Vote in This Week's Poll: Do you lift enough weight during strength training?
My male clients are more comfortable with heavy weights, sometimes to the point where they go a little too heavy. Either way, it's sometimes hard to know how much weight to lift, especially with the variety of exercises we do and the different muscles we use. It can be confusing - you may need a heavier weight for a chest press but, change it to an incline chest press, and you may need to go lighter. You'll need a heavy weight for barbell rows but, try to use that same weight for an overhead press and you'll be in trouble.
Learning how much weight to lift comes with education and practice, but there are a few tips that may help:
- If you can do more than your desired reps, you need to increase your weight
- If you realize halfway through your set that you went too light or too heavy, change your weights right away or do more or fewer reps to compensate
- Keep track of your strength training workouts. It's helpful to be able to look at your notes from last week rather than guess and hope you're right
- Learn more about the benefits of lifting heavy so you're more motivated to try it
What about you? Do you lift heavy weights or do you usually go a little lighter than you know you can handle? Vote in this week's poll and tell us about your weight training habits.
Comments
Keeping the workout log is SO mandatory. I used to think I could “remember” what I did, WRONG. Keep track and you can really track your self… My simple mantra is “High weight, low reps and keep it slow….”
Thanks Paige ! your being admired in CA.
I always use a weight that allows me to finish all of my sets. Once it gets too easy I then bump it up to a weight that will make me fall just short of completion. I know the next time I come in I will be able to do that same routine again to completion. I’m never in a rush to go to high and always try to avoid hurting myself. I also concentrate a lot on form.
It depends on how I feel that day. On good, high energy days I will lift heavier. On days just below that I may lower the weight but increase the reps out to 15 or 20. There are so many varying arguments among the “experts” out there. I think both ways have merit and my goal is to be fit, not to compete in Mr. Olympia.
If I don’t have a little soreness the next day, then I did not lift heavy enough. I never want to be so sore that every step is painful, but I want to have a reminder that I did a good workout.
I’ve been pumping iron for 45 years, and being a skinny guy to start, never saw any dramatic gain, could bench 150% my weight, but was still a pretty skinny guy, fit, but skinny. A year or so ago, I read of a college study which indicated working upper body one day, lower body the next day day in, day out. I tried the recommended program, doing mostly three sets starting with 70% with 10-12 reps and going to failure at 7-10 reps at the third set. And at 73, I have put on muscle mass that people — at like the supermarket — for the first time in my life have commented about. While — remember I’m 73 — I’m still — in my eyes — a skinny guy — my bis, tris, delts and lats have never looked better. I recommend that program with weights.
Like Brian, I also lift heavier some days with fewer reps and other days with less weight but higher reps per set. I like to mix it up…keep your body guessing. Attacking the same muscle groups with different angles and varied movements. I also love/hate the metabolic style where you create perhaps a 3-station circuit, each station targeting a different body part (example: ab crunches on ball / straight leg dead lifts w/40lb bar / push ups). You cycle thru each station one minute at a time with no rests, doing reps throughout the allotted time. Can you say burn? I also agree with Sheryl, if I don’t have some soreness, I don’t feel like I challenged myself to become better.
All of the above are good views on how to lift weights. Each individual is different, and so two different people may get totally different results using the same program. That’s why it’s important to listen to your body and go with what feels right (presuming you’re providing enough of a challenge to yourself). Here’s where a trainer can be really helpful.
One thing that was not mentioned in the original post was form and technique. Keep in mind that it Doesn’t matter how much weight you lift if you do it incorrectly. PROPER FORM MUST BE MAINTAINED AT ALL TIMES! If you can’t keep form (and I see guys failing at this one all the time at the gym), you’re lifting too much.
Congratulations to ivi! I just turned 70 and it’s great to see some company in ‘geriatric bodybuilding’. Most of my buddies do aerobics/jogging/running and scoff at my routine – I also lift heavy and have put on some real muscle and lost a lot of fat.
I’d like to see a column/forum focused on our interests.
All of the information is good, especially form. I also see guys lifting and their buddies are helping them lift the weight. If it is too heavy to do on your own, its too heavy.
I always choose my “working” weight so that I hit the failure point at 8 to 12 reps…although I will occasionally do pyramid sets (10 to 4 reps) and “burn-out” sets of 15 to 30 reps…..
ONE set performed to temporary failure is all thats needed stimulate growth(not including warm up sets not to failure). The more sets performed the more tissue breakdown, and the less biological resources available to increase strength. That is why marathon runners lack muscle tissue…hormone and muscle resources have been decimated.
rip Mike Mentzer.
I’m a big fan of pyramid sets (say 15 rep set at 50% max, 10 rep set at 70%, 8-80,6-90,4-95), particularly in my first exercise or two. If there’s a spotter around, I’ll go up to a 2-4 rep max range on my last set. Do them with the whole-muscle-group exercises like bench, military press, squat, deadlift, etc. That’s what gives you that nice mellow burn the next day like Sheryl said.
I know I don’t lift enough weight when I do actually make time for it but my biggest problem is that I really only allow myself an hour for my workouts and rarely want to sacrifice cardio for resistance or weight training. I have, as of late, tried to incorporate the two into one workout by doing an interval style where I sprint a lap on the track and then do a set of weights, and so on and so forth until I’ve completed a mile and a half or two on the track and a full upper or lower body workout. It seems to be making a difference in my strength.