Why is common advice to lift heavy?

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Because it's awesome.. and makes you look awesome. :bigsmile:

Because it's awesome.. and makes you look awesome. :bigsmile:

This!!

+1

Fit and strong vs. Skinny fat

Lifting is essential if you are looking to have that fit and healthy look. Just eating right and doing some cardio will not get you there.

Because it's awesome.. and makes you look awesome. :bigsmile:

Yup!

Nobody has actually answered the question yet...

The only way to build muscle is to lift heavy enough weight to stimulate growth. Lifting heavy weight does just that, while also increasing your strength (the two are technically seperate)... which allows you to continue to stimulate growth.

Just "tiring" the muscle with light weight doesn't really do anything if at all (men's and women's muscles work exactly the same, though womne's muscles grow more slowly). Really, you shouldn't be lifting weight that is light enough for you to do more than 10-12 reps at a time (more geared towards muscle growth). To effectively focus on strength though, you also need to work in the 3-5 rep range.

Nobody has actually answered the question yet...

The only way to build muscle is to lift heavy enough weight to stimulate growth. Lifting heavy weight does just that, while also increasing your strength (the two are technically seperate)... which allows you to continue to stimulate growth.

Just "tiring" the muscle with light weight doesn't really do anything if at all (men's and women's muscles work exactly the same, though womne's muscles grow more slowly). Really, you shouldn't be lifting weight that is light enough for you to do more than 10-12 reps at a time (more geared towards muscle growth). To effectively focus on strength though, you also need to work in the 3-5 rep range.

Progressive loading has also been proven to help bone density. A BIG thing for women in helping to avoid osteoporosis, etc. with aging.

Agreed, although; I'd like to point out that you can gain strength with "hypertrophy" rep ranges; and you can gain mass well with "strength" rep ranges. Really it's a lot about RPE, overall time under tension (which can be done doing more sets with less weight), progressive overload, good form and last but not least eating right. Intensity (% of 1RM), rep ranges are only a small factor in hypertrophy; although go too high in the rep ranges and your probably going to have break down in form and your not going to be stimulating type 2 fibers; at that point it becomes a factor. If you wanna do cardio; do that in a separate session strength training is for strength; not cardio or burning calories, you'll basically be wasting time in the gym when you could be getting outside time with stairs and intervals, and stuff. Be warned though, too much GPP increases recovery time in the short term.

Yours sounds more sciency than mine.... +1

Nobody has actually answered the question yet...

The only way to build muscle is to lift heavy enough weight to stimulate growth. Lifting heavy weight does just that, while also increasing your strength (the two are technically seperate)... which allows you to continue to stimulate growth.

Just "tiring" the muscle with light weight doesn't really do anything if at all (men's and women's muscles work exactly the same, though womne's muscles grow more slowly). Really, you shouldn't be lifting weight that is light enough for you to do more than 10-12 reps at a time (more geared towards muscle growth). To effectively focus on strength though, you also need to work in the 3-5 rep range.

This answer is the best

Agreed, although; I'd like to point out that you can gain strength with "hypertrophy" rep ranges; and you can gain mass well with "strength" rep ranges. Really it's a lot about RPE, overall time under tension (which can be done doing more sets with less weight), progressive overload, good form and last but not least eating right. Intensity (% of 1RM), rep ranges are only a small factor in hypertrophy; although go too high in the rep ranges and your probably going to have break down in form and your not going to be stimulating type 2 fibers; at that point it becomes a factor. If you wanna do cardio; do that in a separate session strength training is for strength; not cardio or burning calories, you'll basically be wasting time in the gym when you could be getting outside time with stairs and intervals, and stuff. Be warned though, too much GPP increases recovery time in the short term.

I like this post. My reason is, what do people mean when they say "lighter weights"???? I usually have a reaction to people saying "do lighter weights and higher reps" that isn't positive because I'm always imaging 5 lb weights like what I see the ladies doing on TV.

But if you mean "lighter" as in 50% of your One Rep Max, then there is a legit reason to do "lighter weights and higher reps" as in 5 sets of 10 at 50% ORM ("one rep max"). I don't have it all figured out, so I do both. I work hard at higher weights, lower reps, and I follow it up with assistance work of "lower weights and higher reps" (as in 50% ORM 5 sets of ten).

So my answer is: when I say "lift heavy" I just mean lifting something more than the little 5 lb dumbells. Which, in my opinion, is a waste of time (unless you are working on an injury or something). You'd do better spending your time lifting heavy (even 50% ORM is heavy for me) or doing some high intensity cardio.

ETA: And the reason I suggest "lifting heavy" is because building muscle is good, raising your metabolism is good, lowering your body fat is good, and being stronger is good. Lifting heavy can accomplish those goals if balanced with the right diet. I also think one should do cardio as well, but I my experience is that lifting has improved my cardio by making my muscles stronger to protect my joints and providing me with a lower body fat to lug around. Also, lifting heavy protects bone density.

Just curious... I see a lot of advice responses where the person suggests lifting but to lift heavy. Why lifting heavy instead of lighter weights + more reps?

Maybe because the person giving the advice lifts heavy, and wrongly assumes it's suitable for everyone. Telling a newbie to lift heavy is like telling someone who just learned to drive to buy a racing motorcycle. It's asking for trouble. Newbies benefit from higher reps with lighter weight because 1) it's safer, since their form probably won't be perfect, and 2) higher reps improve motor learning.. in other words, mastery of a movement comes from practicing it a lot. Once they are certain their form is good, then they can lift heavier.

The best advice for a newbie would be to follow a good lifting program (NROL, etc), because a good program explains the proper progression from light to heavy, as well as proper form, proper exercise sequencing, and other details that newbies miss when trying to create their own routines.

To be clear, "heavy" is a relative term. It's not "heavy weight in general" it's "heavy weight for you". The bar might be "heavy" for someone who is untrained, and that's totally cool. Also you will find that most programs worth their salt espouse starting light, so that is very true.

The higher reps part though is irrelevant. What difference does it make?

Higher reps without correct form can be just as detrimental as higher weight/lower reps too soon. I would say light weight, low reps, quick progression so you're not stuck with just light weight for too long.

Aside from the aesthetic reasons, and aside from the biological reasons like bone density, joint health, etc., let's consider the practical reasons.....

Each bag of groceries that you carry into the house can weigh two to three times more than those little 5 lb weights that are unfortunately recommended for women all too often. The majority of things we lift in a day weigh way more.....a friend of mine's purse is at least 10 lbs alone! LOL

Wouldn't it be nice to lift children with ease? Climb all over the playground with them? Effortlessly jog up the stairs with your vacuum in your hands? Bring boxes up from the basement by yourself? Move furniture?

Totally different perspective, isn't it

Nice.