More Reps. or More Weight???

Alby said:

What is better, more reps. or more weight if i wanted to get
stronger in a short period of time??? thanks for your help!!!

🙂

Low reps (1-3), heavy weights.

locker

Thanks alot i'm finally getting into weight training!!

"Alby" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Thanks alot i'm finally getting into weight training!!

As usual, "locker" is wrong.

It depends on the kind of strength you are trying to develop: absolute
strength, explosive strength, starting strength, endurance strength,
etcetera.

Put more simply, so "locker" can follow along, as an example, the type of
training needed to develop the ability to lift a heavy object once (an
Olympic weightlifter, for example) would be different than the training
needed to lift a lighter object many times (a military/police recruit
training to do push-ups as part of their performance requirements).

If you meant the ability to lift a heavy object once, low reps, as a very
general rule, would constitute the majority of your training.

David

"David Cohen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Alby" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Thanks alot i'm finally getting into weight training!!

As usual, "locker" is wrong.

It depends on the kind of strength you are trying to develop: absolute
strength, explosive strength, starting strength, endurance strength,
etcetera.

Put more simply, so "locker" can follow along, as an example, the type
of training needed to develop the ability to lift a heavy object once
(an Olympic weightlifter, for example) would be different than the
training needed to lift a lighter object many times (a military/police
recruit training to do push-ups as part of their performance
requirements).

If you meant the ability to lift a heavy object once, low reps, as a
very general rule, would constitute the majority of your training.

I think you're being a bit harsh, David. The OP asked how to "get
stronger" and I think, without further clarification, it's reasonable to
assume he's talking about one-rep max kind of strength, all the more so
because increasing one-rep max strength will, particularly for someone
relatively new to strength training, increase all the other kinds at
least somewhat as well. Mind you, if you take my "what's it OK to
assume here" line of reasoning further, the OP probably means a 1RM
bounced-off-the-chest bench press, which I think is a [censored]-poor
indicator of the strength of a body as a whole, but, all in all, I don't
think "locker" responded in a bad way.

All that said, you're right of course, and we should ask the OP to
clarify exactly what he/she/it is trying to accomplish.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Alby said:

Thanks alot i'm finally getting into weight training!!

If you're just getting into weight training you don't want to be
doing low reps and heavy weights. Get a book like Brawn by
Stuart McRobert and read through it. There are other books like
Brawn but stick to books that cover everything; diet, reps,
sets, routines, rest, etc. Specialize later.

Most powerlifters start low reps and heavy weight 3-4 weeks
before a meet to build their strength. If you are just starting,
you need to use higher reps and lighter weight to build muscle
and strength. You will plateau (stop making gains) if you do low
rep heavy lifting too often. The answer to your original
question remains the same.

locker

Alby said:

What is better, more reps. or more weight if i wanted to get stronger
in a short period of time??? thanks for your help!!! 🙂

Heavy weights, less reps (2-8 reps), about 3 sets.

JMW said:

Alby said:

What is better, more reps. or more weight if i wanted to get stronger
in a short period of time??? thanks for your help!!! 🙂

Heavy weights, less reps (2-8 reps), about 3 sets.

^^^^

You misspelled "fewer."

HTH, HAND, M.

😄

"locker" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Alby said:

Thanks alot i'm finally getting into weight training!!

If you're just getting into weight training you don't want to be
doing low reps and heavy weights. Get a book like Brawn by
Stuart McRobert and read through it. There are other books like
Brawn but stick to books that cover everything; diet, reps,
sets, routines, rest, etc. Specialize later.

Most powerlifters start low reps and heavy weight 3-4 weeks
before a meet to build their strength. If you are just starting,
you need to use higher reps and lighter weight to build muscle
and strength. You will plateau (stop making gains) if you do low
rep heavy lifting too often. -snip-

No, this is not true. Many powerlifters and other strength athletes
train mostly heavy weights, short sets, and long rests. Some use higher
reps for assistance exercises. Not many use high reps for their main
lifts unless they're specifically trying to gain size, and not everyone
wants to or needs to gain size.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"David Cohen" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Alby" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Thanks alot i'm finally getting into weight training!!

As usual, "locker" is wrong.

It depends on the kind of strength you are trying to develop: absolute
strength, explosive strength, starting strength, endurance strength,
etcetera.

Put more simply, so "locker" can follow along, as an example, the type of
training needed to develop the ability to lift a heavy object once (an
Olympic weightlifter, for example) would be different than the training
needed to lift a lighter object many times (a military/police recruit
training to do push-ups as part of their performance requirements).

If you meant the ability to lift a heavy object once, low reps, as a very
general rule, would constitute the majority of your training.

I think you're being a bit harsh, David.

True. Hard to pass up an opportunity like that, though.

Quoted message said:

The OP asked how to "get stronger" and I think, without further
clarification, it's reasonable to assume he's talking about one-rep max
kind of strength, all the more so because increasing one-rep max strength
will, particularly for someone relatively new to strength training,
increase all the other kinds at least somewhat as well. Mind you, if you
take my "what's it OK to assume here" line of reasoning further, the OP
probably means a 1RM bounced-off-the-chest bench press, which I think is a
[censored]-poor indicator of the strength of a body as a whole, but, all in all,
I don't think "locker" responded in a bad way.

All that said, you're right of course,

I knew that.

Quoted message said:

and we should ask the OP to clarify exactly what he/she/it is trying to
accomplish.

That would be nice.

I don't generally do nice.

You and Brian Link can handle nice. I'll stick with harsh [censored].

