Light Weight for Big Gains?

So yesterday we talked about using light weight to bust through a plateau, but is it an effective method of training regularly if your goal is hypertrophy?

Before we go any further let me tell you a story. .

There is this guy in my gym who is huge, hes got to be 210lbs and about 6′1″. Hes a solid 210 too, you couldn’t grab an ounce of fat on this guy if you tried, but the thing is. .I’ve never seen him training with a weight that I would consider HEAVY. In fact, the weight he trains with seems to be pretty damn light. One thing I notice about this guy is that he moves very slow and at the top of his movement he squeezes. I’m talking about PERFECT FORM here, but still I couldn’t beleive that this is the reason for his 210lb muscular frame, so I asked him. . thats right, I asked him “Excuse me, why the hell is a 210lb guy like yourself doing seated rows with 40lbs?”. . we got into the discussion and here was his reply “Some of these guys here have been training for more than 6 years. . I’m on my second year, I only train with light weights and I concentrate on each and every rep and make it count. . can you argue with the results?”

I couldn’t believe it. . does this guy know something that the rest of us don’t?! Maybe the heavy weights thing is a napoleon complex type thing that just makes us feel like more of men?

Well, I have been doing some research on the internet and I think that this form of training is going to become a lot more popular within the next few years. . Just check out this article at Bodybuilding.com

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/xrep_light_training.htm

I know one thing is for sure. I am going to give this method of training a shot and I think you should too. Just keep a careful eye on the scale and note if you lose any weight. Remember to keep the protein intake high and to follow the rules of this method of training and you should be set.

I’ll let you guys and girls know what I think of this sort of weight training routine once I finish it up, let me know if you have tried this or something similar as well. Thanks!

Plateau Buster: light weight high rep

One of the most effective ways to bust out of a plateau and shock your muscles into growing new muscle is to lighten the load and go increase your reps.

its been long argued that light weight and high reps is for fat loss and heavy weight low reps is for muscle growth. This article isn’t about that, but heavy weight and moderate reps (8 – 10) is best. This is because by using as much weight as you can, you’re damaging more muscle tissue, in turn rebuilding more muscle. . More muscle burns more calories . . More calories means more fat loss. .

Back to the high reps for plateau busting. . Its a simple and effective way to shock your muscles, but it is in no way an excuse to not workout hard. As a matter of fact, I implemented it into my routine today and it was one of my hardest workouts this month.

I find this works especially well for legs. Simply choose a weight you can achieve 15 – 20 reps with and no more than that, and concentrate on having perfect form. Like I said, I implemented it into my workout today which happened to be legs and I felt like I worker harder than my normal heavy routine.

Good luck, Get BIG!

- Anthony