High Reps vs Low Reps for Fat Loss And Muscle Definition
See the video: High Reps vs Low Reps for Fat Loss And Increasing Muscle Definition
So, in this video, I’m going to be talking
about one of the biggest misconceptions about fat burning,
which is that high reps burn more fat
than low reps when it comes to weight training.
I’m going to talk not just about the fact
that that’s not exactly how it is.
I’m going to talk to you about why people came
to that misconception.
Hopefully it’ll help you understand
a little bit better and also help you
in your training choices.
Stay tuned.
So, in this video, I’m talking about
the differences between high rep training
and low rep training for fat burning.
And before I go any further,
I’d like to acknowledge everyone
for their tremendous support with this channel.
It really is appreciated
and do be sure to like and subscribe.
That way you’ll get all the new content as it comes in.
My goal, my mission is to make this channel
a one stop shop where you can benefit
from my 30 years of experience as a personal trainer
and as a natural bodybuilder.
So back onto the topic, high reps
versus low reps for fat burning.
So, the common idea is that if you want to burn fat,
you need to do higher reps, like 15, 20 reps per set.
If you want to build muscle, you do lower reps
somewhere between the course of six repetitions
to maybe as high or a no higher than 12.
And that’s really set in stone bro science idea
that most people in most gyms talk about
and there is some background as to why
that would be a perception, but it’s not exactly true.
Why Weight Training Is An Ineffective Fat Loss Strategy
First of all, let’s talk about how your muscles grow
and how you burn calories.
So, weight training is anaerobic.
Anaerobic means without oxygen.
And because it’s without oxygen,
it’s only something that can be done in very short bursts.
You can’t squat nonstop for a half hour,
nor can you do a bicep curl with any appreciable weight
for 20 minutes.
It’s impossible.
Weight training is a short burst activity,
and it’s a series of short burst activities.
There’s a lot of time in between resting.
Even if you do a high intensity training
there’s still a lot of time in between actual work.
Or if it’s high intensity as well
the duration of the workout, isn’t going to be very long.
So, you don’t burn that much in terms of calories,
from weight training and that’s just,
let’s just be very, very straight with that, you don’t.
Weight training is not an effective way to burn calories,
but some people do rely on it as a method to burn calories.
It’s an ineffective way of doing it
and what they tend to employ is a very high rep regiment
that lasts for an hour, hour and a half,
sometimes even two hours with the idea
that by doing all those repetitions,
it’s going to carve out definition into the muscles
and the idea as well that training
with high repetitions carves out definition.
That’s just not true.
Understanding How Muscles Respond To Weight Training
Here’s how your muscles work.
If you train and you lift something
and in the lifting and lowering phase
of that particular exercise you do,
if the angle is different from what your muscles
are used to doing, if the load is an overload
that goes to a point where your muscles
have difficulty doing it or cannot do it
and get to the point of momentary muscular failure,
or if the stimulation from the exercise
is a novel one and you haven’t exercised
that particular exercise or exercised in general,
there is going to be an adaptation response.
That adaptation response means your body’s going to say,
we weren’t able to do that particular movement
very well.
So, we’re going to build ourselves up to be bigger
and stronger in order to do it better next time.
That occurs on a cellular level by an increase
in protein synthesis in that particular muscle group.
That increase in muscle, in protein synthesis,
means there’s going to be a little bit more protein
in that particular area which we experience
as an increase in muscle strength and an increase
in muscle size, which we call hypertrophy.
Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption: How Weight Training Really Stimulates Fat Loss
Now there is energy required
in order for muscle growth to happen.
And if you’re training at a high enough intensity,
at the end of your workout, you are going to burn calories
because your body needs to go back to equilibrium.
If you’ve ever done a really intense workout
and I mean really intense, you feel like a truck hit you
and your body has to go back to equilibrium
to go back to that place where you don’t feel like
a truck hit you.
To do that requires energy.
That’s called post exercise oxygen consumption.
That is what most people refer to as the afterburn.
And that’s really where the bulk of the energy
and calorie burning of any kind of weight training activity
happens, not actually during the training itself,
because during training itself
you’re not burning that many calories.
You’re exerting yourself, yes, but as far as calorically
and energetically, you’re not burning that much.
And again, our bodies are very conservative.
