Would you call this workout "Lifting Heavy"?

abetterjune
abetterjune Posts: 219
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I've been looking into "eat more to weigh less" and "lifting heavy." I'd really like to get my hands on a copy of NROLW but can't shell out the cash at the moment... so just kind of experimenting by myself. Looking for some feedback on my workout today. Would you consider it "heavy" lifting? What would you add or change? I had no more than 45 seconds between repetitions. My HR was between 175-200 the entire time. 90ish minutes total and 980 something calories burned.

Here's what I did (I hope this makes sense!):

--Warm up: Running 30 minutes (I'm training for a 1/2 marathon in sept, fyi)
--Squats with overhead press: 4 sets of 10 reps with 12.5lbs each hand. When I got to set 3 rep 7, my form just kinda fell apart. Same thing in set 4 at rep 6.
--Squats with bicep curl: 4x10 with 12.5lbs each hand. form fell 4th set, rep 9.
--Lunges with tricep extension: 4x10 with 8 lbs. form fell set 2 rep 8, set 3 rep 7, set 4 rep4
--Plank: 90 seconds x4. (45 seconds with R leg up, 45 with L leg up). Last rep I didn't lift legs.
--Lunges with leg on block, behind: 4x10 holding 15lbs each hand. Form fell set 3 rep 8, set 4 rep 8
--Pushups (REAL ones!!): 4x10. Form fell set 2 rep 8, set 3 rep 6, set 4 rep 4 (weak, I know, but hey! I was tired at this point!)
--Ab Twists (idk what these are called, but in the V position on floor with legs extended out, holding ball and touching floor on each side. one touch each side is one rep): 4x25 with 8 lbs, 10lb, 15lbs and15 lbs. I kept grabbing too light of a ball, lol.
--Cool down: about 10 minutes walking (until my heart rate was under 145) and 10ish minutes stretching.

Some other questions: When my form gets weak should I switch out to a lower weight or just stop altogether? What other exercises can I add- I'm really trying to focus on my legs and upper arms but its always great to get some abs in...?


Thanks in advance for any input!

Replies

  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    not really, no.
    you should try squatting with the bar (45lbs) to start with, and adding weight each time. For reference, it took my wife 2 months to move up to 160lbs. Would have been faster, but she is dieting

    You're basically missing out on some great compounds. Like deadlifts.

    hit up Starting Strength, Stronglifts, New rules, etc... if you are interested in moving heavy weight. If you start today, you're going to laugh at those dumbbells in a couple of -weeks-
  • abetterjune
    abetterjune Posts: 219
    Okay, thanks, I really, honestly, openly admit I know nothing about what I'm doing. Like I said, just experimenting. Any tips for starting to do deadlifts? What else? how many Sets/ Reps?
  • It_never_ends
    It_never_ends Posts: 105 Member
    Was it heavy? Then yes. Maybe that guy can lift more but if it's heavy for you or hard your burning more calories.
  • abetterjune
    abetterjune Posts: 219
    Also, those dumbbells sure felt heavy to me, today. lmao! Guess I've got a bit of work ahead....
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    What other exercises can I add- I'm really trying to focus on my legs and upper arms but its always great to get some abs in...?

    Squats (back squats in particular) and dealifts (barbell) have you covered on all accounts here. There are no 2 better lifts in the gym for adding mass.
  • tuffytuffy1
    tuffytuffy1 Posts: 920 Member
    I agree with the above poster, if it is heavy for YOU, then it is heavy lifting. You don't want to go crazy and hurt yourself. Well done!
  • aymetcalf
    aymetcalf Posts: 597 Member
    When I think "heavy lifting" - i think powerlifting - ie. squats (w/ bar), bench press, deadlift. These three are great for overall strength conditioning. :flowerforyou:
  • abetterjune
    abetterjune Posts: 219
    I want to get back to the bench press. When I was 14, I could bench 150% of my weight... but now... I'm a bit afraid to try to bar alone without a spotter :O
  • abetterjune
    abetterjune Posts: 219
    Also, anyone have a good site, or instructions on how to do a dead lift correctly?
  • autumnk921
    autumnk921 Posts: 1,374 Member
    About getting the NROLW - Have you checked the libraries...I know some of them do have copies you can at least read for a few weeks to get an idea of what it's all about!! :)
  • Natihilator
    Natihilator Posts: 1,778 Member
    I question why your warm-up is 30 minutes long?

