Heavy weight isn't that important if you want to get bigger.

[275bills]

It depends on how large you want to be. Show me a pro that doesnt train relatively heavy and cutler always trained pretty heavy. Yes he backed off in his later years but still went heavy.

 

[maldorf]

I just read the first part, but I like what they say in #5 and 6.

"The experienced lifter knows when to deviate from his program and do what his body needs during a workout."

"The goal should be to make weights feel like they weigh more than they do."

How I always approached things later on once I was experienced. Doing things like heavy squats with rest pause, where you get to the bottom of the squat and hold the weight for a count of 5 or more and then come up. Drop sets, etc.

 

[Bobby Light]

I think this entirely depends on your genetic response to everything, especially gear. If you are someone that puts on muscle easily then sure you can lift "light" and grow like a weed if everything else is in place. If you don't, I believe getting stronger consistently is a must for trying to continuously pack on muscle over a long period of time. To me the best bodybuilders (most muscular) for the most part have been the strongest, and I think its when you combine the phenomenal bodybuilding genetics WITH heavy training thats when you get a true freak like Ronnie.

I believe "regular" people that don't have freak genetics and/or haven't lifted heavy at one time to at least put on the size really shouldn't be saying that its not necessary. I find it hard to believe that someone with average to below average genetics for building muscle has gotten to be a freak by lifting lighter weights from the start. And if you're someone that believes this, go ahead and take a year to "beat the logbook" with any number of strength based bodybuilding programs and tell me you haven't improved dramatically!

 

[Pericles]

^^ I don't particularly agree with this, personally.

Just wanted to hear the opinions of others on the subject.

'Heavy weight isn't that important if you want to get bigger.'

**broken link removed**

Lee is very smart. Most coaches like him all say relatively the same thing and I agree with it. Once you get to a certain strength level, IE: 500+lb squat, deadlift 300+ bench . You get the point of diminishing returns and are more likely to get injured, have issues with joints and tendons etc,,

 

[Pericles]

I think this entirely depends on your genetic response to everything, especially gear. If you are someone that puts on muscle easily then sure you can lift "light" and grow like a weed if everything else is in place. If you don't, I believe getting stronger consistently is a must for trying to continuously pack on muscle over a long period of time. To me the best bodybuilders (most muscular) for the most part have been the strongest, and I think its when you combine the phenomenal bodybuilding genetics WITH heavy training thats when you get a true freak like Ronnie.

I believe "regular" people that don't have freak genetics and/or haven't lifted heavy at one time to at least put on the size really shouldn't be saying that its not necessary. I find it hard to believe that someone with average to below average genetics for building muscle has gotten to be a freak by lifting lighter weights from the start. And if you're someone that believes this, go ahead and take a year to "beat the logbook" with any number of strength based bodybuilding programs and tell me you haven't improved dramatically!

Ronnie is crippled and has had too many injuries to list. None of us are at his level, why would anyone want to chase that?

 

[GreenTLB6]

Ronnie is crippled and has had too many injuries to list. None of us are at his level, why would anyone want to chase that?

Ronnie is once in a lifetime so there no comparison to his his intensity/strength minus Dorian.

But someone show me one of these freaks that is lifting relatively light on the compounds movements while they were building their size...I’ll wait.

Shit everyone busy on Phil Heath about the way he trains but I have seen him Press 160’s with ease. That ain’t heavy? 405lb front squats aren’t heavy?

Yea not compared to Ronnie...but no one compares there in BBing.

 

[Bobby Light]

Ronnie is crippled and has had too many injuries to list. None of us are at his level, why would anyone want to chase that?

Im not saying you do or you should, but I'm also just using one example and you aren't really seeing my point I don't think. I was listing one example of a guy that took phenomenal genetics AND heavy weight to become a freak. My point is even if you're goal is to be muscular compared to the average person, I believe there has to be some strength base built. I don't think the average person will have huge legs if the most they can squat is 225...now if thats what they do NOW to grow thats one thing, but most that have that size at some point have moved some heavier weight. It all depends what your goals are..If you want to be 180 and lean and still look great then yeah you certainly don't need to be breaking records in the gym, for me personally if I want an appreciable level of muscle I need to be getting stronger over time.

 

[Bobby Light]

we got guys at my gym who only do high reps and are huge. meaning 5'8, 280, 5'10 300...
we got a few, like nam thomas, placed 4th superheavyweight nationals this year who do heavy-ass weights. squatting 765 for reps. then again he's a bodybuilder/national ranked powerlifter.
the young guys like him do the heavy, the old guys do the light and both groups are big.
course, steroids and genetics are key.

Sure, but I bet that first group you mentioned lifted very heavy at one time or another to get to that point in the first place.

 

[devenidas]

^^ I don't particularly agree with this, personally.

Just wanted to hear the opinions of others on the subject.

'Heavy weight isn't that important if you want to get bigger.'

