What is considered a heavy lifter for females?

elsielorpu
elsielorpu Posts: 15 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've seen several posts about female heavy lifters but I'm still not certain what it is. TIA
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Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    Heavy lifting is what's heavy for YOU. Everyone starts and progresses differently. I can barely bench press an empty bar, so for me that is what's considered heavy.
  • kelseymallen
    kelseymallen Posts: 85 Member
    IMO, heavy lifting is when you are using a weight that is quite challenging for you to lift; I'd say that should be somewhere between 75-85% percent of what you are capable of lifting and doing lower rep set (between 8-12).
  • xcalygrl
    xcalygrl Posts: 1,897 Member
    It's subjective per person. What is heavy for me may not be heavy for the next female, while what is heavy for me may be too heavy for the next. The best way to put it is heavy would be lifting the weight for 1-5 reps in a set.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    or to put that differently, weight you can only lift for 1 to 5 reps.
  • elsielorpu
    elsielorpu Posts: 15 Member
    crazyravr wrote: »
    Strong Lifts 5x5. Start there from the basics. You will find out VERY quickly what is heavy for YOU. This goes for not just women but everyone.

    Thank you. I guess I need to Google what that is.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Any lift you can perform with a weight that will only allow you to do a set of 1-5 reps with good form is heavy.

    For example, if the most I can squat with good form is 115kg for 5 reps then that's heavy for me.

    For someone else that number might be 150kg for 1 rep, or 200kg for 3 reps, or 20kg for 5 reps.

    It's not an absolute measure, it's a relative measure defined in relation to your own top-end strength.

    The aim should be to be make that number bigger over time, so you are lifting heavier than a prior version of yourself (and for that you need an intelligently constructed program to help you along the way...)
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    Heavy is subjective based on your abilities.
    When you're doing thirty reps at a time, that's not heavy. But when you're doing three to five sets of fewer than 12 reps and it's all you can do to finish, you're getting into heavy lifting territory.
  • viren19890
    viren19890 Posts: 778 Member
    Heavy lifter technically is

    Benching half your body weight
    Body weight x Squat
    Body weight x 1.5 Deadlift

    Being able to rep once

    This above is for women without any gear (naturally).

    This is what I'm talking about competition and all- if you are talking about real life then it's subjective but usually these should be the goals to aspire to.

    For example men it's Benching body weight , Deadlift 2x body weight and Squat 1.5x body weight. This is benchmark. Obviously there are men who Deadlift 1100 lbs and all- at that point of strength it's the total that starts to count more -total would be Deadlift + Bench press + Squat = Your best one rep
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
    viren19890 wrote: »
    Heavy lifter technically is

    Benching half your body weight
    Body weight x Squat
    Body weight x 1.5 Deadlift

    Being able to rep once

    This above is for women without any gear (naturally).

    This is what I'm talking about competition and all- if you are talking about real life then it's subjective but usually these should be the goals to aspire to.

    For example men it's Benching body weight , Deadlift 2x body weight and Squat 1.5x body weight. This is benchmark. Obviously there are men who Deadlift 1100 lbs and all- at that point of strength it's the total that starts to count more -total would be Deadlift + Bench press + Squat = Your best one rep

    What
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    Thats more along the lines of Powerlifting, which is heavy lifting. But heavy lifting doesn't always mean Powerlifting. Any lift besides the big three can be a heavy lift, when its pushed into a heavy rep range.
  • viren19890
    viren19890 Posts: 778 Member
    OP said "I see posts about female heavy lifters" -now I automatically assumed that because otherwise people just say
    "what is considered lifting heavy" lol

    If I gave more information than required MAH BAD YO!
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    i see "heavy lifting" too, and think oooh powerlifting, but there are so few women here that are interested in pure powerlifting, so i gotta remember they are just asking about general heavy lifting in the gym. Although i wish more women would powerlift, its so awesome and the purest form of heavy lifting.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    It doesn't matter, anyway. Those were just some basic strength standards that have nothing to do with whether or not someone lifts "heavy."
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    "Heavy" describes a rep range....the actual weight is relative to the skill of the lifter. "Heavy" is generally 1-6 reps where you lift at a higher % of your max...so a 1 rep might be 95% of your max and 5 reps might be 80%.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    edited May 2016
    TR0berts wrote: »
    It doesn't matter, anyway. Those were just some basic strength standards that have nothing to do with whether or not someone lifts "heavy."

    Yep.

    Also, someone may lift to support another sport, then they may be trapbar deadlifting, or power cleaning, or push pressing.

    Or they may be an oly lifter and snatching and clean and jerking.

    Or they may be doing strongman/woman and stuff like yoke walking, log pressing, stone lifting.

    Just trotting out an arbitrary standard for 3 lifts is quite narrow and doesn't capture what everyone is doing who goes "heavy"
  • ROBOTFOOD
    ROBOTFOOD Posts: 5,527 Member
    Under 5 reps.
  • elsielorpu
    elsielorpu Posts: 15 Member
    Thanks so much for all the answers. I've only really done Les Mills Body Pump for my strength training. I once had a personal trainer and she went thru some machines with me, but never free weights. I've always been afraid of bulking up, but then saw some women posting that heavy lifting got them toned so I was bit confused. I think I understand a bit more.
  • acbraswell
    acbraswell Posts: 238 Member
    elsielorpu wrote: »
    Thanks so much for all the answers. I've only really done Les Mills Body Pump for my strength training. I once had a personal trainer and she went thru some machines with me, but never free weights. I've always been afraid of bulking up, but then saw some women posting that heavy lifting got them toned so I was bit confused. I think I understand a bit more.

    Body Pump is more like cardio with weights. It's very difficult for women to bulk up from lifting, no matter what kind unless you're eating crazy calories from protein and doing supplements. My body composition changed a lot more from heavy lifting 4-5x per week and doing cardio 2-3 days. Building the lean muscle helps burn more calories too :smile:
  • OlyCapitalChick
    OlyCapitalChick Posts: 236 Member
    Great Q! Wow I always wondered that too bc I want to challenge myself and none of my girlfriends will weightlift :( or learn about it...

    I been sticking with 3 sets of 12 for whatever I lift. I like the toning aspects.

    Is the purpose of "heavy lifting" more than for challenge? Is one goal to build notable strength or ?? I hate feeling so weak! It is bogus.
  • Sassie_Lassie
    Sassie_Lassie Posts: 140 Member
    It depends on the person. The amount that I lift is heavy for me right now but might not be considered heavy for someone else. You can't compare yourself to others as far as strength goes. Everyone is different.

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