Weightlifting question

muskiemama

Which is better, heavier weights with fewer reps or lighter weights with more reps? Right now I am doing heavy weights (bench press 100 Lbs, leg press 150 lbs) but only 10-15 reps. I usually lift 50-60 min 3 times a week. We have 13 machines at my gym and I average 3-3.5 min per machine at 3 sets. Is this considered an intense workout or just general weightlifting? I know I am tired when I finish. I want to maximize my calorie burn. Thanks.

aymetcalf

Heavy weights, few reps. As a woman, you don't have to worry about getting bulky because your hormones prevent it. Heavy weights are working wonders for me!

koosdel

In my opinion, what you are doing is endurance training. Low weight, high rep count.

For strength training, you would probably never make it to 15 reps on any lift.

Whichever method you choose, depends on your goals.

getsveltEagain

Which is better, heavier weights with fewer reps or lighter weights with more reps? Right now I am doing heavy weights (bench press 100 Lbs, leg press 150 lbs) but only 10-15 reps. I usually lift 50-60 min 3 times a week. We have 13 machines at my gym and I average 3-3.5 min per machine at 3 sets. Is this considered an intense workout or just general weightlifting? I know I am tired when I finish. I want to maximize my calorie burn. Thanks.

bump because I have the same questions!!

AlsDonkBoxSquat

In my opinion, what you are doing is endurance training. Low weight, high rep count.

For strength training, you would probably never make it to 15 reps on any lift.

Whichever method you choose, depends on your goals.

I agree with this, depending on what you're working you really shouldn't be going over 6 - 12 reps on any weighted lift. And if you are making it to 12, it should be barely.

arhzon

Heavy weights are what you lift to build muscle, which is very hard for a woman to do unless you dedicated hours to it several days a week. Strength training is using lower weights (or even your own body weight) and try to endure. With 15 reps as your max, you are getting toward heavy lifting, but if you are looking to get in good condition, I would still work on lower weights. I time my exercises and try to keep going for a minute at a time with any exercise I do, so maxing out on a bench would be a bad idea. It really depends on your goals though. If you are looking to build muscle, then heavy weights are the way to go. If you want to train for strength, focus on doing lighter exercises for longer.

piercedee

I try to switch it up that way your body doesn't get used to it. Higher weight with fewer reps can lead to bulkier muscles (depending on your body type) and low weight with higher reps (some days I do up to 50 in a set) also is great for muscle tone.

H_Factor

if your goals are:

1. build strength and/or burn fat...higher weight at fewer reps (think 5-8)

2. muscle endurance...smaller weight at more reps (think 10-15)

Also, research shows diminishing returns with 3 sets of one exercise. Stated differently, you can get a more efficient work-out doing one set of each exercise with less/no rest between exercises. Or something else that might be appealing to you is to put together a circuit of 4 or 5 (or more) exercises....do 1 set of each, do not rest between exercises until you complete the entire circuit. then rest a minute and do the circuit again. you can do smaller circuits to target one or two body parts...or larger circuits (10-12 exercises) to target more body parts. you could also do one smaller circuit for, let's say arms, of 4-5 exercises, followed by another circuit, let's say for chest/shoulders....and then another one for the legs.

deathstarclock

If you're doing heavy weights and lower reps, you're focusing on those fast-twitch type II fibers that utilize your 1-15 second energy sources (ATP, Creatine Phosphate, Glycolis, in that order). These fibers, when stimulated and with proper diet, will cause you to gain muscle mass!

Edit: forgot to mention, fast-twitch fibers are the larger fibers in your muscles and are responsible for "power" moves like jumping, standing up from sitting in a chair, etc.. Therefore these fibers are what gives a person more mass.

aimeeturner

I do mostly "giant" sets, which includes a high weight at about 12 reps, then immediately lower the weight and do 10 reps, then lower it once more and do another 8-10 reps. This really gives me a great burn. This would be considered one set, which I do 3x on each movement. Just remember that you have to change your routine up about every six weeks - this will help keep you from that dreadful plateau.

sarahi2009

My goals are to get toned so I decrease the weight with each set. For example, if I am doing bicep curls lets say I start at 15 pounds, I do that until my arms get sort of tired, then I go down to 10 pounds and do that until my arms get tired, then down to 5 and do those until my arms get tired.

