Lifting heavy not better

Repost as posted in wrong forum initially.

This doesn't surprise me, but it's still nice to know research agrees when faced with the constant barrage of "you must lift heavy" and "light weights do nothing" posts on these forums.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_125127.html

With Weights, You Can Lighten Your Load

Just do more repetitions, researchers say

By Robert Preidt

SUNDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Doing more repetitions with less weight builds muscle and increases strength just as effectively as training with heavy weights, a new Canadian study indicates.

The critical factor in muscle gain is pushing yourself to the point of fatigue, according to the researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

They examined how different combinations of weight loads and repetitions affected the leg muscles of young men. The participants trained three times a week for 10 weeks doing one of three resistance training regimens: one set at 80 percent of maximum load; three sets at 80 percent of maximum load; or three sets at 30 percent of maximum load.

A set consisted of doing as many repetitions as possible with the assigned loads -- typically eight to 12 times a set at the heaviest weights and 25 to 30 times a set at the lowest weights.

"We found that loads that were quite heavy and comparatively light were equally effective at inducing muscle growth and promoting strength," Cam Mitchell, a lead study author and a Ph.D. candidate in McMaster's kinesiology department, said in a university news release.

The findings, recently published online in the Journal of Applied Physiology, challenge the widely held belief that using heavy weights is the best way to promote muscle growth and boost strength.

"Many older adults can have joint problems which would prevent them training with heavy loads," Mitchell noted. "This study shows that they have the option of training with lighter and less-intimidating loads and can still receive the benefits."

LOL 30 reps?? How long do you plan to spend in the gym, lady?

I've never belonged to a gym. When I do weights, I do them at home. 30 reps doesn't take that long.

Doesn't take that long compared to what, though? How varied are your workouts? What are your goals? What are your results?

Doesn't take longer than I'm willing to give.
I don't actually lift much. I mostly do body weight exercises for strength. When I lift I use 10 lb dumbells and a 20 lb weighted vest. I do a variety of arm exercises (chest flies, curls, bench press, standing shoulder press, tricep skull crusher, whatever it's called when you lift the weight straight out in front of you with your arm straight) and lunges, squats and steps for legs.
My goals are to not be flabby, but also not look "muscley".
My results are that I'm not flabby but I have more muscle bulge than I'd like in my arms.

I'm trying to imagine a scenario where I would need to lift more than 100 pounds and I can't think of anything.

The problem with this study is that it was performed on untrained individuals. This study shows that, in that population, the progressive nature of the load is more important than the intensity of the load (defined as % of 1rm), which is something that we already know.

You cannot necessarily apply this to the "trained" population, those with 6-12 months of lifiting under their belts. For those folks, working primarily in the range of 80-85% of 1rm has been shown time and again to be the most effective way to achieve mass & strength gains, both in research and in practical experience.

The problem with this study is that it was performed on untrained individuals. This study shows that, in that population, the progressive nature of the load is more important than the intensity of the load (defined as % of 1rm), which is something that we already know.

You cannot necessarily apply this to the "trained" population, those with 6-12 months of lifiting under their belts. For those folks, working primarily in the range of 80-85% of 1rm has been shown time and again to be the most effective way to achieve mass & strength gains, both in research and in practical experience.

Size follows strength and most ppl lifting high rep low weights tend to not be very strong.

That's actually not true regarding the size follows strength comment. Many bodybuilders lift with higher reps and they're not as strong as the same weight-class powerlifter but they display more muscle mass.

The whole piece of training maximally (heavy) is that it also engages the nervous system in a way that high-rep training won't. They are two very different things and the end result is not the same by any means. We can take two individuals of the same gender, same age, with relatively similar body types, height, weight, etc, they follow the same diet, have one do something like SL 5x5 or 5/3/1 and one do high reps (15+) on all exercises and their strength will not be equal after 12-weeks.

Somebody brought up a good point earlier in that no you won't be presented with a 300lb barbell to pickup while you're walking down the street but you may have to pick-up a 100lb TV who's weight isn't nicely distributed across a barbell, or an 80lb bag of fertilizer or water softener which again isn't nicely balanced either and which lifter do you think will be best able to move such things? Anybody flip a king-sized mattress recently? Not heavy but the awkwardness of the weight makes it challenging especially if the room is small and ceilings are low.

Obviously you have to do what's comfortable for you but you should think of exercise as an investment. If you were to invest money and were GUARANTEED some return would you invest in something with a 10%, 25%, 40%, 60%, or 90% rate of return?

The problem here for me is how they define strength-gains. For me strength gains are measured in one way, can I lift heavier *kitten* than I could previously lift. So unless they are really saying that I will get my 330lb deadlift by doing 30reps at 100lb, I'll stick to what I am doing.

But there is no intrinsic value in dead lifting 330 pounds that is greater than dead lifting 100 pounds or 200 pounds. The only strength gains that are really of value are those that increase my longevity and my health as I age. Anything else is just fleeting.

Lifting anything any amount of times will result in gains in an untrained individual, but the gains won't be that significant a year later. High reps with light weight is essentially worthless, for muscle growth and strength gains, to an experienced weight trainer.

The first thing I notice is the study was done on "young men".

Young men with lots of testosterone will build muscle with almost anything.

Lifting anything any amount of times will result in gains in an untrained individual, but the gains won't be that significant a year later. High reps with light weight is essentially worthless, for muscle growth and strength gains, to an experienced weight trainer.

And I would argue that even with an experienced lifter, if you gave the same person a routine where the lifted say 60% of their RM for 20 as opposed to the exact same person lifting 60% of their RM for 5, the routine with greater volume would, barring injury, produce the greater strength and mass increases. There are a lot of folks who have great success with volume training. There are arguably more efficient routes out there, but I can't agree that it's worthless.

This seemed to be true with me. I read article after article saying lift heavy and burn fat.

I do love popping out 5x5 280lb squats!

I don't know man, I just finished reading a 300 page book on Conjugate Training, it touches on the research that goes behind the method as well, discusses the short comings of progress overload, and I really find it hard to believe that an experienced lifter would experience any gains in absolute strength by doing high-volume lifting. The rookie lifter would have some gains but there is a point of diminishing returns. There's just no way that somebody is going to rock-out sets of bench presses at 20 - 30 pounds with 100lbs and then turn around and crank out a 315lb bench press. That person's muscle fibers and nervous system would not be trained to handle such a stimulus.