Re: rep ranges for weights

[Guest guest]

I had the same problem gaining muscle. Although it is uncommon in women it can

happen... I pushed really hard on my first challenge and gained 8 pounds of

muscle in 12 weeks, this was not my goal!! I love the BFL workouts so I was

bummed out but my trainer currently has me doing 4 sets of 15 reps on my

exercises and it has given me a leaner, longer look, which I am happy about!

I'm certainly not busting on BFL, I do love the program, but we also need to

listen to our bodies, they all respond differently. Hope this helps...

heather

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Ill be interested to see 's response to this. Im on my second challenge and

Ive seen more muscle gain then I really anticipated in my biceps and quads. The

pyramid structure of BFL is for muscle gain. Im wondering if I shouldnt add any

more weights to those muscles?

[Guest guest]

Higher reps is the one thing you can do. Instead of 12 being the highest number

of reps you do,

make it 15 or 20. So instead of 12, 10, 8, 6, 6 or something similar, do 20,

18, 16, 14, 12. Or

two sets at 14. That ought to do it.

On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 19:18:07 -0000

" " <sandrawith2kids@...> wrote:

> Does anyone have insight into the best rep range to use to avoid

> getting too beefy? I know the usual comment is 'women don't get

> bulky', but I beg to differ (in some cases). I am getting bulkier,

> have been doing weights for many years and with a concerted effort

> with BFL, I'm upping the weights quite a bit on the heavy sets and

> gaining lean mass. I know I need more muscle to boost my metabolism,

> but I don't necessarily like the look I'm achieving. My shoulders are

> getting beefy and so are my lats. I've had to move up a bra size

> because my lats are getting thicker and the bands are too tight.

> Shirts that used to fit me, don't anymore because my shoulders are

> getting too big. My husband has started to make jokes about my arms --

> - he calls them 'pythons'!

>

> Anyhow, not sure how I can gain lean mass/lose fat, without also

> looking more and more like a body builder!

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Would you still increase weights with each set ?

[Guest guest]

I do four sets at the same weight, 15 reps per set with a 30 sec break between

sets. I'm only in my 4th week of this program but it really seems to be giving

me more definition than growth.

heather

---------------------------------

Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.

[Guest guest]

My response to the high-rep, light weight workouts vs. heavy weight

low-rep workouts is that it's all good. :-) Don't only do one or the

other. Mix it up, and then mix it up some more. BFL is a fabulous

starting point because it includes a combination of both lighter,

higher-rep sets and heavier lower-rep sets. I would encourage anybody

doing their first challenge to follow the book exactly and see how

your body responds. Until you know, there's no point making

adjustments to your training split or your set/rep pattern. However,

you're not going to follow those BFL pyramid sets for the rest of your

life. Eventually, it will be important to shake things up in order to

keep it fresh. The healthy eating, the challenging weights, and the

intense interval cardio may always be a strong foundation of your

program, but you can do all kinds of cool stuff with periodization,

training splits, and set/rep patterns.

