What's so bad about low weights/high reps?

JNick77

There are some people one here that are die hard heavy lifters and anyone who doesn't lift like them is wasting their time. Then their are others who are in the camp of light weight/high reps.

What we do is a preference for sure. But like some of us have mentioned befor and in other threads, there is scientific research and results behind maximal strength training. Not trying to be a **** but there are certain facts that are simply undisputable because of the work behind them.

marysue1965

I used to lift heavy weights , but stopped because my arms & shoulders starting looking like a mans. so now i use 8 ib weights, goal is for high reps & no more than 10 lb weights. plus i'm already really strong, so its all good, i just won't use heavy weights anymore , i want to define, not build more muscle.

lyttlewon

I used to lift heavy weights , but stopped because my arms & shoulders starting looking like a mans. so now i use 8 ib weights, goal is for high reps & no more than 10 lb weights. plus i'm already really strong, so its all good, i just won't use heavy weights anymore , i want to define, not build more muscle.

Pfft. I don't care if I have man arms. It might balance out my GIGANTIC BOOBS.

obsidianwings

The first person to answer you got it in one, I absolutely agree.
I do recommend new rules of lifting for women. I am about halfway through this right now, I am finding it great. WHen I have finished I am planning on starting a 5 day split routine, but this was definitely a good choice to start with.

steph0924

to read later

GiddyupTim

There is nothing "wrong" with doing low weights/high reps. It is a proven way to achieve your fitness goals. There is science to back this up (see links below). Both light/high reps or heavy/low reps are good. Both work. Personally, I find that low weights/high reps are difficult and I prefer to do higher weights/low reps, but that's just me. Everyone is different. Do what feels best for you and your fitness goals.

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20120427/high-reps-with-low-weights-builds-muscle-too

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9229304/Light-weights-better-than-heavy-for-building-muscle.html

http://www.tsbmag.com/2012/05/02/study-reveals-high-repslow-weight-effective-in-building-muscle/

This response is true. If you use low weight and high reps you will get stronger, just not as quickly as if you use high weights and low reps. It has been claimed in the past that when you do high reps with light weights you are doing "endurance" training, rather than strength training. But, now many experts believe the distinction is not so clear cut, and that you have to get to really high reps to be not building strength but improving your endurance (over 100 reps).
For a detailed and interesting discussion of this issue, go to the blog Trainingscience.net.
I think the reason so many people stress high weight/low rep training here is because you will get more definite results faster and because so many women were, in the past, so afraid of weight lifting that they used ridiculously light weights.

sleepytexan

you cannot increase the size of a muscle with low weights and high reps. all you can do is increase that muscle's endurance. It will not get "long and lean", either; that is a myth.

If you want to reshape your body, you must increase your muscle mass. In order to increase your muscle mass, you must lift heavy. If you can lift it more than five sets of five, it's not heavy enough.

BTW, stronglifts.com is a lot more efficient than NROL4W. NR has a lot of fluff, and some downright silly things, especially after the 1st phase. It's not a bad starting point if you have never lifted, though.

I don't like that it ditches squats in favor of jumpy little girly moves. Never ditch squats.

JNick77

you cannot increase the size of a muscle with low weights and high reps. all you can do is increase that muscle's endurance. It will not get "long and lean", either; that is a myth.

If you want to reshape your body, you must increase your muscle mass. In order to increase your muscle mass, you must lift heavy. If you can lift it more than five sets of five, it's not heavy enough.

You can't? Tell that to bodybuilders...

Re-shaping your body or body re-composition is more diet driven than anything. To increase muscle mass you must increase calorie consumption. Assuming your diet is appropriate you can add mass with either method of training.

Yes high rep can make you stronger but it's not the same kind of strength. Maximal strength training trains the muscle fibers differently. Addtionally, it also trains the nervous system differently which high rep training does not do. All around the strength you gain this way is just better all-around.

arwen3

Ok... This is something that I consistently argue with people about. I suppose it depends on the body because we all build& hold differently, but I am an absolute subscriber to the low weight high rep idea... It is ABSOLUTELY the only way I've found to build long muscles for myself. I get grilled about this. People always tell me I won't bulk up, but they're wrong. I've done it! If I get into the theory of "if you can do 12 reps, up your weight" my arms get huge.. Now, that said, I've found a balance. I do a variety of workouts with low weight and a lot of yoga. I have just gone back to the gym for straight weight training in the last few weeks. I will not do a full workout of, for instance, biceps and triceps, because I know I bulk there. But I'll do legs, back, chest... All on separate days.

