Dumbbell Size

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amandarawr06
amandarawr06 Posts: 251 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
This might be a silly question.

I have been working out for a year. In terms of lifting weights with dumbbells, I started barely being able to use 10lb weights (for bicep curls, hammer curls, etc). I am now at the point where I can comfortably use 25lb dumbbells (30lbs for triceps, woo).

But I have a friend who was at the same weight as I was, but now shes starting to back paddle. Insisting on using only 12lbs or 15lbs. She keeps insisting that the lower weight will help "tone" her body more than the heavier weight. I thought it was the other way around.... thoughts?

Replies

  • cantfail
    cantfail Posts: 169 Member
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    Lower weight hi her reps builds entrance in your muscles. Heavier weights mid range reps (12-15 for failure) builds size. Very heavy weight and very low reps builds strength.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    she's wrong. You're right

    also "tone" is a misleading term... the "toned" look comes from having strong muscles and a healthy body fat percentage... you get strong muscles from lifting weights that are heavy relative to your ability, and that means low reps... (if you can do loads of reps the weight's too light)... and you get a healthy body fat percentage by eating at a small calorie deficit and doing weight training (same thing, heavy weights, low reps) to preserve lean mass (without the weight training there's a risk of losing lean mass so you get thinner but your body fat percentage doesn't improve all that much)
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    Toning from low weight high reps is pure nonsense. Toning in and of itself is pure nonsense. Muscles do 2 things, they get bigger or smaller. They do not tone. The toned look is a combination of two things:
    Building a decent muscular base and having low enough body fat to display the muscular base you've built.
    Increasing the weight you lift is the best way to build a muscular base. Lifting heavy weights is also the best way to prevent muscle loss while losing fat. So basically your friend could not be more incorrect.
  • amandarawr06
    amandarawr06 Posts: 251 Member
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    she's wrong. You're right

    also "tone" is a misleading term... the "toned" look comes from having strong muscles and a healthy body fat percentage... you get strong muscles from lifting weights that are heavy relative to your ability, and that means low reps... (if you can do loads of reps the weight's too light)... and you get a healthy body fat percentage by eating at a small calorie deficit and doing weight training (same thing, heavy weights, low reps) to preserve lean mass (without the weight training there's a risk of losing lean mass so you get thinner but your body fat percentage doesn't improve all that much)

    Thats why I put the "toned" in quotation marks. Her words, not mine, haha :)
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    Lower weight hi her reps builds entrance in your muscles. Heavier weights mid range reps (12-15 for failure) builds size. Very heavy weight and very low reps builds strength.
    This isn't true. Strength and mass can be built at any rep scheme so long as progressive tension overload occurs. If the weight goes up overtime, no matter the rep range, hypertrophy should occur. People who lift in the 3 to 5 rep range as powerlifters get very strong but they also still build plenty of size. You can build both strength and size in any reasonable rep range.
  • AndiGirl70
    AndiGirl70 Posts: 542 Member
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    In the past I've done the lower weight more reps and honestly I never really saw any real results. Currently I'm lifting much heavier weights using the New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women program and after 14 weeks I am seeing good results and a nice progression to heavier weights. I feel great and I can see definate change when I look in the mirror.
  • raiderrodney
    raiderrodney Posts: 617 Member
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    Sounds like you've made natural progression in the weights you can lift. As I've gotten older I have transitioned to endurance training and always shoot for around 3 sets of 12 reps. If I reach that, next time I go up in weight. If your friend is using weights that don't push her to failure after 12-15 reps she is lifting too light.
  • mark_finewood
    mark_finewood Posts: 18 Member
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    I agree with all of this regarding progressive overload, however, going to the gym is better than not going to the gym. Perhaps Amanda's friend was feeling a little too challenged and wants to back off a little. The last thing we would want to do is to cause her to quit working out. There are way too many people that never work-out and the last thing we would want is to point out where she's wrong about progressive overload only to have her drop out of the gym.

    I would recommend that Amanda tread lightly on this topic and be careful of pointing out that she is wrong.

