questions for heavy lifters

I started with about 6kg dumbells, depending on exercise

doing 3 sets of 12
3 sets of 10
4 sets of 8
5 x 5

getting heavier and heavier

I was/am fit, through cardio / running / circuit training and dabbled with weights in the past but nothing serious or consistant

I am still classed as overweight but im marathon fit and squatting over my body weight after only 5 month of lifting so not too shabby.

since lifting im less worried about the number on the scales. I go by progress pics and occasionally the tape measure. I now long my progress on my FB page if you are interested a link is on my profile..

hope this helps

I started 75lbs heavier than I am now, so I was quite overweight.

Started most lifts with just the bar except for DL where I started at 75lbs. So all were at 45lbs.
Mind you it wasn't because it was too heavy, I was new and I wanted to make sure I had good form before adding plates and risking injury.

Was going 5X5 for a long time. Now moved recently to 3X5

"Heavy" is a rep range. Most people are referring to 1-6 rep range or up to 10. Though doing up to 15 on SOME exercises can work, it's recommended to do 4-10 reps per set for the big compound lifts like squats, bench press, overhead press, and deadlifts. There is no objective weight for what is heavy for one person and not for another. It's working to muscle fatigue. "Heavy" for an elite powerlifter is going to be very different than "heavy" for a novice.

I started my strength training with Jillian Michaels using 3 lb weights. LOL. It didn't take me long to realize that those were not going to cut it. I bought 14" bars and some 5lb & 10lb plates. On my shoulders and arms, I started at 10lb for 10-12 reps, and that was tough. On 6-8 reps I can do 15lb, buy it is still tough, I am making much slower progress in strength gains on the upper body. Lower body, I started at 15lbs for 10-12 but that was too light. I progressed quickly with lower body. The most weight plates I own right now go to 25 on each bar (so 50lb total lift), and that is too light now on 6-8 reps. I do 5 sets of each exercise usually.

The only part of black Friday I am looking forward to is checking out my local fitness store to see if I can get more plates at a good price. I need to move up, right now I am stalled out at what I currently own. You can add more resistance though by moving the weights very slowly through each rep, so I am trying to focus on that until I get more weights.
For time reference, I have only been using free weights since around May this year.

Edited to add: I know some people may look at my numbers and think that is so light! And it is compared to some. The important thing each person new to lifting needs to realize is that "heavy" is relative to each person. It needs to be heavy for YOU, not me or anyone else. If you can only do 15lbs, start there and work up! Don't compare yourself to someone else's lifts and be disappointed, because each loft for you is progress in the right direction. I still have to give myself that pep talk often!

Lifting heavy for me what using a weight where the rep range was around 5-6 reps and I was constantly pushing myself, and improving on the weights as the weeks went by. It was never defined by the actual weight.

I did start on the empty (20kg) bar for bench and squats though, the bar for OHP after a little while of dumbbell presses with I don't know how much weight, and around 30-40kg for deads.

I started out with a 7.5k dumbbell. When you're starting out, you want to pick a comfortable weight. You want to do 10-12 reps, three sets. Your last rep should be the very last one you can do without hurting yourself. That could mean it's the 10th rep, or it could mean it's the 12th one.

If by the end of the 12th rep you feel like you can still go on - don't. Instead, choose a slightly heavier dumbbell and repeat the exercise. You need to increase your resistance, not reps.

As you progress and start lifting heavier, you will go down since it will be much more draining, and you won't need (or be able to, really) do 10-12 reps x 3 for every single exercise with proper form.

I started with the bar (45 lbs). I did Stronglifts, which is 5x5. I was mostly sedentary with just walking and pilates before that.

I second what nz_deevaa said-- it doesn't matter where you start as long as you're making progress.

I considered 135 lbs on the deadlift heavy when I first started.
Squats was 135lbs as well.
But the bench press... 95lbs felt like a **** tonne of bricks.
OHP, 65lbs
Barbell rows was about 115.

I see that you are inspired by the Hodgetwins. All KINDS of gains!

Sounds to me like you're new to lifting. If you have someone who can teach you how to lift properly, then you can start out with somewhat heavier weight because they can guide you and keep you safe. Do make sure you have someone who is a GOOD coach. I've seen guys at my gym attempt to help newbs. But when they don't know how to TEACH, they do more damage than good by pushing you to lift heavy without the proper fundamentals in place.

Now if you don't have anyone to teach you, I recommend starting off light. This allows you to practice proper form easier, build your mind-muscle connection, and avoid injury.