HIGHER REPS and Cardio QUESTION!

[xavier2484]

I usually stick to around 8-10 reps and 3-4 sets ive seen some ppl stay at around 15 reps? what is bennifit of doing higher reps? oppossed to lower ones?

also ive heard that running burns not only fat but muscle? is this true.. ive been trying to cut down on my BF and keep as ,much muscle as possible. should i stick to running or say the eliptical on a low setting for a longer peroid of time?

 

[The Animal]

It depends on your goals. Are you looking to add or just define what you have now. High reps with a low to moderate weight would help you with definition, and more weight equals more muscle with lower reps. I guess you could burn SOME fat but not much. I would stay away from the burn sets and stick to cardio.

 

[Ramstein II]

There's no benefit of doing sets of 15. They aren't as good as sets of 8-12 for building muscle or maintaining muscle. Higher rep sets are for old people or people who have injuries (or fat women scared of getting "too big"). Seriously, stay with the traditional bodybuilding sets whether cutting or bulking.

Running can burn muscle if you do it too much. It depends and is hard to say in all cases it will. Keep it moderate, say under 40 minutes 4 times a week. Eat lots of protein.

 

[Bob Smith]

Higher rep sets are for old people or people who have injuries

I think the injury part is key. It may not be great for truly adding size, but high reps can help with recovering from an injury or even after a very intense period of high weight/low reps (such as 15s following a period of 3-5s, as in HST).

 

[Girth]

Bob's point is good. But are 15's good or not is not a simple question. What %1RM is 15 reps for that individual? Some can lift 70% of the 1RM 15 times. Others can't do 50% of their 1RM that many times. That leads us to the next parameter. What fiber type is that bodypart for this person. If they are slower twitch, they would garner greeater success from the 15's. The FT types would not, as their load wouldn't be high enough. That doesn't mean that 15's aren't warranted for the latter group. They just aren't as effective for muscle gain.

What about sets of 100. Most of you would laugh at this, but they too can/should be used. It's just a matter of how long you use a given rep range, based on your goals and fiber type.