posted Thu, 08/11/2011 - 11:31
3363
heavy or light weight
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i have some questions guys. it is better to work out with light weight and higer reps, ( until you get BURN) OR heavy weights with lower reps? im asking this cuz, I broke my left arm like 3 years ago, and i cant really do incline dumbbell or bench pres, its to hard for me, and my arm and my shoulder get sore really quick and hurts..! SO? it is better for me to work out with light waight until i get burn with higer reps?
THANX
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stfuandliftbtchyour not going to get huge staying about 15+ reps all the time
Hey mate have a crack at German Volume Training by Vince Gironda. It is basically 10 sets of 10 reps with 60% of your ORM. You only rest for 60 sec between each set and you only do 1 exercise per body part. This routine absolutly smashes you. It's light enough to not further injure yourself but it still causes growth. You might even get a bit stronger after you have trained using this very basic principal. Also you only use basic compound movements. Try it for 6 weeks then go back to you original programme. This shit hurts. After the first 4 to 5 sets you will think that you haven't gone heavy enough then BAM the pain kicks in and you will really feel what this has to offer. Good luck with it all.
AnonThere is a time and a place for both types of training. Is the problem the way the arm was set and you can't bend or extend it? What kind of pt have you done for it? Have you tried alternative exercises?
It's all about mind muscle connection for me, I train heavy weight on the off season and focus on contraction with semi light up to my show, but I agree with Manlytt, egos are hard to leave a the door..
You can flex your muscles with no weight at all. I feel I get a better workout when I dont let my ego take over and I concentrate on flexing the muscle I intend to work. Until you make a mind muscle connection you really won't get the best out of your workouts. I hope this helps. Egos can be the hardest thing to train.
Anonyou bring up an interesting point so i thought i would reply and see if anyone else agrees with me:
some of the exercises i do (bicep curls in particular) i am very aware of my max weight. however, if i were to flex my bicep without any weight i feel like i can put much more pressure into the flex than what i could possibly lift. another thing is that i do always make sure to flex each muscle as i work it out, but my biceps don't ever seem to be able to flex as hard with weight as they do without.
i don't ever notice this with other muscle groups. for example, i know for a fact i can leg press much more weight than the amount of pressure i exert to flex my thigh. maybe that's a bad example... okay, when i flex my hamstring i know for a fact that i can lift more weight than i can flex without.
come to think of it, i think i put more flex power into my chest than i can actually lift...
anyone with any thoughts on this?
it depends what your looking for, as far as muscle building, low reps heavy weight is the way to go. good luck bro!
I don't think the two are mutually exclusive, and your particular case warrants the use of both. High reps low weight help to heal man. Why don't you try a couple of high rep sets and finish out heavy and low? That way you get the best of both worlds?
Anoni like this idea a lot, too. normally i would do this the other way around, but doing it like this will get you a great pre-exhaust and really kick your muscles into working and growing!
Would you go the other way around, Jet? My typical sets breakdown like 21,14, 7,7,7...I always like the idea of getting a lot of blood flow to the area....especially in this guy's case as he has injuries. And I've had injuries, hence the reason I always go light the first couple of sets. Word?
Anonyeah, if you have some injuries then i def see the point in going light first to get the blood flowing. personally, i haven't had any serious injuries so i start heavy and then finish certain exercises working my way down to light and going to failure just to really recruit every fiber. it just seems to work well for me.
thanx everyone for the help. im already doing some heavy weight with 4 sets, 8-9 reps, and some supersets, i havent done the supersets before and now that im doing them, i feel like my arm is goona tear apart lol
sgtstedankoAfter injury, remember to go slower. Not xplode up at max. Take at least 2+ seconds per rep, this will help strength stabilizing muscles, etc; And you'll recover a lot faster:)
Anoni was having this problem for a while too. i already have some back and shoulder issues from being in the military and doing bench exercises really bothered me. i switched from doing bench press/incline press to using the cable crossovers and only using the bench for occasional dumbbell fly's. i've noticed much better gains in my chest since switching to the cables. make sure you really flex hard and pull the cable across your body as far as you can to really get your pecs pumped and sore the next day! i also do dips still but i've found that i get even better results by doing a kinda "reverse" shoulder shrug after each set. basically, i'll stay in the "up" position on the dip bars and let my body hang down as low as it can while keeping my arms perfectly straight... then i'll lift myself as high as i can by flexing my chest as hard as possible. this works really well on days when my shoulder REALLY hurts! i can do these all day without any pain! usually i can get around 20 quality reps and 2 or 3 sets of these when i superset them with the cables and pushups.
