One thing most bodybuilders are guilty of (including me) is making the mistake of thinking that heavy weights are the only way to build muscle.

On paper this makes sense, after all, if you can lift more weight than you did last month for example, moving from fifty pound dumbbells to sixty’s in the over head press, you should be bigger right?

Yes, but, this approach has some problems.

First, you might not always be able to get stronger.

Second, this approach can really tear up your joints—over time.

To be honest, and I do not know about you, but I do not want to have joint pain when I get older.

O.K.

You might be thinking, what is my alternative.

Well, a lot of times when people strive to us heavier and heavier weights—form goes out the window.

So, try this approach.

Take some weight off the bar and try and do each rep of each set in a slow and controlled manner—really trying to feel the muscle working.

You will be surprised at how effective this can be.

Another approach is to shorten the rest you take between sets.

You will be surprised what happens when you go from taking three minutes between sets—to taking a minute or less.

In fact, over time try to reduce you rest periods all the way down to thirty seconds or less.

CONCLUSION

While heavy weights are nice, they are not the be all and end all of getting bigger.

It can be done with lighter weights, higher reps and shorter rest periods between sets.

If you have been doing the heavy weight low rep training thing for, well forever, give the above ideas a try.

You might just be surprised with the new muscle you gain.

KEEP GOING