Women Lifting Heavy

stephanne82

I went to the gym last night to meet with a personal trainer (they offer this to see if you would be interested in getting one) and I was hoping that he could show me how to lift heavy. I wanted to start doing this after I finish with Insanity next week. Well, he said he doesn't do that with women and that I might hurt myself! :noway: That for women we need to do low weight and high reps. WTF! After reading posts in here and doing research, I thought a personal trainer would be more open minded. I guess I was wrong. I will just have to try to figure it out on my own...any suggestions?

MustBeTheRows

What a douche canoe. New Rules of Lifting - Women.

Dave198lbs

perhaps he meant as someone who hasnt lifted weights before ( I assume you havnt?) that you need to START with low weights.

All this "lift heavy" talk on these forums is concerning. I hope you dont think that you just walk into a gym as a new lifter and start "lifiting heavy". Like the trainer said, thats a great way to hurt yourself.

SmudgerSmithRhino

Women lifting heavy rock!

Find yourself a tranier who will walk you through the whole process and show you how to lift correctly.

stephanne82

perhaps he meant as someone who hasnt lifted weights before ( I assume you havnt?) that you need to START with low weights.

All this "lift heavy" talk on these forums is concerning. I hope you dont think that you just walk into a gym as a new lifter and start "lifiting heavy". Like the trainer said, thats a great way to hurt yourself.

Of course I know I can't start out with really heavy weights, I wanted to learn the correct forms with lower weights until I get stronger; you know?

12by311

Heavy doesn't have to mean "so heavy that you are going to hurt yourself", heavy is relative to each person.

You are not going to hurt yourself if you are using proper form. That's the most important thing. Make sure before you even use ANY weight that you understand that aspect of lifting.

New Rules, like someone else suggested, is good. I can't really vouch for that program, because I haven't seen it/read the book. But have seen many have success with it.

Strong Lifts 5x5 is a good program you can find online.

Jenlwb

As long as you do your research it's possible to do it without a trainer. I lift at home, using new rules of lifting program, which is a great introduction. There are lots of good youtube resources.

Martucha123

in my gym trainers know nothing.
I saw one teaching girls how to bench press 5kg (11lbs) bar in smitch machine.

They would never do free weights here, because that means teaching proper form... machines are just easier for them. Alsoe they make everybody do 12 reps 3 sets, like it's the only way to go.

don't worry, the fact that somebody is trainer nowadays does not mean a lot, you can be one after weekend training...

Martucha123

perhaps he meant as someone who hasnt lifted weights before ( I assume you havnt?) that you need to START with low weights.

All this "lift heavy" talk on these forums is concerning. I hope you dont think that you just walk into a gym as a new lifter and start "lifiting heavy". Like the trainer said, thats a great way to hurt yourself.

Of course I know I can't start out with really heavy weights, I wanted to learn the correct forms with lower weights until I get stronger; you know?

buy a book new rules of weight lifting for women, learn form from youtube videos, you can do this on your own.

Dave198lbs

perhaps he meant as someone who hasnt lifted weights before ( I assume you havnt?) that you need to START with low weights.

All this "lift heavy" talk on these forums is concerning. I hope you dont think that you just walk into a gym as a new lifter and start "lifiting heavy". Like the trainer said, thats a great way to hurt yourself.

Of course I know I can't start out with really heavy weights, I wanted to learn the correct forms with lower weights until I get stronger; you know?

Im glad to hear you say that. lifting heavy is great. But I see people at the gym every time I go that have no clue how dangerously they are lifting because they want to "lift heavy".

IronSmasher

perhaps he meant as someone who hasnt lifted weights before ( I assume you havnt?) that you need to START with low weights.

All this "lift heavy" talk on these forums is concerning. I hope you dont think that you just walk into a gym as a new lifter and start "lifiting heavy". Like the trainer said, thats a great way to hurt yourself.

