Is it better to lift lighter and more often or heavy and less often

fredgiblet wrote: »

Are you trying to get stronger? The lifting heavy is better, lifting light won't do anything.

Check this out: http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

This!
Heavy wins.

both!! start a session lifting heavy. do one of the big four compound movements a few sets building up to your max weight or reps.

then the rest of the time in the gym is assistance work. lighter weight done at higher reps, usually done to target a specific muscle group.

for instance on dead lift day you would do 3 sets of 5 reps of dead lifts to warm up, then 2 sets at heavier loads, building up to a last set where you lift really heavy. then you can work on other areas of your lower body at less weight, such as good mornings and hanging leg lifts for your hamstrings, leg extensions for your quads, etc etc.

I've been working with a personal trainer for the last year and we alternate. I will do about 8 weeks of strength training which is heavy weights, 5x5, working to failure. Then I will do about 6 weeks of fat burn which is lighter weights, less sets, more reps superset with HIIT. It keeps it interested and Ive experienced significant fat loss and strength gains.

You basically can either do a full body program (which is usually 3x weekly) or a split routine...which is typically done 4-5 days per week. The amount of weight your are pushing and pulling is irrelevant. "Heavy" is largely in reference to your rep range...generally 1-6 reps where the weight is heavy enough to not be able to do more...it is optimal for strength gains and yes, you will "tone up". 8-12 rep range is optimal for hypertrophy and 12+ is muscular endurance.

Some programs focus singularly on one of those three goals...others will incorporate elements of each. For example, my program has me working the basic compound lifts at 6 reps for strength and a handful of accessory exercises in the 8-10 rep range and a couple of body weight exercises for which I work 12+ for muscular endurance. I choose to do this routine using a full body format, but could also be done in a split...

The benefits of lifting come with rest though...so even if you're doing a 4-5x weekly split, you want to make sure you're not working the same muscles and groups of muscle on consecutive days...doing so pretty much negates your work.

Note that your weight loss is going to be largely about consumption and not what exercises you're doing. Resistance training is a long term investment in your overall body composition...will you see some changes in the short run? Sure...but a fitness body is achieved by living a fitness lifestyle...not a couple weeks of working out.

Stronglifts or Starting strength for the win. Then you can focus on other intermediate programs. I am doing stronglifts but i bought the starting strength book, lots of great information in the book. I chose stronglifts because I wasn't comfortable attempting power cleans. These programs will meet your objective as long as your diet is good.

I think they both have their place- heavy weights for building muscle and light weights/more reps for cardio. My trainer has me do both and I see her twice a week:

One day a week- heavy, heavy, heavy! 3 sets of 10-12 reps (part of a circuit)

One day a week we do lighter weights- 2 sets of continuous reps for 30 seconds (again, part of a circuit.)

Then I do my "homework" and do the same thing for another 2 days out of the week. Also try to mix in 2 spin classes or running.