by Matt Weik, BS, CSCS, CPT, CSN
For those who’re like most guys, you’d love to achieve extra muscle with out lifting extra weight. That will be superior, proper? However what if the idea wasn’t so far-fetched?
You is likely to be by yourself health journey to construct probably the most sculpted physique with mind-boggling power. However what if we informed you there’s multiple solution to bulge biceps and a chiseled physique than lifting heavy weights? Sure, you heard it proper!
Whereas conventional weight coaching often is the go-to most well-liked technique, there’s a world of artistic methods ready to unleash your muscle-building potential.
Whether or not you favor understanding at house or within the fitness center, with the assistance of intelligent methods, you’ll be able to intensify your exercises and problem your muscle groups in new methods to attain the muscle progress you need.
On this article, we are going to dive deeper and speak about alternative ways you’ll be able to achieve muscle with out having to carry heavy weights and probably injure your self.
Disclaimer: This text is for informational functions solely and isn’t meant to deal with or diagnose any situation. It is strongly recommended that you simply converse together with your physician earlier than beginning any train program.
5 Methods to Construct Muscle With out Lifting Heavy
Beneath are some efficient methods to achieve extra muscle with out lifting extra weights.
1. Tempo issues
One solution to stimulate extra muscle progress with out growing the burden is by various your repetition period or lifting tempo. This refers back to the tempo at which you carry out your reps (each the eccentric and concentric portion of the motion).
Slowing down your reps will increase the time underneath pressure in your muscle groups, which may promote extra muscle with out lifting extra weight.
Nonetheless, there’s a restrict to how gradual you need to go. For those who go too gradual, you might not absolutely activate the muscle models, regardless of the elevated time underneath pressure.
Analysis from 2015 signifies that extraordinarily gradual tempos, like 10 seconds per rep, can result in decreased muscle activation and hinder progress.
In keeping with analysis, the optimum lifting tempo for progress is usually round 0.5-3 seconds for each the lifting (concentric) and decreasing (eccentric) phases of the motion. This vary supplies sufficient time underneath pressure to stimulate progress with out compromising muscle activation.
2. Scale back relaxation instances
Transitioning from finishing a dumbbell shoulder press for 10 reps at a particular weight with 3 minutes of relaxation between units all the way down to 2 minutes can induce extra progress. It’s because performing the identical reps and weight with simply 2 minutes of relaxation will increase metabolic stress.
However, based on analysis, you wouldn’t need to cut back your relaxation durations to lower than 2 minutes in your predominant compound actions within the fitness center. This contains compound body weight workout routines like pull-ups and difficult units of push-ups in the event you purpose to optimize the expansion response from these workout routines.
3. Maintain switching rep ranges
Working throughout the rep vary of 6-12 is understood to stimulate muscle progress, however discovering the proper stability may be tough. Decrease reps necessitate extra units and heavier weights to set off a response in muscle fibers.
Then again, increased reps require lighter weights however lead to an extended time underneath pressure, enhancing muscle activation. To extend muscle growth, it’s helpful to range your rep ranges, retaining your physique adaptable and selling continued progress by altering stress on the musculoskeletal system.
4. Resistance coaching
Resistance coaching usually makes use of elastic bands in body weight workout routines, providing focused muscle group engagement for these aiming to extend muscle mass.
Quite a few research, together with a complete systematic overview, have persistently advocated for resistance coaching as a major technique to optimize muscle hypertrophy.
Moreover, resistance coaching is usually built-in into bodily remedy regimens to assist muscle power restoration in people rehabilitating from accidents, offering a delicate but efficient method to rebuilding muscle operate.
5. Carry out supersets
Supersets contain pairing two workout routines collectively, carried out consecutively with minimal relaxation in between, successfully slicing down on general relaxation time whereas doubling the workload.
For example, full 12 repetitions of a bicep curl adopted instantly by 12 triceps extensions. You’ll be able to select to focus on the identical muscle teams, opposing muscle teams, and even break up between lower-body and upper-body workout routines.
Moreover, this method engages smaller muscle teams for an extended period.
What Does the Science Say?
In a latest research, individuals educated with weights 3 times per week for eight weeks. One group lifted heavier weights (8-12 reps), whereas the opposite used lighter weights for increased reps (25-35 reps). Surprisingly, each teams confirmed related muscle progress.
This challenges the assumption that heavier weights are mandatory for muscle features, suggesting that coaching with lighter weights however extra reps may also produce vital muscle dimension features.
In a 2018 research, utilizing gentle weights for prime reps (20 rep-max) produced muscle dimension features just like these of heavy weights (8 rep-max).
One other research in Japan discovered that prime reps (30-40 reps) constructed as a lot muscle as low reps (8-12 reps) with heavier weights.
In a Brazilian research, coaching with low, reasonable, and excessive reps led to related muscle progress. Nonetheless, utilizing very gentle weights for ultra-high reps (60-70 reps) resulted in slower muscle progress in comparison with different rep ranges.
This means that whereas excessive reps may be efficient, utilizing extraordinarily gentle weights could not maximize muscle features.