Light vs. Heavy Weights: Which is Better for Building Muscle and Strength
When it comes to choosing the perfect weights for your sets, the heavier, the better, right? Surely, there's no point in reaching for lighter weights if your goal is to gain as much muscle as possible.
While swinging the heaviest dumbbells may seem like the fastest track to gym cred, it's well known that cheating your reps may not be the most optimal path to hypertrophy. Plus, if you want to build explosive power, shortchanging yourself with your weight choice isn't going to cut it.
So, which is best? MH breaks down the latest research and how it relates to your training goals so that you can achieve the results you want.
Is It Better to Do Heavy or Light Weights?
Whether you choose to use heavy weights with low reps or light weights with high reps will comes down to a few considerations:
Your goals: muscle growth, strength or endurance
Training experience: beginner, intermediate advanced
Your preferences: what you enjoy doing the most
Current training frequency: this will effect your capacity to recover
Current or past injuries: this will effect the load at which you can lift
Equipment available: lighter weights typically use less plates and total equipment
Fatigue levels: if you're feeling particularly tired or are in a fat loss phase, heavier weights can feel more taxing
Light vs Heavy Weights
Light Weights and High Reps: The Pros and Cons
Promotes hypertrophy
Improves bone density
More suitable for beginners when they are learning lifting technique
Less likelihood of injury
Better for injury rehabilitation
Enhanced muscular endurance
Less impact on joints
More suitable for isolation moves
Tend to cause more DOMs
Heavy Weights and Low Reps: The Pros and Cons
Improves strength
Promotes hypertrophy
Power development
Improves bone density
Time efficient
More suitable for compound moves
More neurologically taxing
Tend to cause less DOMs
May require more rest in between sessions
Can You Build Muscle with Light Weights, High Reps?
You can build muscle with a variety of rep ranges and weight choices. The most important factor is the proximity to failure. Researchers in a study published by PeerJ set out to find out what exactly happens when there is a focus on increasing reps versus load to facilitate progressive overload. They concluded that increasing repetitions and load both appear to be good strategies for increasing muscle mass.
Can You Build Muscle with Heavy Weights, Low Reps?
A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research compares high reps with lower weights to lower reps with higher weights, with both groups working to failure. The study found that the muscle size results for both groups were similar. However, for strength gains, the subjects using higher weights and lower reps saw the most benefit. When it comes to gaining muscle, as long as you're working close to failure, the weight you choose becomes less important. What is most crucial for muscle gains is proximity to failure. Pushing ourselves to within 0-5 reps of failure should be sufficient.
Another study published in Sports Medicine confirms this. The meta-analysis aimed to investigate the relationship between estimated proximity to failure (reps in reserve) during resistance training with two main focuses: strength gains and muscle hypertrophy. The study concluded that for strength it is more important to focus on heavier loads, however, not working to failure. For muscle growth, it showed that working closer to failure was beneficial for muscle growth.
Do Bodybuilders Lift Heavy or Light?
Bodybuilders will predominantly work with higher rep ranges and lighter/moderate weights. However, many will work with a variety of rep ranges and weights in order to build muscle mass and strength.
Many bodybuilders tend to do cutting and bulking phases. If they are in a cutting phase (fat loss/calorie deficit phase) working with higher reps and lighter weights is preferential due to the reduced neurological impact compared to heavier weights. They are usually starting sessions with a higher level of fatigue, which would mean lighter weights would be more suitable while still increasing hypertrophy. When they are in a bulking phase (muscle gain/calorie surplus phase) they will tend to include more heavy lifts with lower rep ranges, when they are training with high energy levels.
The Verdict
For Hypertrophy
Both lighter weights with higher reps and heavier weights with lower reps increase muscle mass. What is most important is the proximity to failure in which you work at the end of your sets. While you don't have to work to failure, working close is ideal. Aim for 8-15 reps per set and to finish your sets 0-5 reps short of failure.
For Strength
For strength, it is more important to focus on heavier loads. This is because heavier weights recruit more muscular motor units and contribute to greater strength gains. However, you don't have to work to failure. Training to failure can be very demanding on the body and more difficult to recover from in subsequent sets. With varied evidence showing strength improvements from working close to failure, we can assume that aiming for 3-8 reps per set and finishing 3-5 reps short of failure is the sweet spot for strength training while also mitigating risks.
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