 Why High Rep Training Can’t Increase Muscle Definition
So, that being said, if I did 20 repetitions from my biceps
it’s not going to magically start carving out
all these lines and that and the other,
it’s just not going to happen.
We have this idea.
Well, you know, I’m working the muscle,
and by doing higher repetitions
I’m burning off the body fat and making everything
more defined.
Understand this definition is simply a matter
of not having that much fat over a muscle.
Training a muscle locally cannot do that.
Like I said, all it does is to create
an adaptation response, that’s it, nothing else.
There’s no localized fat burning.
In fact, your fat burning system
has nothing to do with lifting of weights.
Nothing.
One is completely devoid and separate from the other.
That all has to with your diet, your energy intake,
what you’re eating, how you’re eating, when you’re eating.
Completely and 100% that, and we can prove it.
We can definitely prove it.
A Comparison of Natural Bodybuilders Shows The Effect Of Intensity on Overall Fat Loss
We can prove it because the majority of natural bodybuilders
from the tradition that I come from,
train in low reps, heavy weights all the time,
as much as possible, all the way up to contest time.
In fact, if you look at some of my training videos,
you’ll see me training pretty heavy
and the repetitions aren’t that high
and I’m in contest shape and I didn’t get there
by doing high reps.
In fact, I’ve never done high reps
to get into contest shape.
I never will.
High repetition is something I do as part of a cycling
my routine so there’s always something new
in terms of the stimulation to my muscles
that allow my muscles to be in a place
where they constantly are forced to adapt
to any kind of stimulation they’re not accustomed to.
But I don’t employ high reps at all
as part of a cutting strategy.
I don’t do it.
Never have, never will.
My clients haven’t done it and
there’s always the error of small numbers.
So, I can’t take my own experience and say, well,
I haven’t done high repetitions to get cut
and therefore, that’s how it is.
It doesn’t work that way.
But my clients, the competitors I’ve trained over the years
and also, the bodybuilders, the natural bodybuilders
I’ve been around for so many years as well,
we all have that tradition of heavyweights
all the way through.
If heavyweights got you, that look,
then that’s what you have to keep doing
as much as possible all the way up to contest time.
The Origin of the High Reps for Fat Loss and Muscle Definition Myth
Now, where did the high reps equals
burning more fat myth from?
Very simple: observation.
You see, most people who come up with the ideas
as to what someone should and shouldn’t do
are those who don’t actually do it themselves.
If you were to look at all the natural bodybuilding
champions over the years, I mean over the decades
and find how many of them actually talk about what they do,
what works, what doesn’t work,
how many of them are really popular
in comparison to their drug using counterparts
who are in a completely different sphere,
completely different world when it comes
to effectiveness of exercise and how exercise plays out.
And also, how it’s relevant to you
the average non-drug using human being.
There’s not that much of it.
But what I can tell you is, when bodybuilders
who have always been the people who others
would look to in the gyms as far as figuring out
what to do to get into shape, people would see
competitive bodybuilders lifting really heavy,
really, really heavy in the off season.
And the off season they’re bigger,
they’re eating more calories and they’re pushing
heavier weight.
So, they’re pushing anywhere between six to 12 reps
and going really heavy.
And then people start seeing those bodybuilders
all of a sudden doing higher repetitions.
So, you’re seeing also while they’re doing higher repetitions
that their body fat percentages are plummeting.
They’re getting cut. They’re getting ripped.
You’re seeing lines where they weren’t lines before
because that’s how most bodybuilders
tend to get ready for competitions.
They restrict their calories so much so
that they can’t lift the heavy weights
that they were able to lift in the off season.
And because they can’t lift the heavy weights
they used to lift, instead they elect
to work the muscles by doing higher repetitions
because they just don’t have it in them both mentally
and in terms of motivation to lift the heavyweights.
Now, anyone who has gone on a restrictive calorie diet,
especially a low carb diet,
can understand that it’s really tough
and takes a certain fortitude, inner fortitude,
inner grit, to be able to train really heavy
when you’re dieting really strictly.
It’s very difficult.
That being said, the transition
from low repetitions to high repetitions
is correlative, not causative.
The high repetitions that they’re doing
isn’t what’s getting them cut.
What’s getting them cut is their diet,
It’s the way that they’re eating,
the changes in the way they’re eating,
not the changes in the gym.