Of course I know I can't start out with really heavy weights, I wanted to learn the correct forms with lower weights until I get stronger; you know?

The important part is whether he specified women or beginners, and it looks like he did.

stephanne82

Thanks everyone for your replies! I appreciate it :happy:

dad106

Sounds like you just need to find a different trainer.

Mine teaches proper form with the lighter weights.. and then once I have that down, he goes heavier... hence the 20 pound dumbbells he had me working with last night and then the 180 pound leg press he was having me do.

KINGoftheBUFF

The personal trainer you saw was an idiot!

My female clients do heavy compound lifts as well as metabolic drills (Kettle Bells and HIIT Training). And they all lost weight and look very lean.

annieu613

Your trainer sounds like a jerk.

I've been doing New Rules of Lifting for Women, and I love it. I would strongly suggest it to any woman interested in weight lifting. Like others have said, it's really important not to lift so heavy that you're sacrificing form, but you can still push yourself.

Hendrix7

The majority of personal trainers in the large chain commercial style gyms are totally useless......as you just found out.

If you feel like you want a PT to guide you, you would be better looking around locally for someone with a good track record and decent recommendations.

Rae6503

Wow. He's dumb.

Check out this post. I think if you pay attention to form and start with low weights Stronglifts5x5 is a great program for beginners.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary

juliebeannn

ewww. what a d-bag. i understand that you'll have to start with lower weights but a blanket statement like "i don't do heavy weights with women" would've had me spewing profanity at him. :mad:

check out the group rae6503 posted. i do this program and i've been able to increase my strength and i love it!!! to go alongside the program, i recommend youtube-ing "mark rippetoe", he has great videos explaining form and if you're interested, he wrote a book called "starting strength" that's great, also.

Jules2Be

perhaps he meant as someone who hasnt lifted weights before ( I assume you havnt?) that you need to START with low weights.

All this "lift heavy" talk on these forums is concerning. I hope you dont think that you just walk into a gym as a new lifter and start "lifiting heavy". Like the trainer said, thats a great way to hurt yourself.

Of course I know I can't start out with really heavy weights, I wanted to learn the correct forms with lower weights until I get stronger; you know?

Im glad to hear you say that. lifting heavy is great. But I see people at the gym every time I go that have no clue how dangerously they are lifting because they want to "lift heavy".

I think it should be "lift a little more each time" or something... for some it can mean going from 5 pounds to 8 pounds on dumbell shoulder presses...not heavy to some, but challenging to someone just developing upper body strength...that was me 10 months ago...now i use 15.

Same thing with squats etc...HEAVY means what is challenging to YOU doing a lower number of reps versus a ton.IMO

PittShkr

I went to the gym last night to meet with a personal trainer (they offer this to see if you would be interested in getting one) and I was hoping that he could show me how to lift heavy. I wanted to start doing this after I finish with Insanity next week. Well, he said he doesn't do that with women and that I might hurt myself! :noway: That for women we need to do low weight and high reps. WTF! After reading posts in here and doing research, I thought a personal trainer would be more open minded. I guess I was wrong. I will just have to try to figure it out on my own...any suggestions?

Find a new Trainer!

thoeting

A trainer should be responding to what your needs/goals are! If you want to lift heavy, then the trainer's job is to get you there SAFELY.

Not to mention, you may want to focus on building muscle groups - and he/she is going to need to know how to train the assistor muscles too.

This BS of 'women do high reps/low weights' is the very very lazy way to train a client. S/He should have a plan for evey meeting and a long term plan of how to get you to YOUR goals, not his.

Yep, you need a new trainer....

contingencyplan

Starting Strength is without a doubt the best guide on a heavy lifting program for beginners out there. All the others, Stronglifts, NROLFW, etc, basically just borrow from it and change a few things up. But it is the original and, trust me, the best.

LoveMabody

Totally opposite to mine. I am going for a personal trainer and he gave me a session before that where he said women are afraid of lifting weights but if you are not then try heavy and he made me do it. I liked it.

