Strength training and where your heart rate is.

I do not pay any attention to my heart rate when doing any exercise. Just do your routine and don't fret over it.

I don't know what the rule is but my heart rates spikes very high when I lift, even heavy singles but drops to low 50s resting.

Power cleans get my heart rate to around 140-150, so do heavy deads.

Rigger

Generally, you’ll see a rise in heart rate for any activity you perform. The longer and faster you move, the more your heart rate will go up. But that is not really a measure of the intensity of the weight lifting as much as just movement. If you do squats with 100 lbs you probably won’t see much difference from doing 80 lbs. If you were talking about blood pressure, then you might be on to something.

I don't really get your question, you totally lose me when you say 'I thought I couldn't lift weights'

are you afraid of over exertion? do you have a heart condition? are you thinking your not working hard enough?

I'd say one doesn't really have much to do with the other, especially because there are a lot of goals one might try to achieve with resistance training.

I would say that if the goal is increasing strength, and your heart rate is dramatically elevated, then your probably going through your routine too fast to achieve optimal strength results.

never really noticed my HR go up from heavier weight alone, but put the sets to close together and it will happen.

actually I guess it does, but it goes down so quickly I don't really think of it as an elevated heart rate.

I think this will play back into how close your sets are

snowy0wl wrote: »

cwolfman13: this may be unrelated but how do you know when you are lifting 'hard' enough? I'm just beginning and never paid much attention to HR, but when I tried a really heavier weight then my HR shot up. Wouldn't that be better indicator that you are actually really working hard? I guess its simular to if you work out isn't i normal to get all sweaty?

It really depends on what I'm after...I do some metabolic stuff in the weight room, usually just to get things warmed up...kettle bell swings, dumbbell snatches, etc. But by and large my objective is to push and pull as much weight as possible in my given rep range. Basically know that I'm working hard enough when I'm pretty close to not being able to get the last rep up in a set. I know what my 1 RM is on various lifts and I know what % of that I should be working depending on my rep range.

To maximize my lifts, rest is required...if I'm in a "heavy" cycle for example, I might do a set of 3 squats...and then rest a good 2-3 minutes to ensure I can get that weight up again on subsequent sets. I pretty much give myself 2 minutes rest between sets on most Oly work. In higher rep ranges I might only rest for a minute or 1:30.

I do some bootcamp/circuit kind of stuff for about a month a couple of times per year for which I don't give myself much rest and I work low weight high rep for endurance...I do try to keep my HR elevated most of that time...but I've been training now for just shy of 3 years so I have a pretty good feel for my level of effort and intensity without needing a HRM. I have one from when I started, but the battery died some time ago and I've never replaced it.

I used to do squat sets of 100 reps at 135#. My heart would be racing by the time I finished, believe you me! lol (My 1RM is 475, so it wasn't the weight itself.)

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jemhh wrote: »

Are you following a weightlifting program? If you are not, find one to follow and follow it. It will tell you how to figure out how much to lift and how to progress.

Also this...

snowy0wl wrote: »

cwolfman13: this may be unrelated but how do you know when you are lifting 'hard' enough? I'm just beginning and never paid much attention to HR, but when I tried a really heavier weight then my HR shot up. Wouldn't that be better indicator that you are actually really working hard? I guess its simular to if you work out isn't i normal to get all sweaty?

The basic answer is, you know. Lifting weights is a very taxing activity. You’re struggling to keep good form for a set number of reps. The muscles are engaging more and more fibers as you go. And then you’re done. You can’t do another rep with good form.

Low weight and form are good, but if you feel one side is weaker than the other, try using dumbbells instead of barbells, along with split squats for legs, to catch up. This has the added benefit of working the core muscles harder at the same time to keep straight and stabilized. So if you do a set of curls, start with your weaker arm. However many reps you get with that arm, use the same weight for the same reps on your other arm, even though you'll feel you can do more. Don't worry about losing strength in your strong arm, because it won't take long for your weaker arm to catch up.