People see that, however, even some of them.
Some people say, “Well, when I do high reps, I’m more cut.”
But you have to look at it
from a bigger perspective.
There’s more than one thing going on.
If you did low repetitions and ate the same way, which I do,
which my clients have done, which the bodybuilders
I’ve always been around have always done
and it’s something that they were doing
even before I was born, they get just as cut.
They get just as defined.
They don’t have any, there’s no difference
in muscle definition from someone whose biceps
or abdominals, who does high reps or low reps.
It doesn’t really make a difference.
What matters is that you have the muscle mass
and that you remove fat from on top of the muscle
to make it look more defined and also
you have enough muscle development.
Because if you’re muscles aren’t big enough,
it doesn’t matter how defined you are.
You’re not going to look impressive.
There has to be some development.
That comes from low repetitions, heavier weights.
Now that being said, if you do a lot
of high repetitions and you also do heavyweights
because some people do both, they do high repetitions
with heavy weights.
I do that sometimes. [My clients as well]
When I do employ any kind of high repetitions
it tends to be heavy weights as well,
which is kind of an insane way to train,
but it’s really effective.
That’s also not going to necessarily make you more cut
than someone doing low reps.
Not necessarily ’cause the differences in calories
being burned during exercise isn’t that much.
It’s what happens afterwards.
And what happens afterwards is completely proportional
to your intensity.
So, at the end of the day, it’s really not about high reps
versus low reps to burn fat.
If you are training intensely enough
that alone is going to increase and make a tremendous
difference in your body fat percentage over time.
I’ll give you an example.
I specialize in high intensity training.
I train all my clients, high intensity,
all my competitors I was training high intensity,
completely 110% all the time.
Now I also do a lot of online dietary coaching.
And back in the day I would do dietary coaching as well
for those who didn’t want to do the high intensity training
with me.
They just wanted my dietary advice.
What that did it gave me two groups,
and I’m always talking about the groups
and the [controlled] comparisons to compare with.
I would have two groups of people getting ready
for competitions.
One group is training more or less conventionally,
not high intensity at all.
The other group is training high intensity.
And they’re both eating diets
that are pretty close to each other
in terms of relative calorie intake, macronutrient intakes.
Is there a difference?
Yes, a big difference.
The ones who were not training high intensity
never lost as much body fat as those
on the high intensity training programs.
The higher the intensity, the more body fat
you’ll lose for over time.
Why?
Because there’s a much greater post exercise
oxygen consumption.
Post exercise, though,
after your workout, not during, after.
Training Intensity Is More Important Than High Reps or Low Reps For Fat Loss
That’s what’s most important.
In fact, in the natural bodybuilding circles
when someone isn’t cut, we [coaches] look at them and say,
there are two things going on.
Either they aren’t eating well enough
or training hard enough.
Intensity matters.
It’s all about intensity.
Now, if your intensity includes high reps,
and you’re doing high reps at really high intensity,
that’s worth something. [And Can Build Muscle]
But don’t think the number of repetitions itself
is what matters.
What matters is how hard you push yourself.
Remember, any improvement is about adapting
to what your body’s not used to.
if you are training within your comfort zone
or you don’t go out of that comfort zone
your body has no reason to adapt
because it’s already adapted.
That’s why there is a comfort zone.
You got to that comfort zone by adaptation
when you first started training
or first doing a program.
So, my advice:
Keep the intensity high & rely on your diet, be really
on point with your diet to change the way your body looks.
Hopefully, this information helps you on your path.
Do be sure to like and subscribe.
Check me out also on Instagram [@naturally_intense]
for regular and daily motivational tips.
I’m always here cheering you on,
I’m really happy to have you.
And thanks so much for tuning in.
Excelsior!
Related Videos:
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Why Some People LOSE WEIGHT FASTER Than Others
Diet vs Training | What Matters Most for Body Transformation
What If You Believed You Were Taking Steroids- The Placebo Effect In Action
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What Top Natural Bodybuilders Look Like | Natural BodybuildingÂ
My Budget Home Gym Setup Recommendations
Anyone following along knows that I have a pretty impressive home gym setup, but as nice as it is to have all this equipment, the fact is that you don't need very much in order to make progress if you are training at home.
