I guarantee you that whatever workout routine you’re currently using to gain weight and build muscle mass is causing you to focus on “getting stronger”…instead of “getting physically bigger”.
This is where the whole �¢??lift big to get big�¢?? philosophy comes from.
Most have us have been fooled to associate the lifting of heavy weights with the building and stimulating of large muscles.
But is that the case in the �¢??real world�¢??�¢?�¦.as I like to call it?
The simple answer�¢? NO.
There are many, many reasons for this.
In this article Iâ??ll discuss the first reason why not:
- Lifting heavier and heavier weight is not the main factor in stimulating muscle weight gain and growth
I know, this seems to go against what everyone and their mama seem to think.
But, letâ??s take a look at what goes on in the real world.
How many individuals do you know (and perhaps youâ??re one of them) that can bench press a ton, yet when they take their shirt off donâ??t have that much of a chest to show off?
How many weight lifters do you know that can squat a car, yet when you take a look at their thighs / quads it leaves much to be desired?
How many bodybuilders have you seen that are as strong as an ox, yet if it wasnâ??t that youâ??ve seen them lifting weights at the gym or know them personally you would have never
guessed that they even work out?
Again, yes, they may lift progressively heavier weights every week, and yes, they may be getting stronger and stronger consistentlyâ?¦â?¦but that doesnâ??t mean that they are growing in size and muscular weight!
Every article and workout program recommends to â??progressively overload the muscleâ??â?¦.which is absolutely correct.
However, the type of â??progressive overloadâ?? that is recommended in 99% of these workout routines is to lift heavier and heavier weightâ?¦â?¦.focusing on the strength building aspect of the equationâ?¦â?¦instead of the size building aspect.
Lifting heavier weights is not the main stimulus for building and developing muscle mass.
(In future articles Iâ??ll get into the other factors that trigger muscular growth).
Think about it, if lifting heavier and heavier weight on a progressive basis was the way to gain muscle mass then powerlifters and Olympic lifters would have the largest and most developed muscles, not bodybuilders.
All you have to do is take a quick look at the pec development of a bodybuilder and compare it to the pec development of a powerlifter / Olympic lifter.
Sure, the powerlifter / Olympic trainer can probably bench press literally hundreds of pounds more than the bodybuilder, but the bodybuilder will always have a physically larger and more developed chest.
Thatâ??s because powerlifters / Olympic trainers are focused on the lifting of heavier weight, regardless of how the muscle feels, while the bodybuilder could care less about how much weight he / she can lift, but instead is focusing on the feel of the muscle, the tension thatâ??s placed on it.
Sure, a powerlifter may weigh 100 pounds more than a bodybuilder, but we all know that half of a powerlifterâ??s body weight is fat.
Also, many of the most well developed physiques are of individuals who hardly ever increase the amount of weight they lift, at least not on a regular basis.
Yet, they built and gained some serious muscle mass and weight.
Thatâ??s because they knew that there are other more important factors in stimulating muscular development than lifting progressively heavier weights.
PART2
In the previous article of this series, “Forget About Heavy Weights To Gain Muscle and Weight”, I had mentioned that the first reason why you should not be focusing on trying to lift heavier and heavier weights on a regular basis is because when you take a look at what goes on in the real world, those that concentrate on that aspect of weight training may get stronger with that method but not necessarily bigger in muscular size.
In this article we�¢??ll be going deeper as to why not to build your workout routine around getting stronger if you main goal is to gain weight and muscle mass.
Reason # 2: The lifting of heavier and heavier weight is not the signal to your body to make the muscle larger in size.
Every bodybuilding article and website still believes in the myth that your body adapts to the lifting of heavier weights by making the muscle larger.
Well, that�¢??s not the case in the real world.
Here�¢??s the reality of the situation:
When your body senses that a particular muscle is being forced to lift a progressively heavier weight, the signal that it sends is for the body to become stronger�¢?�¦.not bigger.
A muscle doesn�¢??t have to be bigger in size to handle heavier weight!
(Read that last sentence over and over until you fully grasp this concept.)
It just has to be stronger.
What does the body then do to adapt to the heavier weight if it isn�¢??t to make it bigger?
Realize that the lifting of heavier weights is a matter of your body becoming more efficient at recruiting more motor units to come into play to handle the heavier weight�¢?�¦which has nothing to do with becoming physically larger.
It is also a matter of becoming better at using leverage in your lifting technique�¢?�¦which has nothing to do with making the muscle grow.
It is also a matter of your neuro-muscular system becoming better at sending nerve signals between the muscle and brain to handle heavier loads�¢?�¦which has nothing to do with stimulating muscle mass.
�¢?�¦and on and on.
Do you see the point I�¢??m trying to make here.
A muscle being able to handle heavier and heavier weight really doesn�¢??t have much to do with making the muscle physically larger in size and appearance.
Again, I�¢??ll refer back to the real world example of bodybuilders versus powerlifters / Olympic trainers.
Powerlifters have their bodies trained so that they are very efficient at using leverage in their lifting techniques, recruiting a maximum amount of motor units, and establishing excellent neuro-muscular connections / pathways�¢?�¦all which allow them to lift extreme amounts of weights.
However, their muscular development is nowhere near that of a bodybuilder.
Although the bodybuilder probably can�¢??t lift not even half of the amount of weight that a powerlifter can, he has muscles that are much bigger in size and development.
That�¢??s because a bodybuilder could probably care less about using leverage, recruiting motor units. etc.
He�¢??s just trying to gain weight and build muscle mass.
PART3
In the last article I wrote about this topic, I detailed the second reason why the lifting of heavier and heavier weight is not the signal to your body to gain weight and muscle mass. In this article, we’ll discuss the third reason why not.