    I am currently doing NROL4W and I keep my warm-up to under 10 minutes - 6 minutes walk/jog on the treadmill and 4 minutes of dynamic stretching. In the book, if I remember correctly, doing a warm-up any longer than that can fatigue your muscles, and could inhibit you from lifting as heavy as you could. I would think you would benefit more from doing the 30 min run right after you finish lifting.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    no not heavy.. the amount of reps you are doing (10) moves it out of strength training and more into endurance. for heavy (or strength training) lifting, you use a weight that you can really only perform 3-5 reps before you absolutely NEED to stop and take a break for several minutes.

    but like other people have noted, before you worry about heavy lifting you need to first make sure you have the correct form and are used to the movements. lifting the amount of weight you'd need where you can only get off 3-5 reps before resting requires that you have all the basics of form down for that exercise since you can very easily hurt yourself
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    exrx.net has some good instruction and demonstration videos of a lot of lifts for different body parts.
  • tonyrd3000
    tonyrd3000 Posts: 20
    With deadlifts, make sure you keep your weight low until you have your form right. Don't get caught up in going heavy too fast. Good form is key and will keep your back healthy. Do bad form in deadlifts and you can hurt yourself. Personally, I think deadlifts rule. Used to fear squats, but after using Stronglifts 5x5, I got my weight/form on them pretty decent.
  • pldg
    pldg Posts: 18
    bump
  • hongruss
    hongruss Posts: 389 Member
    OP there is a great routine & a very informative thread on BodyBuilding .com, don't leave the name put you off. The thread is "AllPros Beginner Routine" it is a 7 exercise full body routine that you do 3 days a week, it has natural deload built in & unlike Starting Strength it DOESN'T push you to your max BUT encourages good form & sensible progression.

    It is all laid out & very easy to understand, I can't do back squats but have switched them for goblet squats for the moment. These practically force good form out of you & are great for beginners. As I stated the routine is for beginners & therefore can be done in your home with a little equipment, currently I am using dumbbells & if & when I feel the need I will either upgrade my equipment or join a gym again :)

    As others have commented, heavy is what is heavy for you & you should not lift heavy or long enough for your form to get ropey, quick trip down injury road :(

    Russ
  • jwhit31
    jwhit31 Posts: 450 Member
    no not heavy.. the amount of reps you are doing (10) moves it out of strength training and more into endurance. for heavy (or strength training) lifting, you use a weight that you can really only perform 3-5 reps before you absolutely NEED to stop and take a break for several minutes.

    but like other people have noted, before you worry about heavy lifting you need to first make sure you have the correct form and are used to the movements. lifting the amount of weight you'd need where you can only get off 3-5 reps before resting requires that you have all the basics of form down for that exercise since you can very easily hurt yourself

    Well dang, I thought squatting and deadlifting more than my body weight for 10 reps was lifting heavy. :frown:
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    The problem with combining squats with upper body moves is that your should be squatting way more than you can over head press. I squat 130lbs, and overhead press 70lbs.

    This is free and better than New Rules in my opinion:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary
  • samueldwooldridge
    samueldwooldridge Posts: 1
    Simple really....lift as heavy as you can 6 to 8 times. If you cant do 6, then it is too heavy. If you can do more than 8, then it is not heavy enough. then you are supposed to rest 3 to 4 minutes between sets to allow your heartbeat to go down.

    The real purpose of this type of workout is to increase size (muscle mass) along with a clean high calorie diet.

    any form of lifting done so that your heart rate is elevated highly promotes more of a lean build and burns fat. that shoule be a high rep lower weight with no more than a 30 second break between sets.

    Good luck!

    S
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    no not heavy.. the amount of reps you are doing (10) moves it out of strength training and more into endurance. for heavy (or strength training) lifting, you use a weight that you can really only perform 3-5 reps before you absolutely NEED to stop and take a break for several minutes.

    but like other people have noted, before you worry about heavy lifting you need to first make sure you have the correct form and are used to the movements. lifting the amount of weight you'd need where you can only get off 3-5 reps before resting requires that you have all the basics of form down for that exercise since you can very easily hurt yourself

    Well dang, I thought squatting and deadlifting more than my body weight for 10 reps was lifting heavy. :frown:

