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> low weight, high rep training builds red "twitch" muscle and high weight, low rep training builds white "slow" muscle There's more to it than the fiber type.

> low weight, high rep training builds red "twitch" muscle and high weight, low rep training builds white "slow" muscle There's more to it than the fiber type. High volume training like this induces sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. The muscle gets bigger (puffed up), but explosive speed can actually decrease. Capillary density is decreased so aerobic endurance is compromised. People who train for combat sports are well aware of all this. Bodybuilder style high volume workouts can decrease hand speed & punching power, and endurance. The emphasis must be on fast explosive movements. Another aspect is that a major fraction of strength gains come from training the nervous system. The nervous system must learn how to fully engage a muscle. This is best done with fewer more intense reps than with higher volume, bodybuilder style lifting.

scott_s 16y ago
I'm not fully convinced that the bodybuilder style workouts themselves decrease speed, power and endurance. It could also be that, in order to see significant muscular hypertrophy, you have to de-emphasize conditioning. I say this because Crossfit-style workouts incorporate high volume, weighted movements, and they are amazing at increasing power and endurance.
- yanowitz 16y ago
  But Crossfit high-volume movements are relatively low weight -- you should be doing 50-60% of your 1 Rep Max of a given movement in a metcon workout. The crossfit workouts "as prescribed" assume a base level of strength acquired from doing high weight, low volume lift days.
- Tamerlin 16y ago
  If you focus on body builder type workouts, then you won't be training your aerobic power, which means less endurance. That's really just a case of if you don't practice, you don't get better -- you can work around that by combining body building with endurance exercise, but that would mean taking time away from bodybuilding, which is a question of priorities and goals. As for speed and power, they definitely decrease with bodybuilding workouts. Bodybuilding workouts DO build strength, but they also lead to higher muscle tension. In martial arts, the LAST thing you want is a lot of muscle tension -- the big, strong guys that train with me tend to get very frustrated by how effortless my blocks are when they attack me, and how painful my short strikes are -- again with an apparent lack of effort. In fact, more effort almost invariably leads to LESS power, as well as less speed -- because of a few factors: 1) You tend to use fewer muscles, and smaller ones 2) You tend to fight yourself a lot more, which holds you back 3) You tend to unbalance yourself, which compromises your ability to move and therefore your efficiency. Having said all that, you CAN build muscle without taking on those disadvantages, but the trade off is that you will end up spending a significant portion of your training time on something other than body building in order to do it.

scott_s 16y ago

I'm not fully convinced that the bodybuilder style workouts themselves decrease speed, power and endurance. It could also be that, in order to see significant muscular hypertrophy, you have to de-emphasize conditioning. I say this because Crossfit-style workouts incorporate high volume, weighted movements, and they are amazing at increasing power and endurance.

yanowitz 16y ago
But Crossfit high-volume movements are relatively low weight -- you should be doing 50-60% of your 1 Rep Max of a given movement in a metcon workout. The crossfit workouts "as prescribed" assume a base level of strength acquired from doing high weight, low volume lift days.
Tamerlin 16y ago
If you focus on body builder type workouts, then you won't be training your aerobic power, which means less endurance. That's really just a case of if you don't practice, you don't get better -- you can work around that by combining body building with endurance exercise, but that would mean taking time away from bodybuilding, which is a question of priorities and goals. As for speed and power, they definitely decrease with bodybuilding workouts. Bodybuilding workouts DO build strength, but they also lead to higher muscle tension. In martial arts, the LAST thing you want is a lot of muscle tension -- the big, strong guys that train with me tend to get very frustrated by how effortless my blocks are when they attack me, and how painful my short strikes are -- again with an apparent lack of effort. In fact, more effort almost invariably leads to LESS power, as well as less speed -- because of a few factors: 1) You tend to use fewer muscles, and smaller ones 2) You tend to fight yourself a lot more, which holds you back 3) You tend to unbalance yourself, which compromises your ability to move and therefore your efficiency. Having said all that, you CAN build muscle without taking on those disadvantages, but the trade off is that you will end up spending a significant portion of your training time on something other than body building in order to do it.