work vs load

Joe.Muscle

Active Member
So I was explaining to a friend of mine what we were all discussing from Scientific muscle thread.

I was telling him how work was important but more importantly studies show we need to increase load to continue to make gains.

He then said to me well what if i dont want to increase load and just do more and more sets what will happen....well i told him he would prob grow but how much I didn't know.

He follow this up with the typical meathead response with how Joe blow never increases his weights but goes for the burn and make great gains.

So my question I know its not adequate but if someone does choose to increase work and not load what will happen?

This could be beneficial only to someone who maybe is injured like myself many many years ago who had to start with small weights again?
 
''So my question I know its not adequate but if someone does choose to increase work and not load what will happen?''

hmmmmmmmmm, not sure. I hear Bryan thinks progressing the load is quite important
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">He then said to me well what if i dont want to increase load and just do more and more sets what will happen....well i told him he would prob grow but how much I didn't know.</div>

This is where you bring up CNS burnout and the effect of RBE in response to no progression.
 
Increasing the work instead of the load will work for a while, but eventually it won't work anymore. At some point, you still have to put more weight on the bar to continue making gains. So really, the question is... how slow do you want your progress to be? And would you rather get bigger, or would you rather get better at doing more work?
 
The other point is time wise. As you increase the number of sets at a constant reps and the same group of lifts, the time taken to do the workout increase. What was once 45 minutes, becomes 55 minutes, 65 minutes, 75 minutes etc.

Perhaps Joe Blow is on streroids and therefore can get away without increasing the load?

I don't think it's possible for a natural lifter to gain significant size without increasing the weights lifted over time.

I also don't understand why someone would want to be big, but weak (if it is possible).
 
Thanks guys...for the response...I just want to make sure when I am argueing a point I am right on!

Thanks again!
 
volume is the AMOUNT of stimulus. Load IS THE STIMULUS. You can do 400 reps with 5 lb.s and not grow, because you the load is not stimulating at any volume. As long as the load is sufficient, then the higher the volume the better without overtraining.

From the FAQ:
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">
Time under load (TUL) - how much does it matter when loads are increasing

People often make the mistake of overthinking this. It doesn't take much time for a given (effective) load to trigger signals inside muscle cells to start growing. In a sufficiently deconditioned muscle, only 1 set of 10-12 reps is sufficient to cause measurable anabolic changes.

However, the more you train, the more resistant your muscle becomes to the training stimulus. We've know this for years, and recently we have some good research to demonstrate it by measuring signaling molecules in trained and untrained exercisers after a single bout.

So, the first solution to the problem of becoming resistant to the lifting stimulus is to create a more potent stimulus by lifting more weight. You can do this until you reach your strength limits.

Another solution is to lift the same amount of weight a bit longer by doing more sets and/or reps. This works to a point, but soon (2-3 weeks) will fail to produce growth once again.

The problem arises when guys continue to increase volume because they are at their strength limit. This begins to drain the CNS and recovery takes longer and longer. Eventually, they have to rest so long between training each bodypart that they are unable to produce consistent gains...the stimulus is just too infrequent.</div>
 
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