It may be a bit controversial statement, but there is some logic behind it. Quite a lot of people believe that big weights aren’t the best solution and tend to use lower ones, but perform more sets and/or repetitions, but it’s not the most efficient way of gaining muscle mass. Read below why large weight can benefit in faster gains.
Human body has a natural ability to adjust. Not instantly, I’m afraid. When you run https://web.archive.org/web/20170727200533/http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20100813/want-to-build-muscle-light-weights-will-doa lot, your overall stamina gets better. When you train your brain, no matter whether it’s solving equations or doing crossword – you get better actually every single day. Same thing happens with muscles!
The more you exercise the better your muscles are, regardless whether it means more enduring or more powerful. In particular, when body building, the more effort you put the more stronger, and in effect bigger, your muscles are. And using large weights is the key to efficiency. Bigger weights force your muscles to grow bigger in shorter period of time. This sends an information, that there’s a demand for large muscles now! And the body has no other way than to accommodate for that.
To build large muscles it is important to push them to the limit. Sometimes even beyond this point. The point that often sits in our heads. You shall train to an absolute fatigue, when you really cannot perform any more reps. To achieve this goal, you could perform hundreds of reps with low weight or make just a few (literally no more than six!) with big ones. The shorter you train, the more focused you stay during workout, the less time you may need to spend in the gym (no excuses for smaller gains because the lack of time) and the sooner the gains can be observed. And when you can see real results then you know it’s worth the effort.
Many bodybuilders will tell you that using large weights can affect the technique, the correct way of exercising. It’s partly true, therefore weights should never be too large. If you cannot perform exercises correctly, it means the weight is too big. If, on the other hand, you can perform more than six repetitions, it means it’s too light. Observe your reactions and react upon them. It may mean that weights alteration is required between sets.
Although controversial, this method is worth trying even if you’re progressing using other approach. Even if it doesn’t really work for you, it’s good for muscles to have some variety of burden and reps and/or sets quantity. Either way it may be beneficial.