Here's an old post talking about lighter weights and higher reps.

~~~

This may not be the sort of advice you have in mind, but I do all of

the above and then some - heavy weight low rep workouts for

strength/shape, moderate weight high rep workouts for muscular

endurance, plyometric workouts (jumps, throws, sprints) for explosive

power, balance workouts (wobble boards, stability balls) for

functional strength.

It's all good. In my opinion, if you limit yourself to only lifting

heavy or only doing lots of reps with light weights, you're missing

out. No matter what your body type, if you want to reach your full

potential as an athlete you have to push the envelope and try new

things.

The only thing I would warn you against is doing a crazy number of

reps with ridiculously light weights like the 3 pound pink vinyl

dumbbells featured in Shape magazine. No matter what your routine or

what your rep range, the last few repetitions should be killer. Like

when I do 40 rep routines, it's with about half the weight I normally

use. So, if I normally do 120 pound leg extensions, I would drop it to

50-60 lbs for the 40 reps without letting the stack touch. Even when

you're doing lighter, higher rep sets they should still be VERY

challenging. Near the end of those high-rep sets, your muscles should

feel like somebody poured gasoline on them and struck a match.

Whatever your goal, you should never resort to using sissy weights

that you could keep curling for the rest of the day. There's high-rep

and then there's time-wasting. :-)

On 3/8/06, cyndibarre@... <cyndibarre@...> wrote:

>

> Ill be interested to see 's response to this. Im on my second challenge

and Ive seen more muscle gain then I really anticipated in my biceps and quads.

The pyramid structure of BFL is for muscle gain. Im wondering if I shouldnt add

any more weights to those muscles?

[Guest guest]

I have to say too that I thought I was putting on a ton of muscle, but then

someone saw my photo and said it was the combo fat plus muscle making me

look so huge.

I'm still convinced as I drop more fat I won't look quite so big.

Diane

At 04:34 PM 3/8/2006, you wrote:

>My response to the high-rep, light weight workouts vs. heavy weight

>low-rep workouts is that it's all good. :-) Don't only do one or the

>other. Mix it up, and then mix it up some more. BFL is a fabulous

>starting point because it includes a combination of both lighter,

>higher-rep sets and heavier lower-rep sets. I would encourage anybody

>doing their first challenge to follow the book exactly and see how

>your body responds. Until you know, there's no point making

>adjustments to your training split or your set/rep pattern. However,

>you're not going to follow those BFL pyramid sets for the rest of your

>life. Eventually, it will be important to shake things up in order to

>keep it fresh. The healthy eating, the challenging weights, and the

>intense interval cardio may always be a strong foundation of your

>program, but you can do all kinds of cool stuff with periodization,

>training splits, and set/rep patterns.

>

>H

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[Guest guest]

Hi , I have mixed it up a lot in the past. Various splits, and

also cycling between low, medium, high weights.

Since I started this Challeng in Jan, I modified BFL (I know, I

know, follow the program.....!) Because I'm always time pressed, I

superset to body parts, so this forces me to have lower weights

already since I minimize my rest period. I also dropped a set, so I

do reps of: 12-15, 10-12, 8, 12, 12. I knew I didnt want to get too

massive, so I figured I'd skip the heavier set at the end, and try

to increase the reps on the other sets. Basically, I push to

failure on all sets except the first warmup. So sometimes the rep

ranges are a bit higher depending on how my body feels that day.

Even still, I'm getting bigger. I know there is some info out there

somewhere that gives a guideline for mass building, strength,

definition, etc. I wondered what is a good rep range for more

definition rather than bulk, and then I can make sure my rep ranges

follow something more like that. Or maybe what I'm doing is already

ok, and because I have a stockier body type that more easily builds

muscle, I should just 'get over it' and accept the way I look!

>

> My response to the high-rep, light weight workouts vs. heavy weight

> low-rep workouts is that it's all good. :-) Don't only do one or

the

> other. Mix it up, and then mix it up some more. BFL is a fabulous

> starting point because it includes a combination of both lighter,

> higher-rep sets and heavier lower-rep sets. I would encourage

anybody

> doing their first challenge to follow the book exactly and see how

> your body responds. Until you know, there's no point making

> adjustments to your training split or your set/rep pattern.

However,

> you're not going to follow those BFL pyramid sets for the rest of

your

> life. Eventually, it will be important to shake things up in order

to

> keep it fresh. The healthy eating, the challenging weights, and the

