More Weight or More Reps or Both?

misslizzierod

Hello All,

Besides losing fat, I would also like to build more muscle in areas such as my triceps and lats to achieve a natural, toned look.

What would be best to achieve this? Lighter weight/higher reps or heavier weight/fewer reps? Maybe a combination of both?

Also, does gradually increasing weight amount play an important role to achieve this?

Any tips appreciated. Thank you

sijomial

Back in the Dark Ages when I grew up it was believed there was a hard differentiation between low reps / heavy weights for strength and high reps / light weights for hypertrophy (building muscle).
But if you have ever arm-wrestled a brick layer you would doubt the accuracy of this!

But in reality, volume (reps x weight x frequency) that is the bigger factor so the answer is either to a large degree.
Increasing weights is nice and simple way to keep challenging your muscles but not the only way, plus it's also a time efficient means to get progressive overload. Very high rep ranges can be pretty inefficient as there's a lot of wasted reps to get to the point where you are recruiting all muscle fibres.

Personal opinion is that training in a variety of rep ranges is also helpful for most. TBH if you are a beginner just doing something is the #1 driver for progress so don't ignore adherence factors of enjoyment, equipment availability, time....

If you want a detailed read on what can be a complex subject - https://www.myoleanfitness.com/interview-eric-helms-training-muscle-strength/

MikePfirrman

Completely agree with sijomial. I don't lift heavy weights any more but I do a rowing machine daily for around an hour. My lats were pretty hum drum most of my life. They are ridiculously large now. Six years of rowing did that. Extremely low weight per pull, just massive reps.

quiksylver296

All I would add to those above is:

Use a proven lifting program. Don’t just wing it.

Chieflrg

Too many variables to give you a complete answer with the info you have given.

Current evidence shows clearly that hypertrophy can be achieved comparatively in wide range of different rep ranges.

The old bioscience of thinking a high rep/low int is always better than a low rep/higher intensity simply is bogus.

The hypertrophy recipe always starts with adequate volume at appropriate intensity. How you achieve that is nuanced.

I would suggest startinh with a program that incorporates your equipment and time available and see how you respond.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

I can just say that emphasizing "progress" in terms of always increasing weight carries some risk. I mean, it is going to, practically by definition, make you stronger to increase the weight (and lower the reps). But, it does increase the risk of injury. And, I have been injured by lifting weights. Usually, it's just a strain and you heal up, but not always (usually in the extreme case when really pushing it).

Anyway, I'm older now, so I tend to keep the weight where I can do 10+ reps (often 20+ on the first set). Works for my fitness goals!

Dogmom1978

Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »

I can just say that emphasizing "progress" in terms of always increasing weight carries some risk. I mean, it is going to, practically by definition, make you stronger to increase the weight (and lower the reps). But, it does increase the risk of injury. And, I have been injured by lifting weights. Usually, it's just a strain and you heal up, but not always (usually in the extreme case when really pushing it).

Anyway, I'm older now, so I tend to keep the weight where I can do 10+ reps (often 20+ on the first set). Works for my fitness goals!

I invested in spotter arms and safeties to help avoid injury since my husband isn’t always available to spot me. I haven’t strained/sprained anything, but I have had to crawl out from under the safeties more than once 😂😂😂😂

AnnPT77

Others answered the question, but since you asked it, I'm thinking you might find some useful info in this thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

A well-designed created by a professional will deliver better results than "just do some stuff with weights".

I'd strongly encourage you to follow a whole-body program, rather than just working selected areas for appearance reasons. A well-balanced whole-body muscular system is functionally useful in daily life, and helps with injury avoidance long-term. (It also looks better, so bonus.)

Like Mike, I'm a rower, long-term. Yes, it will develop arm muscles (also legs, BTW), but it's not balanced. That fact creates problems for many long-term rowers who don't do something to balance rowing's upper body pull/lower body push, i.e., some non-rowing things that balance the opposing muscle groups. So, follow a good program.

You don't need to worry about developing "too much" muscularity for your appearance preferences. For one, building muscle is generally challenging for women. For two, it's slow for everyone. If you reach a point where you like the look, you can switch up your routine to maintaining vs. gaining.

MikePfirrman

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Others answered the question, but since you asked it, I'm thinking you might find some useful info in this thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

A well-designed created by a professional will deliver better results than "just do some stuff with weights".