**broken link removed**

It isn't if your name is Flex wheeler.

For majority of us you need to move some heavy ass cold steel to grow big and continue growing big -

progressive overload in wts in hypertrophy rep range

&

progressive overload in food

results in ..

masssssssss

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[rmtt]

I think it depends on the individual. When I first started out...I did the typical"bro-split"...one body part a day, multiple sets of multiple exercises. Reps typically high and although I always tried to improve, I never kept a log to keep track of things.

When I hooked up with powerlifting that had structured sets, low reps with high volume....my body seemed to thrive on it. Only thing in my mind was beating my last workout.

I'm talking multiple sets of reps in the 3-5 range, then I started doing 5/3/1 and my body and strength really started showing changes.

Now that I'm older...I'm moving more towards a lower volume higher frequency training....and the change seems to be doing really well.

Using higher reps has made a big difference. Before my programming would have me doing 7+ sets of benching 315 for 5, and a last set if maybe 335 for as many reps as possible depending on which load week it was.

The next week it may be something like singles/doubles....with emphasis on the negative. But always adding weight to the bar was my main priority.

Now I'm doing something like using only 225 for 3 sets of 10-12...and that last set for as many as possible to pump as much blood into the muscle as I can. The other day I made 19 reps.

So lightning the load and chasing the pump has merit for me know.....but didn't do anything for me when first starting out....although the weights I was using then were really light...but felt relatively heavy for me.

So now I do both. I rotate them out each workout. Heavy days is about beating my weight log book, light days are about beating my reps logbook.

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[biglizard225]

Ronnie is once in a lifetime so there no comparison to his his intensity/strength minus Dorian.

But someone show me one of these freaks that is lifting relatively light on the compounds movements while they were building their size...I’ll wait.

Shit everyone busy on Phil Heath about the way he trains but I have seen him Press 160’s with ease. That ain’t heavy? 405lb front squats aren’t heavy?

Yea not compared to Ronnie...but no one compares there in BBing.

Word! Phil is one of those myostatin freaks. He doesn't have to take it to the extreme Ronnie or Dorian did to be at the top, but he definetly ain't weak.

I just think it's funny how the small guys will justify someone like Phil fuckin Heath not lifting super heavy to make them feel better about being small.

Most of you mofos on this board and in general don't have the damn patience and dedication it takes to get huge. Yeah there are genetic freaks who grow with light weights but grow even faster on heavy weights. But I gurantee you if your not 260 fairly lean with a good bit of muscle by now you don't have those genetics.

I don't have them but I bust my fucking ass day in and day out and I know what works. And that is heavy fucking weight as much as you can tolerate then when you start to decline or lose strength back off and deload. Use lighter weights on your deload phases. Use heavy weights on your loading strength/size cycles

 

[IronSlag]

Great input, thanks.

For me, it's always about getting stronger in a reasonable rep range, either by addition of reps or poundage. Right or wrong, anything else is a distraction to me.

The ball ache is in establishing continuity in getting stronger, but biglizard simplified it well: keeping going, and once you regress, deload and repeat.

 

[Rastaboy]

In my earlier years it was heavy lifting Everytime I set foot in the gym. These days I feel those years of bullheaded training. Granted the heavy lifts built alot of lean body mass, I cannot keep that pace. With one back surgery under my belt I take a more measured approach.

I prefer a balance, I still hit my lower rep days but if one week I hit heavy the next is typically slightly lighter but with very measured rest between sets. More pause work with presses and squats.

Simply put heavy lifts are but one piece of the pie but I believe variety to be the key to steady and continuous gains.

 

[1234trew]

Lee Labrada used the lightest weights of any pro that I ever personally saw. Mike Francois used the heaviest I ever personally saw.

Heavy weights are great when you are young (if your form is perfect) but at a certain point you transition. This typically either happens when you get too strong for your joints or more commonly when you reach a certain age where it just doesn't work anymore.

Strength as a raw number is a trap. Strength demonstrated over multiple sets of higher reps is in my experience what builds the most size.

 

[biglizard225]

Lee Labrada used the lightest weights of any pro that I ever personally saw. Mike Francois used the heaviest I ever personally saw.

Heavy weights are great when you are young (if your form is perfect) but at a certain point you transition. This typically either happens when you get too strong for your joints or more commonly when you reach a certain age where it just doesn't work anymore.

Strength as a raw number is a trap. Strength demonstrated over multiple sets of higher reps is in my experience what builds the most size.

Great post. This is a very true statement

 

[concreter]

Just hit Failure. Full Pump and lots of nutrients with just the right amount of Anabolics.
Then complete rest till muscles are fully healed and ready for the next bout of Micro Tears!

 

[nothuman]

More than one way to achieve the same result when it comes to training IMO

 

[BlahaIsAFraud]

sure if you're on pro BB doses lifting any weight will work

but general rule is that stronger = bigger