"Lifting Heavy". What does that really mean for women?

sundaywishes

Bump, so more of my friends can see this

And so more in the general community can as well.


And of course, #freeyoovie

sleepingtodream

i'd like to add to the fact that lifting heavy is relative. if those small 5lb weights are all you can lift 5-10 times in a row for upper body exercises such as dumb bell bench and dumb bell shouler press, that that is what you have to use.

many women have very very little upper body strength. the smaller dumb bells may be the only thing that they can use for certain movements. and just because you need to use them now, doesn't mean you won't be progressing later.

I agree with this. For me personally lifting "heavy" is lifting a weight with good form for 3-5 reps, the 5th rep usually is close to failure if not there. So IMO it's about lifting a weight that's heavy FOR YOU for a small rep count.

i recently started...if i can lift more than 6 reps i add more weight...i'm absolutely loving it and swear i can see definition already...thx for posting, am really interested in hearing what other women that have been doing it for awhile have to say

^^^^^

This! When I started lifting I used weights that I could easily do 12-15 reps. Needless to say I didn't feel much at all so I upped the weight and can tell my body is changing. 5-8 reps at higher weights and loving it!

Thanks for this post in general:)

DaniH826

When someone tells me they "lift heavy", then I assume that somehow they're talking about a barbell training program that includes some variation of the "big 4" (squats, deadlifts, bench presses and overhead presses) in some sort of rotation that is having them increase weights (and therefore strength) progressively.

It's what I do anyway, and I adore barbell training.

Having said that, though, I would also include body weight as well as heavy dumbbell and kettlebell training in the "heavy lifting" category because fact is that barbells aren't the only game in town when it comes to providing serious resistance and solid strength training benefits. Just because I've become a bit of a barbell snob doesn't mean I'm ignorant to the fact that other methods are equally beneficial when it comes to producing serious functional strength.

RoseTears143

I agree with the progressively heavier concept. That's what I think of for "lifting heavy" as well and what I am practicing myself. I started lifting 4 weeks ago and have seen great increases in the weights I use, especially for lower body exercises already. Women do not have to worry about getting bulky - we don't make enough testosterone for that. We will just get super defined and sexy, with some muscle growth but nothing to be scared of. :glasses:

Barribomb

GREAT THREAD, thank you!

mari213

Love!!! Great information.. this helps me a lot! Thank you, OP!

Babeskeez

1) starting bench press? 45 current bench press? 65 but could probably do more, just havent tried how long have you been doing bench presses? January
2) starting squat? 45 current squat? 85 how long have you been doing squats? Jan
3) starting dead lift? 45 current dead lift? 85 how long have you been doing dead lifts? Jan
4) starting overhead press (OHP)? bar current OHP? dont know my current. Though I think its not much more than bar. I am probably around 55 how long have you been doing OHPs? jan

I was doing NROLW but I think I am going back to Strong Lifts so Ill be able to see some increases again.

ZoeLifts

Love this thread!

Before you read my info, though, I want to clarify that I have always had a love affair with strength training, but I have only started truly heavy lifting last year, so that is when I got serious about focusing on correct form and adding weight. I spent a lot of time just doing a made up program in my head and never upping my weights. So my stats below will only be from when I started with Stronglifts in May of last year, but not prior. I have also had to deal with some hip inflexibility so my squats and DLs are not anywhere near where they would be at this point if I hadn't had that to deal with. I am no longer on SL, but am doing Wendler's 5/3/1, which is a little more intermediate, but slower progression. My hip just couldn't take squatting 3 times a week.

To give my info:
1) starting bench press? 45 lbs (bar only) 5 reps
current bench press? 115 lbs 1 rep

2) starting squat? 45 lbs (bar only)
current squat? 110 (3 reps)

3) starting dead lift? 45 lbs (bar only)
current dead lift? 160 lbs (2 reps)

4) starting overhead press (OHP)? 45 lbs (bar only) 5 reps
current OHP? 80 lbs 1 rep

Reinventing_Me

I lift heavy. I've done a lot of lifting things over time, but in 2013 I have become a fan of using the barbell and strength training, I've been doing Stronglifts 5X5 and Starting Strength.

I am 49 years old, I have bad knees & feet, a fibromyalgia diagnosis, and I am very fat. I say this just so that you know that you can lift heavy at any age and in spite of physical problems that you might think would hold you back.

I started with body weight and 20 pounds for squats. I started with 20 pounds for overhead presses and bench presses. You meet your body where it is today, but you challenge it to get stronger every time.

Today I will go squat with 125 pounds. It's only taken me three months to get here. I love how it makes me feel and I love that it takes about 45 minutes to do a workout.

And the very best part is that my knees are so much better now. My left knee is particularly bad, and has been for about 12-15 years. But today, it is almost pain-free. And I haven't been able to say that in a long, long time. :drinker:

Same here.

