Full body workout...reps? Heavy or light weight?
lillypade
Posts: 77 Member
I decided I want to do a full body workouts 3x a week and do cardio the other days except for Sunday(rest) my goal is to lose about 10-15 lbs of fat and gain lean muscle. My question is how long should my strength workouts be? And would I want to do lots of reps with light weights OR heavy weights with few reps?
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This does not answer my questions. I’m not asking for a workout routine. My question is how long should my strength workouts be? And would I want to do lots of reps with light weights OR heavy weights with few reps?0
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This does not answer my questions. I’m not asking for a workout routine. My question is how long should my strength workouts be? And would I want to do lots of reps with light weights OR heavy weights with few reps?
The answer is it depends on your programming. There is no length of time, amount of reps or weight that is going to be ideal in and of itself. Follow a program above and it will tell you.7 -
It does answer your question, you should pick a program and it will tell you how many reps/how heavy to go. I would suggest looking into a few of those and doing some research that way. Most popular programs for women (from what I can tell on here) are Stronglifts or Starting Strength, Strong Curves, Thinner Leaner Stronger. Some programs stay around 5 reps which is more geared towards building up strength, some programs do more like 8-12. I don't think you can go wrong with either one.9
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hesn92 thanks0
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I like the heavy weights and 10-12 slow reps, for about 30-35 minutes. I loved what it did for me at age 60, when I lost 40 lb. I got away from it, but I'm back.
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FarmerCarla wrote: »I like the heavy weights and 10-12 slow reps, for about 30-35 minutes. I loved what it did for me at age 60, when I lost 40 lb. I got away from it, but I'm back.
she got it right. do that routine. 1/2 lifting sessions is standard. rule of thumb 1/2 sessions if heavy weights - low reps - if low weight - high reps.8 -
Pick an organized routine and it will tell you reps, weights, and time.
Tomlose weight, set up your stats in MFP, set your goal to 1 lb wk, buy a good scale, and weigh and log everything you eat.0 -
I have to agree with the others. Your workout should last as long as it takes to complete the prescribed exercises in your program. If you have to ask how long, you aren't ready to be creating your own program so use one that already exists. What you are asking is similar to asking "how long should I be in math class?" when the answer is "from the minute it starts until the minute it ends."7
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This does not answer my questions. I’m not asking for a workout routine. My question is how long should my strength workouts be? And would I want to do lots of reps with light weights OR heavy weights with few reps?
It depends on the program...there is no "should." Low rep/Heavy programs are designed to maximize strength...medium weight/medium reps are designed to maximize physique and/or hypertrophy...low weight/high rep programs are designed to maximize muscular endurance.
So this all depends on what your weight training goals are. Pretty much any good program is going to have it's foundation laid on the big compound movements...more is not always better. Outside of a high volume bodybuilding program, most people are done within an hour. My program takes me about 40-45 minutes...it is designed as such that I can skip on accessory work if I'm short on time and be done in 30 minutes.4 -
Sorry for the detour:
@farmercarla, you look wonderful (healthy, strong, and best of all, happy). As a woman in her 60's I am always inspired by the others of a similar age who don't let it deter them.
Cheers, h.FarmerCarla wrote: »I like the heavy weights and 10-12 slow reps, for about 30-35 minutes. I loved what it did for me at age 60, when I lost 40 lb. I got away from it, but I'm back.
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How long do you want your strength workouts to be?
Define light or heavy weight in relation to your virtual 1RM.
Define lots or few reps in relative to your current fitness.3 -
Sometimes squats take me 45 minutes...sometimes an hour and a half. There is no 1 right answer for length of time needed.
I also don't know why anyone would rather do lots of reps than less reps, but to each their own.2 -
A strength program should be however long it takes to do the workout prescribed for that day by the program you're following. The program you're following should also dictate the number of reps and how much weight to use.4
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deputy_randolph wrote: »Sometimes squats take me 45 minutes...sometimes an hour and a half. There is no 1 right answer for length of time needed.
I also don't know why anyone would rather do lots of reps than less reps, but to each their own.
I guess it depends on goals and what people feel comfortable with.
For example I don't like doing anything under 8 reps per set (if I do it is rare and only certain exercises and once per week, maybe). I don't like the feeling of going too heavy, it makes me feel like I am on the border of injury and I'm not feeling the right muscles working, not to mention my body doesn't respond positively to it. I can imagine how heavy low reps would be very exciting and challenging for many, just not for me.3 -
deputy_randolph wrote: »
I also don't know why anyone would rather do lots of reps than less reps, but to each their own.
