Building up muscles in my arms, lower weight and more reps or heavier weight and less reps?

Question

pretty much as the title says..

now ive been doing weights on and off for a year (dumb bells) and i need to know something..

i usually use 4.5kg, and i do about 20 each arm just normal reps, then 10 side elevations and 15 lifting

should i keep on using 4.5k and doing around 70 reps, or use my lighter dumbbells which are 2.3kg and do double and maybe more?

which would be more affective?

and atm, i dont wanna be ripped, like MASSIVE considering im only 14, so id rather be toned..

thanks

Answer 1

well higher reps 15-20 is just to tone the muscles 6-12 is for muscular mass

Answer 2

If you want to build muscle you need to use much heavier weights.  If you are doing 20 reps that is not enough weight to build muscle.

I do a bit of weight lifting and I would increase the weight so that you can just manage to finish 3 sets of 12 reps at first.  You will probably find that you need to use diffferent weights for different exercises.  For example I use 5 or 8 pounds at most for kickbacks, but 15 pounds for biceps curls.

Do a bit of research on the Internet about weight lifting routines, and invest in a good book for beginners.  Even the Weight Training for Dummies is a good place to start.  These sites might be of some help.

http://weightloss.about.com/cs/fitness/a...

http://www.thepumpingstation.com/trainin...

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/fe...