So... what IS lifting heavy?

You want to do free weights, and compound exercises

So deadlifts, barbell bench press, chin/pull ups, dips, shoulder press.....
Those are your basic compound exercises.

And you should be (for heavy lifting), in the 3 - 5 rep range....
Where you can prolly get the first 2 - 3 reps on your own, but reps 4 and 5 may require assistance.

Tell your trainer you would like to do free weights,
And compound exercises.

Also, google "Stronglifts 5x5"
Good basic program, and good for beginners

You could tell the trainer that you want to lift heavy. Tell her you want to learn the basic compound lifts like overhead press, squats, lateral pull downs, bench presses, rows, deadlifts... Tell her why you want to start lifting heavy...to build muscle and destroy fat...

The stuff you described is definitely lifting but if you are able to stop at 10 reps just because you were told to do 10 reps, you are not lifting heavy. If you want to really build you need to (as someone stated above) lift something that is difficult to do more than a few times (4-10). By difficult, i mean impossible. You want to be exhausted at the end of the set so that your body understands the need to grow. If you don't exhaust the muscle or overload it, your muscle will feel content where its at.

If you didn't feel anything the next day, and you're a beginner who's never before lifted weights, then you gave it no real effort at all. The weights were too light. I'm blaming your personal trainer; they should've told you better.

To answer your question - lifting heavy is all relative to the person. What's lifting heavy for you is most likely not going to be heavy for me. And what's lifting heavy for me isn't going to be heavy for a 300lb powerlifter.


Next time you hit the gym make sure that you pick a weight that makes it challenging to complete your set. The last rep should be difficult to finish. You should feel like you can't do another rep.

And another very important thing - focus on your mind-muscle connection. On each rep you really need to focus on moving the weight with the muscle you're intending to target. For example: for curls, you want to really focus on moving the weight with your bicep. For chest press, you want to focus on moving the weight with your chest.

Yep to quote someone on my FL the other day 'form is king'. Go for quality over quantity - there's no point in injuring yourself right out of the gate & then being turned off weights.

You are in a great position having a cpl more hrs with the personal trainer as they can set you on the right path with your form. 'Heavy lifting' can come later but for now I'd concentrate on getting shown how to lift effectively & correctly. That'll stand you more in good stead for progression further down the line.

but beginners should begin light so that they can progressively increase the weight AND learn the movements correctly.

as long as she is progressively increasing the weight, it really shouldnt make a difference if workout #1 is just her squatting a 12 # body bar.

I agree that beginners shouldn't start out heavy, but at the same time they shouldn't begin so light to the point that they don't feel anything at all.

also, most beginners like being able to see progress in their weights. why have a new person start so heavy that they will quickly stall?

This here doesn't make any sense to me thoug. If a beginner can naturally curl 45lb dumbbells for reps with ease, would you propose they begin a strength training program curling 5lbs because otherwise "they will quickly stall"? No. You wouldn't because that's ridiculous. You start with weight that they can handle (45lb in this example) and move up from there.

exactly, but what you were suggesting was not a weight that they can handle...here's what you wrote

You should feel like you can't do another rep.

if you can naturally curl 45 pounds then starting with that how exactly would they be leaving the workout feeling as if they cant do another rep? beginners and newbs should not be training to what feels like failure but should start out feeling on a high point. there's always time to increase the weights so that the last rep of the last set feels like you cant do another rep, my point is that isnt necessary on the very first workout.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/whats-the-best-way-to-teachlearn-a-new-exercise-qa.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/training-the-obese-beginner-part-4.html (great article in general but i'm mainly posting for the "breaking them in without breaking them"

exactly, but what you were suggesting was not a weight that they can handle...here's what you wrote

I didn't mean to suggest that, but I can see why it was interpreted that way. I personally don't train to failure. I go near that line, but don't cross it. My last rep is done with good form and leaves me feeling like I can't do one more, hence why I said "You should feel like you can't do another rep."

edit: To be clear - to me - finishing that last rep with good form and feeling like I can't do one more isn't failure. That to me is the point before failure. I define failure as not being able to properly complete a rep, if at all.

if you can naturally curl 45 pounds then starting with that how exactly would they be leaving the workout feeling as if they cant do another rep?

Perhaps I was wrong and you would, in fact, start them out with 5lbs, despite the fact that they can handle at least 45 with relative ease, because otherwise "they will quickly stall".

My idea is to start a beginner off with a weight that's challenging but can be handled with good form for reps. It is a balance. In my curl example, if it's 45lbs or slightly more, then that's what it's going to be.

Your idea seems to be to start them off extremely light and with good form. If they can handle 45lbs, you're free to start them off with 5lbs if you wish.

beginners and newbs should not be training to what feels like failure but should start out feeling on a high point. there's always time to increase the weights so that the last rep of the last set feels like you cant do another rep, my point is that isnt necessary on the very first workout.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/whats-the-best-way-to-teachlearn-a-new-exercise-qa.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/training-the-obese-beginner-part-4.html (great article in general but i'm mainly posting for the "breaking them in without breaking them"

Fair enough. Let them start out on a high point, but don't use so little weight that they feel disappointed like in the OP's case.

I would say since you were new and it was your first time with the trainer, she probably wanted to go over good form first. I'd say something next time you work with her that you liked the workout last time, but feel like you can handle more weight this time. I doubt she'd tell you no. She probably just wanted to make sure that you learned the good form first. And everyone starts out at different weights. Some can start out at 20lbs curls, some start out at 5 or even less sometimes. There's no way for the trainer to know what you can handle until they put the weights in your hands and see how you do (and see how you feel the next day). She probably didn't want to over do it on you the first day. Like I said, just mention to her that you think you can handle more weight and you'd like to try. "heavy" is relative.