Whats better for building more muscle.?

Question

25lbs 30 x

50lbs 20 x

or 80lbs 5-8 times x

ive been doing 25 lbs 30x for 3-4 sets (each arm) .. But i was wondering which of these would BUILD muscle the fastest.

Answer 1

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, muscle growth (hypertrophy, an increase in size of muscle) is stimulated by performing 8-12 repetitions of an exercise on 2-3 days per week.  The program should be periodized, that means changed at regular intervals. As your fitness increases you might drop to 6-8 repetitions at a higher weight for 4 weeks then change back to 12 repetitions at lower weight, then change to 8 repetitions at medium high weight, etc.  I have sourced the ACSM position stand on resistance training.

High numbers of repetitions increase muscular endurance, lower repetitions builds strength as ooposed to size.

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Answer 2

to stimulate hypertrophy you need to use loads close to 80% of the one repetition maximum in the 8-10 rep range.  use a time under tension of 45-60 seconds, so that's how long it should take to perform the 8-10 reps.

resistance only provides the neccessary stimulus for growth the diet is what provides the actual building blocks.  to increase muscle mass you have to have a caloric excess in the diet.  the muscles do not simply grow just from using heavy training loads.

Answer 3

80lbs for 5-8 reps will stimulate the most growth as more stress is applied.