Heavy weight? Light weight for volume?

[Sparkyp]

i do a little of both but i’m Dealing with an injury. Is it absolutely true you can only get big lifting heavy?? I’m not sure its entirely accurate. I get insane pumps and volume throwing just (2) 45’s on a incline bench machine and repping that out 30X for 5 sets gets me swole and quick.
My old workout partner was jacked. (Natty jacked) and he swore to do light weight and just rep out until failure

 

[Evom1]

Lighter weight slow reps and squeezing the absolute hell out of the target muscle leads to more growth for me

 

[Sparkyp]

Lighter weight slow reps and squeezing the absolute hell out of the target muscle leads to more growth for me

Yeah your right. When I was younger it was ego lifting. Just trying to move weight by any means necessary. Even when I started back last year I told myself “swallow your pride” but of course I went in there trying not to impress anyone but attempting to move more weight than I was capable of.
Fat forward a year later, idc who’s looking or watching. I do my routine and just zone in. You see the 20 year olds looking at me slowly repping 25lb dumbbell curls as they are pulling a matrix trying to swing 40s! Haha.
So goes the little boy to man transformation I suppose.
But the squeeze is also something I never did until recently and that’s a game changer for sure withbfatigue and pumps

 

[HIGHRISK]

I've wondered the same thing. I've read and watched vids for both sides. Had a buddy who was big and defined that never benched anything over 225. The conclusion I came up with. -MY OPINION ONLY- is that heavy weight is for strength and volume are for sculpting the body. I always picked up heavy shit and wanted big numbers ( ego lifting ). I was just big all around. I got my diet better and went for volume. While I lost some top end strength I'm actually starting to look bigger due to the definition starting to come out. My max bench at one point was 465. I have not idea what it is now but my PR for 225 X 39 with my end goal being 50.

Honestly I switched to mostly dumb bell work on benches mixed with some machines. I have less injuries and shoulder problems than I did. Before I get to old I would really like to hit a 500lb bench , 225 X 50,
315 X 20. Those are just some personal goals I've always wanted. To me the 500 lb mark is not common especially for a fat truck driver whos not a competitor. The 225x50 is just a very hard mark to hit. And the 315 well just because lol. So I'm not sure if all 3 can be obtained on the somewhat same training regime. I'm confident the 225 and 315 can. I'm just rambling now sorry.

 

[Morefyah]

Lighter weight slow reps and squeezing the absolute hell out of the target muscle leads to more growth for me

I am running a version of the PHAT program and I hit each bodypart twice a week. I use the squeeze and slow negatives technique with heavy weight lower reps, and when I’m using lighter weight I prefer higher reps and a utilize a faster more explosive movement. So you kind of get the best of both worlds without having to go crazy heavy. I am seeing good progress so far.

 

[Btcowboy]

Chiming in just to follow as I have wondered the same. I got to say when I was younger I didn't ego lift and the past couple years been lifting for PRs. I try to switch it up now and then but your question and the comments have me thinking about another change lol

 

[Sparkyp]

Yeah, it’s definitely interesting to hear the different experiences. My entire life going back to high school football, it was “lift heavy to get big” even on a lot of YouTube channels still say the same from various pro’s. Seth feroce and Damien Patrick are (2) trainers i watch often and they stress to not go to heavy. Just concentrate on pushing blood in the muscle, squeeze, form and high intensity/volume reps/sets.
I copied the same principle and i feel a difference in soreness the next day, pumps, veins and less pain in my shoulder

 

[DrankSlangin]

Strength is best increased with heavy weight for lower reps. Size is increased optimally with higher rep ranges which will require low to moderate weight. Unless we can channel Tom Platz, which we cannot ha.

With that said, at a certain point your size gains will slow until you increase strength which is why for many a power/hypertrophy split is most effective. @FourOneDeuxFitt has a very detailed log where he is gaining well doing one of these splits.

Of course you can increase size for awhile by doing nothing but 5x5s. But once it slows, drop some weight and try 5x20s. Boom! Try ass in the grass back squats 5x12s with a 3 second descent and a 1 second pause at the bottom, then explode up. Weeeeeee what a pump!

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

Well like @Morefyah mentioned I’ve been running the PHAT Program by Layne Norton since last October. Program consists of two power days (upper and lower body) and three hypertrophy Days (back/Shoulders, chest/arms, and 2nd leg day). Power movements are cycled through about every three weeks or so and on those days the rep range is 3-5 and 6-10 for all exercises with a slow control eccentric and explosive concentric focus. Hypertrophy Days your working with about 80% of your 3-5 rep max used on power days to do your working sets which mainly are in the 8-12 rep range, some accessory work goes as high as 15-20 reps.

With that being said I’ve absolutely made the best strength increases out of anything I’ve ever tried for my personally and I do personally keep a detailed log for myself and on here as @DrankSlangin stated and can look back and see weight or rep increases from damn near every week to the next in one way or another. Size has also came along nicely and most of my “lagging” muscle groups have been brought up well with this program. I would absolutely recommend giving it a shot it’s a great mix of heavy weight training, volume, and hypertrophy. Also do a deload about every 6-7 weeks as well down to about 70% of your 3-5 rep max for all working sets for a solid week. I’ve also incorporated different training techniques and exercise selection from a couple of John Meadows programs as well when I really want some challenge sets and to really push myself the extra bit and what not. Also recently been throwing 20 rep sets in with leg day, some isometric holds as well, and that’s given me a whole new soreness to the wheels haha.

 

[Btcowboy]

Thanks a million for this insight. Definitely going to check it out. I was just starting to read a little on PHAT. I am kinda of an old school brat at times but if something is not working time to find something that does. I need both strength and size so sounds like something to check out.