Which is why my number one recommendation is a pair of dumbbells. Maybe a barbell as well, but that's really all you need.
I trained for about a year during the lockdowns with just a pair of dumbbells and a barbell and was able to make tremendous progress, and to this day I universally recommend and provide dumbbells to my online training clients and they have made some great gains as well.
So if you are thinking about training at home, start small and keep it simple. Thanks as always for watching and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#homegymsetup #dumbbells #trainathome #trainingathome #naturalbodybuilding #naturalbodybuilder #naturalbodybuildingvideos #homegymlife #homegymequipment #homegymrat #homegymideas #homegym #personaltrainer
High Intensity Training- Negative Leg Extensions!
The negative, or eccentric, phase of any resistance movement creates the most micro trauma and thus stimulates the most growth and strength increases.
As such having someone pushing down in the lowering phase can REALLY up the intensity of your training.
This was my last set and my training partner and Naturally Intense Personal Training Senior Trainer @egcitrin is pushing down as I lower the weight and (and is it just me or is she pushing more and more as I go along?)
But I don't stop there.
On the 12th rep I execute an isometric hold for a count of 5 seconds with Erika actively pushing down before ending with nine punishing final reps!
I think I was sore for at least a full week after this but still training and hope you are too!
And as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#naturalbodybuilding #naturalbodybuilder #highintensitytraining #highintensitytrainingtips #hometraining #homeworkout #fitover40 #naturalbodybuildingvideos #naturalbodybuildingtraining #naturalbodybuildingtips #naturalbodybuildingmotivation #legextensions #legday #legworkout #powertec #legdayworkout
Avoiding Injury As A Natural Athlete- Just Do This!
As a natural athlete, whether your goal is bodybuilding or body transformation, everything happens slowly and over very long stretches of time.
To that end, it is of the utmost importance that you prioritize not getting injured, as an injury can slow if not completely curtail your ability to realize your goals.
That being said, most people, when something hurts, just power through it, as there is this misplaced belief that there are some exercises that you need to do.
Squats, deadlifts, barbell bench presses and the like may be excellent exercises, but if it hurts, don't do it.
Or better yet, do something else to build yourself up to a point where you can do them, but there are times when some of those mainstay movements simply might not be for you.
Now for some, saying everyone can't squat or deadlift is heresy punishable by ridicule, but they won't be with you at the physical therapy sessions, and they will still be training while you are out.
If it hurts, don't do it, even if your favorite influencer swears it's a necessity. There are hundreds of alternatives, and your job is to find what doesn't hurt while recruiting the most muscular activation and sticking with it.
Do that and you'll save yourself a lot of pain and you'll realize your goals much faster as well. Stay safe while training and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#naturalbodybuilding #bodytransformation #nodrugs #weighttraining #listentoyourbody #avoidinginjury #naturalbodybuildingtips #naturalbodybuilder #fitness #fitnesstips #nosquats #injury #injuryprevention #trainsmart #sustainabletraining #nosteroids #naturalbodybuildingvideos #excelsior #highintensitytraining #fitover40 #personaltrainer #bodybuilding
Why Exercises Won't Get You A 6 Pack!
One of the most common questions I get asked is what exercises I do for my abs and my response of
"Absolutely none whatsoever" is often received with some sense of disbelief, but it's the honest truth.
I don't do any direct exercises for my abs and haven't since the mid to early 1990's because I already had a foundation from years of truly grueling ab work and having a six pack is directly proportional to what I eat, not what exercises I do.
My abs get plenty of work from the squats, rows, deadlifts and other compound movements that I do and I can prove, having not done crunches, leg raises, planks and any of that for the past 28 years or so that it's 100% diet.
If you want to have great abs, the exercise you need to master is walking away from the foods you shouldn't be eating.
My diet is and has been one of precision for a very long time, and it's what I eat and how I eat that allows me to always have a six pack, nothing else.
The good news is that everyone already has a six pack, you just have to get rid of the fat deposits above it for them to show, and if you put your mind to it, stay disciplined and avoid processed foods entirely, it can certainly happen.
