I've been saying this for a while: low weight/high reps is the smarter choice for building strength and toning/bulk. It's far, far safer -- not only are you at less risk of catastrophic injury, you're at less risk of the kind of ongoing, degenerative injury that eventually sidelines all champion bodybuilders. The idea that muscles somehow "know the difference" between being worked to exhaustion via low weights and lots of reps or high weights and a few reps is ludicrous... and the research is confirming that:

Protein.

So they took a group of 21-year-old men who were weight lifting novices. Three times a week, they had them do knee extensions on a weight machine. That isolates and strengthens the quadriceps muscles on the front of the thigh. "Those are the most important muscles for standing up and getting out of a chair," Phillips points out.

With one leg the study volunteers did the conventional 80-percent-of-maximum lifts until they reached fatigue, at 8 to 10 reps. The other leg lifted 30 percent of maximum until fatigue set in, around 25 reps.

At the start of the study and 10 weeks later, the researchers put all the volunteers into MRI scanners to measure their quadriceps.

There was essentially no difference between the heavy and light lifters. The results

appear

in the

Journal of Applied Physiology

.

...

But the findings are controversial in some quarters. As word has begun to get out, Phillips says he's "been deluged with emails from trainers" who challenge the results.

"They're very resistant to these types of findings. It challenges dogma."

[emphasis added]

Of course, you DO need to use enough weight and reps to work out to exhaustion; if you're not using enough weight and reps to actually get to failure (the point where you literally cannot lift the weight again), you're not really pushing yourself hard enough. The only thing this study confirms is that you don't need to use HEAVY weights to achieve the same results, as long as you work till failure (and trust me, you power lifters, even a 15 or 20 lb. dumbbell will eventually turn your biceps into useless rubber if you do enough curls with it... I promise you.)

Time Magazine did a similar article. They also noted that people using lower weights/higher reps were more likely to use proper form as they are not overstraining to try to lift a very high weight.

Yeah... the science is becoming pretty conclusive. I think the reason that I (personally) keep harping on it is that I've been bodybuilding for a long time, and I'm continually amazed how resistant bodybuilders are to actually listening to science and research. Every year, at least one of my bodybuilding friends and colleagues injures themselves (sometimes quite seriously) trying to lift a huge stack of weights (often, as you intimate, with improper form). It's ironic and frustrating that they could be getting just as effective of a workout using a light stack, proper form, and more reps.

But I guess that (especially for the guys) a little weight doesn't look as impressive. That's one reason that I work out at home now -- nobody to impress except myself

I'm already on the low weights, high rep bandwagon, but I appreciate scientific confirmation.

Lissa

As long as you can work out to exhaustion with them, it doesn't matter if it's a giant stack of weights, a tiny "girly" weight, or a thick sheaf of rubber bands... all that matters is the effort expended over time.

I had my consult with the "personal trainer" at my gym today. He's a very buff kid named Kyle and Kyle spewed forth the standard "High weights, low reps" crap. I listened, smiled, and did what I know works.

He also recommended cardio as a warm up to my every other day weight routine, plus doing the bulk of my cardio after I work out with the weights. I do 30 minutes a day, period, but I may split that to before/after weights because I found that I had more energy for cardio after the weights.

One thing he wanted that I refused to do was a "baseline" test to see if I can do a pull up. Um, no, I can't, and I'm not about to injure my shoulder to prove that to him. I seriously doubt I've ever met a woman who can do a pull up at 250 + pounds. I'm not sure I know many women who could do a pull up period, except maybe Lil Miss Diva or Blackberry Juice!

The consult was interesting, but not super informative. The best information I got was on form as an essential in doing the weights properly.

Thanks for posting this. It was a very good read and to tell you the truth, it makes a whole lot of sense to me.