When they say lift heavy....

Options
2»

Replies

  • PBJunky
    PBJunky Posts: 737 Member
    Options
    does it mean with free weights or lifting on machines count? also does it have to be a gym. I am currently using 3-5 lb weights with my exercise tapes. if I up it to 10 lbs and gradually increase is that heavy enough to begin with? What about how often and can it be split into upper and lower body workouts?

    Calculate your 1 Rep Max (1RM) and use 80% of the weight atleast
  • PepeGreggerton
    PepeGreggerton Posts: 986 Member
    Options
    Lift beyond muscle failure for growth. Keep your form impeccable, disregard showy weight stacks that's good for your ego, not your muscular development.

    Slow, refined, controlled movements...You control the weight, it does not control you. Focus entirely on the muscle your attempting to enhance/sculpt and contract it throughout the entire motion.

    ^^^Best advice yet.

    I disagree with the training to chemical failure part. Not everyone is looking for Sarcoplasmic growth (size, endurance) ... Myofibrillar (Strength, cellular density) is best at 2-6 reps. The rest of it is really good.

    I personally combine and alternate the two in my own workout.
  • thecrossfitter
    thecrossfitter Posts: 424 Member
    Options
    Weight machines are not the devil... They're used for isolation exercises, that's what they're for....

    Legitimate question - I promise I am not being snarky :) I know they are for isolation exercises, I just don't understand why you would do isolation exercises if you're already doing compound lifts? What are they for? I really don't know! :)
  • PBJunky
    PBJunky Posts: 737 Member
    Options
    Weight machines are not the devil... They're used for isolation exercises, that's what they're for....

    Legitimate question - I promise I am not being snarky :) I know they are for isolation exercises, I just don't understand why you would do isolation exercises if you're already doing compound lifts? What are they for? I really don't know! :)

    At times a compound exercise is just not enough to give it a proper workout so you finish off the muscle group by doing additional isolation exercises.
  • Raclex
    Raclex Posts: 238
    Options
    I classify lifting heavy as being all I can do for 3 sets of 3-5. If I can do 5 then I increase it the next time. But I count when I am training like this at least 1 second up, hold for 1 second, 1 second down, hold for 1 second so each rep takes 4-5 seconds. This way you're not relying on the elasticity of your ligaments and relying and focusing solely on the muscle.

    I laugh in my head when I see guys at the gym bouncing the bar off their chest and just pounding out as many as they can as fast as they can. Slow and steady wins the race.

    ^^^This! I'm also new at lifting and this is great advice...Thanks a bunch!
  • thecrossfitter
    thecrossfitter Posts: 424 Member
    Options
    Weight machines are not the devil... They're used for isolation exercises, that's what they're for....

    Legitimate question - I promise I am not being snarky :) I know they are for isolation exercises, I just don't understand why you would do isolation exercises if you're already doing compound lifts? What are they for? I really don't know! :)

    At times a compound exercise is just not enough to give it a proper workout so you finish off the muscle group by doing additional isolation exercises.

    Thanks! Okay - I have one more question :) Would this depend on what your goals are? So for example, my goal is just functional strength (and speed and accuracy and stamina and power... etc.) like... all around fitness rather than say, JUST getting really strong and building muscle. So for example - here is the workout I just did:

    5 Rounds for time:
    -Run 400 meters
    -10 box jump burpees (20" box)
    -10 sumo deadlift high pulls (55lbs)
    -10 thursters (55lbs)
    1 min rest

    I'm not trying to be difficult, I just truly feel like my muscles got a proper workout lol - at least as far as that aligns with my own personal goals. Is this a difference based on goals? Or would I truly be benefitting from hopping on a weight machine after that?

