Accidentally did a 53-pound overhead press!

kikichewie

So I've worked up to 30x12x3 on the overhead press, and I was ready to try 35 today. But the preset bars are only in increments of 10. So I asked someone who obviously lifts a ton how much the short barbell weighs. She told me 15. That sounded low, but I added two tens and picked it up. Seemed really heavy, but whatever. Managed four reps! Then I figured out after the fact that the bar was 33 pounds!

I did my next two sets with a 40-pound preset, 8 reps each!

So psyched! I love lifting heavy!

SezxyStef

If you are heavy lifting are you doing 30lbs X 12 reps x3 sets?

12 reps is not lifting heavy....heavy lifting is 3-6 reps and that is all you can manage.

The 53lbs was "heavy lifting"

Sam_I_Am77

Congratulations on that new personal best for you. I saw this and thought it was funny because yesterday I misread my training log and racked 5 more pounds than I was supposed to and ended-up hitting a 5-rep PR. It happens.

If you really want to get into heavy lifting you need to work down into the 5 sets of 5, 5 sets of 3, 3 sets of 5 at like 70% - 90% intensity.

kikichewie

SezxyStef wrote: »

If you are heavy lifting are you doing 30lbs X 12 reps x3 sets?

12 reps is not lifting heavy....heavy lifting is 3-6 reps and that is all you can manage.

The 53lbs was "heavy lifting"

Yeah yeah yeah. I'm aware of that, thank you. I'm progressing, and to avoid injury as I do, I am starting with 8-12 reps for certain exercises, bumping it up weekly or as soon as I can complete 12 reps or whatever the count is for my plan that day. For some others where my back and form are less at risk, I am doing 3 sets of 3 (like underhand pulldowns today for the first time at 80, then 85, then 90 pounds). I'm not jumping up to 50+ pounds on the overhead press just yet because my back can't handle it, especially on a day with extensions and a lot of single-leg work.

And I'm following the rep recommendations in the beginner program of StrongCurves as it so happens, which will eventually work up to freaking heavy weights. There is no reason not to go relatively slow with a moderate rep count as I learn form and work on developing some muscle memory. Oh, and I swapped out the planned body weight glute bridges today for weighted ones. Only 30 pounds to see how they felt. Loved them. Can't wait to get under the bar and start adding more weight.

Sam_I_Am77

kikichewie wrote: »

And I'm following the rep recommendations in the beginner program of StrongCurves as it so happens, which will eventually work up to freaking heavy weights.

If you enjoy what you're doing and it's getting you the results you want, then keep at it!

nossmf

First time I tried doing cable flies was a big bummer, because I had to use about half the weight I thought I was going to use. Found out after I was done the numbers were in kg, so I actually was lifting my goal weights and a touch more.

Sutnak

Nice one! A lot of what holds us back is mental, not physical. I'm reminded of that often.



Though I typically mess up by putting nickles on one side and dimes on the other.

CarlydogsMom

When I started last fall with my trainer and basic heavy lifting, one day we were doing bench presses. I thought that this had been the same weight as we had done the last time, and I pissed and moaned that I wasn't seeing progress. He had me do a set of lifts and said this was a new PR. I was like "huh? No it wasn't!" and he pointed out we were using a hex bar (55 lbs) instead of the regular Oly bar (45 pounds), and I had been happily benching 10 more pounds than I thought. He only got away with that once, but it was fun at the time.

kikichewie

Loving all the accidental PR stories!