We just read a great new article on CNN that tries to answer the question “How much should I lift?”

The weights at the gym can sometimes be a tricky mine field. Lift too little and get no results. Lift to much and you can get tears.

I see people at my gym all the time adjusting and readjusting the machines and I can’t seem to figure out any rhyme or reason to their methods. One day they are lifting huge amounts of weight just 1 time and then they are doing more repetitions with lighter weights on other days. So where is the happy medium that will build the most muscle?

According to a new study just reported on CNN, it might be best to lift at 30% until failure. This is great news for me because I have recently been lifting max load for 10-12 reps and 3 sets.  I would much rather lift at 30% until I reach failure.

The CNN study reported failure at the point where your muscles start to jiggle from trying to lift. It’s still tough to do because you are ultimately going to do more reps but I prefer it to the grunting and grinding of lifting a large amount of weight. It’s also great for people who want to lift weights but think the amount they lift is so small that it doesn’t matter.

The study was done at McMaster University and published in PlosOne journail. Let us know if this answers your question “How much should I lift?” and what your results are!