if you lift lighter will you gain more musscles? like curling?

Question

hey all! i keep hearing that old saying..Lift lighter or curl lighter you will get strong and your biceps will also get strong? is that true? Cus I curl 150 and do 3sets of 10 and my arms just stay the same.

Answer 1

exercise only provides the "stimulus" for the muscles the diet determines how big or small a muscle will be. so the exercise breaks down the muscle and the nutrients provided by the diet decide how much growth occurs (or doesn't) during the recovery process. regardless of how heavy a person lifts if they do not provide the body with sufficient nutrients for growth the muscle(s) will not hypertrophy it's that plain and simple.

lifting light to gain more muscle? that's statement couldn't be any further from the truth. ok..so the diet determines the overall size of the body and exercise provides the stimulus. so if over the course of a year you go from curling 60 lbs to 70 lbs with the best of diets and a caloric excess how much of an increase in size do you think will occur? not very much at all...

this is why keeping a training log is essential for those who really want to make progress in the gym, as it makes training easier. if last week you did barbell curls 3 sets of 10 reps with X lbs. this week you need to either need to either increase X or the number of reps. essential you need to perform more "work" each training session while keeping the training time the same. this is how you force the body to adapt, this is how the body keeps getting stimulated and how you achieve continual progress in strength and muscular endurance. this applies to both cardio and resistance training. if today you do the treadmill for 30 minutes and travel 5 miles in a couple of month in the same 30 minutes you should be able to travel for 6-7 miles.

Answer 2

No its not true. I'm guessing you wanna gain muscle and not bulk. To gain muscle you need to lift weights that challenge your muscle groups. If you can do 10 reps without any strain you need to boost it up abit. When you feel a struggle for the last 3 reps then you are using the right weight. Changing your program every three weeks (meaning doing new exercises or higher weights) will keep you growing more muscle. Do 3 sets of 10-15 reps, studies show that more sets lead to more muscle. I know it seems like logic, but its been studied versus 1 or 2 sets. Also one very important thing, go slow when doing the exercise, dont rush it, 1 second for each move, ex: bicep curls; 1 second to lift, 1 second to hold, and 1 second to go back to starting position. Good luck.

Answer 3

Generally speaking, lifting lighter weights with more reps gives you definition. For instance, if you were lifting for mass, you would use heavier weights with less reps, generally to failure. In time, if you want to "define" the muscles you built, use lighter weights with more reps.

For more information, this is a great source:

http://www.muscleandstrength.com

http://www.bodybuilding.com

Answer 4

Its this simple... More weight = More bulk. Less weight = more tone.

Answer 5

maybe a little more but you will get more defined