Should You Lift Heavy Weights or Light Weights at the Gym?

People who focus on weight lifting for fitness often face various concerns. Sometimes, they struggle to understand what is right, how much weight to lift, and how to do it effectively.

Strength training has many benefits. Besides other advantages, it is good for maintaining balance, can help with joint pain, may reduce muscle sagging with age, and can assist in weight loss as well.

The problem is that there are many conflicting pieces of advice about how much weight you should lift. Powerlifters sometimes say, "Lift heavy or go home," while another piece of advice suggests that lifting lighter weights strengthens muscles and builds the body. So, the question is: Should you lift heavy weights or light weights?

Canadian Research Advice: Lift Light Weights

According to a 2016 study by Professor Stuart Phillips' research group at McMaster University in Canada, lifting light weights can provide the same benefits as lifting heavy weights.

At first, this advice might seem somewhat counterintuitive, but then the question arises: How did they reach this conclusion?

In their research, they divided 49 weight trainers into two groups and started a 12-week training program. They designed a program for each person based on how much weight they could lift. Then they divided them into two groups. The first group lifted only 30 to 50 percent of their maximum weight, while the second group lifted 75 to 90 percent of their maximum weight. The key was that each group lifted the given weight until they could no longer lift any more.

Everyone faces the moment when they cannot lift any more weight. The light weight group lifted the weight 20 to 25 times per set, while the heavy weight group could only manage 8 to 12 times.

Motor units play an important role in muscle fatigue. Motor units are bundles of muscle fibers controlled by nerves. When you lift weights, muscles need motor units to contract. When you lift weights, some muscles become fatigued, requiring additional motor units to lift more. Eventually, all the available motor units become fatigued, which is why your muscles cannot lift any more.

The study at McMaster found that despite the different weights lifted, both groups experienced similar increases in strength and muscle mass.

In other words, lifting lighter weights more times and lifting heavier weights fewer times make no significant difference. Recent findings matched older studies conducted by the group.

So, What Does This Mean for the Rest of Us?

It means you can achieve results whether you lift heavy or light weights. The key is to make sure your muscles work harder than they are used to.

You don’t need to lift weights to the point of muscle failure every time. Your muscles need to work harder than usual daily.

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Richard Bilgrew, Strength and Conditioning Coach at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, suggests that on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the maximum weight you can lift just once, performing 7 to 8 repetitions is appropriate.

If your muscles experience such an overload once a week, your body will adapt and become stronger.

To keep your muscles growing, you need to regularly assess whether your workouts are becoming too easy, so you can push your muscles out of their comfort zone, which they adapt to in a few days.

If weight training is getting easier for you, it means that lifting weights is not benefiting you as much as it should.

However, unless you aim to become a powerlifter or bodybuilder, don’t get bogged down by how much weight you should lift. The most crucial factor for building and strengthening muscles is to regularly go to the gym and push yourself out of your comfort zone.