Heavy Lifting Goals for Ladies?

Nice numbers. My first year had a lot of unrelated injuries so that meant slow progess.

B: 100, S: 185, 200, P:70 . 5'4" 148lbs. I'm currently bulking to gain strength since I've spend most of the last 18 months in a deficit. I also intend to compete in my first powerlifting meet in Feb next year. Current relatively reasonable goals are B:150, Sq: 250, 300.

I agree as long as you do better than you did last time that is what is important.

I've been lifting for almost 9 months...I am 5 ft 7 and currently weigh 153 I was 170 when I started.

My current PR's are

DL 210lbs
Squat 180lbs
BP 128.5lbs
Rows 125lbs
OHP 90lbs

Goals...

BP my body weight
OHP triple digets (100 or above)
Squat 1.5 x bw so right now 225lbs (give or take)
DL 2x BW so about 300lbs
Rows eh whatever

For me I have deloaded a couple times 1 for injury to groin muscle which nags me even now, deloaded squats for form issues same with DL, deloaded OHP, bench and Rows due to failure.

Currently on upper body I increase 3.5lbs then 1.5lbs on success of all reps and now that I am at a heavier weight my progression isn't what is used to be could be 5lbs in one month...but to me that is good, and now that I am working up to maitenance I am hoping that increases.

Squats I go up 5lbs when I am comfortable with my form. Currently @ 160 from a deload due to my leg
DL 10lbs when comfortable with form (my back has been rounding on 3 rep)

I started in March with just the bar (I have both a 15# and a 45#) for everything.

Now...

SQ - 65
DL - 65
OHP - 30 (just added at the beginning of May)
Bench - 55 (just added at the beginning of May)
Lat Pullover - 30
Row - 65

I also work in alternating sets of crunch, lunges, push-ups, step-ups, and plank. When I started in March, I couldn't do a push-up. Period. I'm up to 8. I have arms like a giraffe...not made for doing push-ups. My beginning plank was maybe 7 seconds - I'm over 40 now. Step-ups were IMPOSSIBLE for me - now I'm doing 5 sets of 15 reps with 20lb weights. I'm pretty impressed with myself. Not a big deal for most, though.

What's important is how you feel about your progress. I set my expectations really low, starting out. My goal was to get through half my sets without crying, or falling. 15# squats were hard! Now, I feel awesome when I can finish my 5x5 with an extra 5#. Lifting is the one thing that I can do that doesn't require mobility - and I feel totally bad *kitten* when I am doing it. I don't care if it's 5# or 50#.

Should mention that I have crap for knees, and had ZERO muscle anywhere. I started from scratch - like a wet noodle! (5'7 136# - started around 145#)

My goal now is to continue to add weight with each session (3 days a week alternating DL/Bench/SQ) I have 2.5# plates, so I can add tiny bits at a time while my form catches up. That's key too - making sure I'm taking care of the body mechanics and not hurting myself.

I want to be able to lift really, really heavy - like the ladies above. Someday...but I'm just getting started.

If you're looking for goals, the strength standards are a good place to start - http://exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.html

I am exactly where I should be, statistically speaking, on that chart. Except for the stupid overhead press, which is my nemesis, but I'm working on it. In fact, I have until August 24th to get it to 110, or I'm gonna zero the first event at my next competition. >:(

Thanks for all the great feedback, ladies. Wow, there is quite a range (and thank you for the strength standards). I just think about deadlifting 300+ and it seems near impossible as that's more than double where I am now, but hearing from you all is quite inspirational. ,

For those of you that were losing weight at the same time (that's what I'm doing), was there a point when you just stop gaining in strength? Since it's near impossible to put on LBM while in a deficit, I figure this is bound to happen at some point. And then once getting the weight off, refocusing on strength gains through a bulk. Or were any of you able to keep increasing your lifts while still losing fat/weight?

When I started back lifting in November 2011, I couldn't even handle the bar for squats and deads, mostly because my pelvis took a lot of damage in my last pregnancy. From the time I could handle the empty bar (feb 2012) to February 2013, I increased my squat to 265, and my deadlift to 195. Losing weight the entire time, and never hit a stall.

My bench stalls all the time, although it's more mental than actually physical - I've got to learn how to be truly uncomfortable and push through hard reps.

And yes, it feels amazing to hit hit a 300+ pound deadlift and make it look as easy as standing up!

I'm 5'2", 110 lbs.

Bench: 95 lbs x 2
Deadlift: 155 lbs. x 7
Squat: 230 lbs. x 1

Goal by the end of this month: Break into the triple digits for bench. Get more comfortable with deadlifts without damaging my back even more. Squatting 250 lbs.

I've been training on my routine since Nov. : )

20 months lifting, 5'1, 128lb.

Squat: 245 x 3
Deadlift: 275 x 3 and 310 x 1
Bench: 145 x 2
OHP: 95 x 5

My goals for my next meet in August are squat 275 for UK record, bench 145 (paused), deadlift 330. The next big goal will be 3x bodyweight deadlift. In terms of how quickly I get better, it doesn't matter to me so long as things are clearly improving. But after 20 months progress is slowing down a little.

Those EXRX standards are ok for the general population but extremely generous for anyone who is thinking of competing. For a better indication of where you stand relative to others, try this site: https://www.strengthcalc.com/

Eh I entered my stats and based on my current PR's it has me at intermediate or above on all my lifts...which to me sounds a bit off.

Where as the other chart has me at Intermediate and below which makes more sense as I have only been lifting for 9 months.

Ok, maybe the EXRX is just off for more advanced lifters, bc it put me at elite for all my lifts after only one year of lifting, but the strengthcalc one shows % of world record and has a much higher cut off for elite (eg I'm not yet elite for OHP). Also strengthcalc is more realistic about how quickly people get over noobie gains (hence small beginner band and much bigger int/ad bands.

I am doing around 60# on squats, around 30 on bicep curls....been doing only for 8 weeks. Its slowly but surely but want to step it up too. Would also love ideas on how often I need to honestly work every muscle....do I skip a day or 2 days between doing arms or legs, etc....

I've been lifting for 8 weeks. I'm 24, 5'5", and 133.2 lbs (but who's counting?).

My starting weight was the bar on everything except for deadlifts, which was 95 lbs.

Current working weight:
Squat - 120 lbs
Bench Press - 75 lbs
OHP - 55 lbs (ugh...)
Row - 80 lbs
Deadlift - 135 lbs

As for goals, I'd like to squat my bodyweight, bench and row 100 lbs, deadlift 1.5x my bodyweight, and OHP more than 55 freakin' pounds, dammit!

How much I go up depends on the move and the month. Since I've only been at it two months, I couldn't say with accuracy. I'd say I go up 5 lbs every 2-3 workouts with squats and deadlifts, every 4-5 workouts with rows and bench press, and...well, as you can see, not much with OHP. Just got fractional plates, though, so hopefully that'll change.