David

"David Cohen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"David Cohen" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Alby" <[email hidden]> wrote
> Thanks alot i'm finally getting into weight training!!

As usual, "locker" is wrong.

It depends on the kind of strength you are trying to develop:
absolute strength, explosive strength, starting strength, endurance
strength, etcetera.

Put more simply, so "locker" can follow along, as an example, the
type of training needed to develop the ability to lift a heavy
object once (an Olympic weightlifter, for example) would be
different than the training needed to lift a lighter object many
times (a military/police recruit training to do push-ups as part of
their performance requirements).

If you meant the ability to lift a heavy object once, low reps, as a
very general rule, would constitute the majority of your training.

I think you're being a bit harsh, David.

True. Hard to pass up an opportunity like that, though.

Quoted message said:

The OP asked how to "get stronger" and I think, without further
clarification, it's reasonable to assume he's talking about one-rep
max kind of strength, all the more so because increasing one-rep max
strength will, particularly for someone relatively new to strength
training, increase all the other kinds at least somewhat as well.
Mind you, if you take my "what's it OK to assume here" line of
reasoning further, the OP probably means a 1RM bounced-off-the-chest
bench press, which I think is a [censored]-poor indicator of the strength
of a body as a whole, but, all in all, I don't think "locker"
responded in a bad way.

All that said, you're right of course,

I knew that.

Quoted message said:

and we should ask the OP to clarify exactly what he/she/it is trying
to accomplish.

That would be nice.

I don't generally do nice.

You and Brian Link can handle nice. I'll stick with harsh [censored].

Now, now. "Nice" and "liberal" don't have to go together or not go
together. I'm sure you can be nice, too.

🙂

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Steve Freides said:

locker said:

Alby said:

locker wrote:
> Alby wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>>What is better, more reps. or more weight if i wanted to get
>>stronger in a short period of time??? thanks for your help!!!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> Low reps (1-3), heavy weights.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Thanks alot i'm finally getting into weight training!!

If you're just getting into weight training you don't want to be
doing low reps and heavy weights. Get a book like Brawn by
Stuart McRobert and read through it. There are other books like
Brawn but stick to books that cover everything; diet, reps,
sets, routines, rest, etc. Specialize later.

Most powerlifters start low reps and heavy weight 3-4 weeks
before a meet to build their strength. If you are just starting,
you need to use higher reps and lighter weight to build muscle
and strength. You will plateau (stop making gains) if you do low
rep heavy lifting too often. -snip-

No, this is not true. Many powerlifters and other strength athletes
train mostly heavy weights, short sets, and long rests. Some use higher
reps for assistance exercises. Not many use high reps for their main
lifts unless they're specifically trying to gain size, and not everyone
wants to or needs to gain size.

Medium reps (4-6) may be used up to a few weeks before a meet and
for non-meet training. Not all PLer do only triples, doubles and singles
on the main exercises.

If locker is implying that it makes sense to build a good foundation with
higher reps, lower weight (for beginners), I think this makes sense. It's a
lot harder to get injured this way, and doing it for the first couple weeks
can't hurt. The potential for getting locked into a bad groove, learning bad
form, getting injured, etc., is a lot greater if you start off with low
reps/high weights routine. I'm not an expert, but just someone who's been
training for the past 20 years and who has made my share of mistakes, but
was lucky enough to begin my training career with a professional bodybuilder
buddy.

"Jeff Finlayson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Steve Freides said:

locker said:

Alby wrote:
> locker wrote:
>> Alby wrote:

Quoted message said:

>>>What is better, more reps. or more weight if i wanted to get
>>>stronger in a short period of time??? thanks for your help!!!

Quoted message said:

>> Low reps (1-3), heavy weights.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>Thanks alot i'm finally getting into weight training!!

If you're just getting into weight training you don't want to be
doing low reps and heavy weights. Get a book like Brawn by
Stuart McRobert and read through it. There are other books like
Brawn but stick to books that cover everything; diet, reps,
sets, routines, rest, etc. Specialize later.

Most powerlifters start low reps and heavy weight 3-4 weeks
before a meet to build their strength. If you are just starting,
you need to use higher reps and lighter weight to build muscle
and strength. You will plateau (stop making gains) if you do low
rep heavy lifting too often. -snip-

No, this is not true. Many powerlifters and other strength athletes
train mostly heavy weights, short sets, and long rests. Some use
higher reps for assistance exercises. Not many use high reps for
their main lifts unless they're specifically trying to gain size, and
not everyone wants to or needs to gain size.

Medium reps (4-6) may be used up to a few weeks before a meet and
for non-meet training. Not all PLer do only triples, doubles and
singles
on the main exercises.

4-6 reps is low by most people's standards, I think. I hit 5 or 6 reps
per set pretty regularly in training and was including those when I was
talking about "low" reps. For me, 6 and below is low, 8-12 medium, more
than that high. I think triples and fewer are mostly the domain of
Olympic lifters if we're talking non-meet-prep stage of training but I
guess some PL'er stick to that as well.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Mack said:

If locker is implying that it makes sense to build a good foundation with
higher reps, lower weight (for beginners), I think this makes sense. ...

He stated a couple posts back. The higher volume/light weights is
for learning consistent proper form and for strengthening of joints.
Few people with decent lifting knowledge would suggest otherwise.

Jeff Finlayson said:

Mack said:

If locker is implying that it makes sense to build a good foundation with
higher reps, lower weight (for beginners), I think this makes sense. ...

He stated a couple posts back. The higher volume/light weights is
for learning consistent proper form and for strengthening of joints.
Few people with decent lifting knowledge would suggest otherwise.

But that was not the question the OP asked.