The Origin of 3x10
In the 1940s, Dr. DeLorme was working with patients who had muscle atrophy due to prolonged immobilization. At the time, the medical standard for recovery was rest and light exercise. DeLorme disagreed with this approach and introduced the concept of progressive resistance training (PRT)—gradually increasing weight as strength improved.
His key breakthrough came from experimenting with different training volumes and intensities. He found that three sets of ten repetitions, performed at a progressively challenging load, provided the best combination of muscular stimulus and recovery for his patients. It struck the right balance between:
-
Volume (enough total reps to create adaptation),
-
Intensity (moderately heavy weight to build strength),
-
and Practicality (easy to teach, track, and scale).
Why It Stuck
The "3 sets of 10" model took off because it was:
Over time, it was adopted by bodybuilders, physical therapists, coaches, and commercial gyms and became a default prescription for general fitness, even though more nuanced approaches have since been developed.
The Caveat
While “3x10” works well for many people, it’s not necessarily optimal for all goals. It became a one-size-fits-all solution, but strength training, as many of you know, is more dynamic than that:
-
Want to build max strength? You may need lower reps, higher weight.
-
Want endurance? You might go for higher reps, lower weight.
-
For hypertrophy? You may need more volume or varied intensity.
Bottom Line
We got to “3 sets of 10 reps” thanks to Dr. Thomas DeLorme’s work nearly 80 years ago during WWII, as a rehabilitation tool that evolved into a mainstream fitness model. It became the foundation of progressive resistance training and is still used today because of its simplicity and effectiveness. As many of you know who workout with us, we often manipulate the sets and reps between 6-15 so we can cover the spectrum of strength, power, and endurance.
|
