Thursday, May 10, 2012

How To Build Muscle Mass With Lighter Weights

Dumbbells

As you age, your muscle mass begins to shrink. Cardio workout alone can't help you to maintain muscle mass. You need resistance training to maintain or build muscles. Most bodybuilders are dogmatic about the weight used in strength training. Ask any bodybuilder about developing bulk muscles and most of the time, they'll tell you to use heavy weights. In fact, for traditional weight training, you need to do 80-percent-of-maximum lifting for 8 to 10 reps. This can be demanding for most older people.

Recently, I read an article on ScienceDaily and as far as muscle building is concerned, surprisingly, it almost makes no difference whether you're lifting heavy or light weights provided you do it right.

Well, does it make sense? After all, we've been led to believe that lifting heavy weights is the key to muscle mass. Based on the study that was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, it is not the weight that matters but whether or not you have carried those weights to the point of fatigue. The study revealed that the two groups who lifted light and heavy loads received similar gains in muscle volume.

In other words, do you feel exhausted to the extent that you can no longer carry on? I think you need to work out until your muscles are so worn out that they cannot do another repetition. Therefore, you don't have to worry about the amount of weight that is used.

This is good news for those with joint problems. I have back pain which doesn't allow me to lift heavy weights. So I use lighter weights as long as it doesn't hurt my back. With this new information, all I have to do is perform as many reps as possible. And yes, it'll definitely take a longer time to complete as compared to heavier weights.

So how light should be your weight and how many reps should you perform at least? You should lift 30 percent of maximum weight for 25 to 30 reps or until your muscles feel too fatigue to continue.

If you feel your muscle mass is diminishing and you want to stay active, then I suggest that you get some new proteins into your muscles with these adjustable dumbbells. Whether you want lighter or heavier weights, you can swap the weight easily with little interruption.

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