is written into a program.** Weekly rep targets start at the floor of the block's rep window in Week 1 and climb one rep per week at a fixed load, while RIR falls per rir-guidance.md. The deload week returns to the Week 1 target at the same load.

**The mesocycle theme moves the floor, not the ceiling.** A climb of one rep per week covers four or five reps, so it never reaches a ceiling further away than that. Under this progression the floor is the only part of a rep window the lifter ever trains at. Two mesocycles whose compound windows share a floor are the same training under a different label. So for hypertrophy-goal programs each mesocycle uses the compound window below, and consecutive mesocycles never share a floor:

| Mesocycle theme | Heavy compound barbell (band 5–10) | Moderate and unilateral compound (band 6–15) |
|---|---|---|
| Hypertrophy | 6–10 | 8–12 |
| Strength-Hypertrophy | 5–8 | 6–10 |
| Metabolic / Intensity | 6–10 | 10–15 |

Isolation stays on its full 10–15 band in every mesocycle. A program with no mesocycle structure uses the Hypertrophy row. Strength-goal programs use the Strength column of the category table instead. When a window is narrower than the block's climb (5–8 over five training weeks), hold a target for two weeks rather than passing the top.

**Band edges are hard.** The climb stops at the category ceiling. It does not cross it — a lifter who reaches the ceiling adds load and returns to the floor. No target, deload included, goes under the floor. If the plan needs a rep target outside the band, the exercise is wrong for that block — change the exercise, not the band.

## Volume Counting (Fractional Sets)

- Direct sets (target muscle = prime mover) count as 1.0
- Indirect sets (synergist) count as 0.5 — e.g., barbell row = 1.0 back + 0.5 biceps
- Sets to 0–2 RIR contribute full hypertrophic stimulus regardless of rep count
- Sets at 4+ RIR contribute meaningfully less

## Individual Adjustments

| Trigger | Action |
|---|---|
| Joint pain in any lift | Move to the top of that exercise's band. If the band's ceiling is still painful, substitute the exercise — do not prescribe outside the band. |
| 1RM test within 8 weeks | Shift primary lifts to 1–5 reps for 3–4+ weeks |
| Stagnation across full mesocycle | Audit weekly fractional sets, RIR, total hard sets BEFORE changing rep range |
| Cannot recover between sessions | Drop volume 30%, hold rep range, before changing rep range |

## Operating Principles

- **Volume × effort > rep range.** Sets at 0–2 RIR contribute roughly the same regardless of 6, 12, or 25 reps.
- **The band is the prescription.** Write the category band. Do not narrow it, and do not exceed it.
- **Strength has different logic.** Heavy load specificity matters; volume plateaus early; RIR barely matters.
- **Map by category, not goal.** A heavy compound at 6 reps and an isolation at 14 reps are both hypertrophy work in the same program.
- **Audit volume and effort before changing rep range** when results stall.

For full citations see https://getcoast.fit/rep-range-references.md