Light weights 'better than heavy' for building muscle
Updated 05:10 PM Apr 27, 2012
TORONTO - Always hankered after the physique of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone? But afraid you will be shown up in the gym when the heaviest thing you can bench-press is an iPad?
Fear not. For sports experts say that when it comes to building muscle, light weights could be more effective than heavy.
The Daily Telegraph reported that researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, found that carrying out more repetitions of light weights could build muscle mass just as effectively, if not more so, than lower reps of heavy weights.
Prof Nicholas Burd, lead author, said: "Other resistance protocols, beyond the often discussed high-intensity training, can be effective in stimulating a muscle building response that may translate into bigger muscles after resistance training."
There is a catch. Trainers must still carry on pumping iron until they can do no more - known as reaching fatigue - in order to build muscle mass. With lighter weights that could mean much longer in the gym to achieve similar results.
However, writing in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, Burd said the lower intensity workout could be better at building muscles because the higher repetitions "sustained the muscle building response for days".
The approach is almost the polar opposite of The Four Hour Body, pioneered by Mr Timothy Ferriss, a 34-year-old Californian. He put on 16 kilograms in muscle over four weeks by carrying out very short repetitions of very heavy weights until "complete failure". Lifting heavy weights carries a higher risk of injury. AGENCIES
Fear not. For sports experts say that when it comes to building muscle, light weights could be more effective than heavy.
The Daily Telegraph reported that researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, found that carrying out more repetitions of light weights could build muscle mass just as effectively, if not more so, than lower reps of heavy weights.
Prof Nicholas Burd, lead author, said: "Other resistance protocols, beyond the often discussed high-intensity training, can be effective in stimulating a muscle building response that may translate into bigger muscles after resistance training."
There is a catch. Trainers must still carry on pumping iron until they can do no more - known as reaching fatigue - in order to build muscle mass. With lighter weights that could mean much longer in the gym to achieve similar results.
However, writing in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, Burd said the lower intensity workout could be better at building muscles because the higher repetitions "sustained the muscle building response for days".
The approach is almost the polar opposite of The Four Hour Body, pioneered by Mr Timothy Ferriss, a 34-year-old Californian. He put on 16 kilograms in muscle over four weeks by carrying out very short repetitions of very heavy weights until "complete failure". Lifting heavy weights carries a higher risk of injury. AGENCIES
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