← All guides

Getting Started · Explainer · 4 min ·

How hard should a beginner train? Judge effort with reps in reserve

How hard should a beginner train? The simplest check is reps in reserve: how many more clean reps could you have done when the set ended?

Use the slider tool to see how weight and reps change that number, learn what a 2 or 3 in reserve feels like, and why you do not need to go to failure to make progress.

Ten blue blocks, the last two hatched, showing two reps left in reserve after a set

More in Getting Started

Read next