A COMMON MYTH

One of the biggest discussion in gyms is how to bulk up and how to gain more definition?

And surely all you gym going guys would have listened to the following phrase:

“Heavier weights/low repetitions and low weights/higher repetitions for cutting”

Let’s evaluate how true is this saying.

Muscles are composed of muscle fibres which can be further divided into major categories.

1. Slow Twitch Muscle Fibre
2. Fast Twitch Muscle Fibre

Each fiber type is unique in its ability to contract in a certain way. Human muscles contain a genetically determined mixture of both slow and fast fiber types. On average, we have about 50 percent slow twitch and 50 percent fast twitch fibers in most of the muscles used for movement.

1. Slow Twitch Muscle Fiber: These fire more slowly than fast twitch fibers and can go for a long time before they fatigue. The slow twitch fibers respond well to longer duration of stress (i.e. high reps). These fibers do not grow as fast as their counterparts.
2. Fast Twitch Muscle Fiber: They fatigue more quickly and are much better at generating short bursts of strength or speed than slow muscles. The fast twitch fibers respond readily to heavy load explosive movements. This is the muscle fiber which has the capacity of growing fast.

Having understood some scientific terms now, lets revert back to our original discussion, i.e if the phrase “Heavier weights/low repetitions and low weights/higher repetitions for cutting” is essentially true:

As logically deduced from above, fast twitch fibers are those which respond immediately to our workout. Hence this is the usual bulk(pump) that we observe while working out. The more the stress the more the bulk. However this does not mean lifting weights blindly. Going for heavy sets implies sets in which you need support only for the last repetitions. Getting help from your partner from the beginning doesn’t put stress on the muscle. So when you are bulking up, try to do more compound movements which can help you gain some solid muscle

Similarly doing 500 reps with no or negligible weights won’t help in bringing definition or to say cutting in muscles. Slow twitch fibres need to be stressed and while you need to be doing reps for a longer time, some intermediate weight is required to produce the desired effect. Hence you have to use optimal weights(resistance) if you want to work your muscles optimally.

More importantly, to bring out the definition loosing fat is necessary so that the underneath muscle can come to foreground. For that combination of cardio, diet and weights works best.