Light vs Heavy weights

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wargrrl
wargrrl Posts: 76 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
as ive mentioned in all my other threads, i'm solely focused on booty building

my exercises for leg day are barbell squats, barbell lunges, hip abductions, hyperextensions, deadlifts

in previous threads ive learned that there are other exercises that are just as great for my bum if not better, and i have yet to incorporate them (hip thrusts, bridge)

cable pull through, cable kickback, donkey kicks, leg lifts are also exercises i wanna start trying out. this may sound like a dumb question, but how exactly do these exercises work? i was always told that lifting heavy was the way to build muscles. if i perform bodyweight exercises or use lighter weights for cable exercises, does that actually build muscle in the glutes?

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  • 12by311
    12by311 Posts: 1,719 Member
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    1-5 reps are generally for building strength. 8-12 reps approx are for building mass. 15+ reps build endurance.

    The next to last or last rep in your sets should be a struggle to finish.

    So heavy is what you can do in those rep ranges.


    ETA - oops typo
  • FitMe758
    FitMe758 Posts: 177 Member
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    There's a great book that focuses on booty building called "strong curves" by Brett Contreras. He also has a blog.
    It gives you workout plans and pictures among other things.
    I just bought it after many had recommended it. Can't wait got get started
  • vms4evr
    vms4evr Posts: 105 Member
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    There's a great book that focuses on booty building called "strong curves" by Brett Contreras. He also has a blog.
    It gives you workout plans and pictures among other things.
    I just bought it after many had recommended it. Can't wait got get started

    This! Just got a copy for my GF and we're working on her plan.
  • trojan_bb
    trojan_bb Posts: 699 Member
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    heavy is relative. If your max on a cable type leg exercise is 20lbs for 5 reps...that is considered lifting heavy. Heavy means somewhere in the 1-5 or 1-8 rep range and going to failure or near failure on your sets.

    That said, you really don't need that much assistance work for legs. The compounds lifts you listed are all you need. Ever see a top male bodybuilder, with the most developed legs the world's ever seen, do bridges, hip thrusts, leg lifts, kickbacks, etc? I've never seen one. Not one. You can get maximum muscle development with just a few leg exercises. It's still only 3 muscle groups (quads, glutes, hams) despite being large in appearance. It doesn't take much to stimulate them. The upper body contains a lot more individual muscles and benefits more from the use of alternative exercises and assistance work.

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