Light weights, more reps and more muscle??? Yup.
Studies and commonsensical trainers everywhere take advantage of the benefits of lifting lighter weights with more repetitions. Oxymoron? Negative.
Current wisdom states that ONLY lifting heavy weights is the main culprit for getting big muscles for athletes as well as the average gym-rat who just wants to look better. This is all fine and dandy but there are certain times when an athlete should routinely switch-up a training routine in order to completely stimulate the muscular system (as well as the soft connective-tissue in your joints) to one’s potential.
I won’t argue that lifting heavy poundage won’t add on slabs of muscle but I have studied some of the most elite athletes in professional sports as well as in the Olympics and they all use high-rep training (with lighter poundage) throughout the course of their training.
Recently, Canada’s McMaster University ran a study that would challenge the notion that ONLY lifting heavy weights is the answer for increased muscle-growth. Not so, says Stuart Phillips, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University. According to Phillips, individuals can still develop a respectable amount of muscle size by using weights at around 30% of their 1 rep-max. Most of the individuals in the study could do at least 24 reps on average with this percentage of max-capacity lift.
"We're convinced that growing muscle means stimulating your muscle to make new muscle proteins, a process in the body that over time accumulates into bigger muscles." If Stuart Phillips and his colleagues are right then what does that mean for the athletic community?
My personal thoughts on high-repetition training are that variety is the spice of life. You see, the human body is so incredibly remarkable at adapting at all costs-as quickly as possible. With this being said, an athlete could have the absolute BEST weight-room (gym) routine in the world but chances are after 6-weeks or so that routine needs to be changed up. And for some athletes with nagging injuries and a stagnant rate of muscle growth who are addicted to the dogmatic approach of only doing 5 repetitions for any given exercise, it’s time to make a major change and have a go at higher rep training.
Even if this change in philosophy is for a half-hearted 3-week phase, give it a try. It will benefit the athlete greatly and will give a new sense of urgency next time 4-5 plates are on each side of the squat-rack.
Additionally, studies have shown that higher-rep training can facilitate connective-tissue repair and keep hard-working athletes on the field more often. Any exercise with more than 15 repetitions can benefit from greater synovial fluid production (the connective tissue lubrication that transports nutrients and oxygen to your joints), which can really give your joints a boost.
From the beginning of organized competitions (the early Olympics for example) athletes have trained with lighter weights for high reps as just another way to “skin a cat”. Ultimately, the increased stamina, better blood-flow in other areas of the body, improved health of the joints are just a few of the reasons that most people can benefit from doing more than a 5-rep max on the good ol’ bench-press.
As I mentioned before, the human body is insanely good at adjusting and adapting to the general environment or stimuli that it receives. Now, if this “environment” never changes then all the positives associated with adapting and changing (i.e. building more muscle to “adapt” to lifting a thousand reps in a 1-hour session) are not observed.
You see, the physiological reactions going on when one exercises in a constant state of forced change converts to a lot of anabolic hormones like increases in testosterone, growth hormone levels, IGF-1 levels as well as an increase in red-blood cells and other markers of anabolism. An athlete’s regimen should be in a somewhat controlled state of topsy-turvy, always trying to keep your body guessing while filling in holes and athletic weaknesses. Using lighter weights with significantly more repetitions can be just the shot in the arm a strength athlete needs to steamroll over that old, tired plateau.
In fact, the legendary Westside Barbell power lifting gym in Ohio, which has produced MANY world-record holders in power lifting has days out of the week devoted specifically to high repetitions (with lighter weights). Louie Simmons is an extremely strong man even in his wiser years and he is convinced that high-rep/lower weights are an integral part of his recipe for producing champions. Wait a minute-you mean a powerlifter that lifts more than my truck does super-high reps with rubber bands or small dumbbells? Yup.
Lighter weights can help reinforce better form, help nagging injuries to heal over time, increase the range of motion (ROM) of an athlete, improve flexibility as well as increase stamina and help athletes lean out.
Easily enough, adding a pair of TylerGrips to some dumbbells forces one to do lighter weights anyways, due to the immediate workout you get on your wrists, forearms, hands, fingers and even biceps. I dare anyone to drop their max dumbbell curl weight by 25% and try to do 20 repetitions while using the TylerGrips. If you can, pat yourself on the back stud. Now do it again.
Until next time…train harder and smarter.
Tim Tyler
Get the Forearm trainer that NFL offensive lineman swear by
Feel guilty for missing the gym when you read this daily training and nutrition blog from TylerMethod.com
Learn how to get your forearm veins as big as pencils when you become a friend of TylerGrip on Facebook
Email TylerGrip.com without any worries that we'll sell your info to some faceless, annoying marketing firm...WEAKSAUCE!
Studies and commonsensical trainers everywhere take advantage of the benefits of lifting lighter weights with more repetitions. Oxymoron? Negative.
