Female Heavy Lifters - How to lift heavy without injury?

I am not a woman but I will chime in about the injury.

Start light, and work up to heavy weights (may take weeks or months).
Make sure you have the proper form down pat before going heavy (may take weeks or months).
Warm up some lighter sets for the exercise you are going to perform and if you like a few minutes on a cardio machine to get the muscles warmed. (It is best if you wait until you are finished your workout to do a lot of stretching)

I agree with erickirb.

Starting at 40lbs is good and work your way up from there. If your elbows hurt, it probably is a sign that your form is off. Research good form and make sure you have it down before upping your weights.

Also, check out the book New Rules of Lifting for Women. This is a great tool for getting started in lifting and lifting heavy. Oh and be patient... I started off doing push presses at 45 lbs and deadlifts at 50lbs now I'm up to 95 lbs for a push press and 165 lbs for my deadlift. It'll take time, but you'll get there!

All of the online workouts and magazine adverts I've seen aimed at women tell them exactly what weight to use. This is both very confusing and very wrong.

Agreed.

Which is why I would really recommend the NROLFW. It doesnt tell you what weights to use - just how to get the form down and then how to progress without hurting yourself. Great program for beginners (IMO).

Yup, start light and if you feel any pain back off. The only time I experienced pain was in my shoulder during a Crossfit workout. I backed off and let it get better and suffered no injury. I got up to 250lb deadlifts at one point (my squats were less, I forget but around 130lb-140lb sounds right). I quit working out intensely over a year ago due to an unrelated tailbone injury but I hope to get back up there soon.

Startingstrength.com
^.^

This is the program that I use. The 100% best way to not hurt yourself is make sure your form is correct. Some lifters use a belt to help reinforce their core and make their trunk more stable, but it is not necessary. I really really suggest finding someone that knows what they are doing to make sure you are doing the exercises correctly. If you are really interested in ln lifting, I suggest buying the starting strength book "Starting Strength Basic Barbell Training 3rd edition" (Written by Mark Rippetoe).

I do stretch before and after but I don't fuss with protein shakes because i'm not concerned with bulking at this point and time.
I also recommend mobilitywod.com its a website of various stretches and movement. That site is n by a man with a PHD in physical therapy, he runs a crossfit gym and teaches the mobility certification for crossfit.

Today when I went to the gym I lifted:
Squats
80lb 3x5

Deadlifts
90lb 1x5

Overhead press
30lb 3x5

These numbers do not include my warm up sets or any sets I did backing off my work set. I've not been doing this for long but I've literally more then doubled the weight I could lift when I started. I lift three times a week, and each session i'm adding five pounds to my work set. When the weights start getting really heavy I might not be able to keep adding 5lb each time.

I lift with my husband so he can guide me on my form and the ends and outs of weight lifting. Feel free to add me if you need some extra support.

bump

Concentration

Sorry I keep adding more and more posts, but I keep thinking of more things . I wouldn't say that the other programs listed by other members are bad by any means, but I know starting strength works, and they have SO much information for each exercise, and a very active community of members on there forums.

I totally agree and also recommend starting strength, especially for women looking to get into heavy weight lifting!

Don't go up too much at a time. Make your increments small. And after you go up, don't push it. It may be that you do fewer reps. Most importantly, watch your form. Your muscles should be a bit sore afterward. DOMS is normal. However, you should NOT be hurting joints or having severe or sharp pains. Look up vids on YouTube for your exercises. All else fails, shell out for a couple of sessions with a trainer. (Make sure s/he knows about weight lifting and make sure it's UNDERSTOOD that you're a heavy lifter and THAT is what you will be doing. Sometimes if you're female they have a harder time... :laugh: )

Watch lots of videos. There are links in the Strong Lifts group, or google Ripptoe (sp?). Start light, concentrate on form. Maybe have someone video you while you do the lifts, post here, ask for help. OR better yet, find a friend (hire a trainer) who knows how to do the big lift and see if they can help you.

i like strstd.com for a 5/3/1 program. you put in your numbers and it give you an estimated one rep max. it give you a program based off that.

Imo this is a good program, but only if you are already strong, more intermediate in scope.

All of the online workouts and magazine adverts I've seen aimed at women tell them exactly what weight to use. This is both very confusing and very wrong.

Agreed.

Which is why I would really recommend the NROLFW. It doesnt tell you what weights to use - just how to get the form down and then how to progress without hurting yourself. Great program for beginners (IMO).

I second the suggestion to do NROL4W. I did the program in 8 months and now I don't feel like a complete noob anymore. I'm lifting heavier than I was last September when I started the program and continue to make progress all the time. Good luck to you.

As others have already said: form form form form. Lift light until you are SURE your form is good. Watch videos, read descriptions. Keep your core tensed and your back arched. Don't look down to grab the weight, etc. Etc.

It seems like a lot to concentrate on at first, but once you get it, you'll do it without thinking about it.

in her first week my wife was squatting 75, benching 65, OHPing 45, deadlifting 115