Lighter weights... bigger gains????

[buksoon]

Guys, I'm confused. I'm female, very petite. Been working for a fairly long while on BUILDING, not just shaping or whatever.

So I went 6-8 reps on the heaviest weight I could handle while still KEEPING FORM. I never sacrifice form, believe me.

Saw "some" gains (not to my satisfaction), then plateau'd. Even with adding/losing exercises I plateau'd.

Today, I did the same exercises I've been doing but seriously lightened the weights. It felt like the muscle was working better!

But it's a mystery, because I SWEAR I never let up on form, never "cheated", as heavy as the weights were.

Can someone tell me why?

 

[Test boy]

Huh...I was worried that you would be crying about the demise of your Yankees. You have so many admirable qualities.
I think 80% of women are not able to realize substantial muscular gains.
Try the new routine for 5 weeks and see what results you get. Cardio limits muscular gains bigtime.
Tried upping your protein intake? You must do that.
Creatine is safe and helps a lot of people.
They won't test your strenght in OTS...just running and marching. Do a lot of running 6 weeks before OTS. You won't do a push up in San Antonio.

 

[OMEGA]

i AM A DUDE......

i used to bench 225 for 4 sets of 15.

do dead liffts for 4 sets of 20

and sqauts for 4 sets of 8 by 315........

and you now what!!!!!!!my chest never grew!


I do dbell flys, for 4 stes with 35's, some puchups, and cbl flys, and my chest is bigger, and better developewd than almost anyones in the gym.......and you know why,,,,,,because of isolation movement, and plenty of blood pimping reps...


when my chest responded, I thought hell why not try it for everything else>>>>>>>>.gues what it's working, I look and feel good, and man i feel good! go with your instincts.

 

[b fold the truth]

6-8 reps is high reps for me...very high. Even when not doing westside training....I rarely ever went above 3-5 reps on anything.

buksoon, switching up your routine will cause the muscles to grow because it is something that they are not used to. You do not get the same pump with heavier weights as you do the lighter ones for more reps...but that does not mean that they will not grow just the same. Remember...it is not how you feel in the gym while lifting that will determine your muscular growth...not at all.

B True

 

[gymtime]

6-8 reps is high reps for me...very high. Even when not doing westside training....I rarely ever went above 3-5 reps on anything.

buksoon, switching up your routine will cause the muscles to grow because it is something that they are not used to. You do not get the same pump with heavier weights as you do the lighter ones for more reps...but that does not mean that they will not grow just the same. Remember...it is not how you feel in the gym while lifting that will determine your muscular growth...not at all.

B True

Very good point. How many posts have we all read that say something like, "I just tried doing such and such in the gym and my gains are incredible!!"? Nine times out of ten, it's the change itself that make people believe they've discovered some kind of weightlifting secret.

There are very few absolutes in weightlifting IMO. People's bodies react differently to different workouts. But one is that if you want to gain muscle size, you have to lift heavy at low reps. IMO, very few people will argue that. Someone like Belial will argue the one exception to this rule just to piss me off, but that's part of his charm.

Bfold is right. When you change your workout, especially when you move from low reps to lighter weight, higher reps, you feel a different sort of pump sensation. And it feels pretty good. But, in the long run, you're losing out IMO.

 

[sysopt]

maybe it's that irrational growth thingy

 

[ZZuluZ]

Buksoon, what exactly are your weightlifting goals?

If you're looking for hypertrophy then I suggest you higher the reps, go to utter failure and shock your muscles. Change routines completely. Train your chest first if it's lagging behind.

If you're looking for max poundages, then, um.... head over to the PL board

-Zulu

 

[The mann]

the change itself gives you that good workout.....varitey is the key........

 

[Bigsatan13]

See NYC BOY'S thread on this topic. He, well someone, put pictures up to proove this theory.

 

[b fold the truth]

I never use anything but lightweights....never.

B True