Lift Heavy or Lift Light?
I have recently adopted a lifting routine that pushes a quite a bit of weight. Some people have approached me with the question, "Your training for a triathlon, why do you want to lift so heavy?" There is a common misconception of the effects maximal effort lifting has for any kind of athlete or exercise enthusiast. Lifting heavy does not equal gaining massive amounts of size and muscle. Muscle is built in the kitchen with a diet that will enable muscle growth. That being said, lifting heavy or with maximal effort brings to the table a great deal of benefits that are left out with just focusing on high repetitions with lower weights.
First let's talk about what higher repetitions with lower weight does for the athlete. This approach to lifting is a focus on structural and muscular adaptations. More specifically, lifting at higher reps places more focus on the muscle itself conditioning the muscle metabolically and structurally. This kind of lifting produces a fatigue on the muscle giving it an extra hit of endurance training and at the same time enhances hypertrophy on the muscle. So hand in hand, you are training the muscle to grow and experience fatigue. Strength gains with this are minimal but muscle growth and conditioning is optimized.
On the other side of the table, we have heavy lifting. What lifting heavy does for the body is something often overlooked by endurance athletes. First it provides a neural element to the exercise that is activated with the high end effort trying to move greater resistance. Second, the extra stress from heavier weights doesn't just work the muscle, it also works the ligaments and tendons inciting a process of rebuilding on the connective tissue providing and extra "injury prevention" element to your lifting. Also, the recruitment of muscle fibers is more complete through the entire set of an exercise providing a increase in actual "strength."
So why do I lift heavy? Mainly because lifting heavy adds strength gains to the already demanding endurance conditioning that my body puts up with with the swimming, biking, and running giving my body the ability to be more diverse in it's performance. Added benefits are strengthening my joints and helping them endure the constant pounding from all the long distance. For me, lifting heavy compliments the endurance work, and this in the end makes me a better athlete. (endurance or otherwise). The body is a fantastic machine that can adapt and strengthen itself beyond what we can imagine, people are always finding new ways to show their strength, and the way you train, the work you put into it will be a reflection of you capabilities. Training smart in order to outperform yourself is a lifetime process of practice and study.
Every Day... A Little Stronger
