Lifting heavy (at risk of sounding like a dimwit!!)

sullyboo

When folks talk about heavy lifting, how heavy are we talking ?? I'm interested as everyone says how good it is for burning off the fat and looking good. I'm just above my goal weight but am thinking my overall size is ok but would much rather have a tighter looking body. I do have some free weights at home and wonder if its possible to start lifting at home ?? Can't really afford gym membership at the moment. My exercise until now has been fitness DVDs and the exercise bike.

Can anyone offer any guidance ??

Thanks all

drmerc

Heavy is relative to the individual

wellbert

Between 25-1200lbs depending on the exercise and the individual.

FullOfWin

From the thread I answered this in a few hours ago

From a weight perspective it would be 85%+ of your one rep max for whatever exercise. In general though when people say it they are also referring to doing a routine focused on compound barbell exercises like deadlifts, squats, bench press, overhead press, barbell rows, pullups\chinups.

GiddyupTim

When people talk about lifting heavy, they usually are referring to lifting the kind of weight where you are going to need a barbell rather than dumbbells, and they are referring to a weight that is going to be too heavy for you to lift much more than 10 times without your strength giving out.
And, if you lift like that, you will tone and get stronger fastest. However, it is possible to increase your muscle tone and strength with only body weight exercises, like push-ups and chin-ups. MEANING: exercises you can do at home. The key is that you have to do your push-ups (or whatever) to fatigue -- that is, until you cannot do anymore.
This gets debated. But there recently was a good study that showed it is true.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120426110252.htm

sullyboo

Thanks a lot for the comments .... I stupidly didn't do a search first for lifting before posting !! My bad. But I've just looked through the older posts and found another from earlier about lifting which is helpful. I have to practice at my press ups and planks I think to build up a bit of strength!!

I'm assuming there are online resources showing correct posture technique etc??

Could I add that I have a mild scoliosis and wonder if this might affects posture at all ??

bzmom

Check out Chalean Extream. Although I do believe you can eventually graduate to barbell, dumbbells is a good way to start. Heavy to me means being able to do max 8 to 10 reps and getting exhausted where you could not do any more.

Meg_78

I'm 100lbs so What is heavy for me will probably be baby play for my 200lb body builder friends, so basically it is different for everyone, depending on your strength levels and such.

You might do well to read something like the New Rules of Lifting for Women, (I found it a little patronizing) but it should help you build a good routine, and how many sets and reps you should be doing in each exercise.

I work out from home, but I know I will need a gym at some point if I want to progress, I'm using all my husbands weights and bars, dumbbells etc...maybe you can afford a good dumbbell set with several weights so you have a range, you will generally need some heavier weighs when doing legs and bigger moves, and something a little lighter for arms and such, also you want to be able to make it heavier as you progress so loose weights are good, and you can usually find them second hand too...and don't discount body weight exercises too.

sullyboo

So at the moment I have dumbbells that are 3.5kg. Very baby weight !!! I can easily lift those for bicep curls. I'm guessing I should load them up until i am only able to manage 8-10 reps then ?? Think I need to find some lifting exercises.

meshashesha2012

how long is a piece of string ?

seriously though, usually when people talking about lifting heavy, it's a weight that's 75%-99% of their 1 rep max for a given exercise. it doesn't have to be based on your weight at all, as there are women half my size who can snatch twice as much as me or more.

also if you're interested in getting stronger biceps, i'd suggests pullups and bb rows instead . if you're more interested in hypertrophy then stick with the isolation type stuff as opposed to compound lifts

wmagoo27

A weight that you struggle with after 3 to 6 reps is heavy for you. This will be different for each person and will change as you progress. Look up form videos on youtube for the big compound lifts. Mark Rippetoe has some good coaching videos, and for bench and squat, Elite FTS has some great videos. I've been recommending it a lot lately, but if you're interested in training heavy, check out this site...http://www.simplyshredded.com/the-ultimate-female-training-guide.html

AnthonyKiro11

Technique. Thats what you need to get down first, otherwise youll injure yourself. More muscle tone, means your metabolism burns a lot more. Muscle burns far more than fat.

sullyboo

Thanks for all the links everyone. I'm going to check them all out.

We have visitors staying next week but thinking next weekend I'm going to drag the bar and bench out of the shed. I can use next week to check out posture, form etc before I get going properly.

toomuchbootyindapants

There are a LOT of links and info if you search the forum as this has been asked many times.
A great source for form/technique videos is youtube - Mark Rippetoe. Also, get his book Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training - it's an intense look at the main compound lifts (using a barbell) and a fantastic resource for the beginner lifter. I consult it all the time to tweak my form.

sammys1girly

Check out the Stronglifts 5X5 program.

HulkDiesel77

Usually lifting heavy, for most that is, means you are working out doing around 3 sets of 6-8 reps usually failing in between the 6-8. Its different for everyone so each person has to find there "max" and work from there

watcheronthewall

V useful. I'm looking forward to getting started on this...

DontWeightStartNow

I've been lifting on and off for years and just got back at it at the beginning of August and the change I see so far is so motivating. Here are a few recommendations: "Fit For Life" by Bill Phillips (a friend of mine just got this book for 3 cents on Amazon used, of course, but he has a great program that I follow to this day). Also, go check out muscleanstrength.com. They have this awesome exercise video library that you can check out to learn dumbbell, barbell, machine exercises and what muscles they target. You really need to get a routine down (which is where Bill Phillips helped me). I lift as heavy as I can for 12/10/8/6/12 reps and increase the weight with every set. For my upper body alone I do a combination of 10 different exercises that take about 40 minutes to complete. An example of one of those sets is, I will do incline dumbbell curls and start @ 12 lbs. for 12 reps, then increase to 15 lbs. for 10 reps, then increase to 20 lbs. for 8 reps, 25 lbs. for 6 reps., then finally down to 20 lbs. for 12 reps. to finish off the set. The 25 lbs. is really hard as is the last rep set, but it is supposed to be. When this starts to get easier, I will increase the weight to 15lbs./20lbs./25lbs./30lbs./25lbs. for the aforementioned reps. Muscleandstrength.com also has some great calculators on their site.

I have all free weights and a nice weight bench at home in my basement, if you're interested in increasing your free weights at home or looking for a decent bench, people are always selling used weight lifting equipment for real cheap. Good luck!

LoraF83

Check out the Stronglifts 5X5 program.

Agreed! Great program, very simple and takes advantage of the "newbie strength gains"

sullyboo

The stronglift 5x5 looks fairly straightforward. The other one I had looked at had a really complex regime and suggested getting up at 6am every morning to do it and do 2 workouts a day - I work full time and have a family so this might be a bit tricky to achieve. I know I'd probably do that for a few days then get fed up or mum stuff would crop up. But the 5x5 seems really achievable - and doesn't seem to flog loads of supplements either :happy: