Koffee (or anyone else) here's my question about
number of reps:
Here goes: In order to improve my cycling abilities and competitiveness (I am Cat III, 45+) I am lifting weights this winter – both upper body and legs. At this point I am only riding about 6 hours a week, but will increase that next month. As for legs weights I am doing leg press, leg curls, and calf raisers. With all of these I try and do 35 to 40 reps each set, really trying to move past the burn, increase my pain tolerance and build muscle. Well, yesterday at the gym I asked a trainer about this method. He said that at such high repetition levels I was only building lactic acid and that I really should be building muscle mass and therefore only lifting weights were I can do only 10 – 12 repetitions.
What of these two methods do you feel is best and why? Is the trainer correct? What other methods would you recommend?
I did a search specific to this but didn’t find anything, but koffee's quote below - if there is a thread about this can someone post a link?
Thanks and ride on…
HammyHead
Originally Posted by
Guest
If you're looking to gain mass and bulk up, you'll have to lift heavier weights with less reps. BUT if you're looking at muscle maintenance and muscular endurance, then you'll be looking to do lighter weights with more reps. I get the feeling you want the muscular endurance, so focus on light weights and more reps. So, for instance, if you do leg curls, and you're wanting muscular endurance, and you find that 70 pounds is not too heavy, then you can do 3- 4 sets of 12- 15 reps, and if you do 12 reps, by the time you get to the 9th rep, you should feel fatigues, and by the 12th rep, you should feel like you have to work very hard to get that weight through the full motion of the exercise. If you decide to shoot for 15 reps, by the time you hit that 12th rep, you should feel some fatigue in the muscle, and when you get to the 15th rep, you'll feel like you have to work to get that last rep out.
Working out with light weights doesn't mean it's easy, but it does mean that you're focusing on fatigue through repetition, not through the heaviness of the weight.
Koffee