I'm 41, I have a bad knee (meniscus tear), herniated disks in my C-spine and 100+ pounds to lose. I've been through physical therapy for both problems. The herniated disks in my neck and the shoulder, upper arm and back pain and numbness that accompanied was helped tremendously by strengthening the muscles in those areas during PT (though bad posture, sleeping wrong, etc, aggravated it). My knee was another story. Sure PT made it stronger and relieved the pain, but as soon as I walked more than 20-30 minutes I'd have pain and inflammation.

In March, I started working with a trainer (doing light weight dumbbell circuits, heavy ropes, bodyweight stuff) and from there I finally got the courage to load up my dust covered barbell and start lifting. I believe my first "heavy" lifting day was 3/29/13 and I started at 36 pounds for OHP, Squats, Deadlifts, Bench and Step-Ups. My gains have been pretty good and consistent, but I think that's mainly because I didn't know what I was capable of lifting in the beginning and was terrified of hurting my knee and neck. For more structure I started doing 5/3/1 and just finished week 2. My max weight sets for this week were:

Bench Press: 75
Squats: 60
Deadlift: 95
OHP: 55

I'm stronger than I've ever been and there is no pain in my knee at all! NONE! My posture is better now. I owe it all to lifting and those reasons alone are enough to keep me going. The best part of all is finding out what amazing potential my body has.

bonitacash08

i'd like to add to the fact that lifting heavy is relative. if those small 5lb weights are all you can lift 5-10 times in a row for upper body exercises such as dumb bell bench and dumb bell shouler press, that that is what you have to use.

many women have very very little upper body strength. the smaller dumb bells may be the only thing that they can use for certain movements. and just because you need to use them now, doesn't mean you won't be progressing later.

A newborn usually weighs more than 5 lbs. My purse weighs a gazillion (well, definitely more than 5). The chicken I bought last week to cook for dinner was more than 5 lbs. They seriously need to burn all the 5 lb dumbbells because they're holding us all back. The same with those crunch-machine things..

Flixie00

I started lifting 14 months ago, moderately heavy with reps of 15-20 per set. I moved to heavier weights January this year, doing 6-12 reps per set.

I currently squat 80 kg (started at 30 kg), deadlift 70 kg (I think I started with 30 kg), and I bench 50 kg flat and 40 kg incline (started with 10 kg).

When I started out lifting, under the guidance of my PT, I can remember struggling to do 10 reps with 1 kg dumb bells for French Press (scullcrushers) as my triceps were so weak, and I now use 8 kg dumb bells.

I love lifting, and I know that the work I have put in lifting has helped with other sports such as running (I no longer have dodgy knees) and squash (all those lunges).

jlapey

I'm doing Strong Lifts 5X5. Today is session 13. I'm 5'0", 151 pounds, 42 yrs old. I started all lifts with just the bar (45#) except dead-lift (95#) and barbell row (65# )

NEXT ATTEMPTS:

Today Session 13
Squat: 105#
Bench Press: 75#
Barbell Row: 95#

Monday Session 14
Squat: 110#
Dead-Lift: 150#
Over Head Press: 65#

Last session I experienced my first rep failure. It was on OHP at 65#. Considering fractional plates.

FrnkLft

I'm a newbie to this and was wondering where to start with dumbbells. I've been using 5kg on each arm but I don't think his is nearly enough. I'm a bit of a wimp in the arm department.

A good starting point is finding weight that is light enough for 4 reps, and too heavy to do more than 6 reps per set. You'll quickly figure out what is a good range for you if you push yourself.

JoanB5

Thanks! I really would like to start lifting, but don't have the resources. I tried to lift my boyfriend's 25lb dumb bells yesterday, and couldn't get them past my chest. :embarassed:

Question...if someone has very limited money and could make ONE purchase to get started lifting...what should it be? I'm talking around $100.

TRY SANDBAGS WHILE YOU WAIT. There are killer workouts on youtube and other places online you can start on now. May save you some plates down the road.

I went to the barn a couple days ago and found an old bucket of reserved sand sand used for planting. I double bagged it into some zip locks. Weighed the bags, filling to 5 pounds each. Saw some old aquarium gravel on the side of the garage, made two 7.5 pounders, same way. Found a couple old "Upward Basketball" duffles, filled each to what I thought I could lift. One was 25 lb total, the other was 17. I found later that 20 was about right, but I could easily adjust the weight just moving sandbags from one to the other. I put a tag on them I can write on to remind me how much weight is in them, and marked each sandbag with a permanent marker (a couple of the sand bags averaged out to 4 each.)

Found my first workout just playing with them, I found that the one center handle was a bit awkward. I needed one one each side like the "official" sand bag lifting bags. Next day, WalMart sewing aisle, found a couple velcro/buckle straps, $10 for the packet...wrapped them around the bag, threaded them through the buckle, and it's all smooth against my workout clothes (I found that working with industrial velcro to try to accomplish this had the opposite effect. Snags). Also at Wal*Mart, found a couple jump clips. These bags have a hole tag on each end for a former should strap, which I'd removed. I threaded the clip through the hole, over the new velcro straps, and around the old center handle. This keeps the straps from potentially slipping off the ends of the bag.

