heaver weights less reps or less weight more reps??

You need to talk to mrscates. She says heavier weights. Women do not bulk like a man does. It takes testosterone to do that!!

Nota weights genius, but when I lifted weights a lot, we did lots of low weight reps first and then on my third set I would go heavier weights and less reps. Heavier weights bulk you up where more reps at a lghter weight tone you up. Make sense?? Not sure it is totally true but I never got huge muscles just well defined ones. OH how I miss those days!!

You need to mix it up. Go heavy on certain days (4-6 reps/set) and a little higher on other days (8-12 reps/set).

I like this approach as well... Doing some workouts for strength, and some more in a body building style is another great way to mix it up. Keep the body guessing, and you'll get your best gains!!

okay MFP geniuses, now is your time to shine..

i am 5 lbs away from being "under weight" but i stil have fat on my stomach.. so i need to lift weights, but what's the actual most effective way to lift? lots of light, or little heavy?

Your body "weight" is based on how many calories your burning (metabolism + exercise). You want to lose bodyfat without losing your muscle. You pretty much want to weigh the same just have a different body composition.

So you have to burn the same amount of calories, and consume the same amount of calories. THe way to do this is change your macro nutrient ratio. Reduce your carbs some, plus increase your protein so your calories are the same, but the composition if your diet is different.

One question, you said you'd be "under weight" according to what, who??? whatever you answer... my next question would be "how do you even know if it's even a valid?"

do both. heavier weight with fewer reps will help tone and rep up your metabolism. lighter weights with more reps will help you have muscular endurance. try doing high intensity interval training will help you lean out and lifting weight will tone you up.

also, (and this is the hardest part for me) drop your carbs, up your protein. abs are very diet related.

okay MFP geniuses, now is your time to shine..

i am 5 lbs away from being "under weight" but i stil have fat on my stomach.. so i need to lift weights, but what's the actual most effective way to lift? lots of light, or little heavy?

Your body "weight" is based on how many calories your burning (metabolism + exercise). You want to lose bodyfat without losing your muscle. You pretty much want to weigh the same just have a different body composition.

So you have to burn the same amount of calories, and consume the same amount of calories. THe way to do this is change your macro nutrient ratio. Reduce your carbs some, plus increase your protein so your calories are the same, but the composition if your diet is different.

One question, you said you'd be "under weight" according to what, who??? whatever you answer... my next question would be "how do you even know if it's even a valid?"

oooo good one...I'm in the process of figuring out different compositions right now...less carbs, more protein, less sugar more calcium etc...it's like fine tuning...trial and error sucks lol

Yes it's all abot fine tuning things for "your body" to get the maximum results. You won't know what works for you or doesn't work for you if you don't test.

So there are some caveats to this.

1. Gaining mass and size: There is often a large misconception about doing heavy free weights makes you huge and it's not uncommon for women to steer clear of this for that reason. What is typically forgotten is that you also have to eat big to get big. Lifters focused purely on size consume a ton of calories. If you're in a calorie deficit to lose weight you probably won't put on huge amount of muscle mass. You'll gain some strength but you'll probably create a leaner body composition than get big. Ever notice how bodybuilders get huge first and then get lean before their competition? You can't really do both at the same time.

2. Heavier weights will burn more calories, build strength and mass faster, and will help to maintain muscle when in calorie deficit. However, The heavy weights are typically best used in Compount movements for larger muscle groups. Larger muscle group would include, Shoulders (traps), Chest (Pectorals), Legs (quad's & hamstrings). Examples of compound movements would include Bench Press, Overhead Shoulder Press, Back Squats, and Deadlifts. The nice thing about compound movements is they also work supporting muscle groups. For instance, Shoulder Pressing and Bench Pressing gives your triceps a lot of work. A simple heavy weight program for beginners is something like doing 5 sets of 5 reps for the compount movements only though. One of my favorite trainers said that anything past 6 reps on these movements is called Cardio. LOL! Lastly regarding heavy weights, you don't want to sit their and get so heavy that you're slowly struggling (aka grinding) to push the weight each rep. Each rep should be fairly explosive, no grinding. Pick a heavy weight, but not so heavy that you can't move it without some momentum. If you choose a 5x5 method to find your weight you can start with a very light weight and "ramp-up" the weight each set by 5 to 10 lbs until you hit a weight you can't lift five times. Once you know what that weight is start with maybe 80% - 85% of that.

3. When not to use heavy weight: Heavy weight isn't useful everywhere. Smaller body parts like Rhomboids (middle upper back), Rear Deltoids (back of shoulder) Biceps, and Lattismus (Lat's) are typically best done by more controlled reps. A couple well known trainers I follow teach, for instance, on the Lat Pulldown exercise that you do a controlled movement down squeeze and hold for 2 seconds at the bottom and then controlled back up, 8-10 reps is typically better for these type of exercises. Some lifters that are really focused on size will to 20 - 30 reps.

If you look at my Exercise log for today you'll see what I'm referring to.

Edit: I don't want to push off the above as my ideas but rather those of a couple prominent trainers which I follow that are just awesome. But I do practice them religiously and their methods do work.

heavy weight low rep tones faster, builds muscle and sheds the fat layer. But abs are made in the kitchen so watch HOW you meet your calorie goal. make sure too that you're getting 1.15 G of protein per pound would be the best recommendation. As far as bulking is concerned (women are always worried about this)... you won't bulk like a man.. you'll shed the fat layer. It's actually pretty hard to gain a 1lb of muscle.. typically on a very strict lifting schedule an weights you can only get about 1/2 pound a month! bodybuilding.com and simplyshredded.com have great articles for women you should check 'em out!

Yup, ab definition is largely diet dependant. The heavy weights don't have much place in Ab work, especially if you don't want to screw up your disc. Focus on various Plank type exercises, leg lifts, Palloff Press.

this is an arguable topic. Some say less weights more reps, some say more weights less reps. I go with the second choice but if you have flab still on your stomach weights is not going to get that to go away. At this point it's all cardio and diet.