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

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Start Bench: 45
Now : 60

After about 8 weeks of consistant 3 per week workouts. Haven't lost much weight but the inches are dropping off No gains anywhere!

Loving this thread.

When I started Stronglifts about 5 weeks ago, I had to start everything with a bar. It's wasn't even a 45# bar, it was a 15#.

Squats- I've had to start from scratch as I messed up my R knee running too much. Currently 35#.
BP- 45#
OHP-45#
Rows-50#
Deadlifts-70#

I'm very proud of myself for giving it a go, I'm loving dong it (I'm doing the program with my father so it's quality time too) and I can SEE the progress based on the amount of weight I can move around now.

A big reason I even tried it is b/c of lurking around on here and reading/seeing posts about lifting. So thanks MFPers you rawk!

I am not going to come close to lifting what the the other ladies do as I have a muscle disease and some days can barely manage to get out of bed. What's important is that you challenge yourself regardless of how heavy.

But over the 4 months (i think) I have seen big improvements in my strength.

started
squats 10 kg- now 30kg
bench 10 kg - now 20kg
deadlift 20kg - now 62kg
rows 10kg - now 22kg
I don't do OHP's

Lifting has also helped my bad back greatly.

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That's great! I have limitations too but do what I can

This is a great post. Thanks for the info!

If only lifting heavy ment bulky, I spend a lot of time lifting weights that give me more muscle but compared to a man I put on LBM soooo slowly- lucky testosterone filled gits lol

I put on a good amount of muscle 10 years ago when I was lifting heavy for a long period of time. I've been back in the gym for 4 weeks now, after an 8 year hiatus (and about 60 pounds of extra weight.) I can't describe how good it feels to be back, it's like my muscles are smiling at me. I started with the 45 pound bar my first day back and worked my way back up fairly quickly. I don't feel like I'm near failure on my last squat rep right now, so I'll be bringing that up more on Monday.

I seem to put on lean body mass more easily than other women, if you look at it as a continuum I'm probably on the "bulky" end of it, but it doesn't matter because I've never been able to bring my body fat percentage down low enough to really see all of that definition. I get down to about 24% and can't go lower without losing hair and muscle mass, so still look pretty "feminine" if by feminine you mean squishy. Anyway, it's all good. The number on the scale goes down slowly but I can see rapid changes in my body, the way my clothes fit, and my measurements. Also I feel freaking awesome.

Current weights:

Squat: 145
Deadlift: 115
Chest Press: 65
Shoulder Press: 55

and I'm doing the May push up challenge. These are standard pushups not "girl" ones. Currently on day 5 which is 22 pushups. I could probably do more if I took them in sets but I've had rotator cuff issues in the past and I'm going easy on my upper body. By the end of the month, the goal is to do 100 in a day, so that ought to be pretty sufficient if I can get there.

For women of any size, pushups and pullups (or assisted pullups) are a great way to "lift heavy" for your upper body.

Thanks for this inspiring thread!! It makes me feel a whole lot better about my 25kg BP and squat and the other exercises not looking much heavier!!

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Note - "bulky" is left undefined because it means something different to each person. I assume to most people it means something akin to looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger from his bodybuilding days, or at least the female equivalent.

It's interesting to note that in this day and age Arnold Schwartzenegger would no longer be considered "bulky" in bodybuilding terms. At 6'2" and a competition weight of 235 he would have a fitness model's physique not a professional bodybuilder's physique. At 6'2" in today's standards bodybuilders compete at 265 - 300 plus pounds. Standards change with time. So he wouldn't be considered "bulky" but instead lean and athletic looking as well as reasonably tall which always makes an impression.

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Thank you for this. I have enjoyed "Lifting Heavy" even though my gains are not as high right now as other women (of whom I am in total awe by the way) since I started about a month ago. I am really surprised at how much I enjoy it.

Thanks for this! And for other females who can't even do a single squat or press with an olympic sized barbell, do get a standard barbell to start off with, which is only about 20 lbs or less.