There�¢??s a big myth that has been spread around for years that claims that you must lift heavy weights (which would cause you to fail in the 6-10 rep range in any particular set) in order to target the muscle fibers that are most responsible for size.
I�¢??m not going to get into detail about all of the different fiber types, their colors, their classifications, etc., because in the �¢??real world�¢?? that�¢??s not important. All we need to know is that when it comes to muscle fibers, there are basically 3 types. Some are stronger than others. Some are larger. Some come into play in a set quicker. Some come later. Some fatigue faster. So on and so forth.
Here�¢??s the point�¢?�¦one of those types of fibers are the ones that have the greatest potential for growth (although that�¢??s not agreed upon by everyone). Many workout programs and routines that recommend to use a heavier load claim that you must do that in order to target the bigger muscle fibers.
This is one of the reasons where the whole �¢??lift big to get big�¢??, �¢??lift heavy for mass�¢??, etc., sayings originate from.
On the other hand, many feel that lighter weights with higher reps mainly target the �¢??smaller, endurance-oriented�¢?? fibers, which have given birth to the �¢??high reps and lower weights are only good for endurance, but not for mass�¢?? myth.
Well, here�¢??s where there�¢??s a misconception:
Sure, you may have certain fibers that come into play quicker if you use heavier weights, but if a set is stopped after just a few reps, those are going to be the only fibers that would have been worked.
You would have left a ton of other fibers untouched.
That�¢??s why you can have a muscle that is very strong, yet not be any bigger in size or development.
On the flip side, when a set is long enough, in other words, high in reps, sure, the smaller sized fibers may be called in first, but once those give out�¢?�¦.guess who then has to come into the rescue?
All the other fibers that are left!
That�¢??s why those that use slightly lighter weights for a ton of reps have gained more muscle mass than the individual next to them that�¢??s as strong as an ox, but doesn�¢??t even look like he lifts weights.
Take a look at all of these prisoners that don�¢??t have access to weights. Those individuals do nothing but �¢??body weight�¢?? exercises, like pushups, dips, pullups, etc. They do a boat load of reps�¢?�¦.sometimes hundreds of reps in a workout for a given muscle group. Yet, look at how much muscle and weight they gain.
Then you have people who follow your typical workout routines in their gyms, doing sets of 6-10 reps, taking 2 minutes of rest between sets�¢?�¦then a year later they look at themselves in the mirror, don�¢??t look any different, and then wonder why.
Again, the point of this article is this:
If you use heavy weights (that cause you to fail at 10 reps or less per set), you are only going to tap into a small percentage of all the available fibers you have in that muscle.
Meaning, your growth and development will be minimal, at best. Sure, you�¢??ll be strong, but you won�¢??t physically look like it. However, using slightly lighter weight for a high amount of reps force most available fibers to have to work, whether they be type 1, 2, or 3.
Obviously, the higher the amount of total fibers you train and force to work, the more weight gain and muscle mass you will stimulate.
There are many, many reasons for this.
In this article I�¢??ll discuss the first reason why not:
- Lifting heavier and heavier weight is not the main factor in stimulating muscle weight gain and growth
I know, this seems to go against what everyone and their mama seem to think.
But, let�¢??s take a look at what goes on in the real world.
How many individuals do you know (and perhaps you�¢??re one of them) that can bench press a ton, yet when they take their shirt off don�¢??t have that much of a chest to show off?
How many weight lifters do you know that can squat a car, yet when you take a look at their thighs / quads it leaves much to be desired?
How many bodybuilders have you seen that are as strong as an ox, yet if it wasn�¢??t that you�¢??ve seen them lifting weights at the gym or know them personally you would have never
guessed that they even work out?
Again, yes, they may lift progressively heavier weights every week, and yes, they may be getting stronger and stronger consistently�¢?�¦�¢?�¦but that doesn�¢??t mean that they are growing in size and muscular weight!
Every article and workout program recommends to �¢??progressively overload the muscle�¢??�¢?�¦.which is absolutely correct.
However, the type of �¢??progressive overload�¢?? that is recommended in 99% of these workout routines is to lift heavier and heavier weight�¢?�¦�¢?�¦.focusing on the strength building aspect of the equation�¢?�¦�¢?�¦instead of the size building aspect.
Lifting heavier weights is not the main stimulus for building and developing muscle mass.
(In future articles I�¢??ll get into the other factors that trigger muscular growth).
Think about it, if lifting heavier and heavier weight on a progressive basis was the way to gain muscle mass then powerlifters and Olympic lifters would have the largest and most developed muscles, not bodybuilders.
All you have to do is take a quick look at the pec development of a bodybuilder and compare it to the pec development of a powerlifter / Olympic lifter.
Sure, the powerlifter / Olympic trainer can probably bench press literally hundreds of pounds more than the bodybuilder, but the bodybuilder will always have a physically larger and more developed chest.
That�¢??s because powerlifters / Olympic trainers are focused on the lifting of heavier weight, regardless of how the muscle feels, while the bodybuilder could care less about how much weight he / she can lift, but instead is focusing on the feel of the muscle, the tension that�¢??s placed on it.
Sure, a powerlifter may weigh 100 pounds more than a bodybuilder, but we all know that half of a powerlifter�¢??s body weight is fat.
Also, many of the most well developed physiques are of individuals who hardly ever increase the amount of weight they lift, at least not on a regular basis.
Yet, they built and gained some serious muscle mass and weight.
That�¢??s because they knew that there are other more important factors in stimulating muscular development than lifting progressively heavier weights.
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ARM CHAIR BODYBUILDER LOL?
