How many lbs should I lift in Weight Training.

I've been working with a trainer for a while now, he has me lift a lot of weights, for example 10lbs (each hand) overhead press, 20lbs overhead while lunging etc.. I've mentioned several times to him that I do NOT want to bulk up, and each time he tells me that it is very hard for women to bulk up b/c of low levels of testosterone in our bodies. To give him credit, my arms are definitely not bulky, they have slimmed considerably since starting the weight lifting and just look toned.

If your arms are not tired after doing your reps, you should think about increasing the weights by 2lbs or so, just until the exercise feels like a challenge.

Good luck!

If you don't want to bulk up, here's a good rule of thumb I got from a trainer that I had a few sessions with:

Do 3 sets of each exercise, doing 10 or 12 reps each time.
The first set should be the easiest, using a weight that you could do many reps of.
The second set should be more difficult, but you should finish pretty easily (increasing weight).
The third set should begin to get difficult about halfway through, and you should really be working to finish this set. If you can not complete the 3rd set, then you are likely using a weight that is too heavy.

Over time, you can increase the weight you are lifting on all sets, as long as the above rules are followed. This rule pretty much applies to all weights exercises.

Good luck!
Aaron


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Getting "bulky" takes some serious effort and rarely if ever occurs without setting it as a goal.

8-10 reps where you are reaching failure on the last rep (difficult for the last 3 reps) will add some size and strength, but you also have to consider how many sets you are doing and how many exercises per body part.

Two sets are a good baseline, three are usually needed to get good results.

Larger body parts (back, chest, legs) require at least 4 to as many as 6 or 8 different exercises for any serious development.

Smaller body parts (shoulders, biceps, triceps) can be covered in 3-4 exercises.

If you use these guidelines the amount of weight will be determined by experimentation. If on your first set you can easily do 15 or more reps, then you know to increase the weight. If you can pnly do 6 reps or less then decrease the weight.

Nothing is set in stone, and listening to your body is a must. The more you work out the more it will tell you.

Add what rock and roll singer said to my post and you have some good guidelines. The only thing I would add is failing to complete a set (only getting 6 when you wanted at least 8 reps for example) is not necessarily a bad thing. You are in fact achieving a basic goal, to work the muscle to failure.

Always warm up and cool down as well to avoid both injury, and lactic acid build-up.

And I have found that the best thing for simple aches and pains is activity. Getting your blood pumping helps to speed the recovery process which is critical to any resstance training.