For the purpose of building muscle, the best way to stimulate growth is to focus on maximal stress and stretching of the working muscles while using a continuous load
This means that doing repetitions with good form and continuing to do more volume over time is the most important factor in making gains
If you are more interested in gaining strength, it is better to lift heavier weights for less reps
This is because lifting heavy weights for fewer reps causes more myofribillar hypertrophy
Myofribillar hypertrophy increases the ability of muscles to contract and produce force
If you are more interested in building muscle, it is better to do high repetitions with low weight
Lifting lighter weights for more reps causes more sarcoplasmic hypertrophy which increases muscle size
Heavy weight, low rep training places more stress on the reproductive tissues and causes greater amounts of myofribillar hypertrophy while higher rep training stresses non-contractile tissues and causes more sarcoplasmic hypertrophy
Both high and low ranges will cause muscle growth if continuous loading is used but they will differ slightly in how they stimulate the muscles
Lower Heavy Weight Lifting
Lifting heavy weights for low reps is the best way to gain strength
Doing low rep training with heavy weights stimulates more myofibrils
It found that lifting heavier weights for lighter reps is better for increasing strength
In those who lifted heavier weights for fewer repetitions, there was a greater increase in strength than from training with lighter weights for more repetitions per set
This increase in strength is due in part to the better “strokes” made from heavier weights as the body adapts to the movement faster when there is greater resistance
For building muscle, lifting light weights at a high level is generally the best training style if you were only given the options of low reps with heavy weights or high reps with light weights
Of course, everyone has the ability to combine low-rep and high-rep training, either through an interval program or in one session, but high-rep will be the best for increasing muscle size of the two
The reason for this is that high rep, low weight training causes hypertrophy of the sarcoplasm
This hypertrophy increases the amount of sarcoplasmic water in the muscle and over time increases the size of the muscle itself to a greater extent than low, heavy weight training
This study found that short, high resistance training resulted in sarcoplasmic expansion in already trained young adults
This expansion of the sarcoplasm will increase the size of the muscles that have been trained
Since more blood, oxygen, and nutrients go to the muscles, they will respond better to training and grow in size
Another reason that high rep training is great for building muscle is that high reps with light weights help ensure you get enough volume while also avoiding injury
High rep training also helps you go through a full range of motion and contract the muscles better during each rep as you will have more control over the movement
In general, for building muscle it is better to combine high and low exercises
If you were to focus on just one style of training, light weight training is best for sizing while light weight training is best for increasing strength
High rep training with light weights is ideal for building muscle and increasing size because it has been found to result in greater sarcoplasmic expansion
High rep training with light weights allows you to go through a full range of effective movements that will help fully contract the muscles, and add solid resistance to muscle growth
Compared to high reps, low-weight training is better for increasing strength because it causes more myofribillar hypertrophy
This will improve the contractile function of the muscle tissue and strengthen the myofibrils in the muscles, increasing strength and power in general when lifting