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There is an age-old myth that you need to train with light
weights and high reps to achieve more muscular definition
and muscle separation. I have to tell you, that simply is
not true. If you are striving to achieve a leaner physique
based on high rep training you are going about it the wrong
way. Whether you are working to get ready for a contest or
just want to be leaner for the summer it is important you
continue to train heavy to achieve the greatest results.
I often get questioned if I change my training as I get closer
to a contest to get leaner. My answer is an emphatic no. Weight
training stays the same all year long. I always train heavy
because weight training is about building muscle and I know
that is best accomplished with overload.
Heavy training will continually
create the best stimulus for muscle growth. Don't
get confused and think you can turn weight training into
a direct fat burning exercise because you can't, no matter
how many reps you do.
Fat burning is achieved by creating a gradual caloric
deficit between calories ingested and calories expended.
This deficit is accomplished with an intelligent diet
and the inclusion intense cardio.
Expending more energy (calories) and elevating your metabolic
rate for an extended period of time after exercise with
cardio in combination with gradual and progressive calorie
reductions is the best recipe for fat loss. All the while
training heavy to build and maintain muscle throughout
your diet.
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| By training heavy, even when your primary
goal is to get leaner, you will continue to create the
best stimulus for muscle growth. This is to your benefit
for greater fat loss because the more muscle you can build
and maintain, the higher your resting metabolic rate will
be. |
You can't spot reduce fat from a specific area no matter
how many repetitions you perform. You won't increase muscle
separation or definition with high rep training. If you lighten
up the weights and increase the reps you are simply reducing
the stimulus for muscle growth and ultimately shooting your
progress in the foot.
Stick with basic compound lifts and avoid the temptation to
do isolation or shaping exercises no matter how much you've
read about them in magazines. It is almost standard bodybuilding
practice to do isolation exercises like chest flyes or concentration
curls to "shape" or define your muscles, but you
must remember that exercise selection should always be based
on the movements that allow you to achieve the greatest overload
because that will allow you to stimulate the most muscle growth.
The more muscle you develop, the more separation you'll display
when you strip away body fat through intelligent dieting and
cardio.
Keep it simple. When you are in the gym always train
to build muscle and remember that achieving greater definition
and muscle separation is a product of fat loss and that is
achieved through diet and cardio NOT high rep training.
Written by: Jeff Willet, IFBB Pro
2003 Team Universe Overall Champion
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