To get toned and ripped muscles, it's best to do a lot of reps with light weight to failure...wrong! That seems to be what most people think now-a-days because of these group fitness classes and home work-out tapes. The next time someone calls lifting light weights "strength training," I may just have to use the huge, ripped, muscles I acquired over the years from powerlifting to smash a 45 pound plate over their head.
What would you say if I told you in order for anyone, man or women, especially women to build “real” muscle, they must lift heavy. You would probably say I was wrong and that I’m just a meat head. Sorry to tell you, we would both be right, but one style will take you a lot further. There are two different kinds of muscle growth, also known as hypertrophy. The first one is Myofibrillar, which is the growth of denser stronger muscle, that you get from heavy lifting. The Second is Sarcoplasmic, which is bloated, soft and useless muscle, that you get from high rep, light weight training.
Sarcoplasmic is what you get from the “feel the burn training." You know, when your trainer tells you to go to failure because it's the best way to build muscle and if you aren't sore, then you didn’t get a good workout? This is all BS. Sarcoplasmic, high rep training, builds fake muscle. This kind of training will increase muscle cell fluid inside the muscle, giving you the appearance of “real” muscle. Over time when training is stopped the fluid will leave the muscle and you are left with nothing but a painful memory of “feeling the burn.”
Myofibrillar, on the other hand is the growth of real muscle. In order to build good quality muscle you must recruit more muscle fibers. The more muscle fibers you have in a muscle, the harder and bigger that muscle becomes. To build more muscle fiber, there must be a demand for more muscle fiber, and you won't get that from lifting light weights any two-year-old can handle. You must challenge yourself and force your muscles to work harder, by lifting heavier weights. I'm not saying put yourself at risk by lifting weights you can't handle, but devise a strength program that forces you to become stronger, in turn building more muscle fiber. These muscle fibers will stay with you for a hell of a lot longer than the “feel the burn” pump you will get from light weight training.
How can you go about building strength and develop real muscle? This simple program should help:
5 x 5 x 5
Five exercises. Five sets each. For five reps.
The exercises should be compound or multi-joint exercises, such as presses or squats. Sets should have at least one to two minutes of rest in between. The five reps should be challenging, but not bring you to failure. You should stop two reps short of that.
Example Program:
Day 1
Barbell Squat
Reverse Lunge
Bench Press
Single Arm Dumbbell Row
Dips
Day 2 – Off
Day 3
Leg Press
Dead Lift
Standing Military Press
Incline Dumbbell Press
Pullups
Day 4 – Off
Day 5
Front Squat
Good Mornings
Chest Press Machine
Upright Row
Seated Cable Row
Day 6 and 7 – Off From Weights
To build muscle and strength, three days a week on a full-body split can be more than enough if done right. Plenty of rest should be applied, as well as proper food intake. Cardio can be performed three times a week. This would include: one low intensity cardio day for a steady state, and two high intensity interval training cardio days. After a few weeks of this program, you may adapt, that doesn't mean you have to throw it out. Just simply rearrange the order of the exercise, or change the days you do them. There are a ton of variables that can be applied here, what should remain constant is your dedication, desire and determination to become better.
For additional information on this topic, check out Power to the People by Pavel