Are There Any Benefits to HIGH REPS

[Syllagirl]

I am a female, 5'8 and 127 lbs. I have been training for quite some time and I always train heavy-10 reps and under (for instance, I bench about 175 and do about 4reps in my last set).

I am contemplating swithcing over to higher reps(15-20reps)/lower weight for a while, and I am wondering what, if any, benefits there are to using higher reps (except for lactic acid clearance & vareity). I am particular interested to know if there are any metabolic beneifts at all. I generally like working heavy because it raises my metabolism and I am concerned if I switch to lighter weights, I will lose this benefit-and therfore have to lower my calorie intake....

The reason I want to do this is beacause I do want to gain any more muscle.... But, on the other hand, I do want/need to loose some more bodyfat to look leaner/more cut rather then "bulky" . I am currently at 15%/16% and would like to drop down to 11%/13%.

Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions would be appreciated.

Sylvia

 

[DiaBOLic86]

Personally I'm suprised you arn't doing higher reps. Most of the women I know in the gym do 15-20 reps. Higher reps will tone you more and give you more endurance. It will also keep you from getting the "bulky" look.

 

[Scotsman]

15-20 reps is too high for an effective workout on the muscles. Try doing sets of 10-12 instead of the super high reps. It is good to split time by doing lighter work and heavier work in mini-cycles. That way you don't impact your joints and your body doesn't grow accustomed to either. The old high reps for toning is just a myth. You actually tone better with higher weight in the 6-8 rep range. It is more a combination of lifting and cardio that makes you look toned. Also you can't build endurance lifting because once you have a 30% load max on a muscle there is no direct bloodflow in or out of the muscle during a work phase. Therefore you aren't clearing the muscle that's why you get lactid acid buildup from weight training.

 

[Suspension]

Every once in a while throw in some high reps for kicks, but high rep traiing stimulates your metabolic system, not neural system. Its more for kickin the metabolism in gear, than building muscle.

 

[mrt]

15-20reps with less weight is quite OK to maintain the muscle, it won't make you bulkier and will lower BF.

 

[diamonddiceclay]

for legs, you want high reps

 

[Japanese machine]

incorporating high repititions once in a while is a real good idea, i shocks the muscle, in terms of blood flow, and increases capillary growth, quite a bit, this in turn will help you in the future develope more muscle fibres. i do this once a month, push ups is a great way to do this. if you do this too often, your strength, in terms of fast twitch will go down significantly, so dont make a habit of doing these on a regular basis if max muscle growth is you goal.

 

[Syllagirl]

Thanks

Thank you very much for the replies.

I assume that with higher reps you can train the mucsles more often?

I am off to the Gym...

Sylvia

 

[the_Pikey]

Personally I'm suprised you arn't doing higher reps. Most of the women I know in the gym do 15-20 reps. Higher reps will tone you more and give you more endurance. It will also keep you from getting the "bulky" look.

This is such an oldschool thought. It's an old wive's tale.

Looking bulky or looking toned has nothing to do with rep number, and all to do with muscle size versus bodyfat.

In recent years it has been proven that lower reps is better for strength and muscle growth, although shocking your muscles by doing high reps from time to time IS also beneficial.

 

[DrJMW]

High reps, 20-25, will improve your endurance and accelerate fat loss. You will have some strength improvement, but very minor.