light weights

Hammers

I have been doing heavy weights for 15 months, always doing 3 sets of 8. But recently i have changed to lighter weights doing 3 sets of 12-15, does anyone think this is a good idea or shall i keep to heavy,,,,

bulldozer

Why did you change bud?

Lack of progress? bored ?

IMO heavy intense training is what builds muscles! and strength!

Hammers

i just feel like ive stopped growing,lol..just thought if i do more reps it might help,,...or am i just inpatient,,,,,,lol..i just think my body has got used to lifting the same weights and with the same reps week in and week out,,,

Tall

I dont think its a bad idea personally, but I wouldn't do it for an extended period of time - as Bully says Heavy Intense Training Builds muscles.

It can be good to give your body a break, let your CNS recover and allow your hormone levels to re-set. Some people call it cruising, some call it de-loading.

If you think you need a break then have one. If you don't need a break then hammer every work out. Simple

Tall

Are you adding weight to the bar each week?

bulldozer

You may be over training ??

IMO a rep range of 5/8 is what you should shoot for! (others may think different)

Also i think at our stage a solid strength base should first be layed down before we worry too much about muscle size. (although you will get bigger as you get stronger)

If your not getting STRONGER on an almost weekly basis on the major compound lifts then something is wrong!

Main 2 reasons for lack of progress IMO are 1. diet is lacking 2. over training.

Why dont you post up ya training routine, exact sets and reps and your exact diet. And your stats.

We can all have a butchers and see if we can give you some tips mate

Hammers

for example. on the bench i normally lift 70kg 8 reps,,but if i do 80kg its only 3 reps,,,,so i just thought i drop it to 50kg and push out 12 reps,,,,,i know heavy is better but i just thought go to lighter weights,,,i will never get very big,,lol,,,im looking to get more ripped{nearly there}if you look at my pics then u will see where im coming from,,,

Tall

Just to throw my tuppence in, my bench was lagging and I found that by adopting the same method as my Squats it improved.

Which was as Bully says using "standard rep ranges" - so your 5 to 8 reps, but also doing 1-3 rep work.

Oh just to add one in Bully - bad form can hamper progress as well.

bulldozer

Hmm, thats kinda of a given bud!

If you bench 70 for 8, then it only makes sense that you wont be able to do as many reps with 80 kg. So i dont really get what u mean!!?

If you can bench 70kg for 8 reps this week fine, next time you bench press try and get 9 reps or add a small amount of weight (1/2kg / 1kg) and do 8 reps again.

Thats progression!! Thats the name of the game bud! Weight on the bar each week! (preferably) if not, an extra rep! Either way is progress mate

bulldozer

I didnt say it couldnt !?

But i wouldnt entirely agree, loads of guys use bad form and get stronger week in week out. Hell look at most of the pro's training vids, terrible form!! But they sure are strong

But sure it will hamper progress when you do yaself in and injure yaself