Thanks again @FourOneDeuxFitt and @DrankSlangin

 

[Sparkyp]

^^^ will do guys. And thanks.
My workouts are really intense. I superset and triple set everything. Even drop sets mixed with supersets. I’m drenched every workout. I push hard. Especially being natty. What has brought on my thickness I swear is deadlifting.
I dedicate 1 day a week just for deadlifts. I probably do 20 sets. 135lb-275lb I do 10-12 reps with 15lb increases after ea h set once I get to 300lbs I start decreasing my reps because I don’t have the strength to do 12 reps. I end it with rack pulls. My PR is 395. Going for 405 this week. Started deadlifting 9 months ago.
The drop sets and supersets have brought on insane soreness. What I recently started doing is something called “FEEDER WORKOUTS” I just learned what that is. Im sure you guys know. But that has added to the soreness and fullness look. Im going to stick with these feeder workouts for a while

 

[Btcowboy]

Just read the program and went over the sample routine, I gotta say I like it and just downloaded it.

The only concern I have is making it work as my work weeks aren't normal lol. I fly Sundays to work and can work out so that week is good but when I start my second week (basically every second week) I fly home Tuesday but this day becomes a rest day as no chance of getting to the gym.

The question to @FourOneDeuxFitt is do you see any issue changing every second weeks rest days to accommodate schedule? I currently have my routine to make it work as best as I can.
I dont think it matters but thought I would ask.

Thanks

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

Just read the program and went over the sample routine, I gotta say I like it and just downloaded it.

The only concern I have is making it work as my work weeks aren't normal lol. I fly Sundays to work and can work out so that week is good but when I start my second week (basically every second week) I fly home Tuesday but this day becomes a rest day as no chance of getting to the gym.

The question to @FourOneDeuxFitt is do you see any issue changing every second weeks rest days to accommodate schedule? I currently have my routine to make it work as best as I can.
I dont think it matters but thought I would ask.

Thanks

No not at all man. Some times I’ll take an extra rest day after the hypertrophy Days or even after the power days. Life happens so as strict as I’d like to be it just doesn’t always work out that way. Also sometimes I’m just still a bit sore and would rather take an extra day and come back fresh rather than go in and not perform like I know I’m capable of doing.

 

[Sparkyp]

No not at all man. Some times I’ll take an extra rest day after the hypertrophy Days or even after the power days. Life happens so as strict as I’d like to be it just doesn’t always work out that way. Also sometimes I’m just still a bit sore and would rather take an extra day and come back fresh rather than go in and not perform like I know I’m capable of doing.

What is a hypertrophy workout?
Also, do you guys weight train 5-6-7 days a week??

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

@Sparkyp


By the term “hypertrophy” would pertain to a different rep range normally in the 8-12 area and workload being used as well for your working sets. There’s a few different ways to go about hypertrophy training but the main “focus” in it is building muscle. Where as in my case my “power” workouts are lower reps between 3-5 and using a weight that only allows me to get no more than 5 reps per set and focusing more on building strength and power throughout different compound movements. When I hit my “hypertrophy” days later in the week I only use 75-80% of the weight I use for my 3-5 rep max on power days if that makes sense. And I train normally 5 days a week but sometimes take an extra rest day and will only train 4 days some weeks. All depends on how my body feels

 

[Sparkyp]

^^^Hmmm. I have yet to try this. Got me interested. I’m going to incorporate this method of training. So hypertrophy for you is to build strength, to lift more weight, to gain muscle? Is this to push you through a wall you hit? Are you beyond just repping out lighter weights for muscle gains? (I’m still at the beginner stage and able to see results with lighter weight)

 

[DrankSlangin]

What is a hypertrophy workout?
Also, do you guys weight train 5-6-7 days a week??

Hypertrophy is about maximizing a pump and microtearing the fuck out of the working muscle, which results in the repair and growth of that muscle’s cells and therefore an increase in muscle size. Strength training has more to do with increasing the amount of force that can be applied with a big movement.

6 days a week for me now, but soon I will go to a power/hypertrophy split and add a weekly rest day. Takes me longer to recover from going heavy. Mentally for sure.

How many days a week depends a lot on your ability to recover, but it’s also very open to what you prefer. Keep in mind that frequency and volume are inversely related, so adjust accordingly so you’re not overtraining.

 

[FourOneDeuxFitt]

^^^Hmmm. I have yet to try this. Got me interested. I’m going to incorporate this method of training. So hypertrophy for you is to build strength, to lift more weight, to gain muscle? Is this to push you through a wall you hit? Are you beyond just repping out lighter weights for muscle gains? (I’m still at the beginner stage and able to see results with lighter weight)

No I still do some sets with lower weights and higher reps as well here and there. But for the most part I’m hitting between 8-12 reps when I perform in my eyes a “hypertrophy” workout. Sometimes I’ll aim a bit higher in the 15-20 rep range as well on burnouts and drop setsnor sometimes even straight sets with compound exercises like squats.

 

[OldmanRob]

Personally I think both heavy and light weights will work. As I have aged light is better without a doubt because I am less likely to get injured.

If I am injured I have to take time off. I have had success with both.

 

[Btcowboy]

Started PHAT, sort of yesterday. Basically just hit the power upper body and today will hit power lower body. This will get me my numbers for the lifts to officially start this program a week from today as I fly home day after tomorrow.

I modified it some and added DL to the mix as I love my DLs. I am sure I will tweak a little here and there to fit my goals.

Looking forward to seeing the results in 12 weeks.