Probably been asked a million times already

[joedoe]

I know this has been asked a million times already, but as I have just recently become a gym junkie :) I am trying to better understand the workout program my trainer has given me.

What does low weights and high reps achieve?

What about high weights and low reps?

Currently I am doing low weights with reps of around 12-14. Usually 2 or 3 sets of each exercise.

Any help would be appreciated :).

[prana]

> 30 reps ==> tendonitist (depending on form and muscle group)
15-30 ==> Aerobic, capillarity, injury prevention, warm up
8-15 ==> hypertrophy (muscle bulk), power endurance, lactic acid tolerance
3-6 => power
negatives-3 => Max power, very injury prone

sorry for the generalisation dude....

small tip : the negative movement is more important that the positive movement. I think YOU of all ppl understand what the hell I mean... hehe :D

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

What does low weights and high reps achieve?

- sarcoplasmic hypertrophy

What about high weights and low reps?

-myofibrilar hypertrophy

Currently I am doing low weights with reps of around 12-14. Usually 2 or 3 sets of each exercise.

-stop it.

Any help would be appreciated .

- always put the mayonnaise on the inside of your sandwich. otherwise your fingers will get messy.

[joedoe]

Could you explain some of that a bit more - I understand the bit about the mayonnaise, but a bit more explanation about the terminology would be helpful :) And are you serious about stopping the workout program that I have? If so, why?

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

im not going to pretend to be a pavel guru as im only 3/4 through the book, but from what i have been reading you would be way better off dropping the amount of reps for more weight.

high reps cause sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. my elementary understanding of this is that the muscle increases in size by filling with fluid and has no effect on functional strenght. the results also diminish very quickly. i also realized that this is exactly what i was doing before chemo with my forearm workouts. i was forearm curling some respectable weight for my size, but i was doing 3 sets of 12 and would walk around for an hour telling everyone to feel my forearms and to "JUST LOOK AT THEM." however, if i wanted them to look in peak shape before going somewhere after a day or two off id have to pump them back up with a couple sets before going out. (fu ck off everyone ... i have shortman's syndrom).

high weight on the other hand causes the good kind of hypertrophy ... myofibrilar. the way i understand it myofibrilars are largely (or maybe comepletely) responsible for what causes a muscle to contract. heavy weights will actualy stimulate the production of more myofribliars resulting in a little more mass, but more importantly a more dense and functional muscle.

i have also read that this is only a theory and it can not be proven that you can actually produce more myofibrilars. even if it is just a theory many on here will agree that the two types of training definately produce the two described results. high reps will give you bloted, sore, usless muscles that will decrease in size after only a couple days off training. high weights will give you dense muscles that stick around for a while and will also result in huge gains in functional strenght. you will also tone up very nicely as long as your body fat percentage isn't too high. however, this type of training does nothing for muscular endurance.

check out the ptp newbie thread on the first page here for info on cycling.

[joedoe]

Thanks for that GDA. I will quizz my trainer on this next time I see him.

[abobo]

Light weights and high reps might be ok for a little while for practicing form, but heavy weights recruit more muscle fibers, period.

So if your goal is strength, instead of endurance, you can move on from the high reps and start adding weight in some sort of cycling pattern, once you get the hang of the important lifts.

Make sure that you and your trainer have a clear understanding of your goals.

[CD Lee]

I would like to also add a bit to this. As one who trained for a semester on 2 rep heavy workouts, and increased my bench press from around 205 to 270 at a bodyweight of 147, and now 20 years later, has looked at the Pavel PTP book and started trying his methods...

Heavy and low rep workouts are NOT more injury prone done properly and slowly. Pavel is very specific and definate to do them 3-5 seconds per rep, one way. Plus using constant tension. Plus, never start the rep if you cannot do a full rep in perfect form. These are two very important constraints.

Before, I used to bounce and jerk weights in high school. And I was scared of the weights past 250 lbs on the bench. I was out of control of the weight. That is very dangerous and injury prone. However, now that I have started back, with Pavel's advice, with weights at a 3RMax, the weight feels very safe. No jerking, no guessing.

Plus, using Pavel's method, PTP, it is revolutionary to me to walk out of the gym not exhausted. This is the biggest and best surprise of all.

[prana]

low reps and heavier weights, at 0-6 max reps, causes micro muscular tears. These causes the muscles to increase in fibre thickness. On the neurological side, the muscles learn to fire better when at 0-1 Max Rep, purely by being able to trigger more fibers at the same time.

8-14 reps or so, causes depletion if glycogen, and the "pain" is caused by lactic acid posioning. Although this is useful for certain sports orientated exercises where you need to build resistance to lactic acid pain, it isnt the quickest to power growth.

In reality, if you phase your training, from >15 reps for about 4 weeks, then power endurance for about 2 weeks, then power for about 2-3 weeks, and peaking for about 2 weeks, everything comes together followed by a good rest period. This phase training is how a lot of atheletes train these days. Purely concentrating on building glycogen only gives you "droppy muscles" later on in your life.

Again, a lot of generalisation, but hey, :) Perhaps IronFist can give more pointers.

[joedoe]

Interesting. The technique I was told to use was basically controlled movement, making sure I do not jerk on the 'outward' movement and ease the return movement back to a count of 3. Still, the low weights kinda surprised me, but maybe he was being conservative in case I was more out of shape than I am.

[prana]

a lot of personal trainers begin with the usual 10-12 but concentrate on your form, as the golden rule of weight lifting. For example, rotater cuff exercises, when done properly, I cant hardly lift a textbook and do 10 reps, but improperly ( and hence not working rotater cuff ) I can do like a few kgs.

It is also a "wake up call" for your motor neurons, and offers a way for your bosy to become more prepared for the abuse when it comes to the "high weight low reps". It is not a good idea to jump into a phase with high weights and low reps because they are quite injury prone.

As of all movements centered exercises, your body learns movements, and when it is hardwired, it tends to be able to repeat more repetitions because you are not expending unncessary effort.

OK Enough crap from me, the information I have is like a little old (about 4-5 years old) so maybe new stuff have come forward. But remember, if you dont symptoms of DOMs, you probably arents working your power. :D at least, thats my motto...