will doing more reps make your muscles "harder"

[rangers97]

just looking for some opinions, will higher rep sets (at a reasonably heavy weight) make your muscles harder as opposed to low rep sets? For instance, if I did 6 db curls with a 55 lb dumbbell, but I can do 10 reps with a 50lb db, will the 10 rep sets, if continued training in that manner lead to visably harder muscles (appearance wise and touch wise) ? Or is it psychological? Sometimes the day after a nice heavy higher rep workout, my muscles still feel fuller and almost more defined than if i did a low rep, high weight workout. Is it all in my head, or my eyes for that matter or is there something to higher rep sets with a heavy weight?

I am not talking about a huge weight difference, just taking a heavy weight to 8-10 reps as opposed to a heavier weight taken to 4-6 reps.

did that make any sense?

 

[Arnold]

you are confusing being "pumped" with muscle hardness. hard muscles come from being lean, which comes from diet, not the number of reps you perform.

however, if you're trying to gain size and strength you should be training in the 4-10 rep range.

 

[rangers97]

no, I'm not talking about the pumped feeling, but just a feeling of more fullness or hardness a day or even 2 after the workout that I just dont get working out with heavy weight, low reps. Not the pump that goes away in an hour or two, but something else, maybe it is just psychological, maybe I'm just wierd

 

[tenxyearsxgone]

well density if you equate that to hardness is generally seen when training with higher intensity and closer to your 1RM ... sarcomrere hypertrophy .... read up on it

 

[BigDyl]

 

[LAM]

no, I'm not talking about the pumped feeling, but just a feeling of more fullness or hardness a day or even 2 after the workout that I just dont get working out with heavy weight, low reps. Not the pump that goes away in an hour or two, but something else, maybe it is just psychological, maybe I'm just wierd

probably has something to do with muscle glycogen storage. low reps sets rely on ATP for energy...

 

[tenxyearsxgone]

ps. your not going to see immediate results two days after lifting heavy...you have to lift heavy for several years to achieve the density that you desire...i've been lifting powerlifting style for a few months and heavier weights for the last couple of weeks and notice that I've become "harder" and not as flat...higher reps yield more contractile fluids, thats why bodybuilders have to diet so much and lose all water so they can see their striations...powerlifters don't do any of that and they are as hard as a brick wall..