Once a mainstay of the CrossFit Games, Marcus Filly has changed the focus of his training in the past two years. so your workouts are focused on building strength and muscle safely and sustainably, while protecting your body from injury.
On his YouTube channel he regularly offers advice on this functional approach to bodybuilding, and in a recent short video explains three reasons why it’s not always a good idea to obsess over the amount of weight you liftwhen there are other important factors to take into account in training.
First, it says, “nobody really cares” how much weight you lift, especially if you lift it badly: “You are much more likely to impress someone with the technique you use rather than how much weight you have on the bar.”
Second, he argues that training to failure and providing adequate stimulation to your muscles is what will make the difference. “If your goal is to build muscle, then you can do it with sets of 20, or sets of 10,” he says. “I can’t lift as much for 20 reps as I can for 10, but both can build muscle, and arguably both do just as good a job when we train near failure.” Weight, outside of the context of reps, doesn’t make sense.”
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And finally, Filly shares a reminder that lifting heavy weights without consistently working them is one way to increase the risk of injury. “Pushing the limits of how much you can lift increases the risk of any exercise,” she says. “An injury en route to chasing five more pounds could set you back enough that the risk outweighs the reward.” Remember: getting stronger also has a lot to do with tempo, range of motion, rest, and sets. Don’t obsess over weight when there’s so much more you can do to keep making progress.”