    Again, I'm sincerely asking, not trying to be a jerk or anything :)
  • EuroDriver12
    EuroDriver12 Posts: 805 Member
    Options
    well first of all to the previous ppl u can't really tell anyone what is heavy to them and what is not... it doesnt even say if its a guy or a girl in the profile...

    to the question though.. free weight are better than machines but its good to add 2-3 machines in your workout day... as like a guy said previously they isolate more so it helps u get that better peak at a workout...

    how heavy... well i do my sets like this 6reps,6reps,8reps,8reps,10reps, next excersise i do reveresed 12,10,8,6,6, and when i say 6 reps its heavy... very heavy but its controlled and about last 1-2 reps are "forced reps" n im at failure... often a spotter gives a light tap with a finger to get through the "sticky spot"
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    Options
    Weight machines are not the devil... They're used for isolation exercises, that's what they're for....

    Legitimate question - I promise I am not being snarky :) I know they are for isolation exercises, I just don't understand why you would do isolation exercises if you're already doing compound lifts? What are they for? I really don't know! :)

    At times a compound exercise is just not enough to give it a proper workout so you finish off the muscle group by doing additional isolation exercises.

    Thanks! Okay - I have one more question :) Would this depend on what your goals are? So for example, my goal is just functional strength (and speed and accuracy and stamina and power... etc.) like... all around fitness rather than say, JUST getting really strong and building muscle. So for example - here is the workout I just did:

    5 Rounds for time:
    -Run 400 meters
    -10 box jump burpees (20" box)
    -10 sumo deadlift high pulls (55lbs)
    -10 thursters (55lbs)
    1 min rest

    I'm not trying to be difficult, I just truly feel like my muscles got a proper workout lol - at least as far as that aligns with my own personal goals. Is this a difference based on goals? Or would I truly be benefitting from hopping on a weight machine after that?

    Again, I'm sincerely asking, not trying to be a jerk or anything :)

    For your goal of overall fitness and functional strength, this would be fine. What we tend to use machines for in the gym is to make sure that we are getting the maximum out of a specific muscle group. With compound movements like the ones you do, the stabilizer muscles are fatigued long before the major muscles. For someone who wants to work on pure strength of certain muscles (like for rehabbing or prehabbing an area they tend to easily injure) or who needs to focus on a specific muscle for body building reasons (to get the fullness and definition of all the major muscles or to fill in a muscle that isn't proportional to the rest of their body), then they have to do the isolation exercises on machines in addition to the standard compound lifts so that they can achieve those goals. So, to answer your question, yes, it does depend on your specific goals. But it can also depend on your specific fitness level. I wouldn't put a new exerciser on the compound movements you are doing because they are at greater risk for injury. Also there are clinical populations who can benefit from strength training on machines because the free weights wouldn't be safe for them until they dealt with their illness or overcame it enough to build the strength to handle those movements. The point is that there are no evil pieces of equipment or any pieces of equipment that will meet the needs of all exercisers.
  • thecrossfitter
    thecrossfitter Posts: 424 Member
    Options
    For your goal of overall fitness and functional strength, this would be fine. What we tend to use machines for in the gym is to make sure that we are getting the maximum out of a specific muscle group. With compound movements like the ones you do, the stabilizer muscles are fatigued long before the major muscles. For someone who wants to work on pure strength of certain muscles (like for rehabbing or prehabbing an area they tend to easily injure) or who needs to focus on a specific muscle for body building reasons (to get the fullness and definition of all the major muscles or to fill in a muscle that isn't proportional to the rest of their body), then they have to do the isolation exercises on machines in addition to the standard compound lifts so that they can achieve those goals. So, to answer your question, yes, it does depend on your specific goals. But it can also depend on your specific fitness level. I wouldn't put a new exerciser on the compound movements you are doing because they are at greater risk for injury. Also there are clinical populations who can benefit from strength training on machines because the free weights wouldn't be safe for them until they dealt with their illness or overcame it enough to build the strength to handle those movements. The point is that there are no evil pieces of equipment or any pieces of equipment that will meet the needs of all exercisers.

    Thanks. Makes sense. This is the same reason I personally don't do things like bicep curls and body builders would. Also I didn't say machines were evil. I said I preferred free weights and used a quote to explain why in which Steve said they were evil :-P

Categories