More reps or heavier weight?
 

Which is better if my goals are weight loss and strength building?

Doing either will certainly help build strength; I think you can find as many experts (or, "experts" :lol: ) that will come down on either side as the best technique, but my non-expert advice would be to try both, see if either one jumps out at you as really doing you more good.

I tend to do the low rep, go to as close to muscle failure as I can, but if I get the urge, I'll lower the weight, and do a buttload of reps. Change can be good.

I have done some research on this and what I have found that lower reps and heavier weights increases fat loss. Also I have been doing incline walking on the treadmill at a 4% grade and 4mph for 30 mins with a 5 min cool down at the end of 30 mins. I switched my routine to this been on it for 2 weeks. I also supplement with L-Carnitine tartrate, Omega 3 fish flax oil, creatine, and b12.

Thanks guys! I appreciate your input.

Heavier weight + fewer reps + compound exercises are great for building strength. However, I can't say it will help with weight loss...in fact it may even lead to weight gain (including fat, not just lean mass). You need to eat more to have the strength to get through the workout and progress to heavier weights each week. Aside from the fact that working out also makes you hungrier.

If the primary concern is weight loss and the secondary concern is strength, I suggest sticking to the elliptical and maybe spinning classes (spinning is great for weight loss) and complement that with Pilates which will strengthen your core and improve flexibility.

People often mention HIIT but I have never tried it so I cannot comment. It may be worth looking into. :)

Thank you 9Coconuts. Unfortunately, aerobic, i.e., elliptical/spinning, results in weight gain for me. I'm focusing on strength training to help with weight loss. Well, strength training secondary to low carb.

Robyn, hope the lifting is going well :thup:

Cardio and bodyweight exercises.

Hey Gypsybyrd!

Weight loss and strength training at the same time are perfectly-correlated goals. Charles Poliquin says that for every pound of muscle gained, there is a pound of fat lost. That's what he observed in female trainees over the years!

Sticking to either of this approaches (low or high rep) will not get you as far as you might have gone by combining them. I am trying to introduce you to the concept of periodization.
This is what I use in my training after years of jumping between low reps and high reps.

Periodization is basically switching from one approach to another. There are different tactics and one of the best ones is described by Poliquin in his work. See if that works for you:

http://www.bodybuilding.dk/files/at...%20football.pdf

One final thing. With weight loss you would like to concentrate on higher amount of reps, rather than lower. It helps to activate the most of your motor units (hence utilize the muscle to its full extent), resulting in EPOC (Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption; referred by other user as "making you hungrier") and strength growth.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your training!

Stay Healthy

Hey Daryl - the lifting is going well. I keep increasing the weights. Sometimes I have to go backward - if I miss enough days or just feel like crap. And the bodyweight stuff (boring though I find it) keeps getting better as well; i.e., my squats are deeper than before. So I am making progress.

Hi Tommy - thank you for the response. The cardio I get comes from strength training. I do not do aerobic cardio for reasons stated above and because I feel angry after aerobic. :-)

Hi Artem - thanks for the information. I'll take a look and review more in depth.

The conventional wisdom states that high reps with lower weights will improve endurance and muscle shaping whereas lower reps with higher reps will increase bulk.
Each will improve strength.
My experience is that exercise and weight loss are not connected in any way. I would gain or lose regardless of whether I was working out or not.
That being said, I love going to the gym....It eases tension, helps eliminate pain especially lower back pain, and it's just great to look and feel solid.
I applaud your continued workouts. It's all about feeling and looking better anyway right?

My two cents....slow down your cardio!

I wear a heart rate monitor and keep my heart rate between 120-130- for an hour on the elliptical machine. This is more effective for me than keeping it around 150.

My opinion on weights... just lift. Big muscle groups to fatigue.
Most of us have a ways to go before getting caught up in the details, you want to stress the muscle.

to build muscle all you need is one good set at high intensity (go to failure). Basically one set of each muscle group until you cant go anymore. The trick here is to pick a weight that you can do at least 8 reps but no more than 12. Do the reps slow and controlled (roughly 2-3 seconds up and 2-3 seconds down with contraction/flex at peak). The trick after that is how many days to rest. Everyone repairs at a different rate and you need to figure out your own repair rate. Mine is 48 hours. So if I do chest and tris on Monday I am good to do it again on Wednesday. Working out a muscle too soon can have a negative effect on grown just as much as waiting too long to hit that muscle again. I know people that have great success of doing one exercise of each major muscle group all is one day (making sure to do each exercise to failure 8-12 reps). Then doing that workout again after the body has recovered (for me 48hours)... Hope this helps!!

I usually do 1 set of 6-8 reps with heavy weights and increase the weight each time I go to the gym. I push to muscle failure. Sometimes, I'll have to stay with the previous weight because of stamina or whatever, but usually am back to the heavier weight the next session.

I'm a very senior gal, and have been doing this on and off since 2009, and I have osteopenia and really believe that my weight training has helped me avoid osteoporosis.

There are times though when I do like to vary my routine though with some lower weight/higher reps, but I always go back to lower reps/higher weights.

The best advice is you should not focus on either.

Do high-intensity, heavy weight, low rep weight training to add muscle several days per week. I like to do mine on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I rotate between upper and lower body workouts each session. One week I do two upper body days and one lower body day, the following week it reverses.

On alternate days, you should do high-intensity cardio exercise. Most of my cardio exercise is on an exercise bike. I ride at intense levels for almost an hour, with sprints added at strategic times to push the heart a little harder. I do cardio on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

I am not a big fan of high rep weigh training, unless you are training for some type of athletic competition.