    Perhaps they could mutually review some exercise info on the topic which leads to an explanation of the benefits of progressive overload. Or, perhaps Amanda and her friend could get training at the gym and progressive overload would come up as a topic.
  • amandarawr06
    amandarawr06 Posts: 251 Member
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    I agree with all of this regarding progressive overload, however, going to the gym is better than not going to the gym. Perhaps Amanda's friend was feeling a little too challenged and wants to back off a little. The last thing we would want to do is to cause her to quit working out. There are way too many people that never work-out and the last thing we would want is to point out where she's wrong about progressive overload only to have her drop out of the gym.

    I would recommend that Amanda tread lightly on this topic and be careful of pointing out that she is wrong.

    Perhaps they could mutually review some exercise info on the topic which leads to an explanation of the benefits of progressive overload. Or, perhaps Amanda and her friend could get training at the gym and progressive overload would come up as a topic.

    I'm not sure where she got the notion from. Up until last week she was all about wanting to lift more and increase how much weight she was using. So I doubt she was feeling challenged.

    But good advice regardless! :)
  • kinmad4it
    kinmad4it Posts: 185 Member
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    Has she bought into another fitness myth? Is she afraid of getting too "bulky" or muscular?
  • kjarvo
    kjarvo Posts: 236 Member
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    Is low weights, high reps really bad? Because I sometimes do zumba toning which is a 30 min class with 0.5kg weights (me and my mum used 1.5 because we didn't have any lower). My arms would kill after that! More than when I use 2.8kg or 5kg weights.
    My muscles aren't really sore afterwards when I use those weights but I can't do more reps. I normally do a minute of each thing (10 minute arm app).
  • Fitfully_me
    Fitfully_me Posts: 647 Member
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    I agree with all of this regarding progressive overload, however, going to the gym is better than not going to the gym. Perhaps Amanda's friend was feeling a little too challenged and wants to back off a little. The last thing we would want to do is to cause her to quit working out. There are way too many people that never work-out and the last thing we would want is to point out where she's wrong about progressive overload only to have her drop out of the gym.

    I would recommend that Amanda tread lightly on this topic and be careful of pointing out that she is wrong.

    Perhaps they could mutually review some exercise info on the topic which leads to an explanation of the benefits of progressive overload. Or, perhaps Amanda and her friend could get training at the gym and progressive overload would come up as a topic.

    I'm not sure where she got the notion from. Up until last week she was all about wanting to lift more and increase how much weight she was using. So I doubt she was feeling challenged.

    But good advice regardless! :)

    Perhaps your friend has simply changed her goals.
    As has been pointed out by others, there are varying thoughts on rep ranges and weight ranges and what can be gained from each. I wouldn't go so far as to say she is wrong and you are right, or vice versa.

    In my opinion, the only wrong way to train, is with bad form. Heavy lifting is huge here on MFP, it is highly and frequently recommended, but its not the only way. "Fitness" is not a one size fits all type of thing.
  • SarahBeth0625
    SarahBeth0625 Posts: 685 Member
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    I have taken progress pics and my "guns" have doubled in size since November. I did this by slowly increasing the size of the dumbbells.. if I get up into the 15 rep range, I know I need to lift heavier to do less reps. However, I can't see mindlessly doing 50 reps with a really light (to me) weight as being beneficial.

    I use 30 lb weights for my squats and lunges, 25 lb weights for my curls, and for the smaller muscle work (like tricep kickbacks), I still do 15 lbs for those.. as well as the lateral and front raises (12.5) because those are very hard to use super heavy weights for. 25 lbs for upright rows but I am doing 15 reps now, so I am upping that one to 30 lbs. soon.

    I have increased my strength over time, as I used to do 60 lbs on the overhead press when I first started, and am doing 85 lbs now and feeling good.
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
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    Bump

    I am using dumbbells and progressing too. I started with 8 lbs and now lifting 15 lbs. I am not consistent with it and like reading these threads. So just here for info :)

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