Do You Need Heavy Weights To Build Muscle?

28 Oct 2024 · 1 min

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In this concise fitness segment, Eric Roberts addresses the common question of whether to prioritize heavy weights with low repetitions or lighter weights with higher repetitions. He explains that the appropriate approach depends on the exercise type. For compound movements—such as squats, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, bench press, hip thrusts, bent‑over rows, and lat pulldowns—he recommends using heavier loads that allow for 5–10 reps per set. For isolation movements—like bicep curls, leg extensions, leg curls, tricep extensions, and shoulder raises—he advises lighter loads in the 8–15 rep range. Crucially, he stresses that even with lighter weights, the load should still be challenging enough to bring the set close to muscular failure, as this intensity is essential for muscle growth.

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If you're somebody who lifts weights, should you be lifting heavy weight for less reps or should you be lifting lighter weight for more reps? It depends on the type of exercise you are doing. There are 2 main forms of exercises, compound and isolation. Compound exercises are bigger exercises like squats, deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, bench press, hip thrust, bent over rows, lat pulldowns. For these exercises, you should be lifting heavier weight in the 5 to 10 rep range. And then for your isolation exercises, these are exercises like bicep curls, leg extensions, leg curls, tricep extensions, shoulder raises. You should be lifting lighter weight in the 8 to 15 rep range. But here's the most important thing. Even when you are lifting lighter weight for a bit higher reps, you still want to pick a weight that is heavy, challenging, and pushes you close to failure because that's how you build muscle.