Heavy Lifting

nikolaim5

depends on what you are trying to accomplish but i would suggest low weight high reps. For a person new to lifting weights you need to build up muscle endurance before pushing yourself or you could cause injury. Plus the more reps you do the more calories you will end up burning.

^ I second that!

No. High rep, low weight is near useless. A warm up set before your heavy, work sets will help you avoid injury. Lift weights to build muscle. If you want to burn calories then eat properly and do some cardio.

nikolaim5

If the person training you doesn't look like they train themselves, move on.

This. Nothing worse than trying to take advice from someone who touts "physical fitness is important" but apparently not important enough for them. At that point, I would think what's important is just the money they make.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Not necessarily true. I have read extensively on lifting and nutrition. I had to stop going to the gym for a while and my weight ballooned. I am back to working on getting it back down, but that doesn't make me less knowledgeable.

Agreed. For instance, Lyle Macdonanld and Mark Rippetoe. Not much to look at but you'd be pretty lucky to have them as trainers. However, these guys are famous and can get by on their cred. The average trainer, not so much

juliagulia624

I've always been a heavy weight lifter - probably because I've ONLY trained with men. I can tell you this, if you lift heavy, more than likely you will get bulky, large muscles. Advantage - they burn a lot of cals just at rest, they are very good "muscle remembers" if you stop training for a period of time; Disadvantage - you look bulky and if you carry extra weight you really look bulky. It's really all in what you want. Personally, I LOVE the big muscles and looking like I can knock someone down, but that is just me and not too common a female trait. With heavy lifting, you really need to watch your form, because it is hard to control the weight and you can easily hurt yourself. If you are chosing heavy, then I always would do 8-10 reps and 2 sets. For fun then, when that is complete do a set of 15 at a light weight and see how your muscle reacts! Good luck to you!!!

This is not completely accurate. She may have gotten big and bulky lifting heavy weights, and its probably bc of her body type and diet. Google Ectomorph, Endomorph, and Mesomorph. These are the 3 body types that people can be categorized into. Few are 100% true to the type, most a combo of the two. Your body type will mostly decide if you are going to get big and bulky, or add toned curves. Your diet will play a huge role as well. You can do all the right things in the gym but if your diet is lacking in any areas, you wont get the results you want.

For most women, lifting heavy ( i.e. the heaviest weight you can lift for 6-10 reps) is going to build a little bit of lean muscle and give you the toned, firm look you want. Once you figure out what body type you have, you can then find out what training is going to help you get to your goals the best. Make sure you are getting adequate protein (at least your body weight. I weigh 138 so I try to get 138+ grams of protein per day) Try to eat whole foods such as fruits and veggies and some whole grains. You also need to eat enough. If you are only getting 1000 calories per day, it will be very difficult to gain some sexy lean muscle.

In summary: dont be the girl that does everything with 5lb dumbbells and hope you will see your tricep pop out soon!

JNick77

Agreed. For instance, Lyle Macdonanld and Mark Rippetoe. Not much to look at but you'd be pretty lucky to have them as trainers. However, these guys are famous and can get by on their cred. The average trainer, not so much

^
No, this!

There is so much fallacy around weight-training still, it's kind of funny. A lot of old myths still live on despite tons of free information being available. Just got to do some of your own research.

John Meadows, Mark Rippetoe, Lyle Macdonald, Chad Waterbury, John DeFranco, Tim Henriques, Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, and I could go on and on... all good resources.

samuel249

Try doing a lot of press ups aswell that will build up your strength gradually

Spamee

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