Recently, a lady at one of my One Minute Workout workshops asked me how to tighten up her underarms and get rid of the “teacher flab”. She had been doing dumbbell triceps extensions for quite some time but didn’t see any improvements. When I asked her how heavy and how many repetitions, she replied 3 to 5 pounds, 20 to 30 times. Bingo! That was her problem. Those exercises weren’t doing anything meaningful for her. In other words, she had been wasting her time!
Many people think that light weights and high repetitions is
the best way to “tone” muscles and improve the look of a body part. This is
false! Unfortunately, many workout programs continue to promote this belief
while people wonder why they aren’t getting the results they want.
When a body part lacks shape and feels squishably soft, it’s
because there is insufficient underlying muscle mass to provide the desired
contours. As a result, skin and fat dictate the appearance. Muscles only grow bigger
in response to loads (e.g. weight) that stress it enough mechanically to cause individual
muscle fibers to break. As part of the normal repair process, the fibers grow
back thicker and stronger. When you get tired working against heavy loads, it’s
largely because the muscles are no longer strong enough to move it. This is why
lifting heavy weights increases the size of your muscles.
On the other hand, when you train with light weights, muscle
fibers don’t break. Performing lots of repetitions only tires your muscles
metabolically, not mechanically. In response, your muscle cells change their
metabolic efficiency so that they can perform for longer periods of time before
tiring out. This doesn’t increase their size significantly. Your body also
learns to move more efficiently, reducing the number of calories spent for that
movement. This has no effect on your body aesthetics. Any improvements you may
see are from a global reduction in your body fat, which lets underlying muscles
show through better. Losing fat is much more difficult than gaining muscle,
which can take very little time and effort when done properly.
If you’re worried about developing too much muscle and
becoming bulky, fear not. Building bulky muscles like a bodybuilder takes
significant effort, both in terms of training and proper nutrition. If it were
easy to get that big, you’d expect to see many more bodybuilders walking around
right?
Now, if you’re an endurance athlete, you may think that
building muscle mass will weigh you down. While it’s true the heavier you are
the more energy you will need to spend, consider the fact that the stronger you
are the easier movements become. As your perceived exertion decreases, you will
be able to perform longer. Train to increase your strength-to-bodyweight ratio
and you’ll improve your endurance performance.
So, the next time you hit the weights, pick ones that you
can do for about 6 to 12 repetitions per set. You want to challenge yourself to
the point of being unable to complete the last repetition in your set. This
means you’ve pushed your muscles hard enough to grow. As your strength grows,
increase the weight accordingly. This kind of exercise programming will give
you better results and save you valuable time.
