I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from the readers of these blogs, and I’ve recently started asking the readers for topics they want to see.
Somehow, the topic of the “best way to train” keeps getting brought up.
You’ve probably heard that women should do high reps to get that “toned” look, and guys should go as heavy as possible.
This article applies to both women and men.
However, I will clear some of those things out and lay out the different routines out there and the reason why you should do them.
How do muscles grow?
Before we dig deeper, you have to know that our muscles are made of 2 types of fibers: type I and type II.
Now, every muscle in our body has a different ratio of Type I to Type II, but for the sake of this article we are not going dig into the differences between the fibers! Just understand that muscles are made up of both and that different types of training will affect them in different ways.
People fall in the rabbit hole of “muscle confusion,” and doing lots of crazy stuff. But remember, muscles are made up of those 2 fibers, and how much you train them will determine if you build muscle or not.
As I have stated on previous articles, what you would want to focus on is progressive overload. Make sure you lift more than the last time you were at the gym. This will make the muscles grow.
There was a study done in 2015 that was meant specifically to determine what type of training was beneficial for muscle growth.
The study concluded that training heavier (i.e. 90% of your Rep Max) gave the best results. However, there is not one best way to train, only a more beneficial depending on what you want.
If your goal is to look incredibly athletic and build muscle, then it would be beneficial to train on the heavier side.
Why?
Simply because when you train with heavier weights (with good form) your body is forced to recruit more fibers to move the weight. Also, more weight means more total volume lifted.
Yet, there is still a place for lighter weight training. Such as, training with more controlled time under tension, and for training smaller muscles like rotator cuffs or serratus.
So how should I lift?
A key take away, would be to choose those exercises that allow you to lift the biggest loads. Because, as we said before, the heavier the weight the more muscle fibers that are recruited and more volume. In essence, exercises like bench press, squat, deadlift, and overhead press will be the best exercises to overload your muscles, because they allow us to recruit a metric ton of muscles, thus we can move more weight.
After focusing on your main lifts, you can go in to the “secondary” lifts that you can’t lift very heavy. Exercises like shoulder lateral raises, triceps extension, hammer curls, etc.
The more weight you can move, the stronger you will be, and the more muscle you will have.
Can I still train with lighter weights?
Yes.
Once you are a more experienced gym rat, it becomes very hard to increase the weight every time at the gym. This is where training with lower weights on different days than your heavy days can play a big role.
By lifting heavy some days, and then lighter on the other days, you can increase total volume lifted. In simple terms, you will be progressing week after week. This in turn will help build more muscle.
If you have a year or less of serious weightlifting under your belt, I recommend you get really strong in the main lifts - bench press, shoulder press, squats, deadlifts. This will create a great foundation for your strength, and help youbuild muscle faster.
Focus on getting stronger in the main lifts and then progress into adding the other secondary and isolation exercises.
So, lift heavy stuff, eat well, have patience, be disciplined, and results will come.
