The amount of repetitions you should do depends entirely on what you're looking to achieve, whether it be strength, power, endurance or hypertrophy (big muscles). [quote]For example: The amount of repetitions that should be done per set if you're prioritizing strength gains is between one and five. The amount of repetitions that should be done per set if you're prioritizing muscular hypertrophy is between 6 and 12. [/quote] You can go about this one of two ways... The first way is to gauge your strength by discovering your one rep max per exercise. Each goal, whichever you wish to achieve(strength, power, hypertrophy ect.), requires that you use a certain percentage of your strength during your sets. Let's refer to this percentage as [b][i]intensity[/i][/b]. This will determine the weight load. [quote]For example: Billy wants to become a bodybuilder. Since Billy wants to become a bodybuilder, he needs large looking muscles. Billy maxes out his Benchpress at 100lbs for one repetition. Billy's intensity should be at 75% during his sets, in other words he should be exerting roughly 75% of his full strength every set. 100lbs = Billy's 1MR (1 Max Rep) 75% = Desired Intensity 75% of 100lbs = 75lbs Billy's sets should consist of 6-12 reps because he desires [b]Hypertrophy[/b]. This means that the load Billy should be Benchpressing is 75lbs for 6-12 reps. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sally wants to become an Olympic powerlifter. Sally needs to have explosive power, to move heavy weight from one position to another as quick as she can. Sally maxes out her Clean and Jerk at 300lbs for one repetition. Sally's intensity should be at 100% during her sets, in other words she should be exerting her full strength every set. 300lbs = Sally's 1MR 100% = Desired Intensity 100% of 300lbs = 300lbs Sally's sets should consist of only one rep because she desires [b]Power[/b]. The load Sally should be Clean and Jerking is 300lbs for one rep. [/quote] [quote][u]Intensity Reference Chart[/u] Power - 100% Strength - 85-95% Hypertrophy - 75% [u]Repetitions Per Set Reference Chart[/u] Power - 1 Strength - 1 to 5 Hypertrophy - 6 to 12[/quote] The second approach, while easier yet less efficient, would be to follow the [b]Repetitions Per Set Reference Chart[/b] and make sure that you barely achieve your final rep per set. You don't want to fail, though failing would be better than feeling as though you could've went another rep or more. Hope this helps!