How you lift?

[ZEEBS]

I'd like to propose the question of "how do you lift?" Are you
the balls to the wall kind of person who lifts hard and heavy or
do you like to slow it down and do lighter weights with more
controll and squeeze. Or do you do a combonation of both?
What do you prefer?

[WannaBBIG]

I am all about form. I lift as heavy as my form allows me to without risking it. I lift in this manor: If I can do 10 to 12 reps, then I add weight the next time (not counting the warm-up of course), and if I can't rep out 5 or 6, then I take the weight off. This always keeps me going and a constant goal to shoot for. BUT, I don't risk form for ego.

[Cman34677]

hard and heavy...but I make sure I feel the stretch and squeeze and perform each rep undercontrol with near perfect technique

CMan

[Onerepmaximum]

I agree with WBB, the only person you are trying to benefit in the gym is yourself. You know what you are capable of and what you are not. Fuck the guy next to you. You should always try to raise your capabilities but stay within them.

As far as how you lift, everyone responds differently. Everyone's ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch muscle fiber is different. Some people respond better to high weight, lower reps and some people are opposite, and some people are more evenly balanced. You have to experiment and see what you respond better to. Not what is easier for you, but what causes you to see you desired results.

Personally I go as heavy as I can (perfect form always) and stay in a 7-10 rep range.

[Hard Gainer]

My old way of training was 2 hrs a day. Go as heavy as I could to make the 8-12 range. 3-4 sets increasing the weight each time. Heavy lifting hadn't worked for me in the past. A few months ago I started training really heavy, 3-4 sets pyramid up in weight but reps are at 8-10, 6-8, 5-6, 5-6. I wasn't going heavy enough in the past. My strength as skyrocked and I'm waiting for my size to catch-up. I have 1 min rest between sets, all business when I'm there. I always put form first, weight second.

[ZEEBS]

all very good points

[hanuri]

I cycle the weights and reps in course of a year. Three phases ; light . medium and heavy. A few months of each and a break of one to four weeks( summer holiday) in between always . I can´t or won´t go heavy all the time anymore. In fact this method works much better and gives the body and joints a rest frequently. Reps , light 20-15x, medium 15-10x and heavy 4-8x.

[Janus]

balls to the wall lately...

[g3cko]

I've been trying to mix up my workouts as best as possible. If I have a good training partner then I will try to go heavy and do less reps. If I am working out by myself I use lighter weights and focus more as well as doing some bodyweight type exercises such as dips and pull ups. I really need to revamp my whole workout though, I feel like I'm running out of new exercises.

[Reverend Satan]

heavy (5-8 reps), controlled, explosive on the positive.