posted Wed, 12/14/2016 - 03:50
1192
low reps w/ heavy weights v. high reps w/ light weights for muscle gain
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What is the difference between using high reps with light weights versus doing low reps with heavy weights? Which one is better for building muscle mass and getting ripped?
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General rules of thumb:
6 reps and under - strength training - type IIb fibers
8-12 reps - hypertrophy (maximum hypertrophy occurs with time under tension ranging from 40-70 sec.) - type IIa fibers
15+ - endurance - type 1 fibers
If you are more interested in strength, train on the lower rep range. If you want more size, train for hypertrophy at the mid-range and for muscular endurance train on the top end. Focus most of your sets/reps on the goal you are interested in but keep in mind you do need to stimulate all three muscle fiber types for maximum development so for this reason you should incorporate all of the various rep ranges to some extent in your workout to stimulate the most muscle fibers.
this is why I follow you around. my man breaking down the science of bodybuilding
ever since I dropped the ego and focus on high reps I blew the hell up
great reply
I've been working on my hams and quads. One of the regimens is stiff leg dead lefts. I'll warm up with 95 lbs and do 25-30 reps using good slow form...you know really feeling it... I actually start feeling the tension in the muscles around 15-20 reps, when the burning starts, I'll slow the reps down and keep good form. From there, I'll increase weight 115 lbs and repeat reps and form. Next weight increase is 50 lbs reps hit between 15-20. Next weight increase is 50 lbs and reps are 8-10 (come on carbs be there for me...lol) then last set is another 50 lbs increase and the reps are 5 and form is real slow. After that I leave and eat, then come back a couple hours later and do a squat regimen....
iNarcissistLight weight higher reps tone the muscle with a pump and makes me sweat more.
Heavy low reps build more muscle on me.
I personally never understood this debate. Lifting heavy is the only way i grow. Otherwise im just pumping the muscle.
But it varies depending on my excercise as well. I dont see a point in high rep compound excercises. Heavy compound lifts6-8reps, bench, squat, dead, moderate compound lifts.8-10. incline press, leg press, lat pull and lighter weight isolated excercises.12-15..chest flyes, leg ext, dumbbell rows.... you dont wanna be that guy trying to curl all heavy with bad form or throwing out a shoulder with heavy laterals or that guy doing 100 lat pulls of 50lbs...lift heavy compound for strength, then shape and pump.
This is just my opinion though.
the biggest thing that determines if you build muscle or get ripped (burn fat) iis diet in my experience, rep range does not. To build muscle you must eat in a surplus of calories so your body can use the extra calories ot build new muscle tissue, whereas to burn fat you must eat a deficit of calories so your body is forced to used stored fat as energy. Although higher reps with shorter rest periods will burn more calories during a workout then low reps with long rest periods, so in that case that will aid in burning fat, but not if your diet isnt setup for fat loss. What rep range your respond best to is very indivudual, and has alot to do with your experience level. Some people grow best focusing on 6-8 reps, others blow up doing 12-15 reps and dont grow well with lower reps (6-8) you have to find what works best for you. staying between 8-12 is a pretty safe bet for building muscle, i personally like to utilize many different rep ranges during a workout, or even during the same exercise, sometimes ill do my big compound movements like bench, barbell rows, military press etc with lower reps somehwere between 5-8, or ill do a pyramid style 15 12 10 8 6, then ill do flys with 8-12 reps, and then the last exercises if its pec dec or cable flys ill do higher reps like 12-15 or 15-20. Each rep range effects the muscle differently, the lower reps promote myofibular hypertropy, and actual increase in size and thickness of the muscle fiber, but overall size gain is slower, but this promotes real density and the lower rep ranges also increase strength at a faster rate then the higher rep ranges. The higher rep ranges primarly incrase muscle size by increasing the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cell. It typicallly causes a faster increase in size, but strength gains are slower. I think 8 reps gets a good mix of both types of hypertrophy, or like i said utilizing all the different rep ranges in a workout so you stimulate all types of growth. But first diet is key, you need to be eating big to grow, you can lift all you want and have the most perfect routine, but you cant out train a bad diet.