All-Encompassing Importance of Heavy Lifting

“Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but don’t nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weight.” The infamous words of the anomaly many consider one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time (I’m not one of those people but that’s beside the point), Ronnie Coleman. 

Putting aside the obvious syntax errors in that brain-straining bastardization of a sentence, the seven-time champion wasn’t wrong. Granted, he approached his “methodology” (quotation marks because calling his approach to lifting methodical feels somewhat sacreligious) with a bit more foolish tenacity than any mortal really should, but we’ll touch on that later. His training methodology’s consequences, not his professorial eloquence. 

In the meantime…

Not just for bodybuilders. For anyone interested in (any kind of) fitness.

Depending on your goals, heavy lifting should serve as the foundation of your fitness routine; you know, seeing as how heavy weights increase strength and I doubt anyone would try arguing that increasing loads consequently increases strength.

Nor do I think anyone would argue that the foundation on which you build your physique should be anything but sturdy and strong — houses built on sand and all that.  

And universally speaking, unless your goals fall under the category of couches and potatoes and their crumbs on your distended stomach, then it’s also safe to say that lifting heavy weights must be incorporated ——at least to some degree—in your workout routine.

Follow along, and I’ll expound on why you oughta be lifting heavy, specifically in categories such as:

• Strength
• Power
• Aesthetics
• Fat loss.

This should go without saying, but if you want to get stronger in lower rep ranges then you must lift weights relative to the weight required to stimulate the muscles in those lower rep ranges. 

Heavy weights increase the power and strength of your muscles. And, for those of you worried about gaining size, good news. So long as you’re training in the appropriate rep ranges, those heavy weights won’t add any significant amount of bulk or size. 

That means everyday physical tasks get easier. Like, for example, moving heavy objects; couches, dressers, credenzas which might as well be the same thing as dressers, entertainment centers, etc. Be careful on that one though, otherwise you will end up as the family’s pack mule (I should start charging). 

Plus, getting stronger is just, well dope. Perhaps exhilarating or encouraging would be more accurate, but certainly empowering would be the most eloquent. The adjective doesn’t particularly matter. The results gained from lifting heavy are all that matters.

Optimize Strength Gains With Six Point Creatine & Deer Antler Spray

What’s Six Point Creatine? Well, first and foremost… No. It’s not a steroid. Thought I’d make that clear for the three cave dwellers who might still have that archaic idea in their skull.

Creatine is the most studied ingredient in the industry, and for good reason (learn more about it here). Because it works. Six Point Creatine builds off that, making itself the MVP on an already powerful offense.

Deer Antler Spray: Can benefit in several areas:

• Accelerating muscle recovery*
• Tissue repair*
• Increased power*
• and more (get your knowledge on).

Yes. End of debate.

Kidding aside, I’m still not going to waste a lot of time on this particular topic, because this one is kind of a given…only kind of though  (smh).

There are a lot of ways to stimulate muscle growth (you can find one here and another, more esoteric method, here), but one methods that tried and true is and always will be lifting heavy weights to failure (for compound lifts, probably form failure, and for isolation lifts, muscle failure)

Now, for anyone who just read the bit about gaining strength without adding significant size and as a result finds themselves thinking I’m being contradictory, let me assure you, I know what I said. It remains true. 

But so does the muscle growth benefit. With even just a little tweaking, we can switch around the routine for an entirely different result —because fitness is cool like that. When the adjustments are employed, those heavier weights shift to being properly geared for aesthetic proficiency. It truly comes down to intent, approach, etc.

Combo Top Supplements & Add Lean Mass

Well, this one could be an incredibly long list (partly because I’m one seriously indecisive alchemist), but, for sake of brevity, I’ll give you three. Note, this list excludes pre-workout and Buck Feed Whey protein, because those two should be glaringly obvious to you by now. 

• All Bulk No Bloat: Hands down my favorite recovery and lean muscle mass supplement, ever. Of all time. No battle. Here, just read about it…no, seriously, check it out; I will openly go on record and say All Bulk No Bloat is, in my humble opinion, the best supplement on the market (and that’s including all our supplements too).

• Six Point Creatine: Yes, I’m repeating this. 

• Keto Protein or Buck Feast: Because, as it turns out, getting enough nutrients (not just protein) has an impact on building lean muscle…shocker. For keto folks, you’ll want the keto-specific macro profiles in Keto Protein. For others, try the Buck Feast (three different types of protein, betcha can’t guess what they are).

How Heavy Lifting Directly Benefits Fat Loss

Exercise helps burn more calories. No secret there. Everyone knows that performing aerobic exercise—cardio— is to be used when the primary purpose is to burn calories. But what many fail to acknowledge is the effect anaerobic exercise—lifting—has on calorie expenditure.

Here’s the thing, the calorie burned during cardio is largely limited to the duration of time in which a bunny is performing their cardio—what happens on the elliptical stays on the elliptical.

That’s fine, of course. If you want real results though, your best bet is to increase the calorie burn overall (i.e. burn more calories after the gym session’s finished). This is where a regular strength training program comes in.

Lifting heavy can actually help you burn more calories when you’re not in the gym.

This benefit’s because you get an after-burn effect, where your body continues using more calories in the hours following the workout. And that’s just in terms of calories burned. Those biological results are even greater the deeper we go, nutritionally speaking. On top of the thermogenic-like calorie burning boost, other functions gain in effectiveness too. 

