By CPT Nile Shabazz
Muscles can be difficult to develop sometimes. Most people get caught up in figuring out
which route to go with when lifting. Should the person lift heavy and go for less reps or lift lighter and do more reps. The best answer is to incorporate both. Incorporating both methods of training will increase your muscular development.
Heavyweight
I know after reading the introduction you’re probably thinking why would I incorporate both light and heavy weight training with each other. My answer to you is because you want to
stimulate muscle growth. Both training heavy and light serves their own purpose. Lifting heavy
increases strength. You want to become stronger in the gym. The stronger you become the more weight you’ll be able to lift. Heavy lifting has many benefits. It increases bone density, which can reduce the risk of breaks and fractures as you grow in age. Heavy weight lifting also elevates metabolism due to increased muscle mass. Elevating your metabolism is great for the body because your burning calories after your workout.
Lightweight
Now let's talk light weight lifting with high reps. More reps with light weight helps
increase your heart rate and produce a cardio effect to help burn calories and fat. Performing high reps builds muscular endurance, which supports the muscle under stress. High reps of light weight create a great total amount of work which maximizes the calorie burn. The biggest benefit of training with lighter weight and more reps is the body will start storing more glycogen which can increase muscle size.
So this is why I say performing both heavy weight with lesser reps and lighter weight with more reps is best for muscular development. Both of these concepts serve a purpose for the human body. Heavier weight causes more stress on the body which creates a stimulus in the body. Lighter weight serves as muscular endurance which creates a cardio stimulus in muscles. When you combine both heavier and lighter weight training into your program you will see muscle growth. It’s the Batman and Robin of weight training.