mass vs cut

[BIGTOY79]

Hello all,

I hope I can get some answers to my questions here :-)

I've been training for about 20 years, but there's so many different advises given by so many professional that confuse the he'll out of me.

Exemple: when u train very heavy (4 to 6) it's for strenght, 8 to 12 is for muscle mass, above that we go into endurance.

I once asked a coach how to train my arms because they get big with extremely little training. He told me go very heavy (4 to 6) and do very short rests (30 secs)

Here is the Confusion, if I wasn't to ask him, I would of done the contrary, which is light weight for about 15 to 20 reps and still go like he advised on short rest (30 secs)

Can I please have some clarifications on that point

Thanks to all

[Metalject]

There's really no such thing as the perfect rep range for everyone. Find what works best for you. I do think most people do more than they need to do for arms, speaking in terms of number of sets but then again some guys do great with tons of sets, just not most.

What I prefer, I like to do arms on their own day. 6-8 sets for bi's and 8-9 sets for tri's. Reps range anywhere from 8-15. Sometimes I'll do all tri's first and then all bi's but most of the time I prefer to go back and forth...one bi exercise, on tri exercise and so on. I have no idea if going back and forth like that makes a significant difference in growth...it's just how I like to train arms.

And I guess I should mention I train the same whether bulking or cutting....only difference during cutting is less food, more cardio and more gear.

[RangerDanger830]

Well being a biologist I can shed some light on some of this although none of it is definitive and even I do not have the exact answer. But here is what I do know..

When you are at a resting state or close to it, your muscle cells are undergoing cellular respiration. Now this might seem obvious to some. To simplify the somewhat complicated process your muscle cells are taking food and oxygen and making energy and giving off CO2. Well a lot of us know that too. It's a game of energy and oxygen for our muscles.

But here is the kicker, when you are working hard, or not breathing correctly, and your muscle cells run out of oxygen or aren't getting enough your muscle cells kick in a process called fermentation. This is like a back up generator for your muscles. It allows your muscles to make energy without oxygen but the energy output is very limited. Fermentation produces lactic acid. I am sure most of you have heard of that also. That is happening when your muscles start hurting at the end of that set or when you reach muscle failure, it is your body running out of that last bit of energy.

So while I cannot give you a definite answer without further research, which I think we all should do. I can say this. When you rest longer between cycles you allow more time for the lactic acid to break down and go away, you also allow more time for your cells to replenish oxygen. Since oxygen produces more energy than the fermentation that means the more you rest the more weight you will be able to do on your next set. So in theory, waiting those few extra seconds is not enough time for your muscles to heal obviously, but it allows you to lift heavier weight each set which in turn tears your muscle more. It makes sense to me that that would mean more mass assuming the nutrition is there to build it later on.

Now if you do not wait long between sets that means you still have more lactic acid in your muscles and their energy stores have not been refilled as much. This is why we can't do sets back to back obviously. But at the same time it makes sense to me that the more you work out with lactic acid in your muscles the more attuned to doing that your body becomes. It has a remarkable way of adapting. So I would say short rest breaks would most definitely guarantee you more stamina. But since you are doing less weight you might not tear your muscles as severely and they might not gain mass as quickly.

Again, these statements are scientific facts with a few of my own theories thrown in there. I by no means have done any definitive research on this specifically so take this idea with a grain of salt. These are just observations I have made.

[RangerDanger830]

This probably needs to be moved to lifting techniques and workout question section too.