Why do people put on muscle after lightweight/high reps?
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alexrosader
Posts: 79 Member
So all my life I've been told (and eventually told myself)that I can't leave the gym without hitting some low reps and heavy AF weights, I COULDN'T LEAVE THE GYM WITHOUT doing this, I know it's an ego thing. However once spring comes across I start dieting and lift lightweights in the 15-25 rep range and noticed myself getting leaner or "bigger" in comparison to my bulkier or "softer" look. Am I like hallucinating or something? Probably I am lolol
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Replies
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Search for a post I put up this week by Brad Schoenfeld on building muscle using 40% 1RM.2
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yvanvillegas wrote: »So all my life I've been told (and eventually told myself)that I can't leave the gym without hitting some low reps and heavy AF weights, I COULDN'T LEAVE THE GYM WITHOUT doing this, I know it's an ego thing. However once spring comes across I start dieting and lift lightweights in the 15-25 rep range and noticed myself getting leaner or "bigger" in comparison to my bulkier or "softer" look. Am I like hallucinating or something? Probably I am lolol
The bold is the main difference. You looked bigger because you got leaner. You can gain muscle in a variety of rep ranges as @Hello_its_Dan mentioned but you sacrifice strength and potentially time.8 -
Some muscles respond well to that rep range like legs... they are used all day and have a higher resilience to weight.1
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blackcomaro wrote: »Some muscles respond well to that rep range like legs... they are used all day and have a higher resilience to weight.
it depends on the ratio of type 1 and type 2 fibers.
it's still my understanding though that 6-12 reps with 3-5 sets is the proper amount of volume to stimulate hypertrophy.4 -
Hmmm....sorry but i tend to disagree here0
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But you do want to be doing 40 reps0
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based on what information?0
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how light are we talking here? and how many reps?1
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Im not here to argue with you. Im no good at pasting articles and things but.... i have read it. You have got to shock the body...otherwise it says i know you... you do 5 sets of twelve or whatever. Keep you body guessing.... think your strong how strong is your mind.
I guarantee only the strong can push through the pain of high reps!9 -
blackcomaro wrote: »Im not here to argue with you. Im no good at pasting articles and things but.... i have read it. You have got to shock the body...otherwise it says i know you... you do 5 sets of twelve or whatever. Keep you body guessing.... think your strong how strong is your mind.
I guarantee only the strong can push through the pain of high reps!
Okay, so what you're referring to is General Adaptation Syndrome which requires progressive overload and periodized training for maximal adaptation.
This doesn't mean that hypertrophy is not most effective in that particular repetition range...
I think it's probably best not to argue; especially when you refuse to provide any evidence for your claims.8 -
One last point then im out... so if your a women and used to walking in heels all day. You think low reps are going to build your calfs??? Thats my 2cents.4
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blackcomaro wrote: »One last point then im out... so if your a women and used to walking in heels all day. You think low reps are going to build your calfs??? Thats my 2cents.
Yes, it would.5 -
blackcomaro wrote: »One last point then im out... so if your a women and used to walking in heels all day. You think low reps are going to build your calfs??? Thats my 2cents.
Dancers. Gymnasts. Major calves. Didn't lift a weight until two years ago.2 -
blackcomaro wrote: »Im not here to argue with you. Im no good at pasting articles and things but.... i have read it. You have got to shock the body...otherwise it says i know you... you do 5 sets of twelve or whatever. Keep you body guessing.... think your strong how strong is your mind.
I guarantee only the strong can push through the pain of high reps!
That whole shock the body thing is a bunch of bro science16 -
VintageFeline wrote: »blackcomaro wrote: »One last point then im out... so if your a women and used to walking in heels all day. You think low reps are going to build your calfs??? Thats my 2cents.
Dancers. Gymnasts. Major calves. Didn't lift a weight until two years ago.
calf size mostly comes down to genetics. it's why we always joke about men skipping calf day and getting calf implants.
I was a gymnast for 8 years (high level competitor training 25+ hours a week). I have normal sized calves.
The thing about gymnastics is that it trains within multiple modalities. Some movements require immense strength, some require stabilization, some require power, some require endurance, some require agility, etc. Training this way (called "functional training") is very effective for an overall fit body. As opposed to training for aesthetics (making the muscle larger in size) they've trained for functional skills.
If you look at male gymnasts for example, they look visually ripped. But in all actuality they are relatively small in body size compared to a bodybuilder for example. Why? Because of their training style.
you'll notice as mentioned above, this is why i personally think it's so important to train on a periodized program.
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Not here to argue just point out some interesting facts.
Last point "exactly".... with the dancers etc..high reperitions! Look at an over weight persons calves... massive.3 -
blackcomaro wrote: »Not here to argue just point out some interesting facts.
Last point "exactly".... with the dancers etc..high reperitions! Look at an over weight persons calves... massive.
Keeps saying not here to argue and comes back to argue...
More than likely those massive calves are from fat, because obese...
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blackcomaro wrote: »Not here to argue just point out some interesting facts.
Last point "exactly".... with the dancers etc..high reperitions! Look at an over weight persons calves... massive.
Keeps saying not here to argue and comes back to argue...
More than likely those massive calves are from fat, because obese...
it's interesting you mention that, because once you get fat enough you start to gain fat in strange places where we generally hold less fat. like hands, feet, calves, forehead/back of neck, etc.2 -
The large calves in obese people is from strength gained from the necessity of carrying around the extra body weight. I firmly believe this is why obese men can lose the fat and then get ripped easier than a scrawny guy can, the obese were already technically bulking and doing weight lifting everyday just moving themselves around. Whereas an obese female will still have larger stronger muscles than the average female at the same lower weight, she will not have as much underlying muscle as a man (hormones, estrogen enabling fat etc) and will not be as lean unless worked hard for. Plus this is only true if a calorie deficit was appropriate and not drastic otherwise more lean mass will have been lost and they end up in danger of low lean mass, higher body fat%, aka skinny fat.7
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Muscle's respond to stress. Do you really believe your muscle's can determine the difference between high weight/low rep and low weight/high rep assuming you can stress them equally?
You should switch up between volume and intensity for other reasons but I prefer high, controlled reps because I can max out time under tension.1
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