Heavy vs. light lifting

diane57

Cathlete
If my training regimen is to lift 10 lbs. (say in a bicep curl) for 50 reps, to failure, and I do this consistently, will my bicep muscle be smaller than if I usually lift 20 lbs for 15 reps, to failure? In other words, if I always keep lifting whatever weight it is until I feel the burn, will my muscle develop as much, and be as big, no matter how big the weight is?

This puzzled me last night doing a Dove workout that fried my shoulders, even though the weight was only 5 pounds - but there were a million reps. I always though that lifting lighter weights would not develop the muscle as much, but if you're working the muscle to failure, wouldn't it develop just as well as if you used a heavier weight?

Hope this makes sense and isn't a totally ridiculous question...
 
Lighter weights and higher reps gives you more definition. You need to lift heavy for reps of 6-10 to build with longer rest periods.

If you have built a good muscle foundation and need to lose some body fat or define the muscles, the way you are training is the way to go.
 
Thanks, fitnessfreak. So when you say "more definition" with the lighter weights, that would be a smaller muscle mass than to "build" with the heavier weights?
 
Thanks, fitnessfreak. So when you say "more definition" with the lighter weights, that would be a smaller muscle mass than to "build" with the heavier weights?

Yes. Even lifting with light weights you will still get some muscle tone, just not large muscles. And if you already have large muscles from building, using lighter weights and higher reps will maintain the muscle for a while and make them more noticable. But you also have to eat clean to help with that.
 
I've been reading a lot of Chad Waterbury over at FigureAthlete.com. He trains a lot of figure athletes (and a lot of fighters...). In his article The Figure Body Part Checklist he's adamant about women knowing exactly what they want to do with each muscle group (shrink it, enlarge it, or keep it the way it is) before embarking on any kind of training program. This is how he says to train (I'm copying this verbatim):

If you want to enlarge an area:
- Train that muscle group every other day.
- Use a set/rep volume of 36-50 for that muscle group.
- Use 1-2 movements to fulfill the 36-50 volume requirement
In order for a muscle to grow, you must train it with sufficient volume. I've found most women typically need more total reps to grow than men do. So while a set/rep volume of 24 (4x6, 3x8, etc.) might make a guy's lats grow, a volume of at least 36 (4x9, 3x12, etc.) is often necessary to get the same effect from women. This is especially true for the upper body muscles on a woman.

For areas you want to maintain (neither enlarge or shrink):
- Train that muscle group twice each week.
- Use a set/rep volume of 9-12 for that muscle group.
- Use one movement to fulfill the 9-12 volume requirement.
For optimal structural integrity and joint function, it's often necessary to keep a muscle strong. But maybe you don't want that muscle to get bigger. What I've discovered through years of training is that very few muscles will grow with a set/rep volume of 9-12, especially if it's only trained twice each week. For example, let's say you don't want your lats to grow. On Monday do 6x2 wide grip pulldowns. On Thursday do 3x3 dumbbell rows.

For an area you want to shrink: Don't train it.
If a muscle group is genetically large, virtually any type of training will make it grow bigger. I'm talking everything from high volume with a light load to low volume with a heavier load will cause hypertrophy. So if your calves are big, and if you want them smaller, make a concerted effort to avoid training them. Don't even throw in a few sets of low rep calf raises in an effort to keep them strong - If you do that they'll never shrink.

Does this help? I swear, everything Waterbury writes has me rethinking everything I've done and am doing. Oh yea, Waterbury is nuts about lifting to failure so heavy weights are king.
 
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