It has been known for years that high volume training is the most efficient way to build lean muscle mass. Protein buildup is what leads to muscle growth - or muscle "hypertrophy." Protein buildup happens by: the amount of protein going into the muscle increases, the amount of protein wasted from the muscle decreases, and, a combination of the two.
Weight training causes tiny tears in the muscle fibres, this is called "microtrauma." In order to repair the damage the body automatically responds by increasing the amount of protein going into the muscles. This can continue for up to 48 hours after training. Testosterone and other hormones positively impact the rate of muscle growth and repair; and it's weight training that stimulates the release of these muscle building hormones in your body. It is the type of muscle fibres that directly impact the rate of hypertrophy - muscle growth, during this healing process. The more fast twitch muscles fibres an individual has, the more efficiently he will build lean muscle mass. The rep range most suited to stimulate these fibres is in the 15-6 range.
At Josef Rakich Fitness the goal is always to: maintain lean muscle mass, build lean muscle mass, or a combination of the two. It is for that reason your rep range will fall in the 15-6 range. However, we do like to mix it up in order to avoid "general adaptation syndrome," which basically means your body will adapt to the program/rep range given, and hit a massive plateau. A great way to mix things up is to include higher sets of 20 reps, focused more on endurance, and lower rep sets of 3, focused more on strength.
In summery, your workout program will generally fall in the 15-6 rep range, as this is what's proven to be best for building and maintaining lean muscle mass. The only exception will be to periodically mix your training program up to avoid plateaus, because everybody hates plateaus!
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