RunningDirty

I would interview more trainers if it's in the budget to find someone who specializes in weight lifting or find a lifting gym. Some crossfit gyms offer lifting programs (i.e., power lifting/olympic lifts) so although a more expensive gym option can be cheaper than hiring a personal trainer with the same attention to what your focus is on (lifting).

I'm sure you've seen StrongLifts 5x5 on here (excellence), but if unsure on form it does help having someone show you the ropes. The women's 5x5 group on here is awesome because there's some knowledgeable people in the group who really take the time to answer a lot of questions and help newbies! It's also very active, which is a plus to stay motivated.

Have fun and enjoy your results!

knk1553

1. New Rules of Lifting for Women, I'm starting it next week.
2. Talk to the trainer and maybe explain what you mean more, and if he still says no, ask for a new trainer, if you're paying them they should have the same views as you.
3. If you don't want to pay for a trainer ask around for someone to teach you proper form at the gym, most trainers/employees will help if you ask for free, and I don't know what your gym is like, but if there's someone who has good form ask them if they can help you out, or just get a few sessions for ja trainer to teach you proper form and follow the plan in NROL.

I would personally have someone teach me proper form and get NROL4W, its like $13 on amazon and has a full 6 month workout plan in it, and walks you through how to do each exercise, much cheaper than a trainer.

BeautyFromPain

in my gym trainers know nothing.
I saw one teaching girls how to bench press 5kg (11lbs) bar in smitch machine.

They would never do free weights here, because that means teaching proper form... machines are just easier for them. Alsoe they make everybody do 12 reps 3 sets, like it's the only way to go.

don't worry, the fact that somebody is trainer nowadays does not mean a lot, you can be one after weekend training...

This is why I love the course which I am doing. 2 years for a diploma, but so worth it for the training which you get.

yoovie

NROLFW and dont skip all the stuff at the beginning, read it and make it your new building blocks o logic. cause science is sexy. hth.

SPNLuver83

GO TO A DIFFERENT GYM. That's my suggestion. What a sexist nincompoop.

This is why I need to become a personal trainer asap lol damn economy

chuisle

perhaps he meant as someone who hasnt lifted weights before ( I assume you havnt?) that you need to START with low weights.

All this "lift heavy" talk on these forums is concerning. I hope you dont think that you just walk into a gym as a new lifter and start "lifiting heavy". Like the trainer said, thats a great way to hurt yourself.

Honestly I think this, well, sort of a male thing? I have almost never seen women trying to rep heavier weight than they safely can, usually the opposite. Lou Schuler has a good rule of thumb - if you're male probably start 25% under what you think you should. Females, start 25% over.

That said, as other posters have pointed out, lifting heavy is a training paradigm as opposed to an actual concrete thing. This wouldn't have to be said for men, that you should life so as to really challenge your muscles, but it does to women. Thus, you see lift heavy advice.

I can also vouch for NROL4W. I am in stage 6 and though I started lifting heavy well before I started it I've seen strength gains and really enjoyed the overall programming. Starting Strength is incredible (pages and pages on a squat? yes!) but NROL is a little more accessible for women. Ask that trainer if he's read. He obviously hasn't. Tell him to and then never go back.

Also, I find it insulting that the simple of idea of women trying to be strong = women getting hurt. Don't want to damage our delicate female bodies.

PaveGurl

NROLFW is a kick resource, as is NerdFitness, if you're interested. I lift. I love it. My goals are "do a little more than last time, every time," so if I have a higher weight, I shoot for lower reps in my sets; the next time I work that group, I increase my reps til I'm doing my full-rep sets at the higher weight. Then I bump my weights the next time after that, so I'm constantly challenging my body to move forward. My goals are to bench and deadlift 1.5x my body weight and do 10 pull-ups without kipping.

learn your form, take it slow, and enjoy your new body!

XFitMojoMom

or you can try Crossfit.