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Originally Posted by Crystalx4
What makes the difference if I lift heavy with less reps than if I lift lighter with more? I really don't know lol.... As for my protein,that is the worst part of my diet so thank you for bringing that up- protein shakes coming my way!
If you check out the book New Rules of Lifting for Women it explains this way better than I ever can. However, basically, if you're lifting light weights repetitively your making your muscles used to endurance. That doesn't actually build the muscles, though. Using heavy weights at a lower number of reps helps to tear the muscles and then you rest, which rebuilds the muscles, making them bigger. Building your muscles is what will actually changes your appearance (building endurance with just make it so you can lift light weights longer).
If you're lifting definitely work on getting in enough protein because that will also help you build your muscles. Another thing I'd suggest is keeping track of your workouts so you can see how you're progressing with the weights and as motivation. Oh, and never underestimate resting either because you really do need to rest your muscles after lifting otherwise they don't have a chance to rebuild (and you're at a higher risk of getting injured).
There's a weight lifting forum here with a lot of great information. From my own personal experience I haven't lost a ton of weight lifting (sometimes you even go up on the scale afterwards) BUT I've dropped a lot of inches/clothing sizes and have toned up quite a bit. I even have some nice biceps to show for it.