    It's not
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    To the 'you are an individual snowflake' posters, the fact that she can do so many reps means that by definition, it's not heavy for her.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    Heavy lifting is another reference to maximal strength or even absolute strength lifting. Lifting within this range on the force curve involves a weight that is between 80% and 100% of your 1-rep max (RM). This weight range typically includes a rep range of 1 to 5 reps, of course 100% of your 1RM should always equal 1-repetition. Moving into the 8 to 10 rep range is more of strength and hypertrophy (let's just call this moderate for ****s n giggles) mix but keep in mind that maximal strength training and moderate strength training do not lend the same results. Maximal strength training has a more profound effect on recruiting the body's nervous system and building neuro-muscular strength which other higher-rep range lifting can not do. Therefore it also has a more positive effect on enhancing an individual's athleticism.
  • jwhit31
    jwhit31 Posts: 450 Member
    Heavy lifting is another reference to maximal strength or even absolute strength lifting. Lifting within this range on the force curve involves a weight that is between 80% and 100% of your 1-rep max (RM). This weight range typically includes a rep range of 1 to 5 reps, of course 100% of your 1RM should always equal 1-repetition. Moving into the 8 to 10 rep range is more of strength and hypertrophy (let's just call this moderate for ****s n giggles) mix but keep in mind that maximal strength training and moderate strength training do not lend the same results. Maximal strength training has a more profound effect on recruiting the body's nervous system and building neuro-muscular strength which other higher-rep range lifting can not do. Therefore it also has a more positive effect on enhancing an individual's athleticism.

    Thanks for the info. (:
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    Heavy is determined by the rep range, not the actual weight.

    Sure, you could lift a certain weight that feels heavy for you, and that you feel is a good weight for someone your size/gender, but if you can lift it for 4 sets of 10, for you, it's more of a medium weight, rather than a heavy weight. :smile:

    That's a good thing though! Don't think "that's not heavy, I'm really weak!" Instead you should be thinking "that's not heavy enough for me, I can go heavier. Rawr!!" :laugh:

    Seriously, 6-8 reps at the most is usually what is seen as heavy. If you can do more than 8, I'd up the weight. The last couple should be a struggle, while still maintaining good form.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    Heavy is determined by the rep range, not the actual weight.

    Kind of, it's determined by the % of your 1RM being used which usually limits you to a certain rep range. Reps by themselves don't determine heavy lifting. For instance, I do speed DL's for 1-rep each set (10 sets total) but depending on the week my weight is only between 50% and 60% of my 1RM. You can see that I'm by no means doing "heavy" lifting in that example. :)
  • jwhit31
    jwhit31 Posts: 450 Member
    Heavy is determined by the rep range, not the actual weight.

    Sure, you could lift a certain weight that feels heavy for you, and that you feel is a good weight for someone your size/gender, but if you can lift it for 4 sets of 10, for you, it's more of a medium weight, rather than a heavy weight. :smile:

    That's a good thing though! Don't think "that's not heavy, I'm really weak!" Instead you should be thinking "that's not heavy enough for me, I can go heavier. Rawr!!" :laugh:

    Seriously, 6-8 reps at the most is usually what is seen as heavy. If you can do more than 8, I'd up the weight. The last couple should be a struggle, while still maintaining good form.

    Thanks for posting this! (:
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    For reference, it took my wife 2 months to move up to 160lbs. Would have been faster, but she is dieting


    Dang.

    I've been at it for like 1.5 months and I'm only still at 85lb. Way to make me feel lame. Lol.
  • abetterjune
    abetterjune Posts: 219
    Wow- thanks for all the responses! Can't wait to read through them. Unfortunately, I posted this in the dreaded 4 o'clock hour (when my child melts into a cranky mess if any little thing is out of the ordinary!) But I will be back to read carefully after bed time.
  • oaker
    oaker Posts: 132 Member
    Just found this thread and would like to add something. DO NOT lift heavy to start with. You need to get your form correct for any of the lifts you are going to perform. That means starting light and very slowly adding weight to where your form breaks down. This may take several months to a yr or even longer. Better to look at lifting wts as a long journey rather than some 90 day fitness program. If you are going to lift heavy, throw away the dumbells and use the barbell. Dumbells are great for auxillary lifts, but you need the barbell for the main heavy lifts. I cant stress enough about form for safe lifting. Once you tear a muscle or bulge a disc, you are out for a while.
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