Does strength training have more effect with more reps or heavier weights?

Is strength training more effective with more reps or heavier weight? There is no absolute answer - the priority of the two effects depends entirely on your training goals, stage and body recovery ability. There is no universal "optimal solution" at all.

I have been practicing for almost six years and have taught about a hundred students. I have seen too many people get into trouble with this issue. In the end, they either get injured or have no change after half a year of practice. They just took a detour. Last month, I met a young man who had just been training for three months. He heard someone say, "You can't build muscle without heavy weight." He dared to press 70kg to reach the limit even though the empty bar bench press was wobbly. In the end, he suffered a rotator cuff strain and stopped training for two months. The gain outweighed the loss. ； There is another girl who has been practicing breast training for half a year. She uses 2.5 kilogram dumbbells every time to do 20 flyes in each group. Her movements are like aerobics. After the training, her arms are sore and her bust has not increased by half a millimeter. She has fallen into the misunderstanding of "light weight to find control".

Talking back to the most popular "weight first" school, most of them are powerlifters and supporters of established bodybuilding. If you go to the powerlifting area and squat for half a month, you will find that the daily training of the big guys who push the limit is basically a load above 80% of 1RM (the maximum weight that can be lifted at one time). Each set can be done up to 5 times, and many times only 1-2 times of extreme sets are done. The purpose is to brush up the nerve recruitment ability and build absolute strength. A friend I know who competes in provincial powerlifting competitions prepared for the competition for two months, squatting and pulling heavy weights three times a week, and almost never did a set of more than 10 times. In the end, the deadlift limit increased directly from 220 kg to 240 kg. The effect is indeed visible to the naked eye. But if you ask ordinary fitness enthusiasts to follow his practice, let alone improve their grades, they will be lucky if they can keep their waist, shoulders and knees intact.

Let’s talk about the supporters of “higher reps are better”. Most of them are female body shaping players, natural bodybuilders and trainers in the recovery period. I used to have a student with a pear-shaped figure who wanted to build buttocks but was afraid of thick legs. I started practicing squats with a weight of 60kg with a male blogger, 5 times per group. After two months of practice, my leg circumference increased by 2 cm, but my hip line did not move at all. Later, I changed to 30 kg Bulgarian split squats, 18 times per group, and deliberately slowed down the eccentric control force. In two months, my hip line increased by 1.5 cm, and my leg circumference dropped by 1 cm. It can also be explained from the perspective of sports physiology: the three core elements of muscle gain are mechanical tension, metabolic stress and muscle damage. Heavy weight and low repetitions mainly focus on mechanical tension, while high repetitions and light weight focus more on metabolic pressure. As long as the intensity is enough, the muscle growth can be stimulated, and there is no such thing as one crushing the other.

Oh, by the way, there is another premise that I forgot to mention - no matter what you choose, the standard of action mode will always be the first priority. If the action is wrong, no matter how many times you do or how heavy the weight is, it will be in vain and it will also hurt your body. When newbies just get started, don’t worry about weight or reps. First, use an empty bar or light dumbbells to practice the movements. Do 15-20 reps in each group to find the right feeling of muscle strength and smooth joint movement trajectory. Then talk about adding weight and reps, otherwise it will be just a blind exercise.

Nowadays, there are always people on the Internet who are so noisy that they either say "light weights are all about playing house" or "those who compete in heavy weights are reckless people who don't know how to control". In fact, they are all diode thinking. Just like when you are cooking, which one is better, the salt or the vegetables? If you want something salty, add more salt; if you want something light, add more vegetables. Is there any fixed standard answer? If your goal is to compete in powerlifting competitions, you must prioritize heavy weight and low reps. ； If your goal is to look good in tights and have clear muscle lines, then 8-12 reps of medium weight, interspersed with high-rep sets of 15 reps, will definitely be more suitable for you. ； If you have just recovered from an injury, then honestly start with light weights and high reps to find a feeling, which is better than anything else.

After I developed lumbar protrusion from deadlifting with heavy weights in the past two years, I rarely hit 1RM. My daily training is basically a control set of 10-15 times with 60%-70% of the weight. I have not lost muscle mass, but the discomfort in my waist has completely disappeared. There is really no need to follow the plans of the masters on the Internet, and there is no need to compete with others about whose method is more correct. You know best whether you feel sore after practicing, whether you can eat and sleep normally, and whether you can see small progress every month. What suits you is the most effective.