Heavier Weights or More Reps – Which is Best for Building Muscle Mass?

More Reps or More Weights – Settle the Hot Debate!

This blog answers the most debatable query of the bodybuilding world — should I lift heavier weights or do more reps?

When it comes to jacking lean muscles reps and weights play a key role. Bodybuilders, athletes, or fitness enthusiasts, everyone emphasis on their reps and weights. What should you focus on?

Should you lift heavier or more reps are ideal?

Of course, both approaches will improve your physique, but in different ways. Heavy weights will have a distinct impact than performing more reps with the same weight.

This article breakdown the facts associated with reps vs weights movement. Let’s dig in to find out what will work for you and how…

Your Reps are Completely Goal Specific

Strength training workouts offer enormous benefits. It isn’t just about bulking or improving an individual’s fitness.

It can decline the hovering risk of chronic conditions while improving physical and even mental health.

The long list of benefits includes improving brain function, energy, mood, and confidence. On top of that, it reduces your chronic pain.

The benefits are evident with any type of resistance training.

One can receive these advantages irrespective of reps and weights. However, when it comes to reps, it does have huge importance.

Your reps for a particular workout depend on your fitness or strength goal.

What do you want to achieve with your fitness regime? You need to ask the question yourself.

Of course, your reps for bulking goals and your reps for elevating muscular endurance will differ. Indeed, the difference in reps determines what your physique will appear after the training duration.

Here’s a generalized list of rep and set rules.

• For extreme muscular endurance: 3 sets of 12–20 reps, 90-sec rest between sets
• For maximum power and intense strength: 5 sets of 3–5 reps, 2 or more minutes rest between sets
• To next level bulking or trimming body fat: 4 sets of 6–12 reps, 90 secs to 2 minutes rest between sets
• Beginners: 2 or 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps per workout

Reps are important to reap results. However, in every case, reps differ. You need to understand it completely depends on your goals.

Should I lift heavier weights or do more reps? Let’s answer the question, but first the other sides of the coin.

What Weights To Lift With The Mentioned Reps?

Weights have nothing to do with reps. Nonetheless, they play major roles when it comes to delivering results. The main job of weights is to challenge you.

Of course, it creates the necessary resistance to provide the kickass benefits required for your goals. Let’s explore different situations…

When you Lift light weight

If you lift light weights, it won’t challenge your body. Eventually, it won’t benefit you in any short.

A weight that challenges you makes you stronger, healthier, and fitter. On the other hand, light weights cause no muscle tears providing no consecutive benefits.

The Ideal Weights

The ideal weight is one that challenges your body. This doesn’t mean you find it hard to lift even in the first reps.

You should never lift weights heavy enough to prevent you to complete a single rep.

Indeed, if you fail in your very first sets, there’s no point in doing the workout. The intention behind a training program is to provide a progress load.

So, your muscle mass breaks down slowly. This causes micro muscle tears. It is important for every kind of fitness goal.

Whether fat loss, muscular endurance, or muscle building, you should keep the tip in your head.

What About Heavy Weights?

The pro-lifters do lift heavy enough to fail them in their first attempt. However, they follow a different approach to advance their gains.

At their level, they need to lift heavier weights to challenge their body. Don’t try to imitate them to get results.

Here, by heavyweights, we mean weights enough to fail you from the first lift. Whether beginners or moderate-level trainers, you should avoid it.

You need to also have sufficient rest in between your sets to prepare for the next sets. Also, adequate rest is necessary to jump into a new workout.

When it comes to increasing weights, you can’t go from 10 to 20, or 5 to 10 in a go. You should progress with a small increment.

Is it better to lift heavier weights with less reps?

Yes, this helps your body adjust effortlessly while availing yourself of the most benefits of the new weights.

It doesn’t even burn out your body. In contrast, excessive change in weight can cause injury and impair progress.

Apart from that, warm-up and cool-down periods are important.

Should you lift more weight or do more reps? Generally, the questions revolve around reps and sets. So, other aspects often go unnoticed…

Other Important Aspects than Weights and Reps

Most think only progressing in the positive direction is the only way. You increase weights or reps to break off the fitness plateau.