It all depends on why you're lifting. I use my strength training to enhance/complement my running right now, which means I'm doing lower weights and more reps (5x10 in my main lift of the day) as I'm looking at building muscular endurance and don't want to risk injury by going too heavy right now. I'm still progressing each session but in much smaller increments to when I was lifting heavy and doing 5/3/1
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deputy_randolph wrote: »Sometimes squats take me 45 minutes...sometimes an hour and a half. There is no 1 right answer for length of time needed.
I also don't know why anyone would rather do lots of reps than less reps, but to each their own.
I guess it depends on goals and what people feel comfortable with.
For example I don't like doing anything under 8 reps per set (if I do it is rare and only certain exercises and once per week, maybe). I don't like the feeling of going too heavy, it makes me feel like I am on the border of injury and I'm not feeling the right muscles working, not to mention my body doesn't respond positively to it. I can imagine how heavy low reps would be very exciting and challenging for many, just not for me.
I don't believe anybody likes the feeling of going too heavy.
Regardless of goals, load management is important.
One is more likely to injury themselves from poor load management at any rep range.3 -
Not to derail OPs thread, but can you explain what you mean by load management - just not trying to lift weights for more reps than you can do, or does that term mean more?deputy_randolph wrote: »Sometimes squats take me 45 minutes...sometimes an hour and a half. There is no 1 right answer for length of time needed.
I also don't know why anyone would rather do lots of reps than less reps, but to each their own.
I guess it depends on goals and what people feel comfortable with.
For example I don't like doing anything under 8 reps per set (if I do it is rare and only certain exercises and once per week, maybe). I don't like the feeling of going too heavy, it makes me feel like I am on the border of injury and I'm not feeling the right muscles working, not to mention my body doesn't respond positively to it. I can imagine how heavy low reps would be very exciting and challenging for many, just not for me.
I don't believe anybody likes the feeling of going too heavy.
Regardless of goals, load management is important.
One is more likely to injury themselves from poor load management at any rep range.
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Not to derail OPs thread, but can you explain what you mean by load management - just not trying to lift weights for more reps than you can do, or does that term mean more?deputy_randolph wrote: »Sometimes squats take me 45 minutes...sometimes an hour and a half. There is no 1 right answer for length of time needed.
I also don't know why anyone would rather do lots of reps than less reps, but to each their own.
I guess it depends on goals and what people feel comfortable with.
For example I don't like doing anything under 8 reps per set (if I do it is rare and only certain exercises and once per week, maybe). I don't like the feeling of going too heavy, it makes me feel like I am on the border of injury and I'm not feeling the right muscles working, not to mention my body doesn't respond positively to it. I can imagine how heavy low reps would be very exciting and challenging for many, just not for me.
I don't believe anybody likes the feeling of going too heavy.
Regardless of goals, load management is important.
One is more likely to injury themselves from poor load management at any rep range.
Do you mean along the lines of fully fatiguing yourself on a max of a certain rep scheme? If so, that is one example of poor load management, especially if it is repeated.
Load management is part of programming your target intensity or average intensity relative to your perceived exertion. This is done with any rep scheme. One can go too heavy intensity relative to their 1RM on very low reps, very high reps, or anything in between.
Poor load management can occur when training with too high of intensity or average intensity without allowing adequate recovery before adding more stimulas at a useful intensity.
Useful intensity relative to the individual is very key within the program someone is using.
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I haven't read every reply, but 2 things I have not seen mentioned... Your stated goal is to lose fat, so the exact lifting prescription is not going to matter much. Losing weight is primarily about your nutrition, sleep, and stress.
Secondly, I would focus on perfecting the execution of the lift rather than "heavy" or "light" or 6 reps vs 15. If you understand muscle recruitment, focus, and form you can make a light weight heavy.
There is no perfect workout formula. The optimal workout is the one you can do consistently without getting injured and derive enjoyment from it.4 -
Agree that if your primary goal is to lose fat while not losing muscle and maybe gaining some strength, any lifting program will likely provide you the results you are seeking.
When it comes to a full body ST routine, I've used the Venus workout program before with good results and known a number of others who have as well. The extra bonus is that, at least in the earlier stages, you don't need a full gym to get a good, full body, ST based workout in - in fact, I just did one in my living room this morning as I didn't get up early enough to make it to the gym and back (plus my workout).
That particular one uses a lot of bodyweight and some hand weights, ~10 reps, 3 sets of each exercise.
When I'm doing my heavy lifting routines, I tend to stick to slightly lower reps (~6x3), but also do some muscle endurance training that is lower weights or body weight but much higher reps.
I vary my workouts depending on the time of the year around my race season and any personal weaknesses for my own goals.0 -
Thanks showjack700
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