Hey everybody I am just curious to know whether lifting light weights till by muscles HURT ALOT (many many reps with short breaks) can be as effective as lifting heavy weights with few reps on an extremely low carb diet?

There’s a lot of ways to do weight training. None of them should really “hurt”. In the beginning you will have some soreness (DOMS/ delayed onset muscle soreness)for a day or two following your workout, this can be greatly reduced by taking some L-glutamine (available at health food stores or fitness places). After you have been working out for a few weeks you will not be sore, you will feel that you have worked your muscles but you will not be in a lot of pain.

What do you consider heavy? And what do you have available to you to train with? Are you planning to work out at home or do you want to go to a gym.

Anyway, you should start with what you can handle and work up. Really you should look at some different programs as they are worked out in different ways. Some weight programs do have people do reps till exhaustion, others have you do reps of decreasing numbers with increasing weights. It’s all good but it’s best to follow a set routine to get the benefits that program was designed for.

Since I have no idea of your fitness level I really can’t say anymore except that it will only do you GOOD to try this. Start with what you can handle and work up slowly. It might seem really hard at first but your strength will build very quickly and you will feel SO good about yourself as you build strength and muscle and see your improvements on every workout. Keep track of what you were able to do each time - in the period between sets when you rest, write what you just did down. The rest between sets is VERY important. I hate to do it because I am always rushing, but believe me, it makes a BIG difference in what you are able to do on the next set. Good Luck and keep us posted on what you do

^Thanks for a prompt reply ! I feel that I can do my exercises properly and feel the burn of the repetitions better when I do light weights with the following exercises (I made the list myself ). This is my upper body weights routine I just completed-

Flat bench press- 3 sets, 10 reps (33kgs or 72.6lbs)
Incline bench press- 2 sets, 8 reps (28 kgs or 61.6lbs)
Bent over barbell row- 3 sets, 10 reps (10.5 kgs or 23.1lbs)
Dumbell pullover- 2 sets, 10 reps (10.5 kgs or 23.1lbs)
Shoulder press- 3 sets, 10 reps (10.5 kgs or 23.1lbs)
Barbell curls- 3 sets, 10 reps (10.5 kgs or 23.1lbs)
Skull crusher- 3 sets, 10 reps (10.5 kgs or 23.1lbs)

I do all these exercises very slowly and properly at home (I have a barbel, dumbells, a bench and quite a few actual weights ...been saving up my pocket money haha)...Do you all think this will work to just kinda tone me up and make me look more fit rather than podgy?

Thanks alot!

You’re very welcome.

That looks like a really good upper body workout. And you’re right about feeling the burn better when you do them very slowly. I have a problem increasing my weights on some of the exercises because it’s a five pound jump to the next one (10 if you count I’m using two dumbells) - and for me that is just too much of a jump to handle. So what I do is concentrate on doing each rep EXTREMELY slowly and boy do you FEEL that burn. It’s a REALLY good workout. There is a workout based on that but darn if I can remember the name of it.

Anyway the one you just posted looks great. Remember to rest the muscle group you just worked for a day inbetween. So do your upper one day, your lower the next and if you want to do cardio do it the next day and then repeat the cycle. Resting one day a week is good too.

Remember that when your muscles are sore after a workout that is because working out breaks down muscle tissue, then it repairs itself and builds a muscle that is ever so slightly bigger than it was before it was broken down. It helps to think of this if you are feeling pain. Also if you are REALLY sore don’t work that muscle group until the soreness subsides, the muscle hasn’t finished repairing yet and there’s no sense breaking it down until it’s finished building. Remember that after you have been working out for a week or two you will no longer feel very sore the day after a workout - and get some L-glutamine if you can. A couple of teaspoons a day in a glass of water will speed the muscle recovery. Lots of protein too, to give those muscles fuel to grow on.

Ps - feel free to take a look at my gym log (or those of others). I have the same basic equipment as you and am following a BFL (Body for Life) type workout. You can see how I set it up. At the moment I’m using dumbells for my upper.

I use these weights.
2 x 5 = 10lbs
2 -7.7 lbs =15.4 lbs
2 x 10lb = 20 lbs
2 x 15 = 30 lbs
2x 20 = 40 (rarely can I do these yet)

Those are pretty light weights but I am getting good definition on my arms, my waist is tightening and my butt has shrunk.

I’m a woman and 50 years old, so you should easily outdo me in no time

Hmm...From doing some scouting around the net I think that I will start with lifting these light weights and once I can do the 10 sets easily, I will add a couple more kilos. This will probably take longer to see results (I hope not though! haha) but yeah, addinglean muscle mass and abit of muscle definition once I get my body fat lower will be all good !

