When planning out the workout program you should be using for your current goal, there are a few things that you should be considering. Far too many people consistently are always staying within the same rep range and don't change it - just simply add more weight to the bar when they're ready.

While this is certainly one way to train, it's not going to be the best way for a variety of reasons.

First, always working in the exact same rep range can increase the chance that the body adapts quicker, thus you'll experience less progress as time goes on.

Furthermore, consistently using the same rep range during your workouts will also increase the chances that you become injured due to the fact it's the same muscle stress being placed on the body over and over again.

Now that said, don't get too caught up in the fact that you should only be using a single rep range when progressing throughout your workout.

Building Size

The common thought when trying to add more size to the body is to work in a slightly higher rep range; usually around 8-12 reps.

This is what is optimal for something called ‘sarcoplasmic hypertrophy' and what will enlarge the muscle tissue fibers the most immediately after your workout.

Due to the nature that you are lifting in the higher rep range with this though, it's going to limit the amount of weight you are able to lift during the set.

Therefore, this does not make it optimal for maximum strength gains.

Building Strength

That said, now, in order to build the maximum amount of strength, it's going to be best to focus on lower rep ranges so you are able to really power through those sets and lift maximally.

Since strength is basically how much sheer weight you are able to press, it only makes sense to do this.

Combining The Two

Now, one thing many people never think about doing is combining the two rep ranges in one workout in each exercise.

Many people will work in different rep ranges with different exercises - say doing core lifts in the 6-8 rep range, and then the more isolated exercises in the 10-12 rep range.

This allows them to get some variability in their workouts, but it still may not be optimal.

Others will choose to vary the rep ranges throughout their exercise sets, but often they do so by starting with higher reps and moving to lower reps.

Their moving to lower rep ranges though is then often due to fatigue during the set than anything else.

An alternative is to this is starting with a lower rep range - thus focusing on strength and then moving to the higher rep range.

This works better for two reasons.

First, it allows you to really focus on pushing the most weight when you're fresh (since the heavy weight comes first), and secondly, when working in higher rep ranges you are looking to optimize accumulated fatigue, and this works well also since you'll already be slightly fatigued from the higher rep ranges.

So, next time you're doing your workout and would ideally like to see both strength and size gains, consider using this type of rep scheme.

Not only will it make your workouts more interesting, but you'll likely get better results as well.