> intense interval cardio may always be a strong foundation of your

> program, but you can do all kinds of cool stuff with periodization,

> training splits, and set/rep patterns.

[Guest guest]

I'm not the expert that is, but it seems to me that if you don't

want your muscle size to increase you just have to do lighter weight

work outs. " Definition " comes with having no fat over what ever

muscles you have. A marathon runner is very, with light muscle mass

in the upper body. The result is there is great defenition of the

muscles that are there.

Am I missing something? Is it more complicated than that?

Barbara

> >

> > My response to the high-rep, light weight workouts vs. heavy weight

> > low-rep workouts is that it's all good. :-) Don't only do one or

> the

> > other. Mix it up, and then mix it up some more. BFL is a fabulous

> > starting point because it includes a combination of both lighter,

> > higher-rep sets and heavier lower-rep sets. I would encourage

> anybody

> > doing their first challenge to follow the book exactly and see how

> > your body responds. Until you know, there's no point making

> > adjustments to your training split or your set/rep pattern.

> However,

> > you're not going to follow those BFL pyramid sets for the rest of

> your

> > life. Eventually, it will be important to shake things up in order

> to

> > keep it fresh. The healthy eating, the challenging weights, and the

> > intense interval cardio may always be a strong foundation of your

> > program, but you can do all kinds of cool stuff with periodization,

> > training splits, and set/rep patterns.

>

[Guest guest]

Barbara, that is what I've heard too, BUT I also have read a lot of

stuff that says if you don't lift heavy, really get a burn, then you

arent challenging yourself. Without challenging yourself, muscles

arent going to grow. If muscles don't grow, then you arent going to

increase lean mass, which raises your metabolism and burns calories at

rest, which burns the fat. The old notion of high reps for women so

they don't get bulky is an outdated myth.

A lot of marathon runners are skinny fat because they have hardly any

lean mass. This works for running, but doesnt always produce a

physique that looks good in a bikini. I don't want an emaciated look

at all, but I also don't want to be so 'buff' that I scare children

either! lol

I thought there might be an optimal rep range for me to zone in on

that builds the right 'twitch' fibres (can't recall if it is

slow/fast). One builds for short sprints (tend to be bulkier because

of explosive moves), and the other builds for endurance. Maybe I'm

making this all to complicated. I suppose if I stick to higher reps

but go to failure, I should have it covered.

Part of me wants to do this. But another part of me hates training

this way because (a) it gets boring following the same rep range, and

( I enjoy lifting heavy sometimes because making breakthroughs in

how much I can lift is fun!

>

> I'm not the expert that is, but it seems to me that if you

don't

> want your muscle size to increase you just have to do lighter weight

> work outs. " Definition " comes with having no fat over what ever

> muscles you have. A marathon runner is very, with light muscle mass

> in the upper body. The result is there is great defenition of the

> muscles that are there.

>

> Am I missing something? Is it more complicated than that?

>

> Barbara

[Guest guest]

NO! Don't do lighter weight workouts, I was doing that for years. The key is

to go until full fatigue for every muscle (until " failure " , i.e. you can't

do any more!!!). Therefore, some bodybuilders will get to failure by lifting

VERY heavy but for 6 reps or less. Women or people that want a leaner look

can still lift heavy, but to the point where you get to failure in 12 to 20

reps after 3-4 sets. So you still lift heavy,not light. You should be

exhausting your muscles in every workout.

That is my understanding,

_____

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of alysd38

Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 11:27 AM

Subject: Re: rep ranges for weights

I'm not the expert that is, but it seems to me that if you don't

want your muscle size to increase you just have to do lighter weight

work outs. " Definition " comes with having no fat over what ever

muscles you have. A marathon runner is very, with light muscle mass

in the upper body. The result is there is great defenition of the

muscles that are there.

Am I missing something? Is it more complicated than that?

Barbara

> >

> > My response to the high-rep, light weight workouts vs. heavy weight

> > low-rep workouts is that it's all good. :-) Don't only do one or

> the

> > other. Mix it up, and then mix it up some more. BFL is a fabulous

> > starting point because it includes a combination of both lighter,

> > higher-rep sets and heavier lower-rep sets. I would encourage

> anybody

> > doing their first challenge to follow the book exactly and see how

> > your body responds. Until you know, there's no point making

> > adjustments to your training split or your set/rep pattern.

> However,