For example, protein synthesis increases (which is important for muscle growth, but not as exciting from a fat loss standpoint as the other mechanism benefitted. After a heavy session, glycogen absorption goes up, meaning the carbs eaten after a heavy hypertrophic weight training session are used more optimally: higher quantities of carbohydrates shuttled to restoring and repairing muscle glycogen (as opposed to liver glycogen, where carbs broken down into glucose are more apt to storing as fat). 

In other words, if you wanna eat that post-workout muffin, and find yourself thinking you’ll just do an hour of cardio before hand and it’ll balance out, you’re doing it wrong. 

Sure, keep 20-30 minutes of cardio. But, despite what you’ve been told, your fat loss gainz will be better protected if you dedicate the latter half of that workout to hitting heavy weights (to muscle failure).

Heavy Lifting Indirect Fat Loss Benefits

This one’s the synergistic benefit of increased strength and muscle development (as gained by lifting heavy weights) as it pertains to fat loss. 

That benefit: worked muscles experience a strange adaptation. The muscles will grow in size and increase in force production, or strength. It’s this muscle growth that leads to another beneficial side effect — a boost in metabolism. 

If that was too technical (i.e. boring), don’t worry. I got you…

Layman’s Terms and Parables: Biceps-Guy’s Hero Journey

When lifting weights, every muscle worked will experience their own little hero’s journey. For example, let’s take your biceps.

We’ll give them a superhero name — Biceps-Guy (because we’re creative) — and now we’re gonna travel Biceps-Guy through a vigorous hero’s journey in the kingdom commonly called IronWeight. The kingdom is under siege, by you, the planetary-suit where this is all taking place (in the process of heavy objects getting put up and down).

Biceps-Guy will play as a classic brawler type, resisting the heavy bludgeons swung by trolls, grabbing those heavy iron-trolls and curling them into oblivion. And when Biceps-Guy’s destroyed all those sets & reps of troll-curls, he discovers he has gained an interesting combination of physical benefits. 

Four of those benefits Biceps-Guy expected. To start with, he leveled up. Consequently, three of his “stats” — Strength, Force Production, Size– all increased by correlative values. This was a result of the strenuous experience gains gained during the heavy set of four reps with the 500lb troll. 

What he hadn’t expected, however, was that his increased muscle size resulted in an increased metabolism. In other words, he was burning more calories. ALL THE TIME. 

(Sheesh, talk about an epic Passive Ability! A lot of you won’t get that joke. That’s fine, it wasn’t meant for you.)

If you’re wondering if you read that right, you did. Bigger muscles burn more calories than small muscles, and as a result, you burn more fat than you would have if you only did cardio or light-weights (which might as well be cardio). 

muscle gainz = lean shredz.

Wanna Burn More Fat During Every Lift? 

Of course you do. Because you’d be stupid not to. Or on a dirty bulk trying to conserve calories and accumulate michelin-man mass (not that there’s much difference when you think about it logically, but that’s beside the point). 

To increase that thermogenesis and calorie burn while slaying PR’s under the rack (cage, bench, anywhere near a barbell really), here are the supplements you need in your stack:

HEAT Fat Burner: Everything you could possibly want for shredz*, and more that you need but didn’t ever think could be possible…

RACKED BCAAs: Revolutionary branched chain amino acid formula that can:

• Increase endurance*
• Delay muscle fatigue*
• Accelerate recovery*
• BURN FAT* like crazy; when I say burn, I do mean that, because trust me you will sweat.

WOKE AF: Our highest stim pre-workout boasts a somewhat secret benefit. Synephrine and dendrobium (two stimulants found in WOKE AF) both can increase metabolism*, so. . . yeah. . .you’re cool with burning more fat every time you lift, right? 

Training with heavy weights is shown to improve self-confidence. Weight training can also reduce anxiety, ease depression, and increase happiness. While it might be hard at times to get motivated to hit the gym, the benefits outlast the initial struggle.

Real talk: Not trying to get all sentimental or whatever on you, but here’s the thing…

More hardcore fitness freaks battle inner demons than you would guess. I’m not just talking anybody. I’m talking professionals. The role models, the elite, the people with physiques that many uninitiated would assume like their own bodies (and/or selves).

Their professional-passionate level of dedication and intensity isn’t just vain.

They’re training heavy because they gotta gain strength to battle the hell waging war in their mind. Fitness addiction is cheaper than therapy.

The added confidence from accomplishing strength goals and seeing visible changes in your body are just a pleasant bonus.

I’ve been called a meathead more times than I can count. Although, to be honest, that’s not saying much because I can’t count much past fifteen. The irony of this is not lost on me. 

My numerical woes aside, studies have shown that anyone who has the audacity to insult another human being simply because the target lifts weights is probably just projecting their own insecurities, and might need to work through any past traumas they might’ve endured at the hands of bullies (themselves a victim of a society dominated by toxic masculinity—thanks for coming to my tedtalk).

Studies have however shown that lifting heavy weights is a massive net win for the ol’ cerebellum. 

Heavy weights develop more than just muscle. Lifting heavy increases the production of many hormones, including the hormone IGF-1, which helps to stimulate connections in the brain and enhance cognitive function. In a recent study, leg strength was positively linked with stronger minds that are less susceptible to the negative effects of aging.

Stated simply: Training with heavy weights can improve your ability to learn and think as you age. And, if you’re already bought into the working out thing and like to say you exercise for the cognitive benefits, then I’d encourage you to also try reading from time to time (apparently that’s also a good brain exercise—who knew?). Note: if fantasy or litrpg is your jam, hmu, because I might know a guy…)