So watch what you eat and focus on your diet if you really want that six pack and Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#sixpack #sixpackabs #6pack #6packabs #absmadeinthekitchen #everyonehasa6pack #abs #noabworkout #naturalbodybuilding #personaltrainer #drugfreebodybuilding #naturalbodybuildingtips #naturalbodybuildingmotivation #muscularity #naturalbodybuilder #timededicationsacrifice #excelsior #focusontheprocess #dothework #diet #abs
I Only Train Three Days a Week.
That's right.
Just three days a week with short high intensity training based workouts and it allowed me to compete successfully as a natural bodybuilder, and it's how I have trained and how my personal training clients have trained for the past 30 years.
The biggest problem in training is a lack of dedicated experimenting.
Everyone goes along with the training programs espoused by the most popular, without questioning the fact that the top figures in the fitness industry are all on steroids, and as such their methods may not always be best for natural athletes.
There are many reasons to consider low volume training but most importantly is that it allows for training sustainability.
Three days a week is far more doable long term than 4, 5, 6 or 7 days a week.
And I can tell you for a fact that it has been tested time and time again, and it works if you work it.
So give training less some consideration and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#train3xaweek #highintensityworkouts #naturalbodybuilder #trainlessexcelmore #trainsmart #sustainabletraining #competeatthehighestlevels #nosteroids #naturalbodybuilding #naturalbodybuildingvideos #naturalbodybuildingtips #excelsior #highintensitytraining
Lever Arm Presses 595 for 28 Reps!
High Intensity Home Training.
The (Titan Fitness) @betitanfit Lever Arm setup on my @roguefitness Monster Lite Rack and my @powertecfitness Utility Bench is a godsend in terms of adding variety to my home training.
It feels very much like a Hammer Strength Machine Press and the best part is that you can not only angle it to get the most out of the pectoral contraction, but that you can put the weight up at a point where it really feels heavy all to but the end of the movement.
For this movement I pyramided up to the most weight I could put on and decided just to go. No plan in terms of reps, just get to that point where it really starts to scorch and then keep going!
I don't think I ever got this many reps in before but I felt strong at the start and what I do know is that I was unnaturally sore for at least a full week afterwards!!!
Still training, hope you are too and Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#naturalbodybuilding #naturalbodybuilder #highintensitytraining #highintensitytrainingtips #roguefitness #betitanfit #UnleashYourTitan #ryourogue #hometraining #homeworkout #roguerack #fitover40 #naturalbodybuildingvideos #naturalbodybuildingtraining #naturalbodybuildingtips #naturalbodybuildingmotivation #leverarms #chestday #chestworkout #powertec
New Video: Why I Stopped Training In Public Gyms!
Click on my bio link to find out why!
In March 2020 after 31 years of training in gyms, I began training at home and have been training here ever since. Which is surprising for someone like me given how much I benefited from training in a gym environment, but over the years things have changed and not necessarily for the best.
Commercial gyms are a far cry from what they used to be and I began to feel over time that training in a public gym was starting to be detrimental to my overall progress.
Yes, it's more convenient to train at home.
Yes, there's no commute involved.
And yes, I can collapse on the floor after a workout and not have to move (which is really nice, by the way!!!)
But that's not the main reason why I stopped going to gyms and I can honestly say that I may never set foot in a commercial gym again.
Click on my bio link to see the full video and find out why!
Thanks as always for taking the time to look at my work and Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#gymlife #homeworkouts #fitness #trainathome #gymalternative #nomoregyms #gainsathome #naturalbodybuilding #naturalbodybuilder #naturalbodybuildingtips #fitover40 #naturalbodybuildingmotivation #homegym #hometraining #homegymlife #homegymsetup
How Long Does It Take To Look Like A Natural Bodybuilder?
The journey to get that muscular physique you see on an impressive looking natural bodybuilders isn't easy and it doesn't happen overnight.
It takes years of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice even with good genetics.
It took me well over 12 years to do it myself, but the best part is that YOU CAN DO IT!
You don't need drugs, you don't need supplements, you just need dedication and consistency.
But you have to keep in mind the fact that it won't happen overnight.
So, as I always say focus on the process. do the work and Excelsior! #naturallyintense
#naturalbodybuilding #personal trainer #drugfreebodybuilding #natura;lbodybuildingtips #naturalbodybuildingmotivation #muscularity #naturalbodybuilder #timededicationsacrifice #excelsior #focusontheprocess #dothework #tenyears
