“Will Lifting Heavy Get Me Big?”
Just like in life, most people want simple answers and simple solutions to their exercise questions. For many of my younger male clients, the goal is to put on muscle mass and “get big”. In pursuit of that goal, I have often received the question, “Will lifting heavy get me big?”
The answer is yes…partially. Lifting heavier weights is an essential part of putting on muscle mass. However it is only part of the process. A key component to building muscle is the time the muscles are under tension and failing at the appropriate rep range. This means if you are only lifting your max weight, chances are that you are doing low reps of that weight and not within an ideal timeframe for muscular hypertrophy.
Muscular hypertrophy is the enlargement of muscle fibers in the body’s response to dealing with force from high volumes of tension. If someone is bench pressing as heavy as they possibly can for low reps which will require more lengthy breaks between sets, they are not directly working on muscular hypertrophy. This is why only lifting heavy as your sole weightlifting tactic will not “get you big”.
Like I mentioned earlier, a big part of putting on that desired mass is getting your muscles responding to “time under tension”. Your muscles need to be under tension for around a minute to achieve this response. There are two ways that a person can accomplish this: slowing down the reps or incorporating more exercises on the same muscle group as part of a superset or circuit.
For example, if you were focusing on getting your chest bigger and you are doing a dumbbell bench press, one option would be to take the weight at a slower pace for about a minute. The second option would be bench pressing at your normal pace but immediately switching exercises to something similar like a pec fly after failing around six to twelve repetitions.
While lifting those max weights is an important way to challenge your muscles and shock your system, it is crucial that your weightlifting program also includes lifting weights that are challenging for six to twelve reps and to have around one minute under tension to achieve muscular hypertrophy.