As a Personal trainer I'm ask this question alot. It all depends on you goals. If you are wanting to just focus on strength as a power lifter would, you would use Heavy weight with low reps range 4-5. Now if your goal is mass you would want to use Heavy weight with a few more reps like for instance 7-9. Light lifting with high reps in Bodybuilding are mainly for definition and cutting the muscle for detail. Remember too everyones body is diffrent. In your case it would probably be best if you healed first before attempting heavy lifting. You will only reinjure your self and cause futher damage. Hope this was helpful.
tread-mYeah gucci I'm with Dan in that you will eventually get there but you have to work to get there because without going bigger you cant get much bigger. You have to tell the body and brain you dont have the tools to get it done over and over and with all the diet and gear etccc in place it will get bigger to compensate for the problem you are having with the big weight. With lighter weight all the time and never getting outside your comfort zone it will just harden and in some cases even harden and get smaller....so bottom line is go as far as you can and try to rasie the bar as frequently as you can. It really comes down to what you are training to achieve you know. I have incorporated the fst7 at the end of all of my workouts and it has helped me raise the bar a little as well.
Try the 5x5 workout plan. Its def heavier weight tho....but it gives you percentages to work with and will help you pack on mass and strength instead of going into the gym everyday just kinda going with the wind. 5x5 incorporates both Heavy weight low reps, and high reps low weight in the same workout.
thanx for your help bro, and for the info. i will do heavy low reps, and high reps low weight in the same workout. thanx man..!
In general I switch it up and try to always end half my lifts with a high rep low weight burnout...injury is a lot different. STRETCH! Go slow and be controlled...maybe preacher curls could be your heavy lift for arms (single arm DB so you can keep strength as even as possible)....I'd do smith machine for bench just don't go down all the way as you can still get a nice lift without having the bar hit your chest....or try floor bench presses and DB work...I'd check around and see if DB, BB, machines, work best...all depends in what's comfortable. Good luck and get that arm strong!
thats what i do, i use the smith machine for bench and it works great for me, but if i go all the way down my shoulder HURTS as hell..! so i guess, DO NOT GO ALL THE WAY DOWN LOL..! thanx bro 4 ur help..!
For this problem try bench press from the floor. its called floor presses. It helps you know where your elbow is supposed to go on bench press. you elbow shouldnt really dip behind your back on bench press because you are actually going outside of form and putting your pecs in an unnatural movment. This is also where the shoulder problem occurs because you begin using more of your shoulder to push the weight back up. google floor presses. yes you'll look weird in the gym at first but your pecs will grow...Truth is the higher you go in bench press you will always strain your shoulder. It a problem ALL heavy bench pressers deal with I can assure you
thanx guys, i really aporeciate your help. I will do more light and higer. DAN88 haha same here bro, my friends always play around with that LOL.
sgtstedankoWork slower. Do what you can. If it hurts, don't do it! I've got shit shoulders to bro.
you use a combination of both,but it's what you can do with your injury.I broke the same wrist 2 time's,the second was a rebreak of the 1st while still in the cast.I had pin's in it for 12 week or something,nearly lost rotational movement.Anyway it was 10 year back now and still to this day my left arm goes,mate's play around and call it a excuse lol...So when i set off I had to work with low wweight's,high rep's and from there your arm will repair.You will go heavy don't worry,just keep hitting light's for a while
If I were u I would do what ever is comfortable to you (with ur injury)u dont want to hurt ur self. As far as heavy or light weight...go heavy if want to built more muscle and strength (4 mass). go light if u want to define or tone up.
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