more at less, or less at more?

Hi all,

Question:

while at the gym, i was told that if i wanted to build mass quicker, i should do less reps and sets at a higher weight.

it seems to make sense to me, but as im incredibly new to this, i just wanted to run this idea by everyone first.

at this point, i've been doing 6 sets of 19 reps at 65 lbs.

i was told i should try to be 5 sets, of 5 reps at 100 lbs.

does this seem like a healthy and effective way to build mass?

best regards,

anthony

edit:

6 sets of 10 reps, not 19...doh!

Hi all,

 

Question:

while at the gym, i was told that if i wanted to build mass quicker, i should do less reps and sets at a higher weight.

it seems to make sense to me, but as im incredibly new to this, i just wanted to run this idea by everyone first.

 

at this point, i've been doing 6 sets of 19 reps at 65 lbs.

i was told i should try to be 5 sets, of 5 reps at 100 lbs.

 

does this seem like a healthy and effective way to build mass?

 

best regards,

anthony

I would have to say that doing less reps with more weight works for me, and I really like the way it works as well. I am getting a lot bigger! But it may not work for someone that is a mesomorph (I am an ectomorph)

Hey Amp,

I think Kollision will weigh in here sometime and give an input as well.

What I think is that you should build up a base first of all. This could take weeks. Building up a base should consist of doing a higher rep range to get your muscles accustomed to the movements and the stress of the weights.

So I would focus on doing 3-5 sets per exercise and use 10-15 reps or 8-12 for exercises you feel more comfortable with.

I'd say give it 6 weeks of training like this. It can still be intense, in fact even now, I prefer to be around the 12-rep range because the pump feels so good, a feeling you can't get by just doing 3-6 power reps. I like to really feel the sqeeze and blood flowing through the muscles.

I think if you went heavy right away it would be too much stress on the muscles. By doing the higher reps you can still increase weights. Just add a bit of weight and pump out another 12 reps and if you keep adding weight and can only get about 7 or something, maybe the next week at that same weight you'll get up around 10-12.

So you can still get bigger and stronger by doing higher reps and it will be better for you just starting out. Just don't do what I see some people do in the gym, doing high reps but not even pushing it at all, no struggle, no fight, just movement. It can be and should be very intense.

When I say 3-5 sets, I usually refer to 1-2 warm-up sets with lighter weights to get the movement down and then 3 working sets.

Ok, I better get back to work now, don't want to get into trouble for using the internet at work

i started with quite heavy weights (for my circumstances), and this was a big mistake. now that i do more repetitions with lighter weights, i make much more progress and after the workout i definetely feel that there is something going on with my body

perhaps in the near future the people dont confound me with a girl when walking behind me

so trust robert, he knows what he is talkin about!

Robert has answered your question. Build a foundation first. You want to strengthen your tendons and ligaments so that they are ready for stress in the future. Also use this time to get the techniques down.

Yes the low rep high weight scheme is correct for building mass. For muscle hypertrophy (get more muscle) the general rep scheme is 12 reps down to 8 reps. Power lifters don't gain as much muscle as bodybuilders because they follow a 6 or 3 to 1 rep scheme with heavy weight. Doing it the power lifter way doesnt use low and high threshold muscle fibers, it is a quick burst. The muscle hypertrophy first stimulates the low threhold fibers (12 reps), then works its way up to the high threshold (8 reps),