Getting Tone and Tight

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Hewitt347
Hewitt347 Posts: 10
in Fitness and Exercise
Are more reps with smaller weights better than less reps with heavier weights?

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  • rsdgirl
    rsdgirl Posts: 246 Member
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    good question id like to knwo the answer to that as well ??? (sorry im no help lol)
  • mortuseon
    mortuseon Posts: 579 Member
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    More reps with smaller weights will build more muscle but will not necessarily make you much stronger...personally, I'd go for fewer reps with heavier weights.
  • karinaes
    karinaes Posts: 570 Member
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    less reps with heavier weights.

    if you stick with the small ones, your muscles become efficient & stop growing/developing. heavier weights challenges your muscles and builds them more .. shaping you into a lean/ strong machine
    don't worry, you won't look "bulky" ...it's hard enough for men, who have more testosterone to get bulky... lol
  • _Peacebone_
    _Peacebone_ Posts: 229 Member
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    Nope! You have to lift heavy if you want to see any results. Doing more reps with smaller weights will still burn calories, but it certainly won't build any muscle.
  • Libby81
    Libby81 Posts: 734 Member
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    less reps with heavier weights.

    if you stick with the small ones, your muscles become efficient & stop growing/developing. heavier weights challenges your muscles and builds them more.
    don't worry, you won't look "bulky" ...it's hard enough for men, who have more testosterone to get bulky... lol

    ^^ this
  • oswaldbowser
    oswaldbowser Posts: 164 Member
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    Good question........

    It makes no difference to toning.....as you only get toned by losing body fat !
  • Hewitt347
    Hewitt347 Posts: 10
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    Just looking to tighten everything up. I'm not 100% positive on anything when it comes to lifting weights so I figured i'd rather do it right the first time than mess it up forever.
  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
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    less reps with heavier weights.

    if you stick with the small ones, your muscles become efficient & stop growing/developing. heavier weights challenges your muscles and builds them more.
    don't worry, you won't look "bulky" ...it's hard enough for men, who have more testosterone to get bulky... lol

    ^^ this

    ^^ Double this. If you want your muscles to look different, you need to lift heavier weights.
  • solpwr
    solpwr Posts: 1,039 Member
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    I always throw monkey wrenches in to things.

    You want to look awesome, right? So the goal is to lower body fat as a percentage of your total weight.
    You need to decrease subcutaneous fat, and/or increase muscle mass.

    Weight training is an important part of that equation. So is cardiovascular work, because it burns plenty of calories to allow you to eat better.

    So start out with light weights, doing as many reps as you can. Each workout, increase the weight to the next level. Do that until you get to where you are only doing 8 reps. Gauge your progress by muscle soreness on the following day or two. If you are getting sore, you're doing it right. When that soreness isn't there, you're not hitting it hard enough. Gradually keep going as heavy as possible.
  • drbaska
    drbaska Posts: 157 Member
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    I agree that to get a really effective strength training workout, you need to know what you're doing. Afterall who wants to stand around lifing and sweating and not get results.

    I love the Chalean Extreme at-home workout program - yes, I used to be a gym rat, but I'm telling you, this program rocks! It's based on the concept that muscle burns fat. And she takes you thru 3 phases, so you lift heavier at each phase. Now when I say heavy, I used 5, 10 and 15 lb weights and found that to be more than enough. And I consider myself to be pretty fit and strong. :-)

    So, my point is ,I put my faith in the experts and I was not disappointed - lean, tone, defiined muscles from my own home on my own time. SWEET!

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