Lifting Question....

polar5554

When people say things like "Lift Heavy" for results...what does "heavy" actually mean?

Is it using 10 lb. dumbbells? Is that considered heavy? Or is 30 lbs. considered heavy??

I'm not talking about machines at the gym...I'm just talking about in home lifting dumbbells.

Right now, I'm currently comfortable at 10 lbs. doing 8-15 reps for let's say bicep curls...Is this heavy or extremely light?

koosdel

It depends entirely on your ability.

Think of it this way, if you can not do more than 6 reps (my opinion) with a given weight;then its heavy.

10 lbs may be heavy for one, 50lbs may be light for another.

wsheaf82

It's going to very on the person. Are you struggling to lift the last three reps in a set or could you do some more when you get to the 15 mark? The last couple should be a struggle to finish but able to finish I believe.

jdix000

"Heavy" lifting is for build/bulking up muscles. So the real question is do you want to increase your muscles mass or tone it up and are looking for more definitiion. IF you want to bulk up I would suggest going a little heavier maye 15 or 20 pounds. The next questions is can you do the 10 pounds with relative ease. If you are blowing through your reps at 10 pounds and want to tone up that is fine, if you want to bulkl up you need to do a heavier weight with less reps.

hamiltonba

Each person is different in regards to how much weight they can lift. If you are able to lift the 10lbs easily and could do more than the 15 reps, then you should go heavier. If you are struggling to complete the 8-15 reps, than that is a good weight for now. As you get stronger, you should be able to lift heavier.

hamiltonba

I have to disagree with you regarding women bulking up using heavier weights. Women can't bulk up like men can. Often times women don't lift heavier because of this misconception.

ToddFo

What heavy means actually depends on you and your ability. You're going heavy if you're doing an exercise with your dumbbells, and you get to the point that you struggle to finish that 10th or 15th rep.

Going light would be if you could perform the exercise endlessly. You wouldn't be doing yourself much good if you curled a pencil, but if you pick up a brick and struggle you're going heavy.

ShaneHancock

Generally you base on what kind of lifting you do by the amount of repetitions you do. Lower the reps... heavier weight should be done, and if your lifting lighter (cutting) you should have lighter weight/more reps.

For instance - When doing dead lifts or bench press, if I'm going for muscle gain i'll do 8 reps maximum, my last rep or 2 are typically to failure. That is "heavy" lifting _FOR_ me. Some guys I've worked out with do strictly 5 sets of 5 reps, using straps to eliminate grip issues, and lift as heavy as they can for those 5 reps.

polar5554

I have to disagree with you regarding women bulking up using heavier weights. Women can't bulk up like men can. Often times women don't lift heavier because of this misconception.

I agree with this statement...I know it's REALLY hard for women to bulk up...I"m not concerned with that being an issue...I just want a LOT of definition!!! DEFINITION is my goal.

robin52077

It's not about bulking up or not, forget about that.
It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE for someone to ADD muscle while in a calorie deficit. What you are trying to do is strengthen your existing muscle fibers and protect the muscle you DO have from being destroyed by eating too little.
Furthermore, women have an EXTREMELY hard time "bulking up" without steroids. You will not look like a bodybuilder no matter how heavy you go.

That being said:
"Heavy" is the amount of weight that you can do 10-12 reps with, knowing that you probably could NOT do the 13th. That 12th should be a real struggle. This could be any weight, it varies person to person and exercise to exercise.
I would suggest not wasting your money on 3 lb or 5 lb dumbells as they are useless. I am 5'2" 107 lbs and I use anywhere from 10 to 30 for handhelds depending on the exercise.

bmontgomery87

Heavy is relative.
Lift what is heavy to you. If you're comfortable lifting something for 15 reps, it isn't heavy and you should up the weight.
Anytime something gets easy, up the weight.

polar5554

Also, if anyone is familiar...I'm following the Power 90 program and their sculpting circuit is what I'm referring to that I do.

lpm3925

Way back in high school when I lifted for lifting sake. I did 3 sets: 15 reps, 10 reps, 5 reps. Weight increasing each time on the third set my goal was to be at failure on the final rep. Often i could not get number 5 "up". now i'm strength training for weight loss. I do 15 reps of each exercise with moderate weight, and move on to the next exercise, repeating muscles groups as I go.

dismanteld

here my take, this is what i have found works for me, i do reps of 12-15 and do 3 sets with a minute to a minute and a half of rest between, lets use my tricep pull down as an example. i do my first set with 40 pounds, i do my second set with 45 pounds, and my final set is 50 pounds, the point is to start with your comfort weight, add a little more, and then add a little more than that. the point is to tear or shred the muscle as you use it, so that it heals and gets stronger and burns more fat. using the muscle is one thing but pushing it to the absolute max and actually damaging it is where the benefit comes in.

polar5554

Thanks for all these responses...I understand a lot better now...

Right now, I have the adjustable dumbbells (from Jillian Michaels)...They go up to 12.5 lbs. I may need to get something new...

polar5554

It's not about bulking up or not, forget about that.
It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE for someone to ADD muscle while in a calorie deficit. What you are trying to do is strengthen your existing muscle fibers and protect the muscle you DO have from being destroyed by eating too little.
Furthermore, women have an EXTREMELY hard time "bulking up" without steroids. You will not look like a bodybuilder no matter how heavy you go.

