You’ve heard this earlier than, as a result of it’s stated out loud in lots of a gymnasium: “If you wish to get huge, you’ve gotta raise heavy.”
On face worth, it sounds legit. You look across the gymnasium and see that the lifters who raise heavy are huge. So, it’s simple to suppose extra plates equal extra beneficial properties. However right here’s the reality…
You don’t have to raise like a powerlifter to appear to be a superhero.
The concept that solely heavy weights construct muscle is a persistent fantasy surrounding power coaching. Whereas going heavy has its place within the hypertrophy toolbox, it’s not the one software—and even crucial one. Right here, with the assistance of Andrew Coates, a private coach with over 25,000 hours on the gymnasium ground, and Greg Nuckols, three-time world champion powerlifter and the top dude at Stronger By Science, we’ll break down the place this fantasy originated, why it persists, and what triggers muscle progress.
Lifting Heavy Alone Gained’t Maximize Muscle Progress
This fantasy originated within the weight rooms of the golden age of bodybuilding, when Arnold, Franco, and Lou Ferrigno have been lifting heavy and resembling Greek gods. Quick ahead a number of a long time, and powerlifting grew extra well-liked, and the web exploded with max deadlift movies and the “how a lot ya bench?” tradition.
Then, someplace alongside the way in which, lifting heavy grew to become synonymous with constructing muscle.
“Standing-seeking speaking heads on social media interact in battles over tribal ideology associated to muscle constructing,” Coates says. “This battle confuses many individuals. Why can’t the consultants agree? Properly, that’s probably not all consultants—simply a mixture of folks with good branding and loud voices arguing in opposition to the PhD researchers in muscle constructing.”
Like many good myths, there’s a sprinkle of fact to the matter, which muddles the water even additional, explains Nuckols.
“One factor that may be irritating is that two completely different ideas are sometimes used interchangeably “efficient reps” and “stimulating reps”, and there are additionally “onerous” and “smooth” variations of every,” he says. “Nonetheless, primarily, the “onerous” model of the idea is {that a} muscle fiber is not going to expertise a muscle stimulus except it’s uncovered to maximal mechanical stress. The “smooth” model primarily means that mechanical stress is vital, and coaching nearer to failure enhances hypertrophy outcomes.”
With these colleges of thought, it’s simple to turn into confused about lifting heavy (or lifting gentle) and constructing muscle. Let’s clear issues up with what drives muscle progress. Trace: Lifting heavy is barely a part of the image.
What Drives Muscle Progress
Muscle progress can be about how a lot stress you create and the way onerous your muscle mass work, whatever the weight on the bar. With that in thoughts, listed here are the 4 most important drivers of muscle progress:
Mechanical Stress This issue is the large one. Stress occurs when your muscle mass contract in opposition to resistance, ideally by a full vary of movement. You’ll be able to generate it with heavy hundreds, but additionally with average hundreds when lifting with intent, management, and good approach.
Metabolic Stress
That burning, pump-filled feeling? It’s vital. If you practice with shorter relaxation durations, extra repetitions, or methods like dropsets, you generate metabolic stress—a potent set off for muscle progress.
Muscle Harm
Muscle injury occurs, particularly when coaching eccentrically or performing new actions. However it’s not the aim. An excessive amount of injury can hinder progress. What issues is creating simply sufficient disruption to pressure adaptation, to not go away you limping down the steps after leg day.
Consistency
All this science stuff is nice, however, in keeping with Nuckols, there’s one main issue that’s fully in your management.
“Crucial components are sustaining consistency, coaching with a excessive degree of effort for many units, choosing workout routines which can be prone to be restricted by the goal muscle(s), and that work the goal muscle(s) by an prolonged vary of movement. Moreover, coaching with adequate quantity, consuming sufficient energy and protein, and sleeping sufficient and recovering successfully are essential.”
High Hypertrophy Coaching Ideas: The right way to Construct Extra Muscle
In case your aim is hypertrophy, give attention to these components for enhanced muscle progress:
Use a Number of Masses
Alternate between heavy, average, and lightweight weights throughout completely different rep ranges, explains Coates.” This implies lifting a minimum of 30% of your one rep max,” he says. “If a weight is just too gentle, you possibly can’t get near failure regardless of repping it for half-hour; it’s pointless and a grand waste of your time.”
Prepare Near Failure
Let’s be clear about what we imply by failure—it’s not the type the place you possibly can’t do one other rep and find yourself caught beneath the bar. It’s a technical failure if you fail to do one other rep with good kind. Coates advises aiming for 1-2 reps earlier than failure in your working units.
Prioritize Stress and Management
Decelerate your reps and really feel the muscle working. That’s mechanical stress in motion, and it’s an enormous driver of hypertrophy.
Development
Whether or not it’s extra reps, extra units, extra weight, or higher kind, progress is progress. Monitor your exercises and intention to do some extra every week.
How Lifting Heavy All of the Time Might Finally Backfire
Lifting heavy all the time has its place, but when that’s your solely gear, you’re heading straight for a coaching wall or worse, the ER. Right here’s what can occur if you take “go heavy or go dwelling” too actually.
Elevated Damage Threat
There’s a time and place for grinding out low-rep units. Nonetheless, doing it on a regular basis will increase joint stress, strains connective tissue, and leaves little room for error. One dangerous rep beneath fatigue, and also you’re nursing a tweak, or worse, sidelined for weeks.
Decreased Motion High quality
When the burden is all the time close to your max, your kind normally breaks down first. You begin ego-lifting, sacrificing management and vary of movement to maneuver the bar. Over time, this reinforces dangerous habits, weak factors, and stalls progress.
Plateaus and Burnout
Going heavy on a regular basis isn’t sustainable. Your nervous system will ultimately say, “no, thanks,” your restoration tanks, and motivation will in the end dip. And because you’re not various load or quantity, your muscle mass cease responding. You’re caught chasing numbers as a substitute of outcomes.
Lifting Heavy Isn’t the Solely Approach to Construct Muscle
Now, it’s best to know higher than to imagine that lifting heavy isn’t the ONLY method to construct muscle. However why does this fantasy nonetheless have legs? These two titans of the well being and health business share their opinions.
“It sounds cheap and makes an amazing soundbite if you first hear it. However, reviewing the proof in opposition to the idea is sort of dry, technical, and tedious. Since most individuals have comparatively quick consideration spans, I feel it’s onerous to current the case in opposition to it in a means that’s each concise and persuasive,” explains Nuckols.
As a result of there’s some fact to this fantasy, lifters get caught in a rut and imagine it’s the one method to construct muscle.
“It’s true {that a} decrease quantity and fewer units can produce good muscle-building outcomes if you happen to practice with sufficient depth,” Coates says. “Nonetheless, this doesn’t imply it’s the very best strategy. It means you see diminishing returns as you improve quantity. Usually, extra quantity results in extra progress, however the fee of enchancment tends to decelerate. Supporters of low-volume coaching typically cite two well-known bodybuilders, overlooking the quite a few lifters who’ve achieved glorious outcomes with conventional, higher-volume applications.”
Coates provides that utilizing elite bodybuilders to help any argument about constructing muscle is ineffective as a result of they’re completely different from you and me.
“Utilizing any well-known bodybuilder for example to help your coaching beliefs is flawed,” he says. “Elite bodybuilders, by definition, have elite genetics, excel of their coaching and vitamin over a few years, and have entry to superior performance-enhancing medication.”
Now that you’ve got learn this text and you understand higher, put it into motion and do higher.
