Weights and Reps for Weightloss...

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Shalini_15
Shalini_15 Posts: 160 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Today I had to workout in a different gym as my gym is shifting. The trainer there advised to use less weights and more reps where as my regular trainer asks me to increase the weight but keep same reps. What do you think is best for weight/fat loss?

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  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    80%+ of 1RM for work sets has been working fine for me. This generally forces the rep range to stay around 3-4.
  • Shalini_15
    Shalini_15 Posts: 160 Member
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    80%+ of 1RM for work sets has been working fine for me. This generally forces the rep range to stay around 3-4.

    Sorry didnt get you.. COuld you plz elaborate?
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    I almost never go for more than 5 reps on a set of anything, basically. If I can push or pull something more than 5 times, to me, it means that the weight is too light, and I need to up it. An example of how I worked deadlifts on Monday:

    2 sets of 5 reps at 225 for a warmup.
    1 sets of 3 at 315 for a little more build up.
    4 sets of 3 at 405.
    2 set of 2 at 425.

    Then again, I have seen people who work the high rep stuff and get decent results as well. There doesn't appear to be a right or wrong answer, honestly.
  • rn000
    rn000 Posts: 20 Member
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    I personally keep my reps around 6-10 which is moderate to heavy weight for me. There is nothing wrong going heavy for low sets, just in my opinion i think it increases the risk of injury.. Light weights which you can do about 10-15 reps are ok for warming up your joints. But in saying that, it depends which muscles you are working
  • Markguns
    Markguns Posts: 554 Member
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    Today I had to workout in a different gym as my gym is shifting. The trainer there advised to use less weights and more reps where as my regular trainer asks me to increase the weight but keep same reps. What do you think is best for weight/fat loss?

    My take.... Higher reps keep your HR up... short rest between sets, 30-60sec, or do active recovery. Keep you HR up at ~ 70-80% of your max.
    One Example: Do 4 sets, 12,10, 8, 6 reps of one exercise while alternating with another different muscle group. Say Chest and biceps for example. So do 12 reps of chest then immediately go to 12 reps of Bicep rest for 30-60 seconds then go to 10 reps and so on... This will burn off fat and keep your HR up while still building muscle/strength. To work harder, you can do active recovery between sets. Example: Chest, Bi, jog or walk briskly for 60-90 sec repeat. I do this alternating days with Upper and Lower body with an only Cardio day after the two then a rest day. I also do 20 min cardio warmup on lift days and 20 min after, if I have the energy :bigsmile:. I'm a 56y male, my target HR is 131 BPM (80% of max) I average between 120 - 140 Bpm for 45-60min of lifting.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    Today I had to workout in a different gym as my gym is shifting. The trainer there advised to use less weights and more reps where as my regular trainer asks me to increase the weight but keep same reps. What do you think is best for weight/fat loss?

    My take.... Higher reps keep your HR up... short rest between sets, 30-60sec, or do active recovery. Keep you HR up at ~ 70-80% of your max.
    One Example: Do 4 sets, 12,10, 8, 6 reps of one exercise while alternating with another different muscle group. Say Chest and biceps for example. So do 12 reps of chest then immediately go to 12 reps of Bicep rest for 30-60 seconds then go to 10 reps and so on... This will burn off fat and keep your HR up while still building muscle/strength. To work harder, you can do active recovery between sets. Example: Chest, Bi, jog or walk briskly for 60-90 sec repeat. I do this alternating days with Upper and Lower body with an only Cardio day after the two then a rest day. I also do 20 min cardio warmup on lift days and 20 min after, if I have the energy :bigsmile:. I'm a 56y male, my target HR is 131 BPM (80% of max) I average between 120 - 140 Bpm for 45-60min of lifting.

    Ah yes, I forgot to mention the rest between sets. Thank you for reminding me. I never rest for longer than it takes to switch the plates, my wife to do her set, then reload. Roughly 60 seconds, give or take a few here and there. I've never been a fan of putzing around the gym for five minutes at a time between sets.

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