Current wisdom states that ONLY lifting heavy weights is the main culprit for getting big muscles for athletes as well as the average gym-rat who just wants to look better. This is all fine and dandy but there are certain times when an athlete should routinely switch-up a training routine in order to completely stimulate the muscular system (as well as the soft connective-tissue in your joints) to one’s potential.
I won’t argue that lifting heavy poundage won’t add on slabs of muscle but I have studied some of the most elite athletes in professional sports as well as in the Olympics and they all use high-rep training (with lighter poundage) throughout the course of their training.
Recently, Canada’s McMaster University ran a study that would challenge the notion that ONLY lifting heavy weights is the answer for increased muscle-growth. Not so, says Stuart Phillips, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University. According to Phillips, individuals can still develop a respectable amount of muscle size by using weights at around 30% of their 1 rep-max. Most of the individuals in the study could do at least 24 reps on average with this percentage of max-capacity lift.
"We're convinced that growing muscle means stimulating your muscle to make new muscle proteins, a process in the body that over time accumulates into bigger muscles." If Stuart Phillips and his colleagues are right then what does that mean for the athletic community?
My personal thoughts on high-repetition training are that variety is the spice of life. You see, the human body is so incredibly remarkable at adapting at all costs-as quickly as possible. With this being said, an athlete could have the absolute BEST weight-room (gym) routine in the world but chances are after 6-weeks or so that routine needs to be changed up. And for some athletes with nagging injuries and a stagnant rate of muscle growth who are addicted to the dogmatic approach of only doing 5 repetitions for any given exercise, it’s time to make a major change and have a go at higher rep training.
Even if this change in philosophy is for a half-hearted 3-week phase, give it a try. It will benefit the athlete greatly and will give a new sense of urgency next time 4-5 plates are on each side of the squat-rack.
Additionally, studies have shown that higher-rep training can facilitate connective-tissue repair and keep hard-working athletes on the field more often. Any exercise with more than 15 repetitions can benefit from greater synovial fluid production (the connective tissue lubrication that transports nutrients and oxygen to your joints), which can really give your joints a boost.
From the beginning of organized competitions (the early Olympics for example) athletes have trained with lighter weights for high reps as just another way to “skin a cat”. Ultimately, the increased stamina, better blood-flow in other areas of the body, improved health of the joints are just a few of the reasons that most people can benefit from doing more than a 5-rep max on the good ol’ bench-press.
As I mentioned before, the human body is insanely good at adjusting and adapting to the general environment or stimuli that it receives. Now, if this “environment” never changes then all the positives associated with adapting and changing (i.e. building more muscle to “adapt” to lifting a thousand reps in a 1-hour session) are not observed.
You see, the physiological reactions going on when one exercises in a constant state of forced change converts to a lot of anabolic hormones like increases in testosterone, growth hormone levels, IGF-1 levels as well as an increase in red-blood cells and other markers of anabolism. An athlete’s regimen should be in a somewhat controlled state of topsy-turvy, always trying to keep your body guessing while filling in holes and athletic weaknesses. Using lighter weights with significantly more repetitions can be just the shot in the arm a strength athlete needs to steamroll over that old, tired plateau.
In fact, the legendary Westside Barbell power lifting gym in Ohio, which has produced MANY world-record holders in power lifting has days out of the week devoted specifically to high repetitions (with lighter weights). Louie Simmons is an extremely strong man even in his wiser years and he is convinced that high-rep/lower weights are an integral part of his recipe for producing champions. Wait a minute-you mean a powerlifter that lifts more than my truck does super-high reps with rubber bands or small dumbbells? Yup.
Lighter weights can help reinforce better form, help nagging injuries to heal over time, increase the range of motion (ROM) of an athlete, improve flexibility as well as increase stamina and help athletes lean out.
Easily enough, adding a pair of TylerGrips to some dumbbells forces one to do lighter weights anyways, due to the immediate workout you get on your wrists, forearms, hands, fingers and even biceps. I dare anyone to drop their max dumbbell curl weight by 25% and try to do 20 repetitions while using the TylerGrips. If you can, pat yourself on the back stud. Now do it again.
Until next time…train harder and smarter.
Tim Tyler
Get the Forearm trainer that NFL offensive lineman swear by
Feel guilty for missing the gym when you read this daily training and nutrition blog from TylerMethod.com
Learn how to get your forearm veins as big as pencils when you become a friend of TylerGrip on Facebook
Email TylerGrip.com without any worries that we'll sell your info to some faceless, annoying marketing firm...WEAKSAUCE!
Add a pair of TylerGrips and high-rep training becomes a fat incinerator (oh, and you’ll possibly look like Popeye soon).
Adding a pair of TylerGrips to any pressing motion has solved many athletes’ issues with shoulder and elbow injuries.
Range of motion (ROM) can also be improved with phases of higher-repetition exercise.
Having less control of the dumbbell, influenced by the increased gripping circumference that TylerGrips add to a normal dumbbell workout, will result in greater gains in strength and muscle all over the upper body.