I'd strongly encourage you to follow a whole-body program, rather than just working selected areas for appearance reasons. A well-balanced whole-body muscular system is functionally useful in daily life, and helps with injury avoidance long-term. (It also looks better, so bonus.)

Like Mike, I'm a rower, long-term. Yes, it will develop arm muscles (also legs, BTW), but it's not balanced. That fact creates problems for many long-term rowers who don't do something to balance rowing's upper body pull/lower body push, with some non-rowing things that balance the opposing muscle groups. So, follow a good program.

You don't need to worry about developing "too much" muscularity for your appearance preferences. For one, building muscle is generally challenging for women. For two, it's slow for everyone. If you reach a point where you like the look, you can switch up your routine to maintaining vs. gaining.

Plus one! Agree completely. I find my shoulders seem to get hurt if I'm only doing either push or pull but not both.

And I balance myself out with 300 plus pushups a week (again, very light weight, high volume but it adds mass on me -- it wouldn't on a woman typically, just would look more toned).

What low rep, high weight stuff does is add peak strength, which I don't have that much of because I'm not all that concerned with it. Volume, though, is a great starting point for doing higher weights, less reps. If you were to choose, I'd choose higher volume to prepare your body for the stress (something I don't do well with, more because my cruddy knee and back) of lifting heavier.

misslizzierod

I'll look into a training program. Thanks for the information everyone!

sgt1372

MikePfirrman wrote: »

I don't lift heavy weights any more but I do a rowing machine daily for around an hour. My lats were pretty hum drum most of my life. They are ridiculously large now. Six years of rowing did that. Extremely low weight per pull, just massive reps.

I don't lift much any more either. Actually not at all for about 6 months since I developed a debilitating injury in my right elbow that prevents upper body lifting; long story.

However, I can still row w/o affecting my elbow because I find the most of my power rowing comes from pushing w/my legs, not pulling w/my arms.

I've rowed over 6 million meters in the past 4 years and it has really toned/strengthened my legs but, while I've always had a strong back, I still don't have huge lats after rowing over 6 million meters on my C2 in the past 4 years.

So, you must "pull" a lot harder rowing than I do.

As for the wt vs reps question posed by the OP, when I was lifting, I favored the heavy wt/low rep approach which worked for me in developing increased strength and, in the end, all I did were the 4 main lifts - SQT, DL, BP and OHP - at about 80% of my 1x max.

Doing BP & OHP are no longer an option for me because of my elbow problem but I still occasionally do SQT & DL and can still do certain crossfit exercises that work the upper body, like battle ropes, Farmer carries, sledge hammer strikes and tire flipping but don't aggravate my elbow.

However, for a full body exercise, to single device or exercise beats a rower.

bcalvanese

More weight less reps for strength, less weight more reps for endurance. Rule of thumb is enough resistance that you can only do 8 to 12 reps for both strength and endurance. Muscle groups that can be worked every day are ab's, calf's, heart.

Some tips...

Work pushing and pulling muscles
Start with the larger muscle groups and work to the smaller ones (for example... if doing pushups start with your hands spread apart because that will focus mainly on the chest and work your hands in closer to focus more on triceps)
Try to do 3 sets to exhaust both muscle fibers
Make the count of the negative part of the rep double the count of the positive part of the rep (positive... 1... 2, negative... 1... 2... 3... 4)

Be prepared to notice weight gain as your muscles will retain water during the rebuild process.

These are basic things that I learned when I was a fitness instructor in the Army way back in the 1980's, but they worked back then so I don't see why they wont work now... lol

Good luck.

ninerbuff

Personally, I like to vary my reps. Right now I'm not trying to put on any more muscle or get any stronger. But if I were to try to put on muscle, high volume always seemed to work for me and many of my clients. 16-24 sets in the rep range of 8-12 seemed to be where I got the best results. Although with legs, it was 15-25 reps. But you're you and everyone seems to respond differently to training. Ultimately, you may try a few programs and see what you respond to best.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

misslizzierod

@ninerbuff awesome, thanks!

slade51

I don’t have anything to add, I was just reading along. But I want to thank everyone for jumping in with useful advice.

Pras72

As someone said, too many variables to factor - type of training, types of weights, cal and macros intake, amount of cardio, etc. Kindly look into a fully rounded training plus nutrition program..