Light weights vs. heavy weights

Kaecklund
Kaecklund Posts: 191 Member
edited October 2 in Fitness and Exercise
Lighter weights and more repetitions to lose fat and get lean/muscular?

Heavy weights to get bigger muscles?

Do I have this right?

What results would I see with more reps of lighter weights vs. less reps of heavier weights?

~Thanks!

Replies

  • _GlaDOS_
    _GlaDOS_ Posts: 1,520 Member
    You will always want to go heavy and do less reps. Men bulk up because they have testosterone. Doing more reps with lighter weights really won't do much at all.
  • brittg7
    brittg7 Posts: 146 Member
    agree with the poster above lift heavy!!!! you wont ever look like a man you will get the lean and definition your looking for :)
  • klamont9
    klamont9 Posts: 59
    You will always want to go heavy and do less reps. Men bulk up because they have testosterone. Doing more reps with lighter weights really won't do much at all.

    I don't agree that lighter weights "won't do much at all". But if you want to build muscle, use a weight you can do 8-10 reps (with the last 2-3 reps really burning). If you want to tone, try a weight you can do 15-20 reps with the last 3 giving you that burn.
  • rachmaree
    rachmaree Posts: 782 Member
    Check out the New Rules of Lifting for Women. If you live in America it would be super cheap to order a copy from amazon.
    I say, heavy weights :) For the win
  • michedarnd
    michedarnd Posts: 207 Member
    I don't know much about "not doing much," since you'll gain endurance (for instance, I work in a 20-floor building -- right now, I tire out after five floors -- when I can go up all twenty without a break, I'll feel that I've accomplished something), which is good for the heart, but if you are looking for strengthening, then I agree that you need heavier weights.

    Note that there ARE women who can get bulkier. I went through a long period of weight-lifting, before, and by the end of it, I was bordering on football-player shoulders, but that's my body type. None of the rest of me was like that.

    I would keep pushing the amount of weight that you do, up, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing 12-10-8 sets of the three highest weights that you can possibly do on all body parts -- at least until you see how your muscles build. If you have a nice, feminine "toning" body, then, by all mains, gain as much power as possible. It is ABSOLUTELY true that you won't start looking like a MAN, in any case.
  • _GlaDOS_
    _GlaDOS_ Posts: 1,520 Member
    You will always want to go heavy and do less reps. Men bulk up because they have testosterone. Doing more reps with lighter weights really won't do much at all.

    I don't agree that lighter weights "won't do much at all". But if you want to build muscle, use a weight you can do 8-10 reps (with the last 2-3 reps really burning). If you want to tone, try a weight you can do 15-20 reps with the last 3 giving you that burn.

    In terms of building muscle and strength, no, lighter weights won't really do much. If your goal is muscle endurance, maybe, but it would seem to me like you would want muscle first. Women are far too concerned with "bulking up". Besides, lighter weights are boring.

    http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,026 Member
    I don't agree that lighter weights "won't do much at all". But if you want to build muscle, use a weight you can do 8-10 reps (with the last 2-3 reps really burning). If you want to tone, try a weight you can do 15-20 reps with the last 3 giving you that burn.
    Lighter weights with higher reps will build muscle endurance not "tone". For all practical purposes, muscle is conditioned or not. Muscle can be "toned up" or you can have good "muscle tone" which is achieved by both.
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