MoreBean13

I used to lift heavy weights , but stopped because my arms & shoulders starting looking like a mans. so now i use 8 ib weights, goal is for high reps & no more than 10 lb weights. plus i'm already really strong, so its all good, i just won't use heavy weights anymore , i want to define, not build more muscle.

Hmmm....I guess I would stamp this with "Results not typical"
I've been lifting pretty heavy for months, and I don't think I look like a man at all. I'm starting to notice some muscle definition I've never had as the fat comes off, and I like what I see. Most women don't have enough testosterone to build significant muscle (I think the number is something like 1/16 of the testosterone of a man, but I wouldn't stand behind that number) and to BUILD muscle at all you would have to be eating t a caloric surplus. There is a short period of time right when you start where you can build a little bit of muscle, but in the long run it's not really significant. Also, when you start there is a period of time when your muscles get 'swole' from a workout, where they will look firmer and bigger as the fibers are sort of encapsulated with fluid to protect the muscle during repair. Many, many people mistake 'swole' for muscle growth (as it FEELS like muscle growth- it can be confusing) I suspect that is what you were experiencing.

One of the biggest benefit of lifting heavy is the hormonal response that helps drive fat loss- you won't get much of that from low weight-high reps. By lifting light, you're forfeiting some fat loss you could be achieving during the same amount of time spent. But if it works for you, keep on keepin' on.

MoreBean13

Ok... This is something that I consistently argue with people about. I suppose it depends on the body because we all build& hold differently, but I am an absolute subscriber to the low weight high rep idea... It is ABSOLUTELY the only way I've found to build long muscles for myself. I get grilled about this. People always tell me I won't bulk up, but they're wrong. I've done it! If I get into the theory of "if you can do 12 reps, up your weight" my arms get huge.. Now, that said, I've found a balance. I do a variety of workouts with low weight and a lot of yoga. I have just gone back to the gym for straight weight training in the last few weeks. I will not do a full workout of, for instance, biceps and triceps, because I know I bulk there. But I'll do legs, back, chest... All on separate days.

The rep range for max hypertrophy is around 8-12 reps. If you don't want hypertrophy, 5 reps is a better goal than 8-12. 1-5 reps gets you in the strength and power rep range. 6 and up is where you start seeing more hypertrophy.

Also, your muscles are attached to bone at both ends. They can't get longer unless your bone structure changes. I understand not wanting hypertrophy- for that you stick to even heavier weights at lower reps.

californiagirl2012

I'm doing New Rules and I love it. Never thought I would. I'm only 4 weeks in and can see noticeable results. And Im getting stronger each week. Try it!

It sounds to me like it's a really good program.

californiagirl2012

I always was taught that I would need a spotter to use large barbells and I don't know anyone at my gym to ask to spot me and I can't afford a trainer. I don't know where to begin.

Learn the lifts and you don't need a spotter. You really only need a spotter when you you're attempting a weight or reps that you're unsure of. You can always ask somebody else lifting nearby for a spot. Most people don't mind.

^^^ This is true. I use the Oly bar for bench press, incline press, squats, and deadlifts and I rarely ever use a spotter. If I do it is on a rare occasion that I'm doing very low reps and feel like pushing myself using weights slightly higher then what I know I can already do on my own. And then I use dumbbells and easy curl bars for a lot of other exercises.

The nice thing about changing things up all the time is it's not so boring, and it's good for all the various muscles.

arwen3

Yes... I understand that.. I am using the word "longer" as a visual, but you are correct... Technically... And broadly. I do believe though that we all, as I said, build and hold differently. So whether 5 reps, or 12, one cannot determine that a certain idea will work for everyBODY. Alot depends on diet as well. Which is another thing that is very dependent on the individual.

