Finnish research finds LOWERING weights boosts leg mass
- Lowering heavy loads builds leg muscles more than traditional weight training
- Greater mental effort required when lowering the body may activate leg muscle
- Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä found leg mass greatly improved
Alexandra Thompson Health Reporter For Mailonline
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Lowering weights has greater benefits than lifting, a new study reveals
Training with heavier loads while lowering weights gains greater strength than using the same weight for both lifting and lowering.
This may be due to the greater mental effort required to control the body while lowering weights, leading to an increase in leg muscle activation.
Lowering weights significantly increases leg muscle mass over traditional lifting training
HEAVY WEIGHT ARE AS EFFECTIVE AS LIGHTER ONES
Using lighter weights at higher repetition is as effective as heavy weights at fewer reps, research has shown.
Researchers from McMaster University, Ontario, recruited two groups of men to take part in the study.
All of the participants were experienced weight lifters, who followed a 12-week, whole-body protocol.
One group used lighter weights – up to 50 per cent of their maximum strength – for sets ranging from 20 to 25 repetitions.
The other group used heavier weights – up to 90 per cent of maximum strength – for eight to 12 repetitions.
Researchers analysed muscle and blood samples and found gains in muscle mass and muscle fibre size – a key measure of strength – were virtually identical.
Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, analysed strength-trained men aged on average 22 years old.
The men were allocated to either lower heavy weights or continue with traditional resistance training of lifting and lowering the same load.
Both groups performed several sets of leg exercises each week.
After 10 weeks, leg muscle mass was significantly greater in the lowering group.
The reasons for this are unclear, but may relate to different blood hormone concentrations between the groups.
Study author Dr Simon Walker, said: ‘Humans have a greater ability to produce force when lowering (eccentric) a load compared to lifting (concentric).
‘So it seems logical to train with greater eccentric loads than those used during the concentric phase of the lift.’
This comes after researchers at the University of Sydney found using weights can improve muscle strength and subsequently brain function in adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
The team says the findings are important as people with MCI are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
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