What is considered heavy lifting for a woman?

what I lift heavy is completely irrelevant to what you lift as heavy.

Everyone is NOT the same as far as ability and where they are are in their journey.

Heavy is a rep range- not a number.

Heavy is 1-5 reps.


If you can't do just one single rep- it's TOO heavy.
If you can do between 1-5 reps- it's heavy.
If you can do between 5-10 you are training strength and size (if the diet supports it)
if you can do between 10-15 reps- you are training muscle endurance
if you can do between 15-20 it's to light and you're probably bored out of your mind.

Agree

work yourself up if necessary start with quite light weights, up the weights and you will progress, I am currently squatting 82.5kg it took me a while but it feels awesome!

I hear a lot of talk about lifting heavy... what would be some weights that were considered lifting heavy? I am a 38 year old female and I just started doing weight machines at the gym. Do weight machines count? Is heavy lifting only with free weights? Thanks for any info you can give me. Have a great day. Be strong!

Whatever feels heavy to you!

I'm doing SL 5x5 and when I started, a 20 pound squat was difficult for me to do. I'm now doing 85.

"heavy" has more to do with your rep range and what you can lift in that rep range...the actual weight is going to be relative to the experience of the lifter regardless of sex.

"heavy" is generally considered to be in the 1-6 rep range whereby you are near failure on your last rep(s)...generally the weight itself will be anywhere from 80% - 95% of your 1 RM (Rep Max). This rep range provides for optimal strength gains and development of dense muscle.

The other key here is progressive overload...you should be striving to regularly increase the amount of weight you can push and pull. Many beginner programs have you start out pretty light which allows you to work on form as well as get your smaller assistance muscles and tendons and whatnot used to a load even if your larger muscles are more than capable of handling that load...these programs often have you attempt to increase the weight you are pushing and pulling by 5 - 10 Lbs per session and you see some good linear gains. As you become a more advanced lifter, these gains become less linear and harder to come by.

I would also recommend that you look into a program that is focused on the big compound lifts...these are far more beneficial than doing things like arm curls and the like...the compound lifts work everything and work them together like your body is designed to do. i.e. Squats, Bench Press, Dead-Lifts, Overhead Press, Pendlay Rows. Really, as a beginner these are all you need...if you really feel the need to do some assistance work I'd stick to pull-ups (assisted or otherwise) and dips...beyond that and you're probably doing too much volume...as a beginner, excessive volume and doing a bunch of isolation/assistance work can be counterproductive to recovery and making those strength gains.

"Heavy" is relative. Lift as heavy as you can to have tired muscles after 6-12 reps. As it gets easier, up the weight.

Machines are a good start, but you should try to learn to use free weights, too. Definitely a better workout.

what I lift heavy is completely irrelevant to what you lift as heavy.

Everyone is NOT the same as far as ability and where they are are in their journey.

Heavy is a rep range- not a number.

Heavy is 1-5 reps.


If you can't do just one single rep- it's TOO heavy.
If you can do between 1-5 reps- it's heavy.
If you can do between 5-10 you are training strength and size (if the diet supports it)
if you can do between 10-15 reps- you are training muscle endurance
if you can do between 15-20 it's to light and you're probably bored out of your mind.

That's great information! Can you explain the advantages of lifting heavy? I'm about to start soon.

Right now I am doing leg press 50 lbs
vertical row 50 lbs
pull down at 60 lbs
and I really need to learn the name of the other machines Really new to this so bear with me. the one I have the hardest time with is the machine for bicep curls. Think I am to short to fit on the machine right so I am thinking of doing those with free weights instead. I can barely do 20 lbs and it always hurts my elbows so I think I am doing it wrong

ditch the machines...look into the book, "New Rules of Lifting for Women"...even if you don't end up doing the program, it's a great read. My wife is just completing the entire program and she's loved it and looks awesome and is ready to do some more advanced programming.

You might also look into Starting Strength or Strong Lifts 5x5. Any of the above are going to be more advantageous than working on machines. Machines have their place, but really shouldn't be the core of your programming.

^All this. Machines are okay if that is all you have access to or for additional isolation work... But overall, they restrict your range of motion, they don't engage certain muscle groups "as much" as free weights (like the core that is used for stabilizing), cause unnatural movements as the weight really increases (I.e. Cable machines causing jerking that can affect your back and such) and another issue is that they tend to support the weight too much so you end up not really lifting as much as you think.

Why all the "hate" for machines? I work out at large commercial gyms and everybody uses machines in the weight section.

*points to post above*

Lifting heavy is lifting a weight in repetition (1-6 times) usually for 2 - 3 sets that is difficult for you to complete. If it's hard for you to do 5 pushups, that would be lifting heavy for you. If you get good enough that the pushups become easy, then you could move to barbells and weights. You progressively load based on what your muscles are capable of pushing (or pulling). This goes for any weight bearing exercise.

New Rules for Lifting for Women is a fantastic resource that will go in depth to better answer your question.

And like others have said, free weights are inherently better due to the need to engage a much wider range of accessory muscles while lifting. It's a better overall workout.

Now I'm confused because I have always read and heard 6-12 reps and now three people here have said 1-6. Oy! lol

Though I'm wondering what good one rep really does ...

I've always done 1-6 but I've always focused on strength. I've recently learned exactly what different rep ranges will garner as far as differing end results are concerned. I should have included all of those to make a better response but I'm still pretty stuck in my thinking. The book is a far better resource than I am as well as JoRockas (hopefully not butchered) response.