Lift_hard_eat_big

The best way to see improvement is to gradually increase work. Either by increasing reps, or by increasing weight. So if weight remained the same, you'd have to keep going higher and higher in reps to elicit gains

swinginchandra

For a little bit of a sciencey perspective:

The enzyme responsible for building slow twitch muscles (AMPk) inhibits the enzyme responsible for signalling your body to grow fast twitch muscles (MTORC1). Fast twitch muscles are the ones responsible for 6-8 sec bursts of power. They are also much more voluminous than slow twitch fibers (ie you get better definition with them). Basically, once your weightlifting gets to endurance, you turn on AMPk, turn off MTORC1, and mineaswell be jogging, except that endurance is muscle group specific, so you're getting really good H+ buffering, and all that stuff, from your biceps. Which, who cares. You're doing weights to build muscle, right?

(PS, this is another absolute reason to do your cardio/endurance stuff BEFORE you weight train)

Farburnfred

Convinced now..will call gym this morning!

rkr22401

I'd wager your purse weighs close to 5 lbs and you can carry it all day. I wouldn't expect much in the way of fitness improvement from it though.

monty619

whats so bad about low weights high reps??

its a waste of time and you dont build any muscle.. male or female.

Jipples

whats so bad about low weights high reps??

its a waste of time and you dont build any muscle.. male or female.

I have a buddy that would disagree with you. He lifts light and he's a monster.

mfpcopine

The only real problem is the possibility of repetitive stress injury. But if you can handle a heavier weight and get the same result with fewer reps you're wasting time.

BUT if you feel comfortable with a low weight and think you can do the exercise with good form only at that weight, continue. Also, don't forget that you may need different weight for different body parts and muscles, depending on their strength.

mmapags

whats so bad about low weights high reps??

its a waste of time and you dont build any muscle.. male or female.

I have a buddy that would disagree with you. He lifts light and he's a monster.

And he's accomplished this doing 25 reps with 8 or 10 lb dumbells??

monty619

whats so bad about low weights high reps??

its a waste of time and you dont build any muscle.. male or female.

I have a buddy that would disagree with you. He lifts light and he's a monster.

its not about lifting light... its about lifting with strict form and keeping tension on the muscle... the rep range is still in the heavy range of 6-12 but the dumbells he uses are probably lighter than noobies who just try to pick up the biggest dumbells and swing them around.. ur friend practices the right way how to lift weights which explains why is muscles are larger than most but his weights are by no means light if he lifts them strictly...

any bodybuilder knows this and ur friend if lifting weights correctly... by no means is it *light* especially for isolation movements.

so im pretty sure he would know wut im talking about.

Jipples

Well, "light" is relative so its difficult to fully quantify the amount of reps and weight for each individual. But for someone of his stature, the weight is "light". Being a lifter myself, I'm certainly well aware of the importance of lifting with strict form, but I just thought your comment that unless you lift heavy its a waste of time, was pretty irresponsible. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.

FitFabFlirty92

whats so bad about low weights high reps??

its a waste of time and you dont build any muscle.. male or female.

I have a buddy that would disagree with you. He lifts light and he's a monster.

Awesome! It's frustrating to feel like even when I'm busting my butt, I'm not doing it right. It's nice to know someone did it my way and got results!

monty619

Well, "light" is relative so its difficult to fully quantify the amount of reps and weight for each individual. But for someone of his stature, the weight is "light". Being a lifter myself, I'm certainly well aware of the importance of lifting with strict form, but I just thought your comment that unless you lift heavy its a waste of time, was pretty irresponsible. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.

heavy is a relative term... were talkin about rep ranges refer to the question title.

monty619

Well, "light" is relative so its difficult to fully quantify the amount of reps and weight for each individual. But for someone of his stature, the weight is "light". Being a lifter myself, I'm certainly well aware of the importance of lifting with strict form, but I just thought your comment that unless you lift heavy its a waste of time, was pretty irresponsible. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.

and i still stick to lifting light is a waste of time.. anything over 20 reps with using weights is ridiculous and wont build skeletal muscle on any body frame assuming you have exercised once or twice in your life.