Research suggests lifting smaller weights and doing more repetitions (or, in gym parlance, “reps”) can have a role to play – but it all depends on your goals. In short: if your goal is to build serious strength and bone density, lifting heavy is an efficient way to do it.
So, in general, low reps with heavy weight tends to increase muscle mass, while high reps with light weight increases muscle endurance. This doesn't mean that you have to rely on one method exclusively. Alternating between the two may be the best approach for long-term success. Here's why.
High reps with low weights may be the way to go, a new study suggests. More repetitions with lighter weights can build muscle as well as heavier weights -- assuming they are done to the point of exercise-induced fatigue. And fatigue is the important point.
Low reps are better for building strength because they allow you to lift heavier weights than high-reps exercises do--which means more force is being generated by each repetition of an exercise motion and thus more stress placed on the muscles being worked out.
To build up your endurance, aim for high reps with light to moderate weights and short rest periods. You'll also only want to do one to two sets since you are doing higher rep counts of 15 or more. This will build up your slow-twitch muscle fibers to prepare you for strength and hypertrophy training.
High reps develop Type 1 muscle fibers (“slow twitch”) that are endurance based and slow to fatigue. Lower repetitions activate Type 2 muscle fibers (“fast twitch”), which have greater power but fatigue quickly.
Depending on your goals, muscle growth does not depend on the amount of weight you lift. It is a myth that one must lift more weight to bulk up. If you're regular and patient with lighter weights, you can achieve similar results.
Lighter Weight Actually Works the Muscle
Lifting lighter means your muscles do all the work, which is after all why you're in the gym. Using poundage beyond what your body can lift, means you are relying on momentum, not exclusively your muscles, to get the bar up.
One method is to figure out your 1-rep max for each exercise (the most you can lift for a single rep) and then work at 70 to 80 percent of that weight, the recommended range for hypertrophy training.
If you've been training properly for less than a year, perform 10-15 sets per muscle group per week. If you've been training properly for one to five years, perform 15-20 sets per week. If you're very advanced and have been training properly for over five years, perform 20-25 sets per week.
While heavy resistance training focuses on increasing muscle mass, lighter weights elongate and tone your muscles.
30kg dumbbells can be heavy enough to build muscle, depending on factors such as your current weightlifting proficiency and body composition. To build muscle, doing low repetitions with heavy weights, such as 30kg dumbbells, is an effective method.
You could feel “punch drunk” after working out, your arms and other muscles might ache more than usual, and your body may even feel generally weaker. A low protein diet can also hinder your weight-loss goals, because more muscle means a higher metabolism, which means it takes more calories to maintain the same weight.
A good guideline is to lift heavy enough that the last 2-3 reps on each set feel challenging to complete but not so hard that you can't do them with proper form. After the last rep, you should feel close to maxed out with enough energy left to do however many sets you have left.
20kg dumbbells are perfect for working muscle groups to build strength, definition and size. Dumbbells are excellent to use on your arms and upper body. They can be added to any exercise to strengthen muscles or increase the difficulty of the movement. For example adding a dumbbell to a normal walking lunge.
Lifting weights that are too heavy can cause muscle and joint damage. Doing so can also cause spinal injuries such as herniated discs.
Truth is, high-rep sets increase muscular endurance, but not necessarily fat-burning. You can actually get more ripped training in the 8-12-rep range, as this is what's been identified as the best rep count for adding muscular size. Where muscle mass increases, so does metabolism.
There are two main training errors people make that keep their biceps from growing. These are overtraining the biceps (often unintentionally) and a lack of variation in training techniques. Adding additional biceps focused workouts and trying multiple biceps exercises doesn't work.
#1: You Aren't Eating Enough Calories and/or Protein. If you are consistently burning more calories than you are consuming or create too much of a caloric deficit in the window of time after your strength training workouts (0-2 hours or so after your workout), you won't be able to build much muscle.
There is no particular age that you should stop lifting heavy. I was quite intrigued when I saw that this was a question that people were asking. Our bodies are meant to move. We are meant to use our muscles and work them.
Multiple sets are more beneficial than single sets because you can lift heavy lifts for more repetitions without exhausting your muscles or getting injured. It helps you push the same set of muscles that may increase endurance and stamina.
If your main goal is to build muscle, you'll want to lift in the 8 to 12 rep range. This is the proven “hypertrophy rep range” according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and several scientific studies support this.
Anything greater than 20 reps in a set is probably far too many. Performing this many reps in a set will have diminishing returns. If you can easily do more than 20 reps, then the weight you are using is probably too light or too easy to elicit any significant growth. The only exception to this rule is 20 rep squats!
Reason 1: Lifting Heavy With Not Enough Volume
One possible reason your muscle is not growing could be that your training is more geared toward improving your strength vs hypertrophy (i.e. muscle growth). You want to fully activate your whole muscle to maximize growth.