Latest news with #SteveChambers
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
How often should you change your workouts?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. If you've been doing the same workout week in week out (or even months), you might be wondering whether it's time to switch up your training. Sticking to a consistent routine can build discipline but, over time, it may also lead to plateaus, boredom, or even injury. So how often should you actually switch things up to keep seeing progress and stay motivated? We'll cut straight to the chase, there isn't a cookie-cutter answer (sadly). 'When you change your workout regime it's often a combination of structured and predictable planning, and the slightly less predictable instinctive tuning, depending on how your body is responding,' says Steve Chambers, gym manager and certified personal trainer at Ultimate Performance. Not only that, but it also comes down to you, the person – how often a beginner changes their workout split is going to be very different compared to a more experienced gym goer. Some people also fall into the trap of chopping and changing their workouts every other week, which can also be problematic. 'If you keep changing your exercise selection too often, you're not giving yourself enough time to really conquer that particular exercise and progressively overload it to achieve hypertrophy,' Steve says. Rather than randomly rehauling your training program every couple of weeks and adding in lots of new exercises, Steve says a better way to structure your workouts so that you continue to make progress is with 'periodization'. What is 'periodization'? In simple terms, periodization is organising your long-term training plan into different phases (periods) each with a specific focus, in order to help you improve steadily, avoid burnout, plateauing, and injury. 'Instead of doing the same workout over and over, periodization adjusts key variables like intensity, volume, frequency, and exercise selection in a strategic way,' explains Steve. 'In fact, scientific research shows that a periodized versus non-periodized resistance training consistently produces the greatest results, whereas blindly repeating the same exercises, with the same tempo, rest times, reps, and sets, risks overuse injuries, mental burnout, and stagnation.' Remember, periodization is the roadmap for your entire training journey. Within your periodization plan is something called a macrocycle – this is your big-picture training plan that spans several months and is focused on a major goal, like building muscle, getting lean, or running a marathon. Then, inside that macrocycle are mesocycles – shorter training phases that usually last 3 to 8 weeks. Each mesocycle focuses on a specific objective that helps move you toward your overall macrocycle goal. For example, you may begin with a hypertrophy block, then after a few weeks move into a strength block, with your final block being targeted towards fat loss. 'These mesocycles are where you change variables such as exercise selection, volume, sets, reps, intensity, rest times etc,' says Steve. How often should you change mesocycles? Beginners A mesocycle for beginners typically lasts between four to eight weeks, depending on how the body is responding. 'If you're continuing to make progress and your plan is clearly working, keep going, but if you feel you're plateauing about the four-to-eight-week mark, then it's time to make some small tweaks,' says Steve. Remember, this doesn't mean you need to completely change your entire program. You can shorten your rest periods, add in more reps and sets, or vary your exercise selection, like swapping from a flat bench press to an incline press. 'If you're a relative beginner, you only really need to make minor edits to your programme to help keep the stimuli fresh and reinforce your muscle adaptation before you hit those dreaded plateaus.' Intermediate Those with a training age of two years or more may find they need to make more minor changes every few weeks or so. 'These can be subtle changes such as grip changes (for example, reverse grip rows instead of overhand), or switching your rep ranges from 8-12 reps to 6-8 reps but with heavier weights, alongside a scheduled deload week every three to six weeks,' says Steve. This will help drive steady progress on the gym floor and give your body time to recover from the extra intensity. Advanced If you're highly experienced and training competitively, hitting the gym five to six times a week, then Steve says you'll benefit from periodization where variables such as load, volume, and exercise selection shift systematically. 'I would advise operating within 4-6 week high-intensity mesocycles, followed by a low-volume recovery week, within an overall 12–24-week macrocycle. Once a particular macrocycle has been completed, give yourself an entire week off to reboot both mentally and physically.'
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
High reps light weight vs low reps heavy weight: which is best for muscle growth?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Step foot in the gym and you'll likely spot two types of lifters: one busting out endless reps with lighter weights, and another lifting heavy loads for considerably less reps. Both have equally impressive physiques, but does one promise more muscle gains than the other? While both training styles can lead to muscle growth and increased strength, they impact muscle development differently. Below, with the help of an expert, we explore whether one is better suited to your goals. Yes – you absolutely can build muscle by reaching for a lighter pair of dumbbells and performing more reps. 'It can stimulate just as much muscle growth as fewer reps with heavy weights, provided you're working at a similar level of effort and pushing close to failure,' explains Steve Chambers, Personal Trainer and Gym Manager at Ultimate Performance. By 'pushing close to failure' Steve is referring to either muscular failure – when you can no longer push the weight for an extra rep – or technical failure – when you're too fatigued to complete another rep without your technique breaking down. 'If you stop well short of failure – for example, you know you've got at least two to eight more reps in the tank on your final set – it simply will not be challenging enough to stimulate muscle growth,' he says. "But, when lighter loads are taken to the point where you physically cannot perform another rep without your technique completely collapsing because the target muscle is on fire, then that can activate the same muscle-building process as heavier weights with lower reps.' Using lighter loads and performing more reps also offers other benefits; it's less taxing on your joints and nervous system – making recovery easier – and it can help you accumulate more volume, more quickly. 'For beginners or gym goers with very limited experience, moderate to high rep ranges with lighter loads are also ideal because it can help develop safe movement patterns by focusing on perfect form, setting a platform from which they can build greater volume and minimise injury risk,' Steve says. The most important thing to remember if you are using lighter loads, according to Steve, is maximum intensity. 'If you're using light weights and stopping long before fatigue sets in, you're unlikely to see much muscle growth. Like heavy lifting, effort and progressive overload are essential, so don't fall into the trap of thinking light weights means you can coast through a set.' Yes, you absolutely can also increase muscle mass using heavier loads and lower reps. 'This type of training helps the body become more efficient at activating your fast-twitch muscle fibres, which are the ones most responsible for explosive strength and muscular size,' Steve explains. A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research supports this idea. Researchers compared two groups of lifters training to failure – one using high reps with lighter weights, the other using low reps with heavier loads. The results? Both groups saw similar gains in muscle size. Although, when it came to building maximal strength, the low-rep, heavy-weight group had the clear advantage. If you're therefore looking to build maximal strength, this is your best bet. Although, Steve does caveat there are trade offs to training in this way: 'Heavy lifting places more stress on the joints and the nervous system, which increases the demands on your recovery, and will also requires longer rest periods between sets - typically 3 to 5 minutes - reducing the total number of reps and sets you can complete in a given session.' Plus, those who aren't experienced lifters may be at a higher risk of their form breaking down, increasing the likelihood of injury. No – whether you want to lift heavier weights with lower reps, or lighter weights for more reps, you can still successfully build muscle doing either. The most important thing is about lifting close to failure. 'For anyone deliberating between high reps/low weights or low reps/high weights, the most important thing to consider is that the real key to building muscle is the intensity with which you train, how well you execute each movement, and your diet,' says Steve. Also, don't forget, if you want to focus more on strength, as well as muscle, then you're better off lifting heavier loads. However, studies have shown that you don't need to go all out to failure, as that would also be a one-way ticket to overtraining.
