Question about sets and reps to achieve the fastest muscle gain

[mystic0608]

I'm 17 and I workout every other day. My goal is to achieve muscle growth and strength.

I've read up online on how to do things, but I still have many questions. For the past 6 months I've been doing 8-12 reps each set, gradually moving up 2 reps when I feel I am ready and then moving on to more weight after the 12th.

So, I was thinking of doing 5 reps and 3 sets with heavy weights in one exercise, the next workout I would do 10 reps and 3 sets with regular weights in one exercise, and the next workout I would do 15 reps with 3 sets with light weights.

And also, how should I differentiate between heavy, regular, and light weights? Hypothetically, if my regular weights are 100 pounds for benching, what should my heavy weights be? Light weights?


What should I do? Stick to my regular routine? Try my new idea?

I need some feedback. If you have anything else suggesting a better workout regime to gain muscle growth, please do.

P.S. Is whey protein worth getting?

 

[Adumb]

From a simplistic standpoint you can "calculate" heavy days as a percentage of max bench. However, it really doesn't make sense to find out your max for every exercise and maybe not even for bench. The best way to do it would be to just get in and play around and find out how many reps you can do of whatever weight. I like increasing reps before increasing weight as it helps to build good form. So maybe get it to where you can do 12 reps for 3 sets of an exercise before you try bumping up the weight.

Whey protein is one of the best investments you can make. Take it at least within an hour after your workout.