What Do Sets, Reps & Circuits Mean in a Workout?

You don’t simply walk into a gym and start exercising without a plan. As you’d expect, performing a haphazard workout will yield uneven results at best, and may even do you harm. Doing specific numbers of sets and repetitions for each exercise helps you organize your workout into a coherent structure. Performing specific types of workouts, such as circuits, is another way to develop a program that suits your fitness goals.

  1. Know Your Reps

    • Repetitions, commonly abbreviated as reps, indicate the number of times you repeat an exercise without rest. If you perform 10 consecutive pushups, for example, you’ve completed 10 reps. Before you begin an exercise session you should already know how many reps you’ll do for each exercise. The optimal number of reps depends on your fitness goals. As a very general rule, try to complete eight to 12 reps of each strength-training exercise, provided you can do so using the correct form. If you complete 12 reps and feel that you could do several more, increase your weight by about 5 to 10 percent the next time you perform the exercise.

    Get Set for Efficient Exercise

    • When you complete a series of reps for one exercise, and then you stop to rest, you’ve done one set. A set can include any number of reps you wish. For example, a set of crunches may include 50 reps, while a pullup set may consist of only 10 reps. The number of sets you perform, like the number of reps, depends on what you hope to accomplish. If you’re doing a total-body workout and time is short, you can do one set of each exercise. If you’re focusing on one part of your body, you’ll likely do multiple sets, with about a minute of rest between sets. In general, one set of eight to 12 reps -- using the correct form and with sufficient weight -- will help strengthen the muscles you’re working out.

    Complete the Circuit for Strength and Fitness

    • A circuit workout includes a series of exercises performed consecutively, with little or no rest between activities. The goal is to keep your heart rate up and burn additional calories. Typical circuits include six to 10 exercises. You do one set of each activity, but the number of reps per set is up to you. Because you don’t rest between exercises, avoid working the same body part in consecutive activities. So if you include chest exercises such as the pushup and bench press in your circuit, perform at least one non-chest exercise in between. A total-body circuit might alternate between upper- and lower-body exercises. For example, start with squats, then perform bench presses, leg curls, lat pulldowns, calf raises, arm curls, crunches and triceps kickbacks. Repeat your chosen circuit as many times as you wish, with two to three minutes of rest between circuits.

    Other Exercise Basics

    • No matter how you organize your workout, begin each session with a five- to 10-minute aerobic warm-up. Use smooth, controlled motions for each exercise. Take about twice as long to perform the eccentric phase of your exercises -- during which you release or return to start position -- as you do the concentric phase -- during which you lift or pull the weight. Examples of concentric movements include raising the barbell during the bench press and pulling the lat bar down during lat pulldowns.