#3 - Why You Need to Lift Heavy: The Physiology of Muscle

Today Robert and Trent discuss why you need to train for strength, and why your lifts MUST be heavy to build muscle mass. It's popular these days to train for "hypertrophy" -- the fancy term for increasing muscular size -- utilizing sets of 10-12 reps on a large variety of exercises, many of them single joint lifts such as curls, tricep extensions, and hamstring curls. The problem with this approach is that, for the vast majority of people, they do not do these exercises heavy enough to drive muscle growth, and they lack the strength to do them heavy enough to see results anyway. Then there is the problem with ergonomics -- how heavy can you do a single joint exercise anyway? How much can you really hamstring curl?

 

A much better solution to gaining muscle mass is to use the barbell, which can be used to do compound lifts, which involve more joints, use more muscle mass, and can be performed with heavier weights too. Barbells can be loaded with very light weights for the most novice trainee, extremely heavy for advanced strength athletes, and anywhere in between. Most importantly, mastering a few simple exercises with the barbell is the most bang-for-your-buck thing you can do in the gym, regardless of your goals or athletic focus.

 

There are physiological reasons for lifting heavy too. Moving heavy weights involves anaerobic energy pathways that burn large amounts of carbohydrates. Heavy weights produce a hormone response which lighter aerobic exercises does not -- heavy weights stimulate production of more testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin growth factor (IGF-1) -- which causes your body to grow more muscle mass, increases your metabolism, and partition calories in a more efficient way.

 

So, next time you hit the gym to "lift," you need to lift heavy. Heavy weights provide the stimulus for growing muscle mass, and the weight must get progressively heavier over time.

 

Weights & Plates: https://weightsandplates.com

Robert Santana on Instagram: @the_robert_santana

 

Trent Jones: @marmalade_cream

https://www.marmaladecream.com