How heavy is heavy?
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Thank you. I've lost 5 stone since the start. Now I think it's the last slog to get to where I need and I'm becoming impatient! I'll take your advice and will get there eventually x
Amazing progress! And the last is the most difficult and frustrating. lol I have no doubt you will get there!!! Best of luck!!!1 -
JerSchmare wrote: »Mr_Healthy_Habits wrote: »If you can get more than 8 reps, it's too light, less than 4 and it's too heavy...
That being said, there are advantages to training above and below these thresholds
This is false.
I have days where I do singles, testing my MAX. There are days where I just do 1 or 2 reps working strength. There is never a “never” or “always”. You do whatever supports your goal.
OP: do you always do 8 reps on everything?
Not always. I try to get 10 on majority but as I'm upping strength it's been 8s0 -
Thank you. I've lost 5 stone since the start. Now I think it's the last slog to get to where I need and I'm becoming impatient! I'll take your advice and will get there eventually x
Amazing progress! And the last is the most difficult and frustrating. lol I have no doubt you will get there!!! Best of luck!!!
Thanks. That's what I keep saying. Think I'm a tad harsh on myself sometimes.
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Thank you. I've lost 5 stone since the start. Now I think it's the last slog to get to where I need and I'm becoming impatient! I'll take your advice and will get there eventually x
Amazing progress! And the last is the most difficult and frustrating. lol I have no doubt you will get there!!! Best of luck!!!
Thanks. That's what I keep saying. Think I'm a tad harsh on myself sometimes.
Girl those pics are awe-inspiring!!! Yes yes you are being too hard on yourself, but I think we all are to some degree and in some respects it might help us keep moving forward. I think I will always be a work in progress (I turn 50 this year) and always wanting to improve no matter getting stronger, leaner, or improving fitness goals overall.
Enjoying the process is important for me, so that drives me as well!!
You look amazing!!! Well done!!!!!!!!2 -
JerSchmare wrote: »Mr_Healthy_Habits wrote: »If you can get more than 8 reps, it's too light, less than 4 and it's too heavy...
That being said, there are advantages to training above and below these thresholds
This is false.
I have days where I do singles, testing my MAX. There are days where I just do 1 or 2 reps working strength. There is never a “never” or “always”. You do whatever supports your goal.
OP: do you always do 8 reps on everything?
Well then depending on what you're trying to accomplish, it most certainly can be true... However, If you just want to see how heavy you can lift, I guess it may be false
Also, I did say that there are benefits to lifting out of this rep range0 -
Heavy is 3-5 reps... usually within 10-25% of your 1RM1
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You know what's heavy, a max. Sets of 2 not so much, Sets of 3 even lighter. I use to do drop sets, max then drop 20 for 2,drop 20 for 4, drop 20 for 6,drop 20 for 8. That was my heavy day. 5 sets of 5 was my medium heavy day. Light days were sets of 10 or more. It's different for everyone. My max day was a max effort, meaning I could not get one more rep than I did. Of course this was when I was younger.
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I kept quizzing my PT on much the same thing.
Both low weights/high reps, and heavy weights/low reps can have a place in a varied but progressive lifting plan. Both certainly feature in mine, but I think my highest rep set is a 15 so not, like, CRAZY high reps.
One concept I find helpful is "time under tension" and training volume overall. What we track, as well as my weights and reps, is weight multiplied by reps then add up across all the sets for the session. This gives a way of comparing total volume when I've upped my weight but had to drop my reps from, say, 10 to 8 at the new weight.
(The only lift I'm even slightly proud of is my bench, which is 40kg for 4 sets of 4-5. (I weigh a bit under 60kg.) No idea what my single rep max is at the moment though! We don't talk about my squats/deads
) 2 -
The simplest way I've ever had it explained to me; think of volume and intensity on a scale of 1 to 10. Volume = sets and reps, intensity = weight; volume + intensity should come out somewhere around 10. So a 1 rep max squat = 10 intensity with corresponding volume = 1, body weight squat is intensity = 1 but can still be hard if you do 100 reps, volume = 10.
