You have heard this before, because it is said aloud in many gyms: “If you want to grow up, you have to lift heavily.”
It sounds legitimate on nominal value. You look around in the gym and see that the lifters who are heavy lifting are large. So it is easy to think that more records are the same as more profit. But here is the truth …
You don’t have to lift like a powerlifter to look like a superhero.
The idea that only heavy weights build muscles is a persistent myth around strength training. While Going Heavy has its place in the Hypertrofy toolbox, this is not the only tool – or even the most important. Here, with the help of Andrew CoatesA personal trainer with more than 25,000 hours on the gym floor, and Greg NuckolsTriple world champion Powerlifter and the head of guy at Stronger by Science, we will break down where this myth originated, why it persists and causes some muscle growth.
Heavy lifting alone will not maximize muscle growth
This myth originated in the weight spaces of the Golden Age of Bodybuilding, when Arnold, Franco and Lou Ferrigno lifted heavy and looking Greek gods. A few decades quickly ahead, and powerlifting became more popular, and the internet exploded with Max Deadlift videos and the “How many YA Bank?” culture.
Then, somewhere along the way, he became a heavy lifting synonymous with building muscles.
“Status -seeking talking heads on social media deal with fighting on tribal ideology related to muscle building,” says Coates. “This battle confuses many people. Why can’t the experts agree? Well, those are not really all the experts – just a mix of people with good branding and loud voices that argue against the PhD students in muscle building.”
Like many good myths, there is a scattering of truth to the issue that further moderts the water, Nuckols explains.
“One thing that can be frustrating is that two different concepts are often used interchangeable” effective repetitions “and” stimulating repetitions “, and there are also” hard “and” soft “versions of each,” he says. “But in essence is the” hard “version of the concept that a muscle fiber will not experience muscle stimulus unless it is exposed to maximum mechanical voltage. The” soft “version suggests that mechanical voltage is important and that training closer to failure of hypertrophy is improving.”
With these ways of thought, it is easy to get confused about lifting heavy (or lifting light) and building muscles. Let’s clean up things with some muscle growth stimulates. Hint: Heavy lifting is only part of the photo.
What stimulates muscle growth
Muscle growth is also about how much tension you create and how hard your muscles work, regardless of the weight on the bar. With that in mind, here are the four most important factors of muscle growth:
Mechanical voltage This factor is the big one. Tension happens when your muscles against resistance, ideally due to a full motion range. You can generate it with heavy loads, but also with moderate taxes when lifting with intention, control and good technology.
Metabolic stress
That burning, pumping feeling? It is important. When you train with shorter rest periods, more repetitions or techniques such as drop sets, you generate metabolic stress – a powerful trigger for muscle growth.
Muscular damage
Muscle damage happens, especially when they train eccentrically or perform new movements. But it’s not the goal. Too much damage can hinder growth. The point is just to create enough disruption to force adjustment, not to get your stairs down after the salon day.
Coherence
All this science is great, but according to Nuckols there is an important factor that is completely under your control.
“The most important factors are maintaining consistency, training with a high level of effort for most sets, selecting exercises that are probably limited by the target muscles (s), and that work the target muscles (s) through an extensive range of motion. In addition, training with sufficient volume, sufficient calories and proteins is crucial.”
Tophypertrophy Training tips: the more muscles to build
If your goal is hypertrophy, concentrate on these factors for improved muscle growth:
Use different taxes
Alternate between heavy, moderate and light weights about different rep series, explains Coates. “This means that at least 30% of your one representative lifts Max,” he says. “If a weight is too light, you can’t get close to failure, despite reputing for 30 minutes; It is meaningless and a great waste of your time. “
Almost train failure
Let’s be clear about what we mean by failure – it’s not the kind where you can’t do another representative and get stuck under the bar. It is a technical malfunction when you do not do another representative with good shape. Coates advises to strive for 1-2 repetitions before failing your work sets.
Prioritize tension and control
Tert you repeat repetitions and feel the muscle work. That is mechanical tension in action, and it is a huge engine of hypertrophy.
Progression
Whether it is more repetitions, more sets, more weight or better form, progress is progress. Follow your training and try to do something more every week.
How heavy lifting can always work
Heavy lifting always has its place, but if that is your only gear, go directly to a training wall or worse, the there. This is what can happen if you take “Go Heavy of Go Home” too literally.
Increased risk of injury
There is a time and place for grinding sets with low rep. However, doing it increases the joint stress, tensions connective tissue and leaves little room for errors. A bad representative with fatigue, and you take care of a tweak, or worse, sidelined for weeks.
Reduced quality of movement
When the weight is always close to your maximum, your form usually breaks down first. You start with ego lifting, sacrificing control and motion range to move the beam. Over time, this strengthens bad habits, weaknesses and stalls progress.
Plateaus and Burnsout
Hearying all the time is not sustainable. Your nervous system will ultimately say: “No, thanks”, your recovery tanks and motivation will eventually fall. And because you do not vary a load or volume, your muscles no longer respond. You are stuck to chasing figures instead of results.
Heavy lifting is not the only way to build muscles
Now you need to know better than assuming that he heavily lifting is not the only way to build muscles. But why does this myth still have legs? These two titans of the health and fitness industry share their opinion.
“It sounds reasonable and makes a great soundbite when you hear it for the first time. On the other hand, assessing the evidence against the concept against the concept is fairly dry, technical and annoying. Since most people have relatively short strands of attention, I think it is difficult to present the business against it in a way that is both concise and convincing,” explains.
Because there is some truth in this myth, lifters get stuck in a rut and believe that this is the only way to build muscles.
“It is true that a lower volume and fewer sets can yield good muscle building results if you train with sufficient intensity,” says Coates. “However, this does not mean that this is the best approach. It means that you see decreasing returns as you increase the volume. In general, more volume leads to more progress, but the speed of improvement tends to delay. Supporters with a low volume often quote two well -known bodybuilders who see the head of the many Lifters who see the many Lifters,,,,,,,,, higher-volume programs. “
Coates adds that the use of Elite Bodybuilders around every argument about building muscles is useless because they differ from you and me.
“The use of a famous bodybuilder as an example to support your training belongings is poor,” he says. “Elite bodybuilders have elite genetics by definition, excel in their training and nutrition for many years and have access to advanced performance-improving medicines.”
Now that you have read this article and you know better, put it in action and do it better.
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