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!
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What Top Natural Bodybuilders Look Like | Natural Bodybuilding
5th Avenue Gym circa 2009- 5 years out from my last show.
As you can see, trophies and competitions were NEVER the driving force behind why I train the way I train and why I eat the way I eat.
It's always been my passion to see how far I could go as a natural athlete and perhaps even more so, to show what can be accomplished without using drugs.
And 5th Avenue Gym was the perfect place to do it.
I really miss that gym.
It was a place where legends came to train and while it wasn't pretty, it had everything we needed to do the work we needed to do.
And boy did we work!!!
5th Avenue for life as they say!!!
Hope you are still training hard and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
And thanks @pit_bulls_67 for snapping the shot!!!!
#naturalbodybuilder #naturalbodybuilding #throwback #fifthavenuegym #5thavenuegym #drugfreebodybuilding #naturalbodybuildinglifestyle #gym #gymlife #gymmotivation #naturalbodybuildingmotivation #bodybuilding #bodybuildinggym
Why Are Pull Ups So Hard For Some But Not For Others?
Pull ups are an exercise people love to hate!
They love to hate it because in my experience, most untrained men or women can't do one pull up and those who train can often struggle to do 6 or 10.
Why?
Because pull ups are hard!
And yet people like myself can easily do as many as 20-25!
So what's the reason for this discrepancy?
Is there some secret that allows me and others to do pullups so easily?
There isn't, and in this video I go over exactly why I can do as many as I can and why it can be so much harder for others.
I also go over my #1 pull up variant that ANYONE can do, even if you can't do one pull up.
And yet it can build strength and muscle size in some cases even more so than regular pull ups!
So click the link in my bio to see the full video on YouTube or go to my channel by looking up naturallyintense!
Thanks in advance for watching and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#pullups #highintensitytraining #naturalbodybuilder #naturalbodybuilding #fitover40 #naturalbodybuildingvideos #backworkout #pullupworkout #naturalbodybuildingtips #backtraining #highintensitytrainingtips #hometraining #trainingtips #bodybuildingtips
Maximize Biceps Growth With High Intensity Arm Blaster Hammer Curls!
50lb Dumbbells For 20 reps!
The Arm Blaster is a fantastic piece of equipment for a home gym or any gym!
It doesn't take up much space and allows you to add variety to your biceps training.
It locks your elbows in place, thus increasing training intensity, and by doing a hammer curl, you can use more weight (thus increasing intensity even more) and target your brachialis muscles which help add density to your biceps!
This was my last set and I couldn't go any heavier as I am still nursing a wrist injury, but the 50lbers were more than enough to do the job!
Try them out next time you train arms and let me know how it goes!!!
Still training, hope you are too and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#hometraining #homeworkout #homeworkout #nuobell #highintensitytraining #naturalbodybuilder #naturalbodybuilding #fitover40 #naturalbodybuildingvideos #armworkout #bicepsworkout #naturalbodybuildingtips #biceps #armtraining #bicepsworkout #highintensitytrainingtips #drugfreebodybuilding#powertec #armblaster #hammercurls
Injury-Proof Your Training: The Power of Workout Variation!
One of the main reasons why I can still train heavy and intensely at 49 after 35 years of nonstop training without any training related overuse injuries is the fact that I vary EVERY workout!
Overuse injuries come from doing the same movements over and over and by always changing your routine, you radically lessen the likelihood of chronic injury.
Squats, deadlifts, barbell curls and bench presses are great exercises, but if you do them all the time, you do increase the odds of getting injured.
And as a natural athlete, it bears mentioning that it takes years to realize your full potential, and so it's crucial to have a training program that is sustainable, and one that will allow you to train injury free for as long as I have or longer!
Thanks so much for tuning in and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#naturalbodybuilding #naturalbodybuildingtips #naturalbodybuilder #naturalbodybuildingvideos #injuryprevention #fitover40 #workout #gymlife #workouttips #trainingmotivation #naturalbodybuildingmotivation #drugfreebodybuilding #highintensitytraining #injuryfreetraining #longevity
High Intensity Training Leg Extensions To Failure!
