massive men who train with light weight

[Drago]

who knows really massive guys who train with light weignts ?

 

[USMuscle9403]

I've known of a few. They certainly didn't get big training with light weight, though

 

[BALDNAZI]

Question is how did they get there?

 

[brocksamson]

What is considered light?

 

[Bio]

Question is how did they get there?

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! Exactly!!

 

[Rot-Iron66]

Vince Taylor comes to mind. Maybe not MASSIVE, but an epic and top 10 (ever) physique (IMO).

 

[IronViking69]

Back in the late 80s, I had just competed in a state-level competition and drew the attention of a recent Mr. USA and USA Nationals champion. He offered to analyze my training and diet and help tweak them in preparation to compete in the same division the following year. I had fared somewhat well in competition, even qualifying for NPC nationals in my weight class. However, my upper body overshadowed my legs, both due to genetics and the fact that I had still not gotten really strong on squats (my work sets were mostly with 315 to full depth for medium reps).

I told my new mentor that I thought I really needed to focus on heavy squats for the duration of the offseason and simply maintain a few body parts that rapidly outgrew and overshadowed the rest (especially my chest and shoulders). His immediate reply was that my problem wasn't a lack of squatting strength, but rather that I wasn't doing things like pre-exhaustion with isolation movements before reduced-poundage squats or lighter front squats in place of heavy back squats. I must have made a face that betrayed my skepticism, because he immediately pointed to his own huge legs and said, "I train for the contraction."

Even at 18 or 19, I knew enough to know that what someone is doing to maintain gains today doesn't necessarily reflect what they did to get those gains in the first place. So I asked my champion friend, "What's the highest squatting poundage you've regularly worked with in the gym?" His reply: "800 pounds." I told him that maybe I should hold off implementing his advice until I was routinely handling at least *half* of that for plenty of reps. That became a reality during my next few years at college, and my legs finally caught up to the rest of me.

 

[Virtuous]

I’m no where near massive but I have a great chest. Built it with a couple years of 400+ lb benching, now I rarely go over 315 and do a lot of cable work. But that raw thick slab that I’m fine tuning wouldn’t be there if I never built the base

 

[jaxino]

My idea is that:

Volume = size
Volume = sets * reps * weight

I think that much depends on you... How your body works, CNS, recovery etc...
Some guys can always keep 2 reps to failure and do a lot of sets.
Other guys can't keep 2 reps in and mentally need to go for failure, so you end up doing less sets.

None can run a marathon Superfast.

In the end, in a way or another, reps are always the same.... You do a lot of sets, or a lot of weight.

I think that with age, it's better to go by volume (high sets) to save tendons and joints. Mentally can be very tough if you are used to failure.

 

[b-boy]

What is considered light?

EXACTLY^^^

 

[tkav1980]

I think there’s a good sample of people on this board you can look back at and see that they packed on their size lifting heavy. Heavy is a relative thing but still. Dusty, Shelby, b-boy and a whole host of others all pounded heavy weight to build big slabs of muscle.

But I also think heavy is really really relative. 500 for 1 rep is a heavy bench but so is 365 for 15 rest paused. A 225 OHP is heavy but so is a 60 lb strict lateral raise.

 

[Reload]

I knew a guy here in Honolulu, now lives in Vegas. Mountain of a man. 6'+. 260+lb's. Competed frequently. Thick, striated, garden hose veins. Huge arms! Volume guy, high reps/sets. Mod weight. Lots of machine work. Never saw him bench, squat or pull. Thick quads. Always working calves...black guy. Gymaholic, 6 days/week. 6 meals/day like clockwork. Always greeted me and my training partner with a smile. Very social with certain members. Would work in with us from time to time on leg day because he liked to be pushed. I miss him.

 

[jplahm]

I watched Toney do it later in his career,he would say he is training the muscle not the joints and tendons.

 

[lvtrojan]

I watched Toney do it later in his career,he would say he is training the muscle not the joints and tendons.

Not a bad way to train late, saving the joints and tendons for sure.

 

[Tomgrass]

It is always the debate light vs heavy when truth is if you wanna build muscle with light weights you need to make them feel heavy. That means perfect mind muscle connection, working in range of movement when muscle is constantly under tension long negative. This is what bring results, if you just doing reps for sake of doing reps I am sorry it is not gonna work. Today I have massive doms in legs but the weight I used was not even a warm up when I was lifting heavy. Quality matters a lot.

 

[N.L....M.....]

No one is building a massive amount of tissue without getting stronger. I don’t know if actual rep ranges matter all that much but you’re not going to go into the gym and pump 135 and build a big chest.

 

[N.L....M.....]

It is always the debate light vs heavy when truth is if you wanna build muscle with light weights you need to make them feel heavy. That means perfect mind muscle connection, working in range of movement when muscle is constantly under tension long negative. This is what bring results, if you just doing reps for sake of doing reps I am sorry it is not gonna work. Today I have massive doms in legs but the weight I used was not even a warm up when I was lifting heavy. Quality matters a lot.

Light is relative to a certain point but you’re not going to build big anything with 5lb pink dumbbells no matter how much tut and squeezing you do. Also soreness doms is really an indicator of effectiveness.