> > you're not going to follow those BFL pyramid sets for the rest of

> your

> > life. Eventually, it will be important to shake things up in order

> to

> > keep it fresh. The healthy eating, the challenging weights, and the

> > intense interval cardio may always be a strong foundation of your

> > program, but you can do all kinds of cool stuff with periodization,

> > training splits, and set/rep patterns.

>

[Guest guest]

Okay, now that we have strayed a bit from Bill's pyramids.. tell me

what this means. I hear that a lot, work your muscles

till " failure " . Does that mean if I do 3 sets, go progressively

heavier and the last set should be till failure? Should every set

be till failure? I also read where your last set (after a failure

set) should be a nice easier set, full 12 reps, good form (kind of

like Bill makes you do).

So would it be build up to a third set which is then failure, then

the last set, good form, etc?

I know all the above is good and you need to keep challenging your

body, but I just want to understand what exactly is meant

by " failure " .

Diane

>

> NO! Don't do lighter weight workouts, I was doing that for years.

The key is

> to go until full fatigue for every muscle (until " failure " , i.e.

you can't

> do any more!!!). Therefore, some bodybuilders will get to failure

by lifting

> VERY heavy but for 6 reps or less. Women or people that want a

leaner look

> can still lift heavy, but to the point where you get to failure in

12 to 20

> reps after 3-4 sets. So you still lift heavy,not light. You

should be

> exhausting your muscles in every workout.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Failure means your arm doesn't work anymore. You couldn't do one more

good rep no matter what.

On 3/10/06, Diane <dmiller91@...> wrote:

>

> Okay, now that we have strayed a bit from Bill's pyramids.. tell me

> what this means. I hear that a lot, work your muscles

> till " failure " . Does that mean if I do 3 sets, go progressively

> heavier and the last set should be till failure? Should every set

> be till failure? I also read where your last set (after a failure

> set) should be a nice easier set, full 12 reps, good form (kind of

> like Bill makes you do).

>

> So would it be build up to a third set which is then failure, then

> the last set, good form, etc?

>

> I know all the above is good and you need to keep challenging your

> body, but I just want to understand what exactly is meant

> by " failure " .

>

> Diane

>

>

>

> >

> > NO! Don't do lighter weight workouts, I was doing that for years.

> The key is

> > to go until full fatigue for every muscle (until " failure " , i.e.

> you can't

> > do any more!!!). Therefore, some bodybuilders will get to failure

> by lifting

> > VERY heavy but for 6 reps or less. Women or people that want a

> leaner look

> > can still lift heavy, but to the point where you get to failure in

> 12 to 20

> > reps after 3-4 sets. So you still lift heavy,not light. You

> should be

> > exhausting your muscles in every workout.

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

You wrote:

Without challenging yourself, muscles

arent going to grow. If muscles don't grow, then you arent going to

increase lean mass, which raises your metabolism and burns calories at

Which is all true, but it seems that you don't WANT your muscles to

grow, you are looking to keep, or reduce what you have then loose any

excess body fat you have.

I lean toward you not going to failure, at least on the exersises that

work those areas you are getting unhappy with, increase your cardio

and keep your calories on the lower side of your acceptable range.

Those should decrease your muscle growth, but hopefully keep your

current lean mass steady (you'd have to watch it to not loose muscle,

I guess that would be a bit of a balancing act.) I would also suggest

you get one of the really accurate body fat % tests, hydrostatic or

bod pod, to more definitively know how much fat you have to loose. It

could be that you are just really near " maintanence " , a place I have

yet to visit, and adjustments need to be made.

If you like hitting those new lifting goals...well....I think that

takes increased mass. I don't know how you can increase your strength

without increasing the muscle fibers.

Your's is an interesting delema. Tell you what, it would be helpful

for us to see you. Do you have a picture here?

Barbara

[Guest guest]

,

won't what you are suggesting lead to increase in muscle size?

Barbara

> > >

> > > My response to the high-rep, light weight workouts vs. heavy weight

> > > low-rep workouts is that it's all good. :-) Don't only do one or

> > the

> > > other. Mix it up, and then mix it up some more. BFL is a fabulous

> > > starting point because it includes a combination of both lighter,

> > > higher-rep sets and heavier lower-rep sets. I would encourage

> > anybody

> > > doing their first challenge to follow the book exactly and see how

> > > your body responds. Until you know, there's no point making

> > > adjustments to your training split or your set/rep pattern.

> > However,

