High Reps and Low Weight: Not Just Your Mother's Workout

A pretty old but still widely-held belief is that lifting lower weight at higher reps will keep your muscles small, while lifting high weight at fewer reps will give you that King Kong body you dream of. But is this really the case? Or is there some science out there that turns this conventional wisdom on its head?

Debunking the Tiny Muscles Myth: Lifting to Failure

There are some recent studies which suggest that there isn't much difference between lifting low weights at high reps and going high weight/low reps as long as the phrase "lifting to failure" is a part of your workout routine. While high weights with fewer reps is often associated with bulk and lower weight with more reps is thought to help tone, if you are lifting to failure, you'll burn about the same amount of fat and stimulate muscle tissue equally if you keep your workouts intense.

Specific Low Weight-High Rep Benefits

That being said, there are some unique benefits to training with lower weight and higher reps. For anyone who is starting a training program for the first time, or who is getting back into the gym after a long absence, the benefits from starting with a lower weight can help prevent injury by strengthening joints. Low weight with high reps also stimulates slow-twitch muscle fibers which fatigue less quickly, increasing your overall workout endurance.

Are There Any Downsides to Going High Rep, Low Weight?

Well, one potential downside is that you may not get super-bulky at the speed of light. Building good, strong muscles and the foundation for them (including stronger joints and tendons) takes time. But investing that time by including high rep, low weight workouts into your weekly routine will reduce your risk of injury. As long as you keep your workouts focused on lifting to failure and incorporate a good bodybuilding stack (more on that in a minute), you'll still be able to make some decent gains while shredding away body fat for enhanced definition with some lower-weight workouts.

Naturally, a workout designed around low weight and high reps will probably take a bigger chunk out of your day than a high weight, low rep workout would. So if you're crunched for time during the week, it's better not to schedule these workouts on your busier days. But at the end of the day, you really need both types of workouts to look your absolute best.

The Importance of Good Nutrition

Of course, this doesn't mean that you can skimp on your nutritional profile. Whether your fitness goals are more high-weight or high-rep oriented, you aren't going to make the gains you're looking for if you don't give your body what it needs to power through your workouts and build up muscle during recovery. Bodybuilding stacks like Ultra Edge XL have the ingredients you need, like amino acids, to increase the Nitric Oxide in your blood and power your muscles through explosive exercise. It also contains absorption-enhancers, like AstraGin, to deliver more of its key ingredients to your hungry muscle tissues. So if you want to make those gains, you need to invest in a stack that works!