Lifting advice

So today I had one of those free training sessions that you get when you join a new gym.  The trainer I worked with, who has a B.A. in exercise physiology (not that that necessarily means anything), told me I should be lifting 3 sets of 15 reps instead of the 3 sets of 8 reps that I have been doing for a while.  Should I continue with what the trainer told me or stick with what I've been doing?  I'm not looking to build up any muscle mass in particular, but I'm definitely not against it.  Any suggestions?

Did the trainer give a rationale for why to up the reps?

And, just guessing - you are female (not that it should matter, but it might suggest why the trainer would have -inappropriately- suggested that)

She asked me what my goals were and I told her to run a 5k in the fall, so maybe she thinks I'm more interested in my cardio.  At no time did I mention a fear of bulking up. I am female, by the way.  Generally speaking, to build strength and some muscle mass should I go with a lower number of reps?

Even if you didn't mention any fear, she might be under the misconception that ALL women should lift high reps. Something about our muscles are more set up for endurance, so we should only lift in endurance rep schemes - that's one theory of where the myth came from.

But yes, generally speaking, go with the lower number of reps, although you wont' do much in terms of increasing muscle mass unless you are eating above maintenance calories (doesn't need to be significantly higher - I think one way to do it is eat at maint. on non-lifting days, and add a protein shake on lifting days - that's pretty much the rec. he gives in New Rules of Lifting for Women).

However, mixing up the rep scheme can be good - doing 5x5, if you've been at 3x8for a while.

There is some merit to doing high-rep endurance work as well from time to time in a plan; all rep ranges have their uses. And it's often the case that radically changing your workout parameters gives interesting results if your goals are related to body composition so the first trick in most trainers' bag is to ask what you've been doing and then have you do the opposite for a while.

 So as a change of pace it's got merit, but going heavier to a 5x5 would have the same effect as far as change goes and is a lot better in terms of strength gains.

 Women have slightly lower neural efficiency so peak power output potential for the same strenght is lower. Which means that for any given level of muscle mass you'd lift slightly less for your 1RM (lower peak power) but get in one to two more reps (lower peak power means your pool of unexhausted motor units is larger and you can sustain a given level of power output for slightly longer.) In practice, it amounts to exactly nothing; the neural controls may operate at different efficiencies, but the muscle mas is exactly the same and should be trained exactly the same way for the same goals.

melkor you have a complete nerd answer for everything. I love it.

Try reading the New Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuller. He has a great workout plan that lasts about 6-8 months. He explains why you should lift a certain number of sets and reps..... it changes... I found it much better than a PT. It is pretty easy to figure out how to do the exercises correctly. If you have any questions there is a group on cc you can ask. Get a workout partner and change your body!

Original Post by honkinator:

So today I had one of those free training sessions that you get when you join a new gym.  The trainer I worked with, who has a B.A. in exercise physiology (not that that necessarily means anything), told me I should be lifting 3 sets of 15 reps instead of the 3 sets of 8 reps that I have been doing for a while.  Should I continue with what the trainer told me or stick with what I've been doing?  I'm not looking to build up any muscle mass in particular, but I'm definitely not against it.  Any suggestions?

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