Help! Lifting Heavy at Home

sarzee2
sarzee2 Posts: 14 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok so I understand the concept of lifting heavy...pick up the heaviest thing you can as many times as you can until you want to die.

I don't belong to a gym, but I have those Bowflex weights that can be adjusted to anywhere between 2.5 and 52.5 lbs.

So does lifting heavy really mean that if I can bicep curl say....15 lb dumbells, that I should do that as many times as I can? Are we aiming for a specific number of reps and sets? Like if I can curl 15 lb ones 12 times, but I can do 20 lb ones only 6 times, which is better?

Thanks for the help!

Replies

  • jhc7324
    jhc7324 Posts: 200 Member
    Usually on here when someone refers to lifting heavy, they mean compound barbell exercises (squat, deadlift, overhead press, bench press, upright row, etc) which I don't believe can be done effectively with a bowflex.

    As for reps, lifting heavy would mean you want to use a weight heavy enough so that you can't do more than 5-8 reps of the lift with good form. So in your example, you'd go with the 20 lb dumbells.
  • marcgo2
    marcgo2 Posts: 15
    Are you talking about the selecttech dumbbells or a bowflex machine?
  • sarzee2
    sarzee2 Posts: 14 Member
    Thanks! Good to get an idea of how many reps I should be doing.

    These are the selecttech dumbells, not a machine
  • sarzee2
    sarzee2 Posts: 14 Member
    So if I don't belong to a gym and can't do any of the fancy lifting, should I not even bother?
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    So if I don't belong to a gym and can't do any of the fancy lifting, should I not even bother?

    You should lift. You don't need machines to lift. While barbells are preferred by many, all the big compound lifts can be done with dumbbells. Deadlifts, bench, over head press, bent over rows and squats are the "Big 5". Do 8-10 reps for 2-3 sets. If you can easily get 10 reps for 2-3 sets, increase the weight. Muscleandstrength.com has a dumbbells only workout. All Pro Beginner Routine on the bodybuilding.com forum is good, too.

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