+ 1 Heavy weight, low reps vs. Light weight, a lot of reps
Hey fellas! Let's talk about training!
In the gym I go to it's always a big fiasco whether training with heavy weight & low reps is better than light weight with high reps. I personally believe that for me it depends on the muscle I'm training.
My arms only grow with light weight high reps.they get stronger the other way but DO NOT GROW AT ALL the other. But back, chest and legs I have to go heavy weight low reps. If not those muscles get hella stronger but DO NOT GROW AT ALL.
With arms, training light weight, high reps I get a pump that's outta this world and grew like a weed compared to training heavy with low reps. I feel that depending on the muscles your training determines whether you should go heavy or light. To figure that out you have to invest the time, training both ways, to see what works for you.
I bring this up because it was discussed yet again tonight at the gym and also a lot of these younger guys think it's all about the compounds your using and less about your training and diet.
Anyway guys what's your training routine? What works best for you on what muscle groups? I'd really love to get everyone's input on this subject. Especially, all the old school vets in here. Damn, I really wish Viking was around to give his knowledge And wisdom on this one!
Let's here it fellas!
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I notice doing a lot of weight benching i use other muscles besides chest so you have to watvh how heavy you go or your not actually working just your chest.
First off this is a great thread. Those guys in the gym need to be talking more about food than compounds if they want to grow. One thing I do have to say is this is all broscience because what works for one won't work for another. That being said my favorite routine is the 5 X 5. I respond better lifting heavy with less repetitions. I work out three times a week mon, wed and fri all compound lifts. Squats three times a week, bench twice and deadlift once. It works for me better than anything I've tried. To each their own.....
There's a lot of great info here guys. I appreciate it very much. I've trained off and on (more on) over the last 17 years and some of this I'm hearing for the first time. It's crazy how so much misinformation gets spread around mostly at the gym from the guys that appear to have it all together. I've always trained with the mind set that lower reps higher weight and higher reps lower weight depending on how that body part responds is the way to go. Since I've made this thread I've stopped worrying about that and have started training in the manners described below. It hasn't been long enough to really tell a significant difference, but just by the way my body reacts during and after workouts is completely different and I just get this overwhelming feeling that it's deffinately impacting my muscles in a very positive way. I even feel more of a mental connection between my mind and body. It's been a very eye opening experience thus far. Thanks again fellas. Your knowledge around here is absolutely priceless.
You know what bro heavy lifting works best for me. I know guys that got big while lifting moderate weight but I dont think very light will build much mass long term. You also have to look at the total workload per set. For example if you squat 315x16 vs 405x10. Repping out 3 plates 16 will get you bigger than 4 plates 10 times, at least for me. When i was a natural lifter I kept tweaking my training till I found out what worked for me. Everyones different though
https://www.eroids.com/forum/training-nutrition-diet/workout-exercise/ar...
Here's my post from a few months back. It echos a lot of what tony was saying. Give it a read.
Awesome thread buddy!
Glad it was helpful. :-)
After near 20 years of training I have found that the smaller muscle groups and indeed large work the best for me in terms of size and strength if I do 3 sets of near max effort - 1 set of 5 reps / 2nd set of 10 reps and 3rd set of 20 reps. I find that works the entire spectrum of musclular breakdown. Try it.....you will be pleasantly surprised. I do this for 2 exercices per bodypart 2wice a week and have never looked back
Weight has nothing to do with it. There is no magic rep range, no magic amount of weight. Just executing each rep correctly, focusing on mind muscle connection , full range of motion , knowing that the negative part of the movement is just as important as the positive , activating the muscle correctly , flexing the muscle at the top of the positive movement fighting the negative part as you let the weight down. Volume is also key , volume = blood flow which expands the muscle and breaks down the muscle which in turn = growth if the diet is on point , soo the more blood flow the better. Too many people put their attention to the amount of weight or the amount of reps when they aren't performing the contraction correctly to begin with. Take two guys have them both do the same weight and same reps if one doesn't focus on the contraction making every rep count doing the full range of motion squeezing at the top of the positive contraction he will be missing out on a ton. It goes 60% DIET 30% TRAINING 10% DRUGS. Its not about heavier weight or lighter its how you move it , hence why unlike many think, bodybuilders are very strong also. I do 6 weeks high volume 3 weeks moderate/heavy weight to hit fast twitch muscle fibers aka (power) and slow twitch muscle fibers (volume and endurance). I could type pages of this but you get the point.
Thanks for the very helpful info. Some i already knew but still a very useful thread. Keep posting.
Bingo!! Your muscles have no concept of weight, only time under tension (TUT). What I see happening all the time is someone trying to impress everyone by lifting heavy weights. Problem is is the weight is to heavy and they are barely using the muscle they are trying to train. They are using momentum and cheating to get the weight to move. NOT going to grow doing that.
It has pretty much been shown through studies that reps under 5 will mostly increase strength, 6-10 reps for hypertrophy and 15+ for endurance. Your muscles are made up of different fibers so you should train all rep ranges for complete development but focus most of your training reps for your particular goal (strength, hypertrophy, endurance)
Is training all rep ranges something you do during a set? Or is it something you do to change up,the routi?
There are lots of ways you could go about it. You could do a strength week, a hypertrophy week and then and endurance week focusing on those rep ranges. Another way would be to include different rep ranges for different sets. If you are benching for example and doing 5 working sets (the sets after you have warmed up) get 3 hypertrophy sets in do a strength set and finish off with an endurance set.
last week I did my sets to work all 3 and liked the pump I got. I am going to try it again for all muscles groups and see how it goes. Thank you for the help.
Thank you.... great advice!
Dropping bombs of wisdom, perfectly put mate!
That's good stuff brother! Another thing I feel that a lot of folks miss out on is working thru the pump. I've noticed a lot of people stop when it starts hurting bad. I came to realize early on that this is when your actually getting benefit from the workout.
That is very true. It's only pain!
When guys train with me they often comment about it being another level. It's about pushing past that "I'm done for" stage, that's when growth occurs. Genuine failure, not just pain. It's in your head.
Got to find what works for you, different muscles respond differently. Time under tension, stretch, contract squeeze is what builds muscle, not just WEIGHT. Since my shoulder surgeries people are surprised to see me doing side laterals with 15kg dumbells. 30 rep sets of those build more muscle on my shoulders than sets of 10 with 30kgs ever have.
Right on brother! This is point of my entire rant up top! Lol different muscles call for different training!