Can Low Reps Build Muscle?

Hi everyone, this is my first post to this forum which I just joined today. I am 20 years old and I am about to start lifting weights as of next week. My main goal is building as much muscle as I can within a year from now. A friend of mine who has been lifting weights for about 6 months, recommended to me that I should do the program that he has been on, which is Starting Strength. He said that he has not only made significant gains in strength but also significant gains in muscle mass from doing the program.

So, I got the Starting Strength book last week and yesterday I finished reading through pretty much all of it. The author Rippetoe says that if you completely and consistently follow this program then, you should be able to gain about 25 lbs. to 30 lbs. of Lean Body Mass after 3 to 4 months. However, this program primarily has you doing all of the main compound lifts with 5 reps per set. Those reps are relatively low and usually you hear people such as experienced bodybuilders say that 8 to about 20 reps are best for developing muscle mass. I am confused, I do not want to start this program only to realize after a month or two that I got much stronger but also not as big as I could have become. If my primary goal is to build muscle then should I do Starting Strength?

What are your lifts like right now, and what is your height and weight?

The answer to the question in your title is “yes”. The answer to the question in your post depends on the above.

It sounds like he has never lifted before at all.

Starting Strength is a good program, one of the best for beginners. Strength gains are necessary for size gains for most people when they first start lifting.

When experienced bodybuilders say 8 to 20 reps is best for building muscle they are talking about experienced bodybuilders, not about you, as a beginner. Your friend said it was a good program and you read the book, so you know Rippetoe thinks it’s a good program. You don’t trust them? But will trust some random people on the internet who respond to this thread?

Low reps can build muscle.

Do Starting Strength. I don’t believe it’s the best program ever for gaining size, but it works very well to get new people accustomed to weight training, being consistent, and teaching them how to push themselves in a gym. Provided you eat enough, you will gain strength and size. If you’ve never touched a weight before, it’s a great program to instill some basic concepts in you.

Though I would say do some curls and lateral raises with the program if you’re interested in size. 1 exercise, 3-4 sets at the end is fine and doesn’t detract from the program.

Go with a whole body program 3 days a week for a while until you have made Big gains. Hitting each muscle group less than 3 times per week would be a waist of your youth and progress, trust me. Make sure you cover the main lifts : bench, chin-ups, squats, military press and deadlifts with all of their variations and lift with intensity. Arms will get bigger without hitting them directly on this program. Keep a log of your progress and try to add weight or reps on every workout progressively, but don’t over do it, stay healthy. Stay in the 60 - 75% weight range of your “1 rep max” and in the 6 to 8 rep range, you will never really need to change this unless you want to try something different.

Recheck your “1 rep max” once a month to keep track of you progress. Eat allot of protein ( I like pea protein because it has the same amount of leusine without the other shit). In any case, eat good clean foods and sleep 7 - 8hrs a night. Add some stretching or yoga in on your off days for a healthier look and a stronger core. Now go and conquer!
ps. Low reps work if you are lifting in the 75-90% range for strength. Go with 6 - 8 until you are lifting weight that will matter with lower reps.

That you are asking if getting stronger will build your muscles shows you ARE a n00b.

No problems with that. Do exactly as Starting Strength tells you. EXACTLY. That includes eating a lot. Especially if you are a skinny guy.

In 4-6 months, assuming you do the program explicitly as Rippetoe tells you, you will be finished with SS and ready to move on to something else.

At that time, you will actually have some real strength. This will be very useful for you if your next step is bodybuilding instead of strength gains. Honestly, it will be useful to you no matter what path you are choosing. Whether to continue building strength, or size, or somewhere in between.

[quote]Hunter360 wrote:
My main goal is building as much muscle as I can within a year from now.
[/quote]

Only a year from now? What about the year after? And the year after that? To build any kind of impressive strength or size takes much longer than year.

[quote]Hunter360 wrote:
I am confused, I do not want to start this program only to realize after a month or two that I got much stronger but also not as big as I could have become.
[/quote]

Again, your perception of time seems to be a bit off in respect to strength training/bodybuilding. A month or two is nothing.

[quote]Hunter360 wrote:
If my primary goal is to build muscle then should I do Starting Strength?
[/quote]

If you are completely untrained, yes. You have no idea how to lift. SS will have you focus on becoming proficient with a few basic barbell exercises that you will be doing, or doing variations of, for the rest of your lifting life.

It will build muscle, if you are eating correctly. You will also outgrow the program relatively quickly, if you actually are consistent and follow the prescribed workout-to-workout progression. But it’s a fantastic starting point, IMHO.

Go to search at the top of the page, type in Christian Thibaudeau and then start reading whatever comes up.

Hey what’s up, Bull_Scientist-Deva? Did you have a nice weekend? I sure did. Finally had a chance to decorate the Christmas tree. I have to string support wires on each side because the cats will sometimes try to play with the ornaments and tip it over. Ha! Cats are silly.

Oh, we had some awesome Chipotle last night. But really, isn’t “awesome Chipotle” kind of redundant? I’m a fan of their burritos. I usually do veggies and carnitas (with other stuff of course) but have been mixing it up lately, so I went with veggies and barbacoa. Not bad but it seemed a little “flat”, ya know? Maybe the different spices or whatever. I still think the carnitas are more flavorful so I’ll probably go back to getting that next time.

Okay, well, nice checking in with you. Looking forward to catching your next name. Hasta luego. Placido Domingo.

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
Hey what’s up, Bull_Scientist-Deva? Did you have a nice weekend? I sure did. Finally had a chance to decorate the Christmas tree. I have to string support wires on each side because the cats will sometimes try to play with the ornaments and tip it over. Ha! Cats are silly.

Oh, we had some awesome Chipotle last night. But really, isn’t “awesome Chipotle” kind of redundant? I’m a fan of their burritos. I usually do veggies and carnitas (with other stuff of course) but have been mixing it up lately, so I went with veggies and barbacoa. Not bad but it seemed a little “flat”, ya know? Maybe the different spices or whatever. I still think the carnitas are more flavorful so I’ll probably go back to getting that next time.

Okay, well, nice checking in with you. Looking forward to catching your next name. Hasta luego. Placido Domingo.[/quote]

On the one hand, oh so cynical. Perhaps it really is a new guy asking for some good advice?

On the other hand, it definitely isn’t.

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
Hey what’s up, Bull_Scientist-Deva? Did you have a nice weekend? I sure did. Finally had a chance to decorate the Christmas tree. I have to string support wires on each side because the cats will sometimes try to play with the ornaments and tip it over. Ha! Cats are silly.

Oh, we had some awesome Chipotle last night. But really, isn’t “awesome Chipotle” kind of redundant? I’m a fan of their burritos. I usually do veggies and carnitas (with other stuff of course) but have been mixing it up lately, so I went with veggies and barbacoa. Not bad but it seemed a little “flat”, ya know? Maybe the different spices or whatever. I still think the carnitas are more flavorful so I’ll probably go back to getting that next time.

Okay, well, nice checking in with you. Looking forward to catching your next name. Hasta luego. Placido Domingo.[/quote]

Wow. Chris is the MAN lol. I couldn’t tell it was him at first but now it makes sense.