Hey... I am training a few months and been trying out things a lot.
My thoughts on this: I do one day (strength) focused in rep range 4-7 and one day in rep range 9-12.
Now my big issue with this is basically I can't do 4-7 or 9-12 reps in 3 sets.
If I choose a weight that hits for example 4 reps, my second set will only be 3 reps and my third set 2 reps. Or if I choose a weight I can hit the 9 reps, my second set will fall to 7 or 8 reps and my third set to 5 or 6.
So if I don't ADJUST my weight I chose for the first set my reps are ALWAYS going down duo to fatigue.
This brings me to the next issue. I will choose rep range 9-12 as an example. My first set I do lets say 12 reps. My next set 10 and my third set 7 reps.
The next time I still can't increase the weight even though I did 12/12 reps on my first set, cause both other sets are not 12/12.
But by not increasing weight I can now do 14 or 15 reps with the same weight on Set 1 because I got "stronger". But again, now that I did more reps on Set 1 I still can't do more reps on Set 2 and 3 cause of fatigue from Set 1.
How can I ever get 7/7 or 12/12 if Set 1 is pre fatigueing me?
Choose a lighter weight and do 12/12 on set 1 even though I could do 20+ more reps or what? That makes no sense. But only with a lighter weight I can complete 3 sets of 12/12 or 7/7.
I dont understand how this should work. Choose a weight that I can do 15 reps safely but still only do 12 so I can do set 2 with 12 reps and set 3 with 11 reps and then up the weight?
That would mean I have to do set 1 with 3-4 reps in reserve, so I can do atleast 12 reps in set 2 and a minimum of 10 reps on set 3.
My honest opinion on this after trying it for a few months. I think I am better off blasting my self on Set 1 with 1-2 reps in reserve instead of trying to hit 12 reps in all three sets. Then I use the same weight (if I think I had 1-3 reps in reserve) and AMRAP Set 2 with 2.5 kg less and not do a third set at all.
It feels like, or atleast that is what I think I am doing: trying to prevent fatigue in set 1 so I have enough energy for set 3 and hit my 12 reps.
Im not sure if that is good... it feels like Set 1 is totally wasted cause I cant go "all in" duo to being afraid of not getting the reps I want in set 2 and 3.
Today I dumbbell bench pressed 10 reps with 25 kg dumbbells. I quit at 10 reps cause I knew that if I did 3-4 more I wouldn't be able to do 8 reps in Set 2 not even 6 reps in set 3. So I did 1. Set 10 reps, 2. set I went for 12 reps anyways and my 3. set failed again at around 7 reps. And again I wasnt able to stay in my target rep range of 9-12 cause of doing 12 reps on set 2 instead of 10 reps.
I honestly have no friggin idea how people can do 3 sets of "12" and then increase weight after doing 3x12 back to 3x8 until they are at 3x12 again. Because either I can do 1x16-20, 1x10-14 and then 1x 6-9 but not all three at 12 reps. Heck I can't even choose a single weight for 3x8 cause if I choose a weight that hits the "8 reps" directly I wont ever be able to do 8 reps with the same weight after 3 minutes rest again on set 2 yet alone set 3. It always goes DOWN. 12 -> 10 -> 8... or 7 reps -> 5 reps -> 3 reps... but never consistent reps. Its always set 1 good, set 2 worse, set 3 very bad.
Edit: As a beginner in weightlifting this is totally complicated for me to understand.
I thought Id give rep schemes another try today but it feels like my new approach of doing drop sets feels better to me. I am just choosing a weight with which I can do 12-14 reps, but quit at 12 reps and then use that same weight and work my way down to 8 reps. So my first set is usually 12 or 13 reps, depending on how I feel and assuming I could do 1 or 2 more but still stop. Then I do my second set with that same weight and AMRAP that thing (usually around 10-11 reps) and then I finish my third set with a bit of lower weight but also aim for 10-11 reps again.
What I also tried is just increasing weight after my first and second set are both around 10-12 reps even though my third set is still only at 9 reps. Just increase anyways no matter what the litature says 12/12/12. Because by the time I hit 12 reps on my third set with a specific weight I am basically doing 20 reps with that weight on Set 1 and 15 Reps on Set 2.
But honestly for me as a beginner it is way easier picking a weight that I know I can lift around 13 times, give my best and stop the set once I think I can't lift 2 more times. Or basically just increase weight as soon as I hit 9-10 reps on set 3 instead of waiting til 12.
Choose a weight that you can do for all three sets, and do the last set to failure, whether that's 1 rep, 5 reps, 12 reps, 20, etc.
So if you're doing three sets of five: First set, 5 reps. Second set, 5 reps. Third set, AMRAP to failure. Like, actually failing, not just feeling like you couldn't do another.
If you complete all three sets to the prescribed number, you can move up in weight the next workout.
If you fail to complete the second set, you need to reduce the weight.
If you fail to complete the third set, try the same weight the next workout, and try to get to the target weight. If you stall for more than 2 workouts at the same weight, reduce weight.
When you reduce the weight, you may find that you have the ability to get way more reps than you did the last time at that weight. For example, you do a set of 5, then another set of 5, and then you manage to do a set of 10 before failing. That's a good sign you're improving, and ready to move up again.