Will lifting 8-12 reps with weights make me get big and bulky?

Question

I want to get as strong as possible but I don't want to get big. Will lifting weights 8-12 times make me big and bulky or should I stick with 15 to 20 rep sets.

If I stick with 15-20 rep sets will that make me really strong over time like lower set reps will? or will it just build endurence ?

I am trying to get strenth for Bjj

Answer 1

Shoot man, get over to here for evryhting you need. Forget Mike MAhler as he will try to sell evryhting he has to you. Just get Ross's manuals at :http://rosstraining.com/. It will blow yourmind there is so much good info, specifically for combat sports and without trying to sell you mad kettlebells. Ross actually shows you how to make cheap dumbell handles that work and you cna buy the plates for them yourslef. Not a differnat Kettlebell fro every lift. There is no need for them, most of the benefits people using kettlebells over  regular weigths are seeing is becasue of the differant exercises and exercise style being prescribed with them. You can do the same execrcises with dumbells. Its overhyped to the hilt. Whne I see Mike Mahler do half of the Stuff you cna watch Ross Enamait do on his page on youtube.com I will endorse him as well, see for yourself :http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=r... The real deal. Besides that , for strength do 3-5 reps sometimes 6-8 if explosive strength like Plyo's and stuff. For BJJ you need core strength and Ross is the man to see. Get his manuals and apply principles, they are inexpensive but made of pure gold. Besides that you have to eat to get big and it is not as easy as everyone makes it seem. But low reps for strength and if you are doinf 15=20 rpes of something you might consider doing these in circuit with other higher rep exercises for strength endurance. Thats the way to go with high reps, mix and match and do circuits, not sets of 20. Like 20 burpees, followed by 30 squats followe dby twenty pushups, followed by 60 chinnies etc. Aslo forget Matt Furey, he is fat dude. Plus there is no way that three exercises will do anyhting but make you good at three exercises. You need variety.  Here is an example of Ross's Training style, I will use never Gymless to get the point across that you can train muiltiple stregth qualities with minmal equipment. Day one  Integrated circuit training. Do 10 burpees 10 chinnies, 10 body squats and ten pushups, repeat as many times as possible in twenty minutes. No breaks, only rest as neccesary to catch breath. No intended breaks however. day two max stregth wokout. $ qulity sest of pull-up variation (quality meaning on eto two reps before failure, also choose a pullup that is challenging enough) super set with glute ham raise or boodyweigth leg curls, take 1:30 break and repeat three more supersets. follow with a super set of sets of one arm pushups, or challenging pushups variation, like weighted, superset with onel legged squats, quality set. Repeat three more times with 1:30 break in between supersets. By the way a superset is do the pushups immedaitley followed by squats, THAN take 1:30 break. This way you keep heart rate up, save time and are not fatiguing same muscle group. After thsi do 4 quality super sest with handstand pushups or pike press pushups and good mornigns with resistance band, it actually says 15-20 with band good mornings. Follow this with a 4 supersets of triceps bodyweigth extension and calf raises. 4 quality sets Day three Enhanced Interval Training, 12 burpees, 24 pushups, 36 squats, 400 meter run as fats as you can. There are no designed rest intervasl, rest as needed, so if you can start immedaitely again afetr the run, you fro one aren't running hard enough or are just a mega beast. Ideally rigth after run drop and do exercises they will probably be at a slower pace but you need to gut it out. Day 4 explosive strength once again it is super sets and 4 sest of quality reps so frist is muscle ups and squat jumps, than plyometric pushups and explosive step ups, than one arm band puls , and ankle hops, than rope climbing as fsat as can for time. For more details get the manual but also he says to do core fro strength days and isometric wokouts on conditioning days. A sample core plan woul be. L-sits for time for 3-4 sets followed by 3-4 circuits with cruches, v-ups, chinnies, supermans, rissain tiwsts and oblique crucnhes, rest 1:30 or 2:00 and begin again,  Always do challenging movements at beggining to train strength and prefatigue core and than work through the rest of wokout, some challenges could include L-sits or V-sits for time, flags fro a bench, or standing wheel rollouts with one or two arms. Ross shows hwo to construct one arm ab wheels. Thats crazy strength if you can do that. Anyways I hope this helps and I hope you get Ross's manuals and apply principles. Good luck...oh, also I hope you pick ym answer as best as I am trying to get to level two ; ) nHey besides all that here is an exercise list fro Ross's book Never Gymless if you aren't sold. it's how he puts it all togetehr that will make a differance though.

