Well, the answer to that age-old question, should I lift heavy or light weights, really depends on you. What is it that you want? Are you trying to get very strong and powerful? Are you trying to grow big and look like the “Flex Magazine” people? Are you simply trying to keep some muscle tone and get healthy? Do you prefer a “Men’s Fitness” physique?
One of my biggest concerns back in the old days, when I used to train very heavy, was that if I didn’t train super heavy and hard, I’d never grow or develop my physique. As such, I used to lift extremely heavy weights for someone my size.
At my lightest weight, which was about 155 pounds, I was bench pressing over 300 pounds regularly. During my heavier periods, walking at around 180 or so, I was throwing up about 410 pounds for about 5 real, unassisted reps. For such a small guy, this may sound impressive, but I believe that lifting this way contributed to wrist issues where I can’t bend them fully anymore. My muscles may have been strong enough to lift the weight, but my frame wasn’t necessarily designed for such heavy loads, and I think that’s something I’m paying for now. This is, however, just my own perspective.
Using my current transformation, I’m going to share my present theory. That is all this is, a theory. I may be completely off, or this may be right for me but not for you, but it’s worth noting.
These days I do a lot of cardio. By cardio I mean the elliptical, running, stair climber, and of course my HIIT classes. When it comes to strength training, I’ve pretty much shifted that into my classes. I teach two “strength” classes a week, and nearly every day I do some form of strength and conditioning training. I haven’t been doing much heavy lifting recently. Occasionally, I’ll do some moderate bench presses, but most of my strength work comes from the classes I teach and take.
Here’s where it gets interesting. As my body is transitioning into a leaner specimen in terms of appearance, I don’t see much difference from how I looked on the days I lifted super heavy. Now granted, I was stronger physically, and I appeared a bit fuller, but the difference so far seems negligible to me. This could mean I wasn’t training optimally back then, it could also mean I’m not training optimally now, or it could simply mean you don’t need to put yourself under 410 pounds of crushing weight to make nearly the same gains.
This is my observation based on what I see today. I often wonder if including more heavy weight training in my routine would have taken me further along in this journey. Honestly, I can’t say. I can only speak on what I’m seeing.
In strength classes, we work with lighter weights but do dozens of repetitions. The focus is more on endurance and conditioning rather than just power. I have one day a week where I work with a heavier kettlebell for squats, deadlifts, and farmer’s walks. Occasionally, I’ll do bench presses, but otherwise, I’m mainly teaching and taking classes. And without any extreme weight lifting, my body is still changing. Could I have changed more or faster if I were lifting super heavy weights again? Maybe, but for my goals and purposes, I’m perfectly content with how things are going.
This is just something for you to consider. I’m not saying abandon weight training, never! I’m saying don’t hurt yourself by lifting beyond your abilities because you think it’s necessary to make progress.
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