10fairywings

Which is better, heavier weights with fewer reps or lighter weights with more reps? Right now I am doing heavy weights (bench press 100 Lbs, leg press 150 lbs) but only 10-15 reps. I usually lift 50-60 min 3 times a week. We have 13 machines at my gym and I average 3-3.5 min per machine at 3 sets. Is this considered an intense workout or just general weightlifting? I know I am tired when I finish. I want to maximize my calorie burn. Thanks.

Hi honey I am a bodybuilder and deal with sports nutrition too. What you need to do is continue to use heavy weights, but if you are going 3 times a week as a beginner you need to be doing complete full-body workouts every session, and you need to up your weights, you should do 3 sets of no more than 8 reps with a 45 second gap between each set, and then jump onto the next exercise. If you can do more than 8 you need to put the weight up. You also need to have a day inbetween sessions going 3 times per week ie Mon, weds , fri and the weekend off and if you are wanting to cut fat, do 30 mins of CV 6 days per week ie monday-saturday. This should be in conjunction with good muscle building nutriton ie lots of protein to feed those muscles and making sure your daily macros are correct. I have a blog on this very subject, if you'd like to look please feel free

Good Luck!

muskiemama

Which is better, heavier weights with fewer reps or lighter weights with more reps? Right now I am doing heavy weights (bench press 100 Lbs, leg press 150 lbs) but only 10-15 reps. I usually lift 50-60 min 3 times a week. We have 13 machines at my gym and I average 3-3.5 min per machine at 3 sets. Is this considered an intense workout or just general weightlifting? I know I am tired when I finish. I want to maximize my calorie burn. Thanks.

Hi honey I am a bodybuilder and deal with sports nutrition too. What you need to do is continue to use heavy weights, but if you are going 3 times a week as a beginner you need to be doing complete full-body workouts every session, and you need to up your weights, you should do 3 sets of no more than 8 reps with a 45 second gap between each set, and then jump onto the next exercise. If you can do more than 8 you need to put the weight up. You also need to have a day inbetween sessions going 3 times per week ie Mon, weds , fri and the weekend off and if you are wanting to cut fat, do 30 mins of CV 6 days per week ie monday-saturday. This should be in conjunction with good muscle building nutriton ie lots of protein to feed those muscles and making sure your daily macros are correct. I have a blog on this very subject, if you'd like to look please feel free

Good Luck!

muskiemama

Which is better, heavier weights with fewer reps or lighter weights with more reps? Right now I am doing heavy weights (bench press 100 Lbs, leg press 150 lbs) but only 10-15 reps. I usually lift 50-60 min 3 times a week. We have 13 machines at my gym and I average 3-3.5 min per machine at 3 sets. Is this considered an intense workout or just general weightlifting? I know I am tired when I finish. I want to maximize my calorie burn. Thanks.

Hi honey I am a bodybuilder and deal with sports nutrition too. What you need to do is continue to use heavy weights, but if you are going 3 times a week as a beginner you need to be doing complete full-body workouts every session, and you need to up your weights, you should do 3 sets of no more than 8 reps with a 45 second gap between each set, and then jump onto the next exercise. If you can do more than 8 you need to put the weight up. You also need to have a day inbetween sessions going 3 times per week ie Mon, weds , fri and the weekend off and if you are wanting to cut fat, do 30 mins of CV 6 days per week ie monday-saturday. This should be in conjunction with good muscle building nutriton ie lots of protein to feed those muscles and making sure your daily macros are correct. I have a blog on this very subject, if you'd like to look please feel free

Good Luck!

Sorry about the blank post. I'm still new to this. I have been doing this for 12 weeks and I am currently doing a full body workout on MWF with a 1 min rest between sets.And I don't rest between exercises. Sounds like I do need to up my weights though. I am doing 45-60 min of cardio M-F and on the weekends I am hunting so I am hiking to and from my deerstand up and down hills with an extra 10-15 lbs of equipment for 30-45 min Sat and Sun. Thanks for the info.