There are pros and cons to sandbags, but mainly, it gets me started. I was up to 8 pounds on the "Arms and Shoulders" P90X, and after about four times doing the same routine, I just needed to mix it up, and I needed some lower body mixed in with my running. This did the trick! I'm still sore two days later after a 30 minute "just playing around with it" sesson.

Pros and Cons, like most things out there:
-It's more like lifting in "real life", awkward, bulky, not stable. Cons, pretty much the same as the pros.
-Pro: Cheap. Cost me like $15, including the cost of the ziploc bags
-Pro: The weight is adjustable...just add more sand, rock when I'm ready
-Pro: I can do many of the same lifts. I did lunges, squats, clean to press, bear hug walk, ab hold, and windmills. (There are a lot of workouts online you can see by video.) I'll learn from these lifts other things I can do on my back. I can use them with some kettlebell workouts (I'm outgrowing my 8 pounder...did attack some old leg weights to each side of the large handle to make it heavier).

So, until I find that barbell set at a yard sale, or Goodwill or something, here's my quick fix. If I get tired of it, no barbell set to store or move.

---

On the comment above that "running on a treadmill is of absolutely no benefit, humans weren't made for endurance". Hmmmm. It might be better said that it is of less value when it comes to shaping a body or the ultimate fat loss as many people desire.

But, you have to start somewhere. Running, or even walking is great for building breathing, cardio, VO2 Max, emotional well-being. Relying on those endlessly without cross training in any way is a plan that needs some adjustment to advance toward body shaping goals for most people. There are advantages to both, depending on your goals, and humans can do it. A Bible verse says "run the race set set before you with endurance" --God Himself was familiar with humans running found value in it. We're all good.

Just know your goals, mix it up for health and results, and don't shoot yourself in the foot doing one at the expense of the other (Heavy HIIT training on lifting days...one would counteract the benefits of the other).

I used to be all cardio. I will say that you are prone to injury without some level of cross training. Running alone doesn't seem to shape the body as a whole for many people...at least not in a time-efficient way.

I find that circuit training is a great bridge between the two if you are wanting to get started with weight training. It used a mix of cardio and weighted moves. The Jillian DVDs are a good example of this, or Nike Tranining Center app for women... any of the moves like lunges (weighted or body weight)/mountain climbers/planks/jumping jacks, squats, push-ups). These are great transitions to prepare you for lifting if you don't have access to a gym, don't like gyms, or don't have access to a bar yet. Just keep building with what you have.
___________________________________
Thought of the day: I'm now a heavy lifter. : ) I just can't repeat that to anyone in the public.

How far will I go? I prefer it when a woman's biceps do not exceed the visual proportion of her breasts, whatever size they may be, but that's just my personal preference. I see many women muscle up to body building level, then get implants for proportion. That's not a path I'm interested in, so natural proportion will be my guide.

zaftiggirl

1) starting bench press? current bench press? how long have you been doing bench presses?
2) starting squat? current squat? how long have you been doing squats?
3) starting dead lift? current dead lift? how long have you been doing dead lifts?
4) starting overhead press (OHP)? current OHP? how long have you been doing OHPs?

I just started NROLFW two weeks ago, and these are my results so far:

Starting Squat: 115
Starting Deadlift: 135

Current Squat: 175
Current Deadlift: 155

I've found that I need to get some gloves for the deadlift; it kills my hands! Instead of OHP and bench press right now I'm doing lots of pushups and military presses - I'd love to master my bodyweight.

justjenny

bump to read later

HealthyBodySickMind

Starting inJuly (at about 109lbs bodyweight) calculated 1RM's
Deadlift: 139 lbs
Squat: 80 lbs
Bench: 72 lbs
OHP: 54 lbs

10 months later (at about 114 lbs bodyweight) calculated 1RM's

Deadlift: 190 lbs
Squat: 160 lbs
Bench: 90 lbs
OHP: 65 lbs

I know it doesn't look like much, and I haven't been as hardcore about lifting as I could be, nor have I come as far as I should have in 10 months, but I enjoy it, and I'm happy with it, and I can't imagine ever stopping.

Warchortle

Also, you can only gain so much muscle even on noob gains in a caloric deficit.

JoanB5

Can anyone help me. I have had a bad left knee since I was 16. A physio told me recently that it is a patella that doesn't run smoothly but grates to one side. It flares up now and again, and then improves, but always feels vulnerable. This puts me off any form of squatting. I have started dumbbells for my arm definition but would like to squat with them and build up the weight. I don't want to go to a gym. Is it possible to do this with a crap knee? I am 63.

You might try this (don't let the photo of a person in a wheelchair derail you.): http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=626&page=2

hdsqrl

A question for those squatting much more than 100 pounds: Are you squatting to parallel, or doing partial squats? I'm not wanting to debate the merits of either, just curious.

I've been following the Stronglifts 5x5 for 6 months or so now, and find that once I reach about 95# on my squats, I stop regularly hitting parallel, and have to dial it back to work on my form again. The concept that I might someday get to a 200# parallel squat just seems so far out of reach. If any of you are doing that, it gives me new hope!