MELKOR, this is for you !!!!!!!!!!!!!! _ 2 different types of methods _
i've asked almost everyone who knew much about working out, but never gotten any answers from... they just said the same thing, "it doesn't matter, just exercise and you will gain muscles." 
okay, so the question is this:
whats the difference between lifting heavy weights with fewer repetition (8-12) versus lifting lighter weights with more repetition (15-30)??
i don't know if there's one that better than the other, but will they make your muscles look different?
like for example... would lifting lighter weights with more repetition make you gain leaner muscles than lifting weight heavier weights?
im stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!!
i wish it were as easy as 'just exercise gain muscle', oh how i wish.
heavy weights vs light weights is one of the favourite debates here. but 30 reps? well maybe for squats or push ups, i can see that if you want to build up endurance for it.
& im not sure what you mean by leaner muscle. do you mean having a more compact look, like long distance runners vs sprinters?
i think the question you need to ask yourself to get unstuck, are what are your goals, what do you want to look like?
I was always taught that lifting heavy weights with fewer reps gives you big bulky muscles (like a football player, we lifted high weight/few reps when I played in high school) and light weight with high reps makes you look "leaner" and more "toned." But, (correct me if I'm wrong here, melkor) I think that was proven to be a myth(?) I'm not sure, but I remember reading somewhere that it wasn't true.
(grrr)
mm hmm joekame, that is a myth. your muscles are the shape they are from now until forever. i would suppose that slight muscles with a little fat are mistaken for 'leaner' muscles and muscles that are maxed and under low body fat mistaken for 'bulky'. how ridiculous really.
melkor on reps in a previous thread.
think of muscles like a beach ball (sort of).
- when i blow into it, representing heavy shorter sets, it turns into a taught tight sexy beach ball.
- when spiro blows into it, (kiddin here, i totally adore spirochete) representing short reps with pink dumbells, it still turns into a beachball... just a less bouncy, deflated not so fun one that inflates slower and does nothing to burn calories or turn you into a lean sexy beachball spiking bikini femme.
no way will the long and light approach turn it into a football either... or an air mattress, or a pony -- it is still a beachball.
there is no exercise on earth that will 'give you' longer leaner muscles (like a dancer!!! hee hee pilates advertising is so lame). the women you see with long lean muscles are likely tall, have a small bone structure, have parents who have long muscles, have low body fat or a combination of these traits. normally, when these women look super toned and sleek, they lift heavy weights.
Suzanna lifts pretty close to what I do in absolute numbers and she's like half my size - damn, I suck at lifting :) Anyway - just look at her; she deadlifts 2.5 times her bodyweight and she looks slimmer and healthier than the professional dancers in pilates commercials.
Only trainers who have read too much Cosmo and too little exercise physiology recommend Pink Dumbbell Workouts to anyone.
melkor, that video of suzanna is off the hook. holy moley. sooji, the thread that spookychick provided above responds perfectly to your question. let us know if it's helpful or still leaves you in the dark.
well in joekame's defense he did say he thinks its a myth. but anyway melkor, great find there with that video. that should shut many people of the general public's mouths, and should encourage many girls/women to get out & use those weights! oh to be 17 & be able to do that!
deflepfan- check out stumptuous.com and click on iron.
also exrx.net
Original Post by rnjt:
well in joekame's defense he did say he thinks its a myth. but anyway melkor, great find there with that video. that should shut many people of the general public's mouths, and should encourage many girls/women to get out & use those weights! oh to be 17 & be able to do that!
Yep, I did say that. lol. Thanks for defending me! And what is this "pink dumbbell myth?" Okay, I'm gonna go google that now...
?!
i was agreeing with joekame~
it must read oddly with the initial grrr. it was a preemptive grrr regarding the lenghtening of muscles.
:)
