John Meadows answers: Should you lift heavyweight or lightweight?
In the bodybuilding world there are two general schools of weightlifting thought. One group believes it’s essential to lift heavy weight with fewer reps. The other group believes it’s essential to lift light weight with more reps. But what is truly the best option for optimum muscular development? Like most things – the answer is rarely black and white. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, John Meadows explains the biggest mistake people make when they choose between lifting heavy and lifting light.
At first glance, aspiring bodybuilders might scoff at choosing to lift light weight. This is because it seems the way to building muscle is simple – the more weight you lift the more muscle you gain. But the science behind weightlifting is more complicated than that. Dexter Jackson is a bodybuilder who has always stuck by lifting light weight. As his physique proves, you can certainly build massive and impressive muscle with that tactic.
The reality is that weight training is rarely about what you do and more about how you do it. Yes, it’s important to know the foundations of how to build each muscle. But the choice between lifting high weight with low volume or light weight with high volume is not a black and white choice. Both can be successful training tactics if you do them right.
During our conversation with John Meadows, he explains the essential “how” of doing both tactics in order to succeed. For lifting light weight – it’s essential to do enough reps for long enough to activate all of your muscle fibers. If you don’t train to the mount of full fatigue – then the light weight workout will not activate full muscle growth.
On the flip side, lifting heavy weight more immediately activates all of your muscle fibers. But if you fatigue too early, you won’t give your muscles enough of a full workout to build them up fully.
John Meadows also points out a big thing that many lifters get wrong about choosing between light weight and heavy weight. That big mistake is seeing the tactic as a permanent lifestyle choice. No bodybuilder should ever exclusively lift light or heavy weight. At least, that’s what John Meadows believes.
Meadows points out that if you constantly lift heavy (and do it properly), it will slowly lead to injury and longterm damage to your joints. This is especially true as you get older. On the other hand, if you lift light weight constantly, you’ll find yourself getting fatigued too early over time. This means you’ll likely fall short of activating all of your muscle fibers consistently.
That’s why John Meadows thinks that argument between light weight and heavy weight is a foolish one. In truth, a bodybuilder should use both tactics in tandem in order to build up an imposing physique. The specifics of how those two tactics are utilized comes from trial and error or perhaps working with a coach. But ultimately – a bodybuilder should not exclusively use one over the other.
You can watch John Meadows explain lifting heavy vs lifting light in more detail by watching our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above.
