heavy or light for non-muscle builders

[Tallchick]

Question: What is best for those of us who do not build muscle--heavy or light weights? It does not seem to matter if I whether I use light or heavy, I am not going to get those so--wanted muscles. But what is better from a health standpoint? Thank you.

[Aquajock]

I'll weigh in here (ar ar) . . .

IMHO both are important. Heavy weights are necessary for absolute strength development, which is quite important because the more and heavier you CAN lift the more you WILL lift. Also, the heavier you can / do lift the more your skeletal system will benefit, because your bones will respond to the heavier weight loads by becoming and/or staying stronger and denser, no small issue as the body matures. If you want to minimize the need for pharmaceutical intervention for bone density loss prevention, heavy lifting coupled with a healthy diet is a must. Also, absolute strength development is critical for daily functioning, and yes it promotes mass development better than endurance training.

HOWEVER . . .

Endurance training is also important, because by definition it means you can go longer at a submaximal load, and that more closely mimics life's daily demands. In daily functioning you're not really asked to go the single-rep max for a brief period of time. You are instead asked to go for a longer period of time at a lower resistance (say, doing a ton of house and yard work). Targeted endurance training can promote muscle MAINTENANCE, both in muscle performance and muscle mass.

I believe I recall reading years ago in one of my ACE publications that absolute strength development assists in muscle endurance training; however, the reverse was not true (i.e. endurance training did not really promote absolute strength development derived from lifting close to the heaviest loads you can handle). That being said, I still believe both are crucial.

Tallchick, I personally think there's a protocol still out there that will enable you to build muscle mass AND absolute strength. If your screen name is any indication, I'll wager you're taller (most are taller than The Bald One, who tops out at 5'3") with longer limbs, and that puts you at a bit of a mechanical disadvantage when working to build mass (longer levers have that effect). IMHO, the Slow And Heavy series would be a good one for you to adopt on a regular basis. Also, I'd like to suggest that you "steal" 2-3 sets from your favorite Cathe strength routines that hit all of the upper and lower body muscle groups, write down a routine of these, and do these on your own, with the heaviest weights you can handle to a maximum of 12 - 14 reps, and do them at your very own rep speed. And get little gizmos that enable you to incrementally increase weight loads, and set goals for increasing these weight loads every 6-8 weeks. Plate Mates are good (GREAT, actually) to attach to metal hex dumbbells, and there are little 1.25 iron platelets you can buy online or at emporiums like Sports Authority to put on your barbell and incrementally increase your barbell load that way. Also, if you're confined to home workouts with no gym squat rack, consider investing in a weight vest that enables you to put in more and more iron rods (they come in 1/2-lb increments) as your legs get stronger. Allpro makes a good weight vest design and sells two versions, one with a max weight load of 20 lbs and another with a max weight load of 40 lbs (I have the 40-lb'er); there are others.

JMHO -

A-Jock

[Tallchick]

A-Jock, thank you so much for the wonderful information! I am six feet tall, I never realized that long limbs could account for the fact that my muscles are longer than the Cathe-types. What a realization. That makes sense.And I will do as you suggest. I do have Slow and Heavy. I do have a weight vest and I am going to load it to 40 pounds and try to hold 50 on my shoulders to see what I can with the lower body. I have tried for years to get some semblence of a quadricep muscles but it has always laughed at me(those muscles can be cruel). I am also a natural pear, where no matter how thin I get or have been, I will always have a noticeable differnce between the chest and hips with a small waist to make it even more obvious. Drats. Can a pear be a ectomorph?
Are you a trainer????

[Aquajock]

Hi, Tallchick! Alas, my familiarity with the "morphs" is poor to failing, so I don't know how to answer your question.

Regarding the weight loads with the weight vest and barbell: be VERY careful about adding new weightloads, especially on the barbell. Your back needs to be totally ready to handle that kind of weight. Also be advised that with the weight vest, you might feel a pull on the neck and trap muscles after wearing it for even a few minutes; you need to build up your endurance for that.

Re quad development (this is probably not news, but I'll say it again anyway) squats, plie squats and lunges with barbell, dumbbells and weight vest are certainly valuable. Also consider doing true leg extension exercises at the gym with a leg extension machine, or do them (carefully) with a loaded ankle weight. The quads' job is hip flexion (one of the quads - the rectus femoris - is also one of the hip flexors) AND knee extension (mostly the 3 remaining quad muscles, the vasti), and IMHO resisted knee extension would be a good quad builder for you. I think Cathe has some of these in the Gym Style Legs (and/or Muscle Max) but she uses bands rather than weights. Weights are better.

I'm not a trainer; I'm an ACE-certified group fitness instructor (about 9 years now; aqua aerobics natch) so what I'm throwing out here is Advanced Common Sense 101.

HOWEVER . . .

I'm acquainted with a trainer in Cocoa, Florida who has her master's degree in exercise science AND is 6 feet tall like you; she deals with many of the same issues about strength / mass development because of the longer limb issue. Her name is Maribeth Salge, and I believe she includes e-training among her services. Let me know if you want her e-mail address, and I'll PM you with it.

A-Jock

[Tallchick]

Thank you again, excellent advice. And I am a fan of common sense. I am thinking too of cutting back on the weights and getting more aerobics in. I broke my foot in Jan and it has taken weeks to heal. I can almost do calf raises on it as in the good old days (last year) so I got lazy, rediscovered cheeze-its and gained a few pounds. I much prefer weights to cardio!
The e-trainer sounds good, I may PM you when school is out (now I undestand why my mother looked forward to the end of summer) and I should have more time to devote to myself (ha, what is that?)
Thank you, thank you
Kate

[debfer]

Hi there Aquajock- I am just starting to try and get serious about weight lifting- can you go back to Weight-lifting 101 and give me the basics- I thought weight lifting was weight lifting- whats all this about endurance and strentgh etc.?? Forgive my naiveness - also I thought your comment about not having pharmacuetical intervention for bone density loss was interesting as I have a 1/3 decrease in my bone mass (I am premenopausal)and I hope to increase my bone mass before it becomes an issue-thanks, deb

[Amy Steppe]

Hello! Have you noticed how Rhonda has longer muscles? She is taller than Cedie, Cathe, and Brenda. I have not met Lorrayne, so I do know how tall she is. Ditto for Jai. They look pretty petite (short).

I can build muscle easily -- I am 5'1" and tend to bulk which is not a look I care to have.

So I take the weights a little lighter for mose circit workouts and then pull out all stops for any total body weight video.