That being said:
"Heavy" is the amount of weight that you can do 10-12 reps with, knowing that you probably could NOT do the 13th. That 12th should be a real struggle. This could be any weight, it varies person to person and exercise to exercise.
I would suggest not wasting your money on 3 lb or 5 lb dumbells as they are useless. I am 5'2" 107 lbs and I use anywhere from 10 to 30 for handhelds depending on the exercise.

WOW...What exercise do you lift at 30???

JDMPWR

When people say things like "Lift Heavy" for results...what does "heavy" actually mean?

Is it using 10 lb. dumbbells? Is that considered heavy? Or is 30 lbs. considered heavy??

I'm not talking about machines at the gym...I'm just talking about in home lifting dumbbells.

Right now, I'm currently comfortable at 10 lbs. doing 8-15 reps for let's say bicep curls...Is this heavy or extremely light?

If it's easy and comfortable and their is no hard hard work on the last set or 2 then you arent going "heavy"

JDMPWR

It's not about bulking up or not, forget about that.
It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE for someone to ADD muscle while in a calorie deficit. What you are trying to do is strengthen your existing muscle fibers and protect the muscle you DO have from being destroyed by eating too little.
Furthermore, women have an EXTREMELY hard time "bulking up" without steroids. You will not look like a bodybuilder no matter how heavy you go.

That being said:
"Heavy" is the amount of weight that you can do 10-12 reps with, knowing that you probably could NOT do the 13th. That 12th should be a real struggle. This could be any weight, it varies person to person and exercise to exercise.
I would suggest not wasting your money on 3 lb or 5 lb dumbells as they are useless. I am 5'2" 107 lbs and I use anywhere from 10 to 30 for handhelds depending on the exercise.

You surely can gain muscle when you are in a caloric deficit as long as you keep a high level of protein in the body.

hpsnickers1

What heavy means actually depends on you and your ability. You're going heavy if you're doing an exercise with your dumbbells, and you get to the point that you struggle to finish that 10th or 15th rep.

Going light would be if you could perform the exercise endlessly. You wouldn't be doing yourself much good if you curled a pencil, but if you pick up a brick and struggle you're going heavy.

Tony Horton (P90X) says for size: heavy enough for 8-10 before fail (losing form). For "lean" muscles: 12-15 reps to fail. I don't know how much truth there is to this but I've doing the 12-15 to fail (I like the last 3 to burn). Too soon to tell whether or not he's right.

Mayor_West

Heavy is training to failure, where your muscle cannot complete another rep, on at least one set.. Now, just how much weight it takes to achieve that result depends on the movement being done and the lifter's relative strength level. A compound movement like the squat or bench press, which utilize multiple muscles during the movement, can be done with more weight than an isolation exercise, such as the biceps curl, which utilizes fewer muscles.

There's also a myth that higher reps with lighter weight will help you achieve a "toned" look. This is a fallacy based on the fact that any exercise for which you can complete 20 reps or more is not putting your body into an anabolic state, but rather an aerobic one. In other words, you're doing a different form of cardio, not working hard enough to break down the muscle tissue in order to promote growth.

As for reps, 8-12 per set has been found to be ideal to promote growth of lean mass. You should be working with enough weight to reach failure on at least your final set. 4-6 reps is ideally suited to increase overall strength, but working in the 6-10 and 12-15 rep range can also be beneficial as well, particularly for breaking out of a plateau.

RunHardBeStrong

It depends entirely on your ability.

Think of it this way, if you can not do more than 6 reps (my opinion) with a given weight;then its heavy.

10 lbs may be heavy for one, 50lbs may be light for another.

This is a great explanation! I started with 10 and now I'm up to 50 on overhead presses, bicep curls etc. I dead lift 100 lbs but started at 30. I'm not bulky at all! Sculpted, yes! Start with what's heavy to you and keep going up! I'm stronger than ever and love the look on a guy's face when he goes to lift something for me that is relatively heavy and I say "Thanks but I"ve got it" the looks I get are priceless and a huge confidence boost!

kdiamond

It's not about bulking up or not, forget about that.
It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE for someone to ADD muscle while in a calorie deficit. What you are trying to do is strengthen your existing muscle fibers and protect the muscle you DO have from being destroyed by eating too little.
Furthermore, women have an EXTREMELY hard time "bulking up" without steroids. You will not look like a bodybuilder no matter how heavy you go.

That being said:
"Heavy" is the amount of weight that you can do 10-12 reps with, knowing that you probably could NOT do the 13th. That 12th should be a real struggle. This could be any weight, it varies person to person and exercise to exercise.
I would suggest not wasting your money on 3 lb or 5 lb dumbells as they are useless. I am 5'2" 107 lbs and I use anywhere from 10 to 30 for handhelds depending on the exercise.

WOW...What exercise do you lift at 30???

AGREED!!!

I'm 5'4" 108 pounds.

I deadlift 115 - only 5 reps mind you, but it is HARD.

I think lifting heavy is when it is hard to do 5-8 reps. If you can do 15 reps of something and you're not busting to get the last rep up, you're not working hard enough.

I also work up to it. Using deadlift as an example again, I always warm up with just the olympic bar (45 pounds). I do about 10 to get my blood flowing. Then I add 25 lbs to each side, then 10's, then 5's. I do 5 sets of 5.