A PHYSIO TIP: SO HOW MANY REPS AND SETS SHOULD I DO TO BUILD STRENGTH?

Many of my patients ask me the following question: What exactly is the exercise dosage I should do (the number of reps and sets) perform to optimise their either physical rehabilitation or fitness program for strength gains? 

As a rule of thumb, here is the advice I generally give to someone who is relatively physically normal with no particular past medical history that may make performing the following task unsafely:

1. Pick a weight that is “pretty heavy”
   
2. Pick it up 10 times
   
3. If you can get to 10, add weight and repeat
   
4. If you get past 5 but cannot get to 10, that’s a good weight
   
5. Do a total of 3-4 sets