Dumbells and doing reps?

Question

Is it better to left really heavy dumbells not as often or lift lighter ones more often?

The maximum I can put onto them is 20kg or I can do 11 or 14kg/.

Answer 1

Depends on what you are trying to achieve. In short, more weight and less reps is to create muscle mass and bulk up. Less weight at higher reps is to achieve lean muscle ...somewhat more aerobic, used when you want to tone up, burn fat etc. Muscle is a fat burner, in that even at rest fat will continue to burn from gaining muscle.

Variety of training is key so that the muscles never get used to the work out...essentially you are breaking the muscle fibers, and as they heal they latch back on thicker. While one can do push-ups every day...it is recommended in weight lifting you alternate exercises or upper body one day and lower body the next to give your body recovery time. You should work til your muscles are fatigued, but not to the point of injury.

People tend to make the mistake of doing too much too fast..start off slow, and build reps or amount of weight as you progress..and ALWAYS STRETCH first to avoid injury, as well as after your workout to release lactic acid.

Answer 2

For building mass you want to use higher weight less reps, to tone existing muscle lower weight with more reps. Never use more weight than you can do the exercise with good form so as not to hurt yourself and to get the most of the exercise. I found that I got the best results by doing a light weight high rep day on monday, a 6-6-6 day on wednesday (medium weight 6 reps, 6 seconds up and hold and 6 seconds down, so its a built in negative) and a high weight low rep day on friday.

Answer 3

To gain mass /bulk up= Lift Heavy (3-5 REps)
For endurance & to tone /cardio= Light Weight More Reps(10-12)

Answer 4

how big are you? age? usual lifestlye eg bike to work?
how often do you train? how long have you been at it!?
high loads, 3 to 5 reps with a good warm up (jog then press ups and sit ups [raise heart rate etc] till you become thirsty, wee sip of water then go!)

low loads (half max lift) then high reps [10-12] with a good warm up gives you good tone, fitness and loads the bones and systems even if you go on to build bulk after that.

don't forget to warm down. if you do you will effect how well your body repairs and rests. you will also loose flexibility!

recommend checking your diet if you go into this more than the odd occasion. quit fried foods and meats to generate definition - dairy too can hold loads of fat. protein from ground / roasted / raw seeds or nuts and soya have good oils in them too. can help ease moods too.

happy training!!

Answer 5

depends on what muscles you are going for main ones like biceps can take a lot of weight but try doing front and side elevations with a 20kg dumbell would be incredibly hard for a person with normal sized muscles

Answer 6

It depends on what you are shooting for. Heavy weights and low weights pack on more muscle. Low weights and high reps tones muscle