Ladies: What's considered "lifting heavy"?

georgie_lou
georgie_lou Posts: 225 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm thinking I might just buy that book everyone raves bout...The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess...but I was wondering what's considered to be heavy lifting.

Replies

  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    It depends entirely on you as far as what the actual weight it. And even the further breakdown is a bit fuzzy. For me, I follow the general rule that I will lift to breaking (e.g. can't do another rep safely, without breaking form) and shouldn't be able to lift past eight solid reps.

    Once I am able to consistently lift eight reps without breaking/can go past eight reps then it's time to up weight. And I say consistently because I don't mean that one night that you feel like a superhero and suddenly pound eight reps on eat set and so you up the weight the next time. I have to be able to hit eight reps or beyond for at least three-four workouts in a row before I increase weight.

    But there are lots of different opinions on the guidelines for it.

    *sits and waits for the "anything over 3 reps is cardio" reply* ;)
  • georgie_lou
    georgie_lou Posts: 225 Member
    It depends entirely on you as far as what the actual weight it. And even the further breakdown is a bit fuzzy. For me, I follow the general rule that I will lift to breaking (e.g. can't do another rep safely, without breaking form) and shouldn't be able to lift past eight solid reps.

    Once I am able to consistently lift eight reps without breaking/can go past eight reps then it's time to up weight. And I say consistently because I don't mean that one night that you feel like a superhero and suddenly pound eight reps on eat set and so you up the weight the next time. I have to be able to hit eight reps or beyond for at least three-four workouts in a row before I increase weight.

    But there are lots of different opinions on the guidelines for it.


    *sits and waits for the "anything over 3 reps is cardio" reply* ;)

    Oh cool! Thanks...I'm new to this and am very VERY weak hahaha. Done a bit of cardio and bumped my fitness way up so now I want to make sure I'm toning and losing at the same time. Have you read (or had anything to do with) the book I mentioned? Any advice there?
  • Carol_L
    Carol_L Posts: 296 Member
    You'll really love the changes you'll see with lifting.

    The NRFL books are great. Alwyn Cosgrove is an amazing trainer.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    I've read the first 10-12 pages or so in the sample bit on Amazon but haven't picked up the book itself yet. I've been doing upper and lower body heavy strength training as part of my run training this year, but after my half this weekend, I'm stopping with the distance running and will be reducing cardio a lot. I'll be picking up the book soon but still have a couple of months before I'll really be able to dive in fully.

    I wanted to accomplish some running goals this year and while I was doing mine, a coworker approached me to ask to coach her through Couch to 5K for her to run a 5K in early November. So I'll be reading through New Rules and continuing to lift on non coaching nights but won't really be able to fully shift the focus into dedicated strength training until November.

    I've heard great things about the book and really like the sample pages I read. I look forward to getting into it. And don't worry about starting with lower weights, everyone has to start somewhere. :)

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