Define "lift heavy" (beginner, not a dumb question!)

Fridaydalek
Fridaydalek Posts: 28 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
OK, so I've been lifting weights to build muscle for about a month, and the results are *just* starting to be noticeable to others.

I've seen lots of lifters on here recommend lifting heavy; which I understand, but I'm after some specifics.

My program has various exercises at 3-5 sets of 12-15 reps. Now, if I want to lift heavy where should that put me? Should I be able to complete all reps, or just a few if I'm lifting heavy? Should I move on to higher weights if I can manage the full set of full reps?

We've all got our own goals and abilities, but I'm after some advice on what lifting heavy actually means in terms of how many sets/reps can be accomplished before moving up.

Thoughts?

Replies

  • Jenlwb
    Jenlwb Posts: 682 Member
    depends on your goals. I'm going for compact dense muscle, so prefer 5 reps per set, and heavy would be a weight where you can only just manage to do 5 reps.

    But, the New Rules of Lifting system that i'm on has various stages, some with more reps. Currently i'm doing just 6, which is great.

    Check out stronglifts 5 x 5, lots of people here seem to like it?
  • Fridaydalek
    Fridaydalek Posts: 28 Member
    Thanks, yes I should state my goals! I want to put on as much visible muscle as I can; so not necessarily dense and compact as you are doing. I'm following the Visual Impact course: http://visualimpactmusclebuilding.com/
  • Fridaydalek
    Fridaydalek Posts: 28 Member
    Bump.

    Anyone else doing Visual Impact?

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