I'm gonna give you my opinions based upon my own experience. You obviously know something about training, because of the lifts you chose for your routine-- i will critique that, too, because it's very similar to the upper body workout set-up I'm doing these days. Just to give you some more ideas.
I lift weights (my workouts revolve around the powerlifts,), and ALWAYS work towards my max; using some % of it. The point of strength training IMO, is to become stronger, and if you continually use the same little bit of weight you aren't going to become stronger, and really, i think it is a waste of time. Also, lifting heavier weights isn't neccessarily harder, as some people seem to think, and it definitely doesn't take longer to get visible results. This is because of how strength training and our bodies work together. Each workout will make you stronger, and you will be able to lift (even if only a little bit) more at the next workout. I am a 5'6, 150 pound woman, and , just to give you an example of how quickly our bodies adapt-- I started bench pressing again recently (i hadn't done it for years), working towards a 5 rep max (meaning the highest weight i can use and perform 5 reps successfully) I have been putting 5 pounds on my bench press EVERY week. My max now is 85 lbs. I know, not great, but it came very, very quickly. Men make gains quicker than women. IMO, we should use every bit of strength we gain to our greatest advantage.
Generally, you should rotate your exercises and the amount of weight used AT LEAST every 3 weeks- just to be certain that your body hasn't adapted to what you have been doing and stop making gains. Because our bodies really do adapt to physical situations very quickly, and if you strength train, you don't want that, because you will go nowhere.
As for "feeling the burn", i also love the feeling. The only lighter weight, many rep exercises i do is with kettlebells, which i use to do cardio, And that definitely burns. BUT--- If you are lifting heavier, towards your max, or doing max effort lifting, doing less reps, you will definitely, absolutely feel the burn, as well. Especially the next day or day after, It's called "delayed onset muscle soreness" Sometimes, after a really heavy session, i find it hard to sit down2 days later. Personally, i quite like the feeling.
As for your workout, i think that will work great for you, if you rotate the lifts, and add weight every couple weeks. The changes don't have to be big. For example, you could switch the incline bench press for a decline bench press. If the reason you are using 23.1 lbs. for almost all your lifts is because that's the only weight you have, fine. But, if you do have more weight, you should use it, cuz i'm pretty sure that you will be able to use more weight (to your benefit) for some of these lifts; they are all different. My row is WAY higher than my shoulder press. Also, are you doing any core exercises? If you aren't, you should seriously consider adding some squats or deadlifts to your routine. They will do the most for your entire body.
Lastly, you shouldn't feel that you have to lose more weight before you fully dedicate yourself to lifting; the more you lift, the quicker the weight will come off.
Okay. I hope that made sense; i can be terrible at explaining this type of thing. Like i said, it's all my opinion, based on research and experience. If you don't want to change your routine at all, you don't have to, i think it will certainly work for you, and will help you to become closer to your goals. Add squats, though....

^WOW thanks so much for such an indepth reply! Yes I have been readin mens health magazines from one of my frends and I got all the exercises from there That is my upperbody workout and this is my lower body workout:

Squats: 3 sets, 10 reps
Straight leg dead lifts: 3 sets, 10 reps
Barbell good mornings: 3 sets, 8 reps
Weighted Lunges: 3 sets, 8 reps
Standing Calf raise: 4 sets, 10 reps
Sit ups: A heck of alot...until my rectus abdominis aches haha

Today Ive just borrowed some weights off my friend so I will see how heavy I can go with these exercises. Now I think I will progressively increase my weight when I can do 3 sets of 10 reps with the same weight .

I just hope I can stick with this...It seems pretty strenuous!

TWL

Once I can do three sets of 10, I up the weight.

On a low carb diet, high reps are probably the LAST thing you want to do because such work is so glycogen-dependent.

The most important aspect of muscle-gain is caloric surplus. Eat more than you need and lift, you'll gain muscle. At this point, you look to periodization to keep the gains optimal.

Under normal training paradigms, short heavy reps while dieting are how you hang onto LBM so you drop fat instead of muscle. If you miraculously manage to GAIN muscle on a cut, it won't last for long and it won't be very much.

^ Oh wow! I had no idea that it was impossible to gain muscle on a low carb diet..

So is weight training really worth my time if all im doin is preserving what I got? I have a high body fat percentage (around 28% accordin to a hand held thingo)...would cardio just work better for me?

Thanks n cant wait to read the replies! TWL

I'm losing muscle? News to me:


The trick is to make sure you get enough protein right before and right after your workout. People critisize me for using the shakes, but dangit, I'm far from home and the shakes are portable protein.

I know I'm gaining muscle because I can lift heavier weights than when I started. I can do men's push-ups! I can curl 20 pound dumbbells!

^ Wow, you have acheived alot ! However no body said you would be losing muscle, galatia stated that you cant make long lasting gains eating hypocalorically..

So my question is, why should I bother to weight train if im not going to gain muscle? Is it worth it..

There are a few things that make a difference. If you are new to weight training, you will achieve results. There is a "honeymoon" phase in weight training. For the first 6 months or so you will make noticeable gains. More impressive if you are feeding your muscles properly. If you drop your calories too low your body is going to spend those calories on things it believes are more important than building bigger muscles. If you're not lifting heavy and frequently, your body will not see the point in spending those calories on muscle building. You have to convince it that building muscle is important. But even so, muscles won't grow if you don't feed them. You probably know to keep your protein at around 1 gr. for each pound you weigh. Have you figured out what your maintenance calories are?

^ Ohh I see! Well from memory my maintenece calories are around 2400 I think...im 6 ft 0.5" and weigh 202 pounds, I am a male with broad shoulders and thick long legs (I have a medium to big frame).

Basically ALL I eat is protein with a bit of fat (I am on the meat and eggs diet, with some mayo for eggs and cream for coffee included haha) so I am pretty sure gettin adequate protein shouldnt be an issue

However on this diet I NEVER EVER feel hungry...I wake up feelin so full that I dont want to eat breakfast, on accident I woke up late for uni, got changed and ran out the door haha...didnt come home till 6pm...I didnt eat ANYTHING the whole day and I didnt feel hungry at all. So at times I think i eat TOO hypocalorically

Dont really know what more to say, but thank you to everyone who has replied to my post

TWL