Pulling exercises

chin up

pull-up

band assisted pull-up

close grip pull-up

wide grip pull-up

towel pull-ups

fat bar pull-ups

rope pull-ups

weigthed pull-ups

clap pull-ups

alternating grip pull-ups

pull-up bar muscle ups

ring muscle ups

rope climbing

jump,catch and pull

side to side pull-up

one arm emphasis chin-up

one arm chin-up progressions

one arm chin-up

band high pull

one arm band pull

body row



Pushing exercises

pushup

diamond pushup

ball pushup

pushup between 3 blocks

band pushup

arms extended pushup

fingrtip pushups

knucke puahups

divebomber pushup

close grip divebomber

ball divebomber

divebomber from blocks

one amr pushup

assisted one amr pushup

elevated feet one amr pushup

one-arm pushup from ball

one amr pushup from one foot

extedned one amr pushup

fingertip one arm pushup

knuckle one arm pushup

ring pushups

one arm ring pushups

one amr divebomber

bodyweigth triceps extension

dips

bench dip

band triceps extension

handstand pushups

pike press

overhead band press

plyometric pushups

power overs

depth plyometric pushups

front to back hand clap pushups

triple hand clap pushups

one arm plyometric pushup

full body plyometric pushup

band chest press

Lower body exercises

bodyweigth squats

medicine ball squat

wall squat

resistance band squat

one legged squat

lunge

car pushing

Glute-ham-raise

hamstring curl(band)

band good morning

hamstring curl(bodyweigth)

calf raises

laterl jumps

explosive step ups

knee tucks

squat jumps

ankle hop

long jump

lunge jump

Isometric exercises

wall press

overhead press

leg press

leg curl

hamstring curl

isometric punches

neck exercises

bent over row

towle pull

band over load press

chest press

triceps extension

curl

snatch

over head press

deadlift

Core exercises

crucnh

chinnies

lying hip swing

plank

v-up

superman

russian tiwst

side crucnh

side bend

band twist

rotational chop

band slam

band pull through

band punches

kneeling wheel rollout

standing wheel rollout

one amr wheel progressions

L-rollout

T-rollout

walll assited one arm rollout

one amr rollout

L-sit

flag

wall wlaking

bridge (from hands)

back bend

bridge to stand

neck bridge

Conditioning exercises

sprints

band sprints

bear crawl

crab walk

medicine ball slam

medicine ball wood chopper

burpee

squat thrust

maountain climber

grasshoppers

burp

jumping jack

split jumps

Answer 2

Go to youtube, and look up "calisthenics kingz."  If you want to get strong without getting bulky, and build endurance, cals man.  Matt Furey, dubbed "the king of catch," has a strength conditioning program specifically for grapplers.  Yeah, yeah, he's big and bulky but, that's just the way he is, its genetic.

Another option is the Charles Atlas system, which works really good, although, its endurance benefits are limited.  For BJJ, the one I would reccomend most is Furey's system because its strength conditioning by a grappler, for grapplers.  Hope that helps; just go to goole and type "Matt Furey."

Answer 3

Lower sets + higher weight = strength/size

Higher sets + lower weight = stamina

Personally though, I would never delve into 20 rep sets. Anything beyond 15, and the weight/rep relation is of questionable value.

If you're going for BJJ, you'll need both explosive strength and muscular endurance, so I'd suggest sticking to a happy medium. ~10 reps would be a good target (meaning that on your tenth, your muscles are struggling to finish) with the odd day of purely power lifting (max weight for your body, extremely low reps [~3], always warm up before and cool down after these) thrown in for good measure.

And keep the cardio going, always. Nothing sucks more than running out of gas when you're on your back on the mat. Cardio, cardio, cardio.

Answer 4

if you think about it doing more reps will mean you will have to use less weight so therefore you will be working the fast twitch muscle fibres which are for speed and explosive strength.

to get big you have to lift big and eat big.... period.

why not try the 5`s routine...

here you choose 5 exercises of your own choice and do 5 reps with 5 mins rest between sets every 5 days....

only one snag.... the excercises you choose must be big multi joint one`s not say for eg.... dumbbell curls or lateral raises, you need to do squats, deadlift, bench press or dips, shoulder press, and pull ups.

sample routine...

Deadlift 2 warm up sets then 5*5

Benchpress 2 warm up the 5*5

Pullups/chins 2 warm up the 5*5 adding weight every 3rd day

Squat 2 warm up the either 5*5 or 20 eps!! (not for the faint hearted)

Shoulderpress 2 warm up the 5*5

I suggest you add a little amount of weight to the bar after the 3rd workout... say no more than 2 kgs or 1lb.

The squat is the only exception to the rule... either 5*5 or the all out 20 rep set... as i say its not for the faint hearted but its not the king of excersizes for nothing!!, again add weight only when you complete the 20 reps and only add at most 5 lb.

You will find routines and advice at bodybuilding.com.. Mike Mahler is the guy to look out for

goodluck