Lifting lighter weights is ‘AS effective as lifting heavier ones’, McCaster university says

July 13, 2016

It has long been the assumption that to build muscle you lift heavy weights
New study found higher reps at lower weight is just as effective as lifting heavy weights for fewer reps
Experts say key is the lifting until the point at which a person is fatigued

Lizzie Parry For Dailymail.com

Published:
15:37 EST, 12 July 2016

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Updated:
18:55 EST, 12 July 2016

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For those building up the courage to join the rank and file of the gym’s free weights section, the prospect can be daunting one.

Embarrassed at a lack of strength and intimidated by the hulking regulars lobbing a giant weight over their head with seeming ease, can prove too much.

But, a new study suggests lifting those heavy weights may not be crucial to building muscle mass.

For, lifting lighter weights at higher repetition is as effective as those heavy weights at fewer reps, new research has shown.

A new study suggests lifting those heavy weights may not be crucial to building muscle mass. For, lifting lighter weights at higher repetition is as effective as those heavy weights at fewer reps

Professor Stuart Phillips, lead author of the study from McMaster University, said: ‘Fatigue is the great equalizer here.

‘Lift to the point of exhaustion and it doesn’t matter whether the weights are heavy or light.’

The new findings are the latest from a series of studies that started in 2010, contradicting the decades-old message that the best way to build muscle is to lift heavy weights.

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To arrive at their conclusions, researchers 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 lifted lighter weights – up to 50 per cent of their maximum strength – for sets ranging from 20 to 25 repetitions.

Professor Stuart Phillips, said: ‘Fatigue is the great equalizer here. Lift to the point of exhaustion and it doesn’t matter whether the weights are heavy or light’

The other group lifted heavier weights – up to 90 per cent of maximum strength – for eight to 12 repetitions.

Both groups lifted their weights until they could no longer do so, to the point of failure.

Researchers analysed muscle and blood samples and found gains in muscle mass and muscle fibre size – a key measure of strength – were virtually identical.

Professor Phillips, who conducted the work with graduate students and co-authors Rob Morton and Sara Oikawa, said: ‘At the point of fatigue, both groups would have been trying to maximally activate their muscle fibres to generate force.’

While the researchers stress that elite athletes are unlikely to adopt this training regime, it is an effective way to get stronger, put on muscle and generally improve health.

‘For the ‘mere mortal’ who wants to get stronger, we’ve shown that you can take a break from lifting heavy weights and not compromise any gains,’ said Professor Phillips.

‘It’s also a new choice which could appeal to the masses and get people to take up something they should be doing for their health.’

Another key finding was that none of the strength or muscle growth were related to testosterone or growth hormone, which many believe are responsible for such gains.

‘It’s a complete falsehood that the short-lived rise in testosterone or growth hormone is a driver of muscle growth,’ says Mr Morton. ‘It’s just time to end that kind of thinking.’

Researchers suggest, however, that more work remains to be done in this area, including what underlying mechanisms are at work and in what populations does this sort of programme work.

The findings are published online in the Journal of Applied Physiology.