lifting heavy vs light weigh???

[tommygun31]

I have a question..Simple...TO build muscle,Should i go heavy or lighter weight???Right now benching dumbell press 100 lb dumbells...I just want to know if heavy is the right way to go???Or light....Wanting to put on muscle...

[beerdogg]

Heavy

[tigerspawn]

Research doctors working for applied physiology determined that heavy and light loads were equally effective at inducing muscle growth and promoting strength provided it is lifted to the point where it is difficult to maintain good form.
Resistance exercise load does not determine training-mediated hypertrophic gains in young men

[Gaspaco]

Go as heavy you can, with the best technique you can.

[Times Roman]

Research doctors working for applied physiology determined that heavy and light loads were equally effective at inducing muscle growth and promoting strength provided it is lifted to the point where it is difficult to maintain good form.
Resistance exercise load does not determine training-mediated hypertrophic gains in young men

agree with you. as I age, I'm learning that there are other options than to go "as heavy as possible". More importantly, imho, is to go slow with your rep, get the FULL contraction, hold for a fraction of a second, and to slowly return to the starting point. Then, do this with as much weight as you can, while still maintaining good form, for three sets of 5/10/15 reps or whatever works best with your body.

Once I started doing this, I began to use a lot less weight, and with less weight, the risk of injury decreases as well.

this is what I do

[tigerspawn]

agree with you. as I age, I'm learning that there are other options than to go "as heavy as possible". More importantly, imho, is to go slow with your rep, get the FULL contraction, hold for a fraction of a second, and to slowly return to the starting point. Then, do this with as much weight as you can, while still maintaining good form, for three sets of 5/10/15 reps or whatever works best with your body.

Once I started doing this, I began to use a lot less weight, and with less weight, the risk of injury decreases as well.

this is what I do

Last week I started doing this as Well. I find that I can’t even do half the weight I was doing before. My old way of training required the use of heavy weight but would not cause me to be sore until two days later. Since I have changed the way I train I am sore by second exercise and remain that way for day or more.

[Times Roman]

Last week I started doing this as Well. I find that I can’t even do half the weight I was doing before. My old way of training required the use of heavy weight but would not cause me to be sore until two days later. Since I have changed the way I train I am sore by second exercise and remain that way for day or more.

over time, your body will learn to adapt to this too, so you will have to mix things up a bit. At the end of my routine, I may throw on some light weights and go some quick high reps to failure, just to make things interesting. I don't have a gym buddy, so doing negs at the end would bbe kind of tough for me. But if I had one, this would be another way to change things up a bit......

....just a thought

[tigerspawn]

Thanks Times

[crazy mike]

Last week I started doing this as Well. I find that I can’t even do half the weight I was doing before. My old way of training required the use of heavy weight but would not cause me to be sore until two days later. Since I have changed the way I train I am sore by second exercise and remain that way for day or more.

.Now being back and restricted to light weight I did some mind concentrated slow movement reps. Pause go back n forth with the weight and movement. Quick and high reps and slow and lower number of reps. I got sore as a MF. lasted two days. Gotta find that spot and point of stress with pain. It is working for me until.............crazy mike

[Java Man]

Both. When you feel youre not responding to whatever youre currently doing anymore, change it. I think the key is to feel the muscle youre working atm, and going to failure. My Personal gauge is if the parts of my body that I just worked out are difficult to move while doing natural things like waking or reaching for my keys or whatever for about an hour after I finished lifting, I stimulated growth. How I get to that point changes depending on gut feeling for that day.

[gearbox]

Great advice on here. I would stick to both. Go heavy for a few weeks with reps of 6 and then do reps of 12-15 for a few weeks. All pushing to failure!

[crazy mike]

Great advice on here. I would stick to both. Go heavy for a few weeks with reps of 6 and then do reps of 12-15 for a few weeks. All pushing to failure!

Hey, try this once in a while , now and the, to promote hardness and pump. After you do what gearbox said. Jut take a minute, and one more set and 30 + reps After 20 you will feel; it. For me it promotes hardness and I do this at anytime on and workout schedule. I feel it really activates what I just did with the exercise.. Maybe just for an old guy, once in a few workouts. ....crazy mike

[Times Roman]

Great advice on here. I would stick to both. Go heavy for a few weeks with reps of 6 and then do reps of 12-15 for a few weeks. All pushing to failure!

Until recently, I've been alternating every other month as a light/heavy month.

[XstabberX]

I always do both. I lift heavy all based on my 4 main lifts squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press and the do accessories lifts 2 to four sets on the 8-12 rep range for hypertrophy. It's Jim Wendlers 5/3/1 program