> > > you're not going to follow those BFL pyramid sets for the rest of

> > your

> > > life. Eventually, it will be important to shake things up in order

> > to

> > > keep it fresh. The healthy eating, the challenging weights, and the

> > > intense interval cardio may always be a strong foundation of your

> > > program, but you can do all kinds of cool stuff with periodization,

> > > training splits, and set/rep patterns.

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

I posted the other day but wanted to tell you that you can make it challenging

without lifting super heavy. I'm doing four sets of 15 reps for each exercise

and it has made me sore but is tending to make my musles longer and leaner

looking. I feel like i'm getting more muscle definition than muscle growth.

I'm sure others will have more good info on this but I'm just telling you how

this is working out for me. I feel I'm working more on muscle endurance than

muscle growth (strength) and I like the results. I'm only in week four and my

trainer has me changing routines every two weeks so I'll definitely keep you

posted!

heather

---------------------------------

Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.

[Guest guest]

Your muscles will get stronger, but not bigger....muscles will make your

body leaner...and the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn.

michelle

_____

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of

Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 2:07 PM

Subject: RE: Re: rep ranges for weights

NO! Don't do lighter weight workouts, I was doing that for years. The key is

to go until full fatigue for every muscle (until " failure " , i.e. you can't

do any more!!!). Therefore, some bodybuilders will get to failure by lifting

VERY heavy but for 6 reps or less. Women or people that want a leaner look

can still lift heavy, but to the point where you get to failure in 12 to 20

reps after 3-4 sets. So you still lift heavy,not light. You should be

exhausting your muscles in every workout.

That is my understanding,

_____

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of alysd38

Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 11:27 AM

Subject: Re: rep ranges for weights

I'm not the expert that is, but it seems to me that if you don't

want your muscle size to increase you just have to do lighter weight

work outs. " Definition " comes with having no fat over what ever

muscles you have. A marathon runner is very, with light muscle mass

in the upper body. The result is there is great defenition of the

muscles that are there.

Am I missing something? Is it more complicated than that?

Barbara

> >

> > My response to the high-rep, light weight workouts vs. heavy weight

> > low-rep workouts is that it's all good. :-) Don't only do one or

> the

> > other. Mix it up, and then mix it up some more. BFL is a fabulous

> > starting point because it includes a combination of both lighter,

> > higher-rep sets and heavier lower-rep sets. I would encourage

> anybody

> > doing their first challenge to follow the book exactly and see how

> > your body responds. Until you know, there's no point making

> > adjustments to your training split or your set/rep pattern.

> However,

> > you're not going to follow those BFL pyramid sets for the rest of

> your

> > life. Eventually, it will be important to shake things up in order

> to

> > keep it fresh. The healthy eating, the challenging weights, and the

> > intense interval cardio may always be a strong foundation of your

> > program, but you can do all kinds of cool stuff with periodization,

> > training splits, and set/rep patterns.

>

[Guest guest]

I'm getting confused. Heavy, low reps, lighter, high reps... Anyone

seen Buffmother? She's not beefy at all, and she lifts HEAVY, to

failure.

Not an extra ounce of body fat on her though.

I'm not sure I'll know for sure that I really do have tree trunk

arms until the fat is all gone.

>

> Your muscles will get stronger, but not bigger....muscles will

make your

> body leaner...and the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn.

>

>

>

> michelle

>

>

[Guest guest]

She does a lot of cardio, too. GO to her blog and she usually lists

her daily workouts there: http://www.buffmother.blogspot.com/

in Atlanta

www.atldiana.com

> >

> > Your muscles will get stronger, but not bigger....muscles will

> make your

> > body leaner...and the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn.

> >

> >

> >

> > michelle

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

-

Ohhh great...I hadn't seen the blog...But as I skimmed the blog...it mentioned

a site...are you ready??? www.herbiceps.com..... hahah for all us that are OCD!

hahahaehehe ~lynne

<atldiana@...> wrote:

She does a lot of cardio, too. GO to her blog and she usually lists

her daily workouts there: http://www.buffmother.blogspot.com/

in Atlanta

www.atldiana.com

> >

> > Your muscles will get stronger, but not bigger....muscles will

> make your

> > body leaner...and the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn.

> >

> >

> >

> > michelle

> >

> >

>