What is the best way to increase muscle mass, heavy weight and few reps, or lighter weight and more reps?

zbeckabee

What is it about exercise that makes a muscle grow? Intensity! Weak effort produces little growth. Maximum effort produces maximum growth, all other factors being equal. http://www.bodyfatguide.com/MuscleMassMyths.html May 12 06, 12:40 PM

zbeckabee

This guy goes on to say: To illustrate, let's say you curl 100 pounds 10 times. You do this for 3 sets, all within five minutes. In five minutes, you will have curled 100 pounds 30 times, lifting 3,000 pounds! The power or intensity of your work is 600 pounds per minute. Now let's say I curl half the amount of weight you used, 50 pounds, but I curl it 25 times. I also do 3 sets of this within five minutes. In five minutes, I will have curled 50 pounds 75 times, lifting 3,750 pounds! The power or intensity of my work is 750 pounds per minute versus your piddlely little 600 pounds per minute! Now, you tell me who is working more intensely! May 12 06, 12:42 PM

SENTENTIA

Both forms will gain you muscle mass. Heavy weight with low reps will gain you strength, light weight with high reps will gain you contour and shape. You MUST incorporate both types of training into your schedule. It is best to go low weight/high reps on the regular routine and set aside a couple of days of the month to go flat-out heavy. You will find that you get the best results this way. I have been doing it for years but not consistantly and I still look fairly good and am quite strong comparatively speaking. May 13 06, 10:19 AM