light weight vs heavy weight question

[Gemini girl]

My body type is a spoon and I’m trying to figure out which is the best way to tone up. I’ve heard that doing more reps with a lighter weight is the best for my body type. But –I’m confused…if I do the lighter weight with more reps, then I’d assume you do the reps to fatigue? That being said, suppose I use an 8 pound dumbbell, then I can be doing reps for an hour before I get fatigued, but if I use a 10-15 pound dumbbell, then I’ll fatigue quicker-but isn’t that the same as using a heavy weight with less reps? I’m confused! Please help!!

 

[pace1987]

I know what you mean that this is confusing. Maybe if you do a search on this forum for Strength vs endurance you can find the anwser you are looking for. Can I ask you what rep you make it to with 10 and 15 lbs when you fatigue? It made help others to get an idea to help answer your question. What about a 12lb dumbell? Sorry I wasn't much help.

 

[naughtoj]

You still need to pick a weight that is challenging for your number of reps. Endurance is 15-20 reps, strength 6-8, muscle mass 8-12, respectively. So, even if you wanted to "tone" you cannot just hold a 8lb dumbell for 100 reps on bicep curls. Unless you want to completely waste your time. Pick a number and realize that typically the rep ranges I have given you will produce those results. They say if you want "long, lean" muscles with no gain in size (or total muscle mass), do endurance. If you are looking to increase your percentage of muscle weight than you need to train for mass. This DOES NOT mean you will automatically look like a bodybuilder! You just need to push hard and you will get results...in whatever you do.

 

[Gemini girl]

thank you so much for clearing that up for me. It makes sense!!

 

[kathryn]

I recommend heavier weights and few reps (8-12, using a weight where the last 2-3 reps are tough, and you couldn't do another rep with good form) for your upper body, and lighter weights and higher reps (15-25 reps) for the lower body.