Stop Chasing The “Toning” Rep Range - It Doesn’t Exist

"Keep your reps low and don't go above 12 reps unless you want to build loads of muscle."

Well, I didn't think I'd be hearing that in 2026!

How times have changed.

Back in 2006, when I started in the fitness industry, the story was: make sure you do higher reps (15+) if you want to avoid building muscle.

Let me be clear: Both are bollocks, and have confused people for years.

A family member recently asked me, "What do I need to do to get more toned? I don't want to lose weight, just get more toned."

This is such a common question.

I'm afraid I probably made it sound more complicated than it needed to be. Let me try to simplify things here.

I want to briefly touch on calories. In the most basic terms, think of it like this:

Maintenance - Eat this amount and nothing changes.

Deficit - Eat this amount and you'll lose body fat.

Surplus - Eat this amount and you'll gain muscle, fat, or both.

The amount you need varies. You can calculate yours using an online calorie calculator, just search for "TDEE calculator."

Getting enough protein is important alongside your calories. Start at the bottom end of this range if you are new to tracking, as it may be hard to hit at first, but aim for somewhere between 1.5–2.2g of protein per kg of body weight.

For example, if you weigh 75kg: 75 x 1.5 = 112.5g of protein per day.

If you aren't counting your calories or your protein, focus on ensuring you are getting a portion of protein within every meal you have.

For context, a chicken breast, depending on size, contains around 45g of protein.

Now the most important part to building muscle is your training.

You can build muscle across a wide range of repetitions. Let me give you three principles to follow, followed by some practical takeaways.

You must be taking some of your sets close to failure*

You must be providing enough challenge to your muscles over time, basically increasing your weights/reps/sets.

You must be doing enough sets per muscle group over time.

*This means you should only have around 1–3 reps left in the tank before you literally cannot perform another rep. You may hear this called "reps in reserve" (RIR).

So, for a beginner (under one year of consistent training), here are your simple takeaways:

• Follow a full-body session 2–3 times per week

• 8-10 sets per week, per muscle group

• 6-15 reps

• 1-3 reps in reserve on some of those sets

Now for your nutritional takeaways - these are slightly more nuanced.

If you already have a considerable amount of body fat, opt for a calorie deficit of around 500 calories per day.

If you have less body fat and are focused purely on building muscle without losing fat, opt for maintenance calories or a slight surplus of around 200-300 extra calories per day.

Follow the protein guidance from earlier, regardless of which calorie option you choose.

If you've got any more questions about any of this, drop me an email at md@markdavenportcoaching.com. Or, if you're thinking about working together, my enquiry form is the best place to start: https://forms.gle/8WLKY5BsmyhHrYFK9

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