life heavy confusion

TeresaC79

so, i've been reading lots of advice on here and the interwebz about lifting heavy/low reps vs. light lifting/more reps.

i still have some questions:

1. what is considered heavy? is it different for everyone?

2. how many machines (not ready for the big leagues....please don't tell me to move to free weights.) should I be doing a day? I've been splitting it in to arms/ back/ abs one day and legs/ hips/ lower body the other day.

3. If i'm not sore, am I not lifting heavy enough? I mean, I'm lifting the heaviest I can move for a a total of 6-8 reps (3 sets) and by the 6-8th rep, I'm failing, but still not sore. What gives?

Thanks

grendella

i do 5 sets of 5 or 6. i only got sore from the it the first two weeks. DOMS goes away after a while. switch up what youre doing as far as movements goes.

HeidiMightyRawr

"Heavy" is different for everyone. A total of 6-8 reps with the last few a real struggle (still good form) like you are doing is good! Don't worry about the lack of soreness, your body adapts to it after a while, you're still doing well / improving.

As far as machines go, if you really are unwilling to do free weights, Your upper/lower body split sounds good.
Can I ask why you don't want to use free weights (not saying you have to) because you'll probably see better results using them in both body and strength and you likely won't have to do as much, as there are many exercises out there that give you a full body workout (no need for isolation exercises) - machines won't give you full body workouts

TeresaC79

"Heavy" is different for everyone. A total of 6-8 reps with the last few a real struggle (still good form) like you are doing is good! Don't worry about the lack of soreness, your body adapts to it after a while, you're still doing well / improving.

As far as machines go, if you really are unwilling to do free weights, Your upper/lower body split sounds good.
Can I ask why you don't want to use free weights (not saying you have to) because you'll probably see better results using them in both body and strength and you likely won't have to do as much, as there are many exercises out there that give you a full body workout (no need for isolation exercises) - machines won't give you full body workouts

I'm just not emotionally ready to :laugh: to venture in to that room at my gym. Maybe when I lose a few more pounds and feel a little more confident, I will venture in.

There are a lot of big *kitten* dudes and super fit ladies in there. You never see the ole' chunksters venture in there in my gym.

Not to mention, there are no instructions and I have no idea how to use anything in there. My form would suck, I would get hurt, then I would be laughed at :embarassed:

Some day, I plan to rock that area. Just not yet.

dad106

"Heavy" is different for everyone. A total of 6-8 reps with the last few a real struggle (still good form) like you are doing is good! Don't worry about the lack of soreness, your body adapts to it after a while, you're still doing well / improving.

As far as machines go, if you really are unwilling to do free weights, Your upper/lower body split sounds good.
Can I ask why you don't want to use free weights (not saying you have to) because you'll probably see better results using them in both body and strength and you likely won't have to do as much, as there are many exercises out there that give you a full body workout (no need for isolation exercises) - machines won't give you full body workouts

I'm just not emotionally ready to :laugh: to venture in to that room at my gym. Maybe when I lose a few more pounds and feel a little more confident, I will venture in.

There are a lot of big *kitten* dudes and super fit ladies in there. You never see the ole' chunksters venture in there in my gym.

Not to mention, there are no instructions and I have no idea how to use anything in there. My form would suck, I would get hurt, then I would be laughed at :embarassed:

Some day, I plan to rock that area. Just not yet.

Anyway that you can hire a PT for a few sessions to help you learn form of free weights? Not saying that you have to at this moment, but once you are ready it would prob. help.

I personally only do dumbells, machines and bodyweight exercises with a suspension system... I have no desire what so ever to touch a barbell.. and prob. never will!

To answer your question though, heavy to relative to each person. As long as you are struggling by the last rep, then that is prob. heavy enough. Once you aren't struggling to do the last, is when you need to up the weight.

HeidiMightyRawr

"Heavy" is different for everyone. A total of 6-8 reps with the last few a real struggle (still good form) like you are doing is good! Don't worry about the lack of soreness, your body adapts to it after a while, you're still doing well / improving.

As far as machines go, if you really are unwilling to do free weights, Your upper/lower body split sounds good.
Can I ask why you don't want to use free weights (not saying you have to) because you'll probably see better results using them in both body and strength and you likely won't have to do as much, as there are many exercises out there that give you a full body workout (no need for isolation exercises) - machines won't give you full body workouts

I'm just not emotionally ready to :laugh: to venture in to that room at my gym. Maybe when I lose a few more pounds and feel a little more confident, I will venture in.

There are a lot of big *kitten* dudes and super fit ladies in there. You never see the ole' chunksters venture in there in my gym.

Not to mention, there are no instructions and I have no idea how to use anything in there. My form would suck, I would get hurt, then I would be laughed at :embarassed:

Some day, I plan to rock that area. Just not yet.

Anyway that you can hire a PT for a few sessions to help you learn form of free weights? Not saying that you have to at this moment, but once you are ready it would prob. help.

When you feel ready to venture there, I agree with the trainer idea - they should help you to learn the proper form

jmuhnie

The key to lifting is to cause maximum exertion with minimal injury. Soreness can be from "immediate" lactic acid build up (initially with poorly trained muscles) or secondary to injury (strain caused by working the muscles, not necessarily a bad thing in small quantities). It sounds like you are doing well on your workout. Training to failure on the last reps will allow 100% of your muscle fibers to fire on the last reps and encourage better neurological adaptation to lifting weights (more efficient lifting). The second thing is that by doing a minimum number of reps you will build some muscle as well, you are doing plenty of reps.

As another poster said...try switching up some of the machines if you feel like you are in a rut. A personal trainer would also be good at developing a plan for alternating machines as well. If you've been doing the exact routine for 2 months or more you probably need to refocus to other areas.

"edited for science"

so we aren't in a constant state of lactic acid build up, I get it...that would be bad. I would argue that people that lift a weight and then say at the end that it burns and they are "sore" would be referring to what I was trying to say. The second day or even hours later you would be right though...unless they somehow made a muscle group ischemic.

DOMS is delayed onset muscle soreness, which is apparently what we are talking about and makes me wrong.

xraychick77

so, i've been reading lots of advice on here and the interwebz about lifting heavy/low reps vs. light lifting/more reps.

i still have some questions:

1. what is considered heavy? is it different for everyone?

2. how many machines (not ready for the big leagues....please don't tell me to move to free weights.) should I be doing a day? I've been splitting it in to arms/ back/ abs one day and legs/ hips/ lower body the other day.

3. If i'm not sore, am I not lifting heavy enough? I mean, I'm lifting the heaviest I can move for a a total of 6-8 reps (3 sets) and by the 6-8th rep, I'm failing, but still not sore. What gives?

Thanks

heavy is being able to only lift a certain weight about 8-11 times..if you can do it more you can lift more weight.
free weights are not the 'big leagues', there are 70 yr old ladies in my gym that hit the free weights. dont be intimidated.
you wont be 'sore' during your lifting..you may or may not be sore the next day. its called DOMS. and that is not an indicator of anything anyways. usually people suffer DOMS after they've tried a different exercise.

so heavy is what it heavy for you. if you're goal is to gain strength then lift in that 3-6 range..if its to gain muscle lift in the 8-12 rep range. anything more than that doesnt do anything for muscle except increase its glycogen endurance, and turns more into a cardio routine.

ps..bro science..lactic acid doesnt make you sore..its that burn you feel when you are lifting.