Heavy weight vs High reps

[Riccardo]

http://www.musculardevelopment.com/arti ... urand.html

Interesting article from muscular development on high rep vs heavy weight training.

- High rep/low weight training induces muscular hypertrophy and anabolic hormone concentration post exercise.

- Heavy weight/low rep training is more effective in building muscle size without increasing post exercise anabolic hormone levels.

- Acute fluctuations in anabolic hormone levels are not necessary for muscular hypertrophy.

-Muscular hypertrophy is stimulated most likely through local growth factors e.g. IGF-1

-muscle tension/overload is more important than muscle fatigue/pump/feeling the burn in your ass :shifty:

[thatwaslight]

saw this the other day good article, i think to many people chase the burn....in your ass :shock: lol

[trainlikeafreak]

cool article. i think this is a good article to argue that both high reps and low reps are in order for optimal gains. its a pitty they had to go as extreme as 30 odd reps though. prob would have been more useful if it was 15-20. just my opinion.

[Shutupandsquat]

cool article. i think this is a good article to argue that both high reps and low reps are in order for optimal gains. its a pitty they had to go as extreme as 30 odd reps though. prob would have been more useful if it was 15-20. just my opinion.

Not really. Around thirty is pretty high and it's good for changing it up, I've found it most effective with arms. Hell I've even done 50-100 reps on leg press before.

[milkisforbabies]

Cool article, I've always thought it was horses for courses. I know plenty of guys that do higher reps and see awesome gains. I've been doing the Max-OT thing for the last 6 months and my strength has gone through the roof. My size has improved more and I spend less time in the gym. Heavy weight and changing exercises is working for me but I think different physiques respond differently to different training methods.

[lemon]

cool article. i think this is a good article to argue that both high reps and low reps are in order for optimal gains. its a pitty they had to go as extreme as 30 odd reps though. prob would have been more useful if it was 15-20. just my opinion.

I would agree. I would have liked to have seen the comparison to 15-20.

Looks like low reps were the ultimate winner though.

[Riccardo]

Yeah I think high reps do have their place in training but knowing when to use them is important. They do seem to elicit a different response to just heavy training so to get the best out of your training I'm assuming incorporating both techniques is optimal.

[trainlikeafreak]

cool article. i think this is a good article to argue that both high reps and low reps are in order for optimal gains. its a pitty they had to go as extreme as 30 odd reps though. prob would have been more useful if it was 15-20. just my opinion.

Not really. Around thirty is pretty high and it's good for changing it up, I've found it most effective with arms. Hell I've even done 50-100 reps on leg press before.

ya, but you'd do that shit once in a blue moon. just saying 15 or so reps is a lot more common with a 'high rep' week(s)

[Snatchy McClean]

Interesting article.

I do high weight, low reps and only use high (as in 12+) reps on active recovery days, to get the joints moving and the blood flowing.

Some guys I know use periodisation where they will do something like <70% 1RM x 12+ reps (endurance), then <85% 1RM x 6-12 reps (hypertrophy), then >85% 1RM x 2-6 reps(strength), cycling in blocks of a few weeks per scheme.

Maybe they get they best of both worlds?

Personally I'd find this really boring and annoying, but maybe I just lack discipline.

[HarryB]

Like a true no plan bodybuilder I just do whatever rep range I feel like doing. It's mostly dependent on how good my joints are feeling. I think all rep ranges have their place and a lot of attention to should be paid to rep cadence and form.

[Luigi]

Like a true no plan bodybuilder I just do whatever rep range I feel like doing. It's mostly dependent on how good my joints are feeling. I think all rep ranges have their place and a lot of attention to should be paid to rep cadence and form.

i like that

[thatwaslight]

Like a true no plan bodybuilder I just do whatever rep range I feel like doing. It's mostly dependent on how good my joints are feeling. I think all rep ranges have their place and a lot of attention to should be paid to rep cadence and form.

i like that

yeah me too. wise words

[Chemo]

Mean article

gotta start focusing back on them lower reps, heavy weights.

I've always been a fan of pyramids but in retrospect my pyramids were unintentionally focused on the lower and middle ranges with just a few heavy sets :C

[Chemo]

Mean article

gotta start focusing back on them lower reps, heavy weights.

I've always been a fan of pyramids but in retrospect my pyramids were unintentionally focused on the lower and middle ranges with just a few heavy sets :C

[Gasp]

Like a true no plan bodybuilder I just do whatever rep range I feel like doing. It's mostly dependent on how good my joints are feeling. I think all rep ranges have their place and a lot of attention to should be paid to rep cadence and form.

i like that

Same!... and I guess you could even call that a plan of sorts.

Its good to mix it up particulaly with legs which tend to crank up the whole body when you throw in a few good 15-20s of medium heavies every now and again.

[Riccardo]

I think high rep training causes more of a sarcoplasmic hypertrophy i.e. an increase in the muscle cell fluid, non contractile proteins and perhaps mitochondrial density. Where as heavy weight results in more satellite cell activation and more contractile elements within the muscle cell.

Therefore to get the best from your training it would be wise to include both types of training. I reckon it would be interesting to see the results of a study comparing heavy weight training only and high rep training only with a combined heavy + high rep program.

[milkisforbabies]

Question: Hoe would you incorporate high rep and low reps into your routine?

Do you do a bit of both in your workouts or do 8-10 weeks low rep heavy lifting then jump to 8-10 weeks lighter weight higher rep training?

I just want to get bigger muscles.

[AgentOrange]

max ot

[funkyfly]

cool article. i think this is a good article to argue that both high reps and low reps are in order for optimal gains. its a pitty they had to go as extreme as 30 odd reps though. prob would have been more useful if it was 15-20. just my opinion.

I would agree. I would have liked to have seen the comparison to 15-20.

Looks like low reps were the ultimate winner though.

They kept the volume the same for both in this test, thats why they had to go as high as 30+ reps otherwise the volume would have been less for the lite weight group.

This article confirms what most BB's know, 8-12 reps upper body and 8-15 reps lower body will provide biggest size gains.

[evil action]

i like to keep movement exercises heavy such as deadlift, clean and jerk, squats etc.....exercises that recruit most muscle fibres.....and i keep my assistant [isolated] exercises high reps......add both in a single workout superset them or focus on movement heavy low reps one week and light high reps the other

[evil action]

also you shouldnt have to go higher than 15 to 20 reps if so u need to increase weight

[Shutupandsquat]

also you shouldnt have to go higher than 15 to 20 reps if so u need to increase weight

Depends on how you're training, my friend.

[evil action]

sorry yes it depends on what your training for