The Adler Blog

One of the common assumptions in gyms all over the planet is that ” high reps make you big or build muscle, high reps get you lean.”  So without fail, you see tons of guys and girls squeezing out endless reps with tiny weights in order to “get cut”. Since everybody is doing it, it must work.

Really? Lets look at that particular statement. To begin with, building muscle or losing fat has more to do with what you do in the kitchen as opposed to what happens on the gym floor.

Lower reps ( lets assume 6-10 reps) and higher weights do indeed stimulate muscular hypertrophy in the muscle, when combined with excess calories, especially protein, muscle growth occurs. While dieting, this process simply can not happen since there is no caloric excess (if you use your SUC correctly). But wouldn’t lifting a weight more often not burn more calories? True, but the difference is negligible. While dieting, the purpose of training with weights is not to build muscle but to keep whatever muscle tissue you are carrying.

Why is that important? Well, first of all muscle gives your body shape, it keeps you alive and most importantly, burns calories while resting. It is crucial to hold on to your muscle while trying to lose body fat in order to keep you metabolism from plummeting.

Muscle adheres to the use-it or lose -it principle, if it is not being used it will be broken down since it costs energy to sustain muscle. Case in point, the upper bodies of cyclists and runners. In order to keep your muscle, you will need to work it almost maximum capacity which is about 6-10 reps in good form. If you feel weak, due to your reduced food intake, reduce the sets you are performing but always try to hit your goal weights.

So there is no place for high rep sets when dieting? The one time, where I would see the use is if someone is following a cyclical keto diet and is carbing up once a week. In order to achieve complete glycogen depletion, some high rep sets would be in order.

However, the vast majority of dieters will do fine with 4-8 heavy sets per body part.

Till next time

 Scott and Maik