whats the point of AWT or high reps

[PeakFitness]

Originally Posted by kariev34

Thanks for the reply. So now my question is, when one says "light weight" is the goal still to lift to failure for the given set or is it not necessary to reach failure? I guess lifting to failure would be difficult for AWT. I may be over thinking all of this. But like you, I HATE my arms with heavy weights.

I like to complete all reps, so I'm not really trying for failure, but I often have to drop to a lighter weight to finish - so I'm not using a weight that's super easy; it's still a challenge.

And my opinion on building muscle this way is: I have muscles, people can tell I work out, I can maintain the muscle, and that's pretty much all I'm looking for. I'm not looking to gain more and more, so I don't *need* to keep adding more and more weight. So it suits my needs.

[Jane P.]

Margaret Richard can work you to failure using light weights. I'm sure working that hard must do something for the muscles. I mostly stay in the medium weights and rep range. If I were to go heavier, I'd have to go to a gym. Margaret is the only one I can tolerate doing high reps and light weights. My mind often wanders when doing that style.

[Sandi M]

I've gone back to mostly AWT, metabolic, endurance (whatever you want to call it) type workouts, after doing heavy weights for a long time. At 53 years old, I've decided that stamina and endurance are more important to me than hoisting huge dumbbells and having big arms that won't fit into my shirt sleeves. A 30 pound barbell and 15 pound dumbbells are about as heavy as I'll go anymore, and I am not against doing a tough metabolic workout with 5 pounders! I feel better.....

Sandi

[Lucky Star]

Thinking about it, I'm not sure AWT (at least Anna Benson's version) can or should be lumped into the 'high-rep endurance' category. Many of the original Firms were not overkill in their rep #s, and viewers were encouraged to lift as heavy as they could, using different loads for different body parts. The strength sections moved slow enough to really lift, and the instructors had pretty sizable dumbbells. Not Cathe-heavy certainly, but not at all the same as Jillian or Jessica lifting 5lb dumbbells for lots of reps.

The (dubious) advantage of today's 'metabolic' workouts for home exercisers is they only require 1 pr of dumbbells, usually 3-5 lbs. This is true for most 'pink' Firms as well. But you can only progress so far using them. The classic Firms provided true progression so they were a rarity back then.

[cherimac]

Originally Posted by bethellen

I don't think any type of exercise is a waste of time. There are so many benefits.
I think we should exercise how we want to - not how someone else says we should.
When I do workouts I like, I stay consistant. For me - this keeps me healthy and happy.

Exactly.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Lucky Star

The (dubious) advantage of today's 'metabolic' workouts for home exercisers is they only require 1 pr of dumbbells, usually 3-5 lbs. This is true for most 'pink' Firms as well. But you can only progress so far using them. The classic Firms provided true progression so they were a rarity back then.

I'm currently using DeltaFit and I do seem to be building more muscle and strength than I have using other metabolic-type workouts. In addition to using heavier weights there are more rest intervals built into the DeltaFit workouts. Most other metabolic-type workouts seem to just go nonstop from start to finish, and that probably discourages muscle building.

[Sue B]

There was a recent study (can't find the thread about it) about people building muscle by lifting lighter weights than it was previously thought you had to lift to build muscle - I think it was as many as 20 reps to failure? They said the important thing, if you wanted to build muscle, was to lift to failure.

So maybe you can build muscle with AWT, but endurance and functionality seem to be the main reasons for it.

[Lucky Star]

Originally Posted by Alan

I'm currently using DeltaFit and I do seem to be building more muscle and strength than I have using other metabolic-type workouts. In addition to using heavier weights there are more rest intervals built into the DeltaFit workouts. Most other metabolic-type workouts seem to just go nonstop from start to finish, and that probably discourages muscle building.

I'm not familiar with DeltaFit but it sounds like a good program. And anything that allows you to progress will have a longer shelf life as well. Frankly I think too many kinds of workouts are being labeled "metabolic" without necessarily being so. Fast-paced workouts using 5lb weights is what the Firm used to call "cardio".

[fit44]

Originally Posted by Sue B

There was a recent study (can't find the thread about it) about people building muscle by lifting lighter weights than it was previously thought you had to lift to build muscle - I think it was as many as 20 reps to failure? They said the important thing, if you wanted to build muscle, was to lift to failure.

So maybe you can build muscle with AWT, but endurance and functionality seem to be the main reasons for it.

Chris Gethin designed a muscle building program using high reps. He uses a pyramid 50 40 30 20 10 10 20 30 40 50.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kris...-training.html

I tried his leg routine and had severe doms for a week!

[mrsyancy]

i personally think AWT is wonderful.....especially if that's what someone likes and will stick with.....i know they say to "progress", one needs to lift heavier as the previous weight becomes "easier". I can understand that, but i think lifting heavier is for people who would like slightly larger muscles and more strength, but that's not what everyone is looking for.

I think instructors, such as the firm instructors, sylwia weisenberg(sp?), jari love and others that push AWT/high reps look great.....they may not necessarily be the strongest or able to do as many push ups as say cathe, but their bodies look great and this is the type of exercise they say they do (along with eating properly) that got them the bodies they have.

i think ultimately it's about burning fat and i think most of that has to do with proper nutrition....the more fat u burn off of your body the more muscle definition will be revealed....i think people should do what's best for their body....whether it's heavy lifting, AWT, high reps, body weight or whatever that may be