You've gotten some great advice, how heavy you go and at what intensity is very much dependent on your goals, just know this about weight training, rarely is there a blanket correct answer, but for your stated goals 3-5 sets, 3-8 reps is probably where you want to stay. And that's as a novice, a year from now you should need an intermediate program which would look totally different.
Congrats on the great results so far!1 -
THeADHDTurnip wrote: »You could always find out what your 1 rep max is then work on 85%+ of your 1RM, then it's heavy for you.
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/other7.htm
Problem is a 1RM max for a novice lifter is pointless and technically non-existent because a new lifter will get stronger every session. So if a novice "tests" a 1RM on Monday, by Wednesday that same lifter can lift more. That's not even factoring in that a novice has form issues ussually and just by minor tweaks they can lift more.
This is why it's recommended that a novice add weight every session, because they will and can adapt to a weight optimally opposed to a percentage of a 1RM that is vague.
A 1RM cannot be utilized in any capacity for a novice.
OP, heavy is relative to the individual. The point of lifting is to cause enough stress to the muscle so with proper recovery they will adapt and you can add more weight and so forth.
One can achieve that stress in countless rep ranges and weight combinations. Though it might seem random, it is best to follow a program such a Starting Strength that is proven and optimal.3 -
I go to the gym and work out with dumbbells and the bar. How heavy is heavy? You hear about women lifting heavy to burn fat, tone up and generally improve strength and fitness. For example at the moment I'm doing 15kg (33lb) on chest press without struggling and also 80kg (176lb) on squats. Obviously with eating plenty of protein. Limiting carbs and fat. Is this about right? Age 25 and 5ft 9 (179cm) views on how it will change my physique?
Heavy typically describes the rep range you are working in more so than the actual weight...the weight that is heavy for one may or may not be heavy for another. "Heavy" is typically in the 1-5 or 6 rep range lifting at a high % of your 1 RM where your last rep in the set is going to be pretty close to fail, but not to failure.1 -
I just wonder when do you start getting bulky? Obviously the heavier you lift the bigger the muscle?
You start getting bulky after very long, hard months/years of eating in a caloric surplus and training hard and consistently on a program which is specifically designed and intended to produce hypertrophy (muscular growth). And in some cases, taking anabolic steroids.
It doesn't happen quickly and it doesn't happen accidentally. For most women (and even most men), there's basically zero chance of getting bulky if you didn't specifically intend (and train/diet) to do so. There is an absolute zero chance that you're suddenly going to wake up one morning and discover that you've become huge and bulky overnight.3 -
It isn’t making your arms look bulky haha. If you’ve found the secret to accidentally building bulky arms you’d be richer than you can imagine. Chances are they’re inflamed from working out/water retention. It’ll subside in time.
If you want to lose weight. Eat in a deficit.
Heavy is relative. What’s unbearably heavy for one person will be light for another.4 -
Mr_Healthy_Habits wrote: »If you can get more than 8 reps, it's too light, less than 4 and it's too heavy...
That being said, there are advantages to training above and below these thresholds
Not true at all.
I have triples days. Singles. 5x5s. 4x12s 2x15. All different schemes all for a different purpose.
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I just wonder when do you start getting bulky? Obviously the heavier you lift the bigger the muscle?
A lot of strength gains come from neural adaption and recruitment of existing muscle...at some point you will hit a wall and need to further grow the muscle to continue making strength gains, but that's pretty far down the line. You can also have good muscle growth without actually getting "big" or "bulky"...my wife lifts and has done so for years now...she looks well defined when she's leaned out and athletic and sexy...not bulky.
Getting "bulky" is a purposeful act...it doesn't happen by accident. It requires a high volume hypertrophy routine and lots of food to put you in a calorie surplus and the right genetics...most women don't have enough testosterone to truly get bulky without the aid of steroids.1 -
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I wouldn't go so far as to say you look *nothing* like the women on the right, lol. You've made great progress and are living proof of the great results you can get from strength training without magically turning into a "she hulk" from it.5 -
Liftin heavy for me is almost not liftin it.0
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