Myth 2: You Must Train Heavy To Grow
Premise
As with always training to failure, this is again the sort of saying you’d expect to find on a tattered poster taped to a cragged gym wall or shouted by spotters before someone tries to do a personal-best triple in the squat. We’re all for using it as an incentive to “man up” and drive yourself through your hardest sets, but if we start with the premise that heavy is a relative term–that what’s heavy to you won’t be to Ronnie Coleman–then heavy is a reflection of how few reps you do before reaching failure. Therefore, the question arises: Are maximum sets of low reps (fewer than eight) the best strategy for muscle growth?
Science
Research confirms that reps in the range of one to seven are best for building strength, but not necessarily for muscle growth. Stopping at this many reps instigates the nerves that stimulate the muscles to fire stronger and more synchronously–critical for muscle growth. However, so few reps do not stimulate adequate metabolic changes in the muscle for growth. To do so, you need to keep reps in the eight to 12 range. This increases the production of metabolic byproducts in the muscle, such as lactic acid, which stimulates the production of GH. These metabolic byproducts also draw water inside the muscle cells to create the pump, which stretches the muscle and turns on growth processes.
Verdict
As with always training to failure, this is again the sort of saying you’d expect to find on a tattered poster taped to a cragged gym wall or shouted by spotters before someone tries to do a personal-best triple in the squat. We’re all for using it as an incentive to “man up” and drive yourself through your hardest sets, but if we start with the premise that heavy is a relative term–that what’s heavy to you won’t be to Ronnie Coleman–then heavy is a reflection of how few reps you do before reaching failure. Therefore, the question arises: Are maximum sets of low reps (fewer than eight) the best strategy for muscle growth?
Science
Research confirms that reps in the range of one to seven are best for building strength, but not necessarily for muscle growth. Stopping at this many reps instigates the nerves that stimulate the muscles to fire stronger and more synchronously–critical for muscle growth. However, so few reps do not stimulate adequate metabolic changes in the muscle for growth. To do so, you need to keep reps in the eight to 12 range. This increases the production of metabolic byproducts in the muscle, such as lactic acid, which stimulates the production of GH. These metabolic byproducts also draw water inside the muscle cells to create the pump, which stretches the muscle and turns on growth processes.
Verdict
Not only do you not have to train heavy to grow, but it’s not the best rep range for growth. That would be the moderate range of eight to 12 reps. We recommend varying your reps with some low and some high, but keep most in the sweet spot in the middle.
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