Low vs. High reps

In my opinion, weight lifting contains more false ideas and myths than any other activity. I could go on for hours listing off things that are not true at all but that many people still believe and form their workouts around.

I will focus on the differences between low rep/high weight and high rep/low weight workout styles. Many people think that they will burn fat and get more defined by working out with high repetitions. Now, naturally you will burn fat by doing high reps (10-15) because you are increasing your heart rate and it is active physical exercise. However, this is not the best way to become defined. The most effective way is by not increasing your repetitions but by decreasing the time you rest between sets.

Decreasing the rest time keeps your heart rate up and keeps your muscles under constant stress. High repetitions are most effectively used for increasing size. Since muscle are made up a very tiny protein fibers that tear when you workout and repair after you are done working out. This repair stage is what builds muscles. The harder you work your muscles the more fibers that will rip and need to repair afterwards. Therefore, more repetitions will maximize your muscles workouts and repair the maximum amount of muscle.

Low repetitions (3-5) will increase strength and power. Your muscle will be used for the purpose of heavy lifting instead of lifting lower weight. Your muscles will naturally, not increase the amount fibers but the actual strength of the muscle because that is what they are being trained for.

Many people will object to these ideas because of their personal experiences. Someone may say that the did high reps and did not get bigger. Or that doing low reps never increased his strength. No two people get the same results from the same workouts. Some people can't increase their strength anymore and some people pack on muscle more densely so they can't increase their size much.

Unless you really want to focus on one of these styles, it is best to use all of them. If you want to have overall performance, it is best to mix it up. This can simply be done by changing the repetitions every week. One week do 8-12 reps, next week do 3-5, and the week after do 15-20.