The results of lifting heavy (pic)

You do look really strong. What is cross fit if you don't mind me asking?

Crossfit is AWESOME. It is cross-functional fitness, basically army-type basic training stuff. Google it. It uses mostly all compound exercises, heavy weights, and cardio like sprinting and jumping rope. I fully attribute my physique to this program!

So you lifted extra in addition to the cross fit workouts. Cross fit looks cool. I'm going to look into them in my area after I finish Insanity. Thanks again for posting the pics and the info.

You do look fantastic, but I swear to you that I've never curled more than 5s in my life and my arms look just like yours. And I have no problem lifting and carrying heavy objects, so it's not just aesthetic. No weakling sticks or spaghetti strings. Though in the spirit of full disclosure, I'm naturally muscular and body weight exercises do the trick quite nicely for me as far as building on what I already have. It doesn't take much in the way of artificially weighted exercise for my muscles to "pop".

Honestly, I've never lifted heavy not because I'm afraid to get "bulky" or "look like a man", but because I haven't had to. I'm fully aware that I have genetics to thank for that, though genetics didn't give my bum the memo. That body part I have to actually put in work on. :grumble:

However, all of you heavy lifters have me curious. What weights did you start at and how far up do you go? Is there a point that you max out, or do you just keep going heavier and heavier?

However, all of you heavy lifters have me curious. What weights did you start at and how far up do you go? Is there a point that you max out, or do you just keep going heavier and heavier?

I can look back in my workout journal and see where I was curling 5 lb's and now I do 20's. I was stuck at 10 or 12 for a long time and only saw results when I started focusing on ALL the bicep muscles (so working them from every angle and focusing an entire workout on just biceps). But other exercises, like stiff-legged deadlifts, I just keep going up and up and up -- without any real science or dedication. I started with 10 lbs in each hand and now I'm doing 50 pounds in each hand for full sets of 12-15 reps. It really just depends on your muscle response and yeah, probably something to do with genetics, too.

If you really want to increase weight, the trick is to do drop sets -- where you start with a very heavy weight (where you can only do about 4 reps) and then drop the weight to a bit lighter and do as many more reps as you can, then drop the weight a third and final time and finish out the set. Drop sets build bulk and muscle quickly.

I started out curling 10lb dumb bells 12 years ago... I'm up to 27.5lb dumb bells... 10 reps. I can do 30lb dumb bells but only a very few reps with good form. I keep trying though. I'm always pushing myself. I don't know many other women that attempt that much but yes, I lift heavy and I got ripped lean muscle and no bulk!

kdiamond: hotness

What's with all these curl monkey girls? :P I thought that was a guy thing haha.

However, all of you heavy lifters have me curious. What weights did you start at and how far up do you go? Is there a point that you max out, or do you just keep going heavier and heavier?

I started out with what ever weight I could do 4 sets of 10 doing. For bi's it was 10, leg press was 130, etc, you just add when you get to where you can do more reps than the desired amount per set. Results are beautiful!

I love this pic