Very high rep weights - Exercise & Fitness Message Board

Jimmy King · 08-01-2005, 09:33 AM

In my attempt to lose weight I've been hearing from the occasional personal trainer to go for very high reps. 3 sets of 20 reps for each excercise I do. I've talked to a few people who have done it and said it worked great for them. To me, it sounds like it's just cardio with weights, in which case why wouldn't I just not lift the weights and just do straight cardio? Is there some benefit to this that I don't know about or is it going to be no better than doing straight cardio (outside of just giving my body something different to do, which could be good)?

Naxis · 08-01-2005, 05:36 PM

You're right on, and I hear the same thing from trainers and gym rats too often (and it makes me want to thwack them on the end of the nose). The only 'weight loss benefit' of high rep is that it's more of an aerobic workout. Leave cardio to the tread mill. To keep your muscle and strength, stay with higher weight, lower rep. If your diet sucks, you may need the extra calorie burning, but if you're eating right there's no reason to resort to high rep workouts.
However, if you're looking for an interesting variation that *is* good for strength and size, look up German Volume Training (GVT). It's harder than it sounds and can be a welcome change of pace.

a bear · 08-02-2005, 07:13 AM

i agree with naxis. another thing you'll often hear about low weight high reps is that it "cuts and defines" the muscle. but the truth of the matter is thats never been proven, and also that bodyfat % is more important.

personally when i'm trying to reduce bodyfat (which i'm doing now), i train hard using singles, doubles and triples. i use to believe that you wanted to maintain your strength levels at this time. now i've learned that its better and more fun to train to get stronger when losing bodyfat.

Jimmy King · 08-02-2005, 12:30 PM

This GVT sounds interesting but from what I'm reading it sounds more like it's geared towards putting on muscle rather than losing the fat (oh, looks like you said that). With eating to lose fat, I'm not even sure my body would properly recover from this, just based on how hard it is on people who are (I assume) bulking. If this gut ever goes away, I'm definitely giving this a shot, though.