# Heavy sets,low reps VS Light sets, more reps?



## JSTEVO (Oct 4, 2009)

Guys,

I'm interested to see how many of us train differently for the same goals.

I am currently bulking and have been training with the view of heavy sets and low reps, this has seen me grow considerably and my strength is awesome.

However since mentioning to my Gym manager that I want to do a comp next year I have been told that I need to change my training to lighter weights and more reps.

I have been training now for ten years and originally set off with this mentality and obviously I have gained from it. But i'm curious on others views.

Cheers Guys


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## jstarcarr (Aug 6, 2010)

Ive just started yt3 training

heavy compound 6-8 reps week 1

compound and isolation 10-12 reps week 2

compound and isolation drop sets supersets ect 20-60 reps

so this covers all rep ranges but still allows you to go heavy if you want on week 3 by doing drop sets to reach the high rep range.


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## d4ead (Nov 3, 2008)

I heard the arguments for both to many times.

Me I read a report once that suggested that as long as you work to failure the muscle damage caused was the same no matter what method you choose. So just mix it up, neither is wrong.


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## Graham Mc (Oct 15, 2009)

d4ead said:


> I heard the arguments for both to many times.
> 
> Me I read a report once that suggested that as long as you work to failure the muscle damage caused was the same no matter what method you choose. So just mix it up, neither is wrong.


exacly what i do i just mix things up alot.


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## deeppurple (Mar 13, 2010)

i do 3 weeks of the month of sheer brute force, literally 5 sets of 3 on a very heavy weight. then ill do a week of lighter for reps, sets of 8 or whatever takes my fancy.

i find its great to not always do extremely heavy as it does bugger up the body a bit, constantly feeling battered, and that week of light for reps really does help the body and confuses it a bit so all good.


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## MarkFranco (Aug 26, 2010)

3 weeks going heavy 1 week deload repeat

I dont do any isolation work I do about 2 lifts each workout and ive never been so big

Following wendlers 5/3/1 Boring but big routine


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## Barker (Oct 1, 2009)

i try aim for 8 reps to failure on everything, if i get 10 i leave it if i get 12 reps out ill up the weight, simple as that.

Although some things i cant up the wirght on due to not having big enough plates etc.

So last week i did 30 reps for leg extensions and collapsed after it haha.

I also do about 15 deadlift reps


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## CoffeeFiend (Aug 31, 2010)

In my opinion if your lifting weights that are to light for you your muscles will not grow or break down. The best you can achieve is muscle toning.

Heavy weights push you to do more than you can, they take more of a beating, so after healing they repair and are stronger.

The only critique i would put on heavy lifting is, heavy is good but not *too* heavy.. if its to heavy your form will suffer and it wont do sh!t for you. My form used to be awful and peopl drilled into me that with heavy the quality always tops the quantity and they were right.


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## Lois_Lane (Jul 21, 2009)

Strength can only take you so far. After a certain stage it becomes very dangerous to go heavier so other techniques need using.

For instance on regular deadlifts i can go to 7 plates for reps no problem but this is dangerous. Now i do reeves deadlifts and can only manage 4 plates for reps. Also i do bulgarian deadlifts which i love 2.5 plates killed me for 5 reps a couple of days ago!

Improving/increasing volume/weight is always key but many ways to do it.

^^^muscles wont break with high reps? Go and do a set of leg presses to absalute failure at 100 reps and tell me that it doesn't do any thing positive.


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## 8103 (May 5, 2008)

Lois_Lane said:


> Strength can only take you so far. After a certain stage it becomes very dangerous to go heavier so other techniques need using.
> 
> For instance on regular deadlifts i can go to 7 plates for reps no problem but this is dangerous. Now i do reeves deadlifts and can only manage 4 plates for reps. Also i do bulgarian deadlifts which i love 2.5 plates killed me for 5 reps a couple of days ago!
> 
> ...


reeves deadlifts look mad, pretty much a supersized snatch grip deadlift lol

Will have to give those a whirl, can imagine the grip gets you first though


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## EchoSupplements (Jul 19, 2010)

Regardless of weight I find that high volume works for me, with long-ish workouts - but I think I'm out on my own on that one given how many people recommend low reps for 45min workouts.


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

If training for size it makes sense to do more heavy lifting than light lifting but also not to exclude the light higher rep work.

Low rep heavy stuff works the larger fast twitch fibres, the ones with the most growth potential, so you need to train these muscles as a priority. The slower twitch fibres do get worked during this kind of training but never maximally exhausted, so some specific work for these muscles will also add size that you otherwise cannot.

You also however have a lot of intermediate fibers that semi convert according to the dominant exercise you perform... they don't completely convert into slow or fast twitch fibres but they adapt to the most suitable type of fibre for the kind of exercise you mostly do, so if you mostly train heavy then these fibres should grow more than if you mostly train light as they mimic the large fast twitch glycolytic fibres.


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## EchoSupplements (Jul 19, 2010)

Dtlv74 said:


> If training for size it makes sense to do more heavy lifting than light lifting but also not to exclude the light higher rep work.
> 
> Low rep heavy stuff works the larger fast twitch fibres, the ones with the most growth potential, so you need to train these muscles as a priority. The slower twitch fibres do get worked during this kind of training but never maximally exhausted, so some specific work for these muscles will also add size that you otherwise cannot.
> 
> You also however have a lot of intermediate fibers that semi convert according to the dominant exercise you perform... they don't completely convert into slow or fast twitch fibres but they adapt to the most suitable type of fibre for the kind of exercise you mostly do, so if you mostly train heavy then these fibres should grow more than if you mostly train light as they mimic the large fast twitch glycolytic fibres.


Good post


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## tom0311 (Nov 17, 2008)

I do a mixture really. Try to go for higher volume on legs now, starting last weekend especially leg press (12-15 reps). I stick to 5-7 reps for all upper body stuff apart from isolating arms. I have reacted well to this routine. Should change it soon though I've been doing it a while.


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

AJ91 said:


> I never knew that, so do they always remain in an intermediate state? Or can you have some permanent affect on them?


The type IIx fibres in an unexercised state, or where you perform a fairly equal mix of both types of exercise, remain as a type somewhere between the two main fibre types... they utilise both fat and glycogen for fuel, have a fairly moderate-strong contractile strength and endurance level.

When you train for a prolonged period in one very extreme way, these fibres gradually adjust to more closely mimic the fibre type you are training... is one way the body adapts to the work it's doing. They always remain as type IIx fibres, but become slightly more like the fibres they are copying in terms of energy substrate use and size of the individual fibres.

There is also conversion that goes on between type IIa and type IIb fibres when you weight train, with some of the very strong type IIb's converting to the slightly less strong but more enduring type IIa's.

The type IIa's are slightly smaller than the type IIb's, but there's not a lot you can do about this conversion that's practical so you shouldn't really worry about trying... to prevent it you'd have to train with one rep maxes all the time and wouldn't grow so much overall.


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