women lifting "heavy"

Heavy is a relative term. It can be determined by your health, joints, how you feel that day, what muscle you are using, (large versus small, some smaller muscles require less weight more reps) is the weight cable driven, free weight, body weight, amount of weight. you can go on and on. What is heavy one day is not the next.

I don't equate the number of reps 8-10 or 12-15 or 15-20 as being heavy this is more to do with endurance. Heavy usually refers to the actual kg/lbs that one is able to move against resistance or gravity. Also what are your goals if you want to build muscle some days go heavy but you may get thicker before you lean out. or do you want gain strength go heavy weight low reps, want to increased endurance lighter weight and more reps. DIET is the key, what is your protein intake like. Hard to lift heavy when not eating "clean" and having protein to replenish muscle damage and " good-carbs" in moderation to help with ATP production, muscle repair.

I recommend a certified personal trainer through the American college of sports med to educate you on where to start.
I am a female I do fairly heavy I flat bench chest press 140 lbs, BB free squat 105#, DB bicep curl 30#. usually multiple sets 3-4 and mult. reps 8-12 depending on how i ate, if hydrated, how i feel somedays better then others and am i able to maintain pristine form. this is my .2 cents worth. Start slow, set a goal, lift safe, form is everything

My ADD won't let me lift for 30 reps, I'd lose count!!! LOL Lifting heavy for me is 8-10 reps and being able to barely squeeze out that 10th rep.

Go heavy or go home.

Love your new pic, btw, edorice. Lookin good

Thank you!

A good program to start with for strength training is 5x5 stronglifts. It is easy to follow, almost seems like you are not doing enough, but it builds quickly, and you start with almost no weight. Since I am older, I use it to make sure I don't overdue it too early. After an injury this winter, I am starting over from scratch, but it is pretty effective. Strength training will not give you the big bulgy muscles but strength is better anyway.

If you're really lifting, you're lifting to fail within a desired repetition range. I, too, workout with ChaLean Extreme for weight training, and in it you try to fail between 10-12 in months 1 and 3, and 6-5 reps. in month 2. The key is that you're not lifting so that the 12th rep is difficult, you're truly trying to lift heavy enough that somewhere between reps 10-12 (or 6-8 in month 2), you honestly CANNOT DO ONE MORE REP.

For me, that means, in most cases, I'm lifting 20-25 pounds for overhead and arnold press, 20 pounds for biceps, 12-15 for tricep work, 25-30 for upper back, 25-30 for chest press and chest fly, 12-15 for posterior and anterior delts, and 40ish pounds in each hand for lowerbody work. I've also found that with each 'round,' that as I get stronger, I get tighter and smaller because my body fat % is dropping while I'm increasing my lean body mass.

In addition, I know there are a lot of women who feel as though they start getting too bulky when they start lifting heavy. I thought that at first, too, UNTIL I finally started cutting the body fat. Yes, you may look bulky if you still have a layer of fat on top of your lean muscles...give it time, keep lifting, and you may find that in time, that bulky look will go away as you continue to drop your overall body fat percentage.

lifting 4-6 reps for me is heavy, 8-12 is moderate, and so forth is high reps. there is no set weight for anyone

THAT!

I do "heavy lifting" and do 5 sets of 5 reps

At my top weight of 290# I wasn't lifting weight just standing was "heavy lifting"...I lost 110# and loved it felt great , taught aerobics for 3 years and did lift heavy pressing over 100#. It was the heavy lifting in general that gave me tone and actually changed my shape. Losing weight just made me a smaller version of my overweight self.

When i added weight training it actually changed my body. I built up my arms and chest and back and it made the waist look smaller. I started to wear strapless and arms out.I built my chest and with good bra gained cleavage (YES). Lots of compliments. I returned home for a wedding as wasn't recognized by many people.

I had surgery and gained back 45#...Now I am back to getting back down to hitting my goal weight of 145# . I do carry muscle. So now I am 65# from that goal. As previously listed women will not get BIG like men we don't carry that amount of testosterone. And women body builders are so dedicated it is amazing to have that much dedication.

But you may have a feeling "thick /bulky' period. i went thru that after I started to lift , the scale went up 4 lbs and then about 3 weeks later I notice the thickness was less, the scale weight dropped, and clothes ft better. I was hooked, I think this was a true transition. I dont fear the bulk because I know if i continue wtih cardio , eat clean and lean, sleep and drink water it will subside and the tone and fat loss will happen. My goal is to LOSE FAT, Not to lose Weight.

When I weight more then 225 I did not " lift heavy". I did lots of reps and sets with good form a challenging weight , minimal rest between sets, tried to keep my heart rate up (more aerobic then anaerobic...heavy lifting is more anaerobic) and did superset or circuit format. I don't think it matters what one does as long as you DO SOMETHING, MOVE SOMETHING, SHAKE SOMETHING, LIFT SOMETHING, BURN SOMETHING,BUILD SOMETHING and that is my goal.

My suggestion is to rely on ratings of perceived exertion (RPE).

10. Maximal – no reps left in the tank at the end of set.
9: Last rep is tough but still one rep left in the tank
8: Weight is too heavy to maintain fast bar speed but isn’t a struggle; 2–4 reps left
7: Weight moves quickly when maximal force is applied to the weight; “speed weight”
6: Light speed work; moves quickly with moderate force
5: Most warm-up weights
4: Recovery; usually 20 plus rep sets; not hard but intended to flush the muscle
An RPE below four isn’t important.

The above intensity scale can also be thought of in terms of percentages. Ex. Intensity of 8 is working at 80% of your 1 rep maximum (1RM). The goal is to gradually increase the weight being used for a particular exercise.

Overload: The load must be greater than what your body is accustomed to.

Progression: What is an overload today, won't be an overload next week or next month. To elicit further change, you have to progress the overload. How quickly your body adapts depends on many factors including nutrition, type of exercise, stress, and genetic potential, among others.

Intensity: Training with loads in the 81-95% range of your maximum effort will likely be a stimulating or maintaining load. Intensity of 70-80% is going to be insufficient in terms of building or keeping muscle.

Good luck! Remember, lift HEAVY or go home.