Lifting heavy weight all year can result in excessive wear and tear on the joints. Lighter weights can result in equal muscle growth with less wear and tear on the joints.
WHY LIFTING HEAVY ALL YEAR IS PROBABLY NOT THE BEST WAY TO KEEP MAKING GAINS KEY POINTS:
- Lifting heavy year-round can add excessive wear and tear on the joints, it is best to cycle your training with periods of lighter weight train that can equally stimulate muscle growth.
- There is no definitive answer as to the best way to accomplish progressive overload. You can either add weight and use the same number of reps, use the same weight for each workout and do more repetitions, or add sets.
IS THE COST OF LIFTING HEAVY ALL YEAR WORTH THE WEAR AND TEAR ON YOUR JOINTS WORTH IT?
For decades, many bodybuilders have adopted the high-intensity principles of using heavy weight to complete failure with few sets. Keep in mind that lifting heavier weights (>85% of a 1RM) risks excessive wear and tear on the joints and predisposes you to injury. A sample of powerlifters found that 73% were currently injured, and 87% of powerlifters reported having sustained an injury in the prior year.[1] Remember that muscle growth can occur from 30% to 90% of a 1RM; you do not have to lift heavy year-round to build muscle.
Using a combination of light, moderate, and heavy weight seems to be a prudent way to train to gain muscle yet prevent wear and tear on the joints and ligaments. Always remember that it’s better to use a lighter weight with better technique than to use heavy weight with improper form. Using a full range of motion is always optimal for muscle growth. You don’t have to lift heavy all year long to build muscle because there are many ways to increase tension on the muscle without using a heavier weight.
LIFTING HEAVY IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO PROGRESSIVELY OVERLOAD A MUSCLE
When most people think of tension overload, they assume just to add more weight! Progressive overload can be defined as meeting or exceeding a necessary physiological stimulus for muscle growth. Most people in the gym just use the assumption of just training harder to build more muscle.
You can train harder, but it won’t always translate into added muscle growth. For example, you can train to failure every set, do forced reps, and add more sets, but as you will read later, this can be counterproductive for muscle growth. This is not the most effective way to train because it does not account for the body’s ability to recuperate and the fatigue that occurs during and after exercise.
UNDERSTANDING PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
The assumption of just doing more is clearly wrong, as studies have found that increasing volume (sets x reps) works up to a certain point; after that, a regression in muscle size occurs. In a meta-analysis published in 2007, the author found that increasing volume (i.e., sets x reps) followed a dose-dependent curve with a greater gain in muscle mass increasing with volume but diminishing returns as volume increases further.
It was found that moderate volume (i.e., ~30-60 repetitions per session) yielded the largest response.[2] Progressive overload is the progression in overall stimulus due to previous adaptations. Progressive overload allows the progressive adaptations within a single training session. There are designated training blocks for periods of recuperation and fatigue management. The fundamental principle behind progressive overload is the capacity for performance to improve!
LIFTING HEAVY AND PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
Progressive overload is the foundation in which muscles grow; muscles adapt to training; therefore, one must keep overloading the muscle (sets, reps, and weight) to make positive adaptations. We have all heard the story of Milo of Croton, who developed strength by carrying a calf on his shoulders each day. As the calf grew bigger, he was able to get progressively stronger until, eventually, he could carry a full-grown bull on his shoulders.
OVERTRAINING
As good as this story is, the human body does not respond this way. You do not continuously keep getting stronger and stronger with each workout continuously; if that were the case, we would all be squatting 1000 pounds, but this does not happen. If you tried to add 10 pounds to your squat each day you trained legs, strength gains eventually hit a plateau. You will eventually begin to overtrain, and your progress will regress because the body simply can’t adapt to adding weight to each workout without a break.
Continuously adding weight to each workout will eventually lead to overtraining. Several biochemical responses occur during overtraining, including increases in cortisol, reduction in testosterone to cortisol ratios, and increased muscle damage, resulting in subsequent reductions in muscle mass and strength. The single greatest marker of overtraining is a reduction in performance.
FORMS OF PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
Progressive overload can be accomplished by manipulating training variables, such as weight, sets, reps, increasing workout frequency, etc. There is no definitive answer as to the best way to accomplish progressive overload. You can either add weight and use the same number of reps, use the same weight for each workout and do more repetitions, or add sets. The most common weight progression is once you have hit your desired rep range, increase the weight by 5-10%.
Common Methods to Increase Progressive Overload of Muscle
- Increase weight within a rep range
- Increase reps with a given weight
- Increase the number of sets
- Increase frequency (increasing total work volume)
- Change exercise technique to increase demand for a given muscle group
- Change repetition tempo
- Add Intensity Techniques (rest-pause, drop sets, supersets)
- Increase the tension on the muscle with the mind-muscle connection
REFERENCES:
1. Edit Strömbäck et al., “Prevalence and Consequences of Injuries in Powerlifting: A Cross-Sectional Study,” Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine 6, no. 5 (May 2018): 2325967118771016.
2. Mathias Wernbom, Jesper Augustsson, and Roland Thomeé, “The Influence of Frequency, Intensity, Volume and Mode of Strength Training on Whole Muscle Cross-Sectional Area in Humans,” Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) 37, no. 3 (2007): 225–64.
About The Author
