“Go big or go home.” People can use this sentence as motivation to keep pushing harder to get fitter, stronger and bigger. But how heavy is too heavy to build muscle? Find out with the help of Jeff Cavaliere and his expertise.
Jeff Cavaliere was the head physical therapist of the New York Mets for 3 years and is now a YouTube sensation. He delivers clear information without noise on his ATHLEAN-X YouTube channel.
Should you be training hard every day? Should you be lifting heavy every day? Regardless, how heavy is too heavy to build muscle? Here is what Cavaliere had to say about it.
How Heavy Is Too Heavy to Build Muscle
First, it depends on what you are training for. In a squat, for example, too heavy is when you are lifting without proper form – this is actually detrimental. “The real basis and foundation of strength is stability,” Cavaliere argues.
He goes on to argue that, you build muscle by moving in three different ways: concentrically, isometrically, and eccentrically. During a curl, that would be raising the dumbbell concentrically, holding at the top of the movement isometrically, and lowering the dumbbell eccentrically.
The rule of thumb for Cavaliere when it comes to answering how heavy is too heavy to build muscle is this:
“If you can’t stop the weight at any point in the range, then the weight you are lifting is too heavy.”
Jeff explains that isometrically people are stronger than concentrically. If you cannot hold the weight at any point, it means you simply swung the weight up to get it to a certain position – and swinging weights will not give you muscle because it does not follow the rules of hypertrophy.
That is not to say you shouldn’t train for eccentric overload, which is to cheat the concentric part of a movement, to focus solely on the eccentric part of it. What is to say, is that you should train exclusively for eccentric overload.
If you want to know arguments from Cavaliere regarding how heavy is too heavy to build muscle, check out the video below.
Cavaliere also exemplifies on a lat pulldown how to determine if the weight he chose is too heavy for him or not.
VIDEO – How Heavy Is Too Heavy to Build Muscle
Read More: Ultimate Guide on How to Get Shredded
Image Sources
- Bethany Shadburne front squat: Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.