Lifting heavy? Woman - advice please

I have just started lifting

I currently do 12 reps for 3-4 sets, on starting weights

should i lift heavier for shorter reps or lower for more reps?

I think it's lift heavier with lower reps for more bulk, lower weight more reps for lean. But even the lower weights have to give some resistance or its not going to do much anyway. There are others here who are much more knowledgeable than me, but I think that's the generalization. And of course correct diet as well

Higher reps don't lean/tone muscles. That's one of the biggest myths in bodybuilding. Your muscles get leaner when you do.

If you want to lose inches you need to lose fat. Simple as. So to slim down keep lifting and keep eating fewer calories than your body needs.

Your rep scheme is all based on your goals. If you're looking for strength, you should be lifting heavier weights with lower rep ranges. If you're looking for hypertrophy then you should be looking at higher rep ranges.

hypertrophy - what is this?

Haha, sorry. It's basically a fancy bodybuilding term for size.

Higher reps don't lean/tone muscles. That's one of the biggest myths in bodybuilding. Your muscles get leaner when you do.

If you want to lose inches you need to lose fat. Simple as. So to slim down keep lifting and keep eating fewer calories than your body needs.

Your rep scheme is all based on your goals. If you're looking for strength, you should be lifting heavier weights with lower rep ranges. If you're looking for hypertrophy then you should be looking at higher rep ranges.

hypertrophy - what is this?

Trophy in the body means growth.

Muscle growth come from rep ranges 8-12 for a lot of people altho studies I've shown that going to failure at around 20-25 can be just as conducive.

I would recommend reading New Rules of Lifting for Women and/or Starting Strength. Even if you do not follow the program it will give you a good foundation of knowledge and understanding about lifting and nutrition.

You will not get "big" unless you eat at a calorie surplus (i.e. above maintenance/TDEE) for an extended period of time and/or take steroids. Women cannot get bulky without trying very hard to do so.

There is also lots of good information for beginners to lifting in this thread:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/686963-large-collection-of-info-for-beginners

hypertrophy - what is this?

Haha, sorry. It's basically a fancy bodybuilding term for size.

nooooo dont want to have bigger muscle want to preserve what there is and get strong and lean

This is not going to happen however heavy you lift as you are only eating 1400 cals.

Sounds like for what you want to do you should be in the 4-8 rep range/set.

Though 12 reps per set is good for building muscle, you also need a caloric surplus for that. and as a woman it is hard to bulk up even in a surplus with plenty of protein due to the low levels of testosterone.

My goal is to continue to lose body fat and maintain the muscle mass that I have. I currently lift as heavy as I can manage while still keeping good form for 4 sets of 8-12 reps. Some exercises and/or sets I can only manage 8 reps and some I can do 12. I always make sure it is as challenging as I can do while still doing it properly. I eat at a 250 calorie deficit per day and I have seen my body fat dropping slowly but steadily and my muscle mass going up slowly but steadily as well.

I am trying to maintain my weight but redistribute the way I look. I have been doing this for 4 months now. It's a slow process, but definitely worth it for me.

My advice would be to definitely try to challenge yourself with your weights and to lift barbells/ free weights if possible instead of the machines. I saw much better results when I switched to heavier weights and barbells/free weights. I don't think that I am bulky at all.

Good luck and great job on choosing to start lifting! :-)

I second reading New Rules of Lifting for Women. It has you start out with 2 sets of 15 reps for 5 or 6 different exercises that you do 3X per week. Eventually you reduce reps and increase # of sets and weights and switch up exercises over 6 months. The nutrition part of the book guides you on how to eat to lose fat and provides lots of recipes.

I finished the book and did my first workout last night and it was amazing! It was pretty awesome being back in the weights section with the big boys I'm really looking forward to my next workout tomorrow. Give it a shot! I think the book was like $12-15 on Amazon.

I have just started lifting

I currently do 12 reps for 3-4 sets, on starting weights

should i lift heavier for shorter reps or lower for more reps?

I think it's lift heavier with lower reps for more bulk, lower weight more reps for lean. But even the lower weights have to give some resistance or its not going to do much anyway. There are others here who are much more knowledgeable than me, but I think that's the generalization. And of course correct diet as well

This is not true. Lifting low weight for more reps does nothing. Lift heavy for low reps. As a woman, you do not have enough testosterone to "bulk up". I am a woman who lifts heavy and I do not look bulky.