Still, you end up at a point, where your body adapts to a workout routine. You can’t make any progress further.

The only way to break off from this phase isn’t to do more reps or more weight for fat loss or muscle growth.

You can alter the output from the same workouts. You just need to pay attention to other aspects.

Here’s what you should consider changing…

• Intensify your workouts
• Slow down the tempo of your movements
• Lessen the rest duration between sets and workouts
• Modify the order of your workouts
• Change the weighted implement you use currently

There’s a time in your workout routine when you stop making progress. Your body adapts to your current training program because it doesn’t provide any resistance.

Many fail to elevate their results because they are unable to provide a progressive overload for their goals.

Indeed, you must have known many go to the gym. Still, they have no significant results.

Your workout isn’t just about reps and weights. It is about increasing loads, sets, frequency, and more.

You need to consider every aspect to make the most of your workouts. The key is to add challenges now and then.

Think About A Little High Reps And High Weight Training!

Is it better to lift lighter weights with more reps?

You can even think if high weights and high reps can go together. They can’t work in the same workout session.

However, you can make most of the high reps and high weights in the same training plan.

To gain results, in the long run, you need to focus on progress as well as keep things interesting. Of course, you don’t want to get bored with the same workout program. Indeed, you can try periodization training.

It is the amalgamation of heavyweights, low rep training with lightweights, and high rep training. In other words, you need to do a lot of alterations quickly.

You need to in swapping your reps, sets, and weights on different days or weeks.

On one side, it makes your bulking training program interesting. On the other side, it makes it fun, and effective and adds more resistance.

The approach doesn’t have something magical about it. It is more of a psychological thing.

It creates an allusion in your mind that the workout has gone more intense.

With more resistance, you get amazing results. On top of that, it even keeps things interesting. So, you end up at the gym daily.

Mixing things up does two things. It motivates you. On top of that, it even progresses your workout routine and fitness goals.

Should I Lift Heavier Weights Or Do More Reps?

The two most important component of the training program is reps and weights.

Reps stand for the number of repetitions of a particular move. In contrast, weight is the tension built on the muscle involved to perform a workout using a load.

Your reps and weights entirely depend on your goal. You switch your reps and weight according to your fitness goals.

#1: Reps and Weights for Muscular Endurance

High Reps, Short Rest periods, and Average Weights are ideal for higher endurance.

To build muscular endurance, you need to subject your muscle tissue to heavy weights and create tension.

To achieve this, muscular endurance exercises with high reps and short rest periods are BEST.

They develop tension, which helps improves muscular endurance.

#2: Reps and Weights for Muscle Growth

Moderate Reps, Moderate Rest, and Moderate weights are for muscular growth.

You should perform sufficient reps and sets until you fail.

This creates micro tears necessary to grow muscle. The high weights provide extra load causing more muscle tears. Eventually, you bulk up faster.

#3: Reps and Weights for Fat Loss

Should you do more reps or more weight for toning and fat loss?

The answer is similar to muscle development. You need to keep your reps, sets, and rest duration similar.

However, you need to lower your weights because your aim is to trim flab not jack them up. In other words, it should be like Moderate Reps, Low Sets, and Average Weights.

#4: Reps and Sets for Muscular Output

To improve your power and strength go for Low Reps, high Sets, More Rest, and Moderate to High Average Weights.

This is ideal to improve your strength level and physical output.

Is it better to lift heavy or light with more reps?

Reps and weights are important constituents of an effective workout program. There isn’t a general statement to increase a specific component.

Certainly, everyone has a different fitness program. So, they can increase reps or weights as per their preference as mentioned above.

Our discussion on whether should I lift heavier weights or do more reps ends here. At last, let’s recall important points.

The Takeaway

There is a time when your body stops making progress. In such a case, switching and swapping your reps or weights can be effective.

It can provide progressive overload to create a breakthrough in your fitness journey. Nonetheless, your reps and sets entirely depend on your goal.

Whether weight loss or muscle building, the reps and weights are different. If you follow the reps and weights accordingly, you are sure to get an edge soon.

In other words, the component of workouts is goal specific.

We have provided a generalized number of reps and sets in some cases, you can consult with your fitness trainer for more information.