Lift light or lift heavy? Lift smart!

i dont really agree with it being considered the same, if you lift heavy for smaller reps thats more towards strength training and just being stronger..you wont see a huge body compostion change that way unless your a beginner...low reps and heavy weights lead to a more thicker powerlifter look...if youre looking for that bodybuilding "fake muscle but totally ripped" look its better doing moderate weights with moderate reps like 8-12 reps. ive done strength training before but it was giving me a look that i was going for..once i changed to doing weights that made it difficult around the 8-12 reps thats where the huge change in body compostion change came in for me.

also, THIS ^

they need to define what they mean by "heavy" and "light" because without a percentage of a ORM or some strength standard for the participants, those terms mean literally nothing. I'd also want to know if the muscle gains would change after ten weeks. Newbie gains and all.

to me heavy would be anything that makes you struggle doing 5 reps and lower....so that would be anywhere from 80%-100% of your ORM....that leads to not a huge difference in body compostion unless youre a noob...as a noob youll change a little bit but not as much as you would if you trained for hypertrophy which is working between 60%-80% of your ORM doing 8-12 reps because youll have more time under tension on the muscles and thats what makes muscles grow bigger but not that much stronger....it all depends on the look youre going for...strength training is great for noobs so later on they can begin doing hypertrophy routines if they want that bodybuilding ripped look

rule of thumb for me is
1-5 reps....strength training 100%-80% of ORM...more for strength not a huge change in body compostion
8-12 reps...hypertrophy training 60%-80% of ORM....more for that overall muscluar ripped look but not so much in strength
15 and up...endurance training lower than 60% of ORM....best for athletes, especially runners

Thank you!

That's funny because NROLFW (along with ALL of their other books) claim the exact opposite (also with research to back them).

I'm done wasting my time here.

A lot of the times there are fads to make money. They are making money off you.

Also, if you read what they say, their basic premise is that strength training, not cardio is the key to fitness. I propose that both have a role to play. Nobody ever said that strength training is not part of the equation, but only what constitutes strength training.

It goes like this: they make up a story in their marketing material to rile you up such as: anybody who said women were fragile or weak is so wrong.....

when you read that, your reaction is, i will show them emmer effers, how i am not weak, click to buy the book, hook and sinker.

If you want to get in shape and live a healthy life, you need a mix of cardio and strength training and you do not need to lift very heavy.


Why am I talking about this?

On my FL, there was a woman who was over training with very heavy weights. Her reason? that MFP tells her to lift heavy. I think this is an unhealthy outcome. people should build their strengths up to lifting heavy.

In any case, just based on physical fitness, the majority of attractive female bodies on here or in real life are not lifting too heavy. most are targeting 10-15 rep range, and looking great doing it.

But for some this is about empowerment. and if someone says, you can also get the same results with reasonable weights, it is deemed an attack on the womanhood. that is a reflection of our society.

That's funny because NROLFW (along with ALL of their other books) claim the exact opposite (also with research to back them).

I'm done wasting my time here.

I wouldn't put too much stock in any book or resource that charges money for their literature. The fitness industry is just like any other business in that their main interest is to extract revenue from the consumer. I'm not saying that their methods are wrong, but I am saying their methods aren't exactly exclusive and aren't guaranteed to work. Did you get a money back guarantee with that book?

There's certainly a lot of snake oil in the fitness industry so you have to take in information from multiple sources and experiment to find what really works. And people who have experience is one of those resources. People have been building great physiques since the 1920s and 30s without the use of books, exercise programs or supplements. Most of it has been through experimentation and sharing of knowledge and technique. It's silly to expect a single book or DVD workout set has all the answers.

The best approach is to have multiple approaches. Why would you wanna train for strength all the time anyways?

Perfect. no homo.

As a general rule of thumb, when people get all riled up about something, they are really fighting hard to justify their own stance to themselves.

It is evident in the dialogue.

noobs.

I think we are in agreement for the most part. My initial assertion I made last night was, fewer reps for size and strength and higher reps for toning, but that was shot down. In my research today I went with a more neutral position that says, both are good, instead of one is evil. So we are on the same wavelength bro.

i agree that either types of training are useful, and even if the person prefers lifting heavy, or their goals require heavy lifting, we all need to adjust the rep ranges, weights, sometimes.

personally though. i want my workout to be described as brutal, destroyed x muscles, and know that i put everything i could
into the workout, not necessarily that i will or not get doms the next day, but i want to feel my muscles working while i'm doing the exercise.

my third lifting cycle is in a couple of months, and my friend who's doing the same routine, warned me that it's going to be brutal.
well the whole point of this is to challenge my body. using cardio and medium weights just wasn't doing that.
Heavy is the only way i'm getting challenged, my fat loss along the way is just a bonus.
I'll still want to continue training, getting stronger, fitter years from now.

thats great katy and if you can lift heavy by all means. but most of us do not get there over night. so it is perfectly ok to start at a lower weight with higher reps to fatigue. that along with good food intake will help build muscle and then you can graduate to higher weights.

but to say heavy weights is the only way, really does a disservice to a lot of women (and men) on here.