And as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#naturalbodybuilding #naturalbodybuilder #highintensitytraining #highintensitytrainingtips #hometraining #homeworkout #fitover40 #naturalbodybuildingvideos #naturalbodybuildingtraining #naturalbodybuildingtips #naturalbodybuildingmotivation #legextensions #legday #legworkout #powertec #legdayworkout
This Is What 35 Years of Natural Bodybuilding Looks Like!
So as you know, As you may know I recently turned 49 and every year I do a photoshoot to show my progression.
In the hopes of showing that you can not only maintain a level of excellence as the years go by, but that you can do it without steroids, TRT, drugs or even pre-workouts and protein shakes!
(I’ve never had a pre-workout or energy drink and haven’t had a protein shake in decades!)
You don't need it as all it does make you forget tht excellence doesn’t require anything outside of yourself.
You already have all the tools you need!
Not a huge fan of taking photos of myself, (I much prefer being behind the camera) but I humbly try to be one example of just how much you can achieve with proper training and an uncompromisingly proper diet!
So here I am again at 49 and I am looking forward to seeing what you accomplish over the years as well!!! Thanks so much for tuning in and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#naturalbodybuilding #naturalbodybuilder #naturalbodybuildingvideo #naturalbodybuildingmotivation #naturalbodybuildingtips #highintensitytraining #drugfreebodybuilding #nodrugs #fitover40 #fitoverforty
High Intensity Arm Training- 50lb Concentration Curls!
There are two basic types of exercises, compound movements like barbell curls and isolation movements like concentration curls.
If you want above average arm development, you have to go hard on all exercises.
Isolation movements included, especially if you are drug free as we don't have the privilege of maximum growth from anything less than putting in some seriously hard work!
You have to go to that dark place where you can barely get the weight to move and do whatever it takes to get it up!
And then somehow find it in you to do it again!!!
You can't intellectualize it, you just have to do it and believe!!!
This was my third and last set and so I went all out!
My wrist is still a bit off so not going ultra heavy (by my standards) but
this was a hard set!
I haven't done concentration curls in a while, so I am really sore right now as I type this out two days after the workout!
Bear in mind that I always try to change it up and no one exercise is done every time I train.
Never training to maintain, always working hard to gain!!!
Still training and I hope you are too!!!
Thanks for tuning in and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#hometraining #homeworkout #homeworkout #roguerack #nuobell #highintensitytraining #naturalbodybuilder #naturalbodybuilding #fitover40 #naturalbodybuildingvideos #armworkout #bicepsworkout #naturalbodybuildingtips #biceps #armtraining #bicepsworkout #highintensitytrainingtips #drugfreebodybuilding
Unlock Your Natural Potential By Varying Your Workouts!
For the past 32 years I have always done a different workout every time I trained.
I have never followed a set program of exercises and the only unifying aspect of my workouts is the blistering intensity!
I train three times a week with a protocol I call Naturally Intense High Intensity Training, and what distinguishes it from other forms of high intensity training is the constant variety.
Muscles grow in response to overload and UNACCUSTOMED stimulation.
Remember when you first started training how effective everything seemed to be, but over time that progress slowly ground to a halt.
You change your routine and see some progress, but the gains in size and strength inevitably fall off over time if you don't make a change.
Now what if you never left that "beginner gains" stage and were always training with different exercises and radically different ways of doing the exercises every single time?
You would be where I am, not having experienced a plateau over the past 32 years and be able to really start unlocking your natural potential!
How does it all work, and how would you measure progression? Watch the full video on YouTube by clicking on my bio link, or going to my YouTube channel (Naturally Intense) and see for yourself!
I really think it can help make a difference in your overall progress, and best of all, it helps you avoid injuries so you can keep training hard for years on end! Thanks in advance for watching and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#naturalbodybuilding #naturalbodybuildingtips #naturalbodybuilder #naturalbodybuildingvideos #workout #workouttips #fitover40 #gymlife #workoutmotivation #trainingmotivation #naturalbodybuildingmotivation #drugfreebodybuilding #highintensitytraining #highintensitytrainingtips #HIT
