If you want to step up your lifting game, pay attention to how your body feels— soreness and a bit of fatigue will help indicate if your weights are heavy enough to give you real results.
When lifting, generally, if you can complete 2-3 more reps after a set, you're likely at a good weight. If you can complete 5+, you'll want to try and increase it. If you're following a program, reps and sets are created with purpose. If you're supposed to do 10-12 but can only do 6, then the weight is too heavy.
A common guideline is to start at about 50-70% of your one-rep max (1RM), which is the maximum weight you can lift for one repetition. If you're unsure of your 1RM, just start with a manageable weight. The Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale can help you gauge how hard you're working.
Use proper form.
Learn to do each exercise correctly. When lifting weights, move through the full range of motion in your joints. The better your form, the better your results, and the less likely you are to hurt yourself. If you're unable to maintain good form, decrease the weight or the number of repetitions.
The rule that both NSCA and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommend is the “2-for-2 rule.” After a few workout sessions, you can increase the weight for a certain exercise once you can perform two more repetitions beyond your repetition goal for the last set for two weeks in a row.
Start Slow
One of the most important golden rules of strength training is to start slow. If you're new to strength training, don't jump in too quickly. It's important to start with a program that is appropriate for your fitness level and allow for proper rest and recovery. This will help you avoid injury and burnout.
5×5 means you do five sets of five reps with the same weight. These are “straight sets” or “sets across”. On the Squat, Bench Press, Overhead Press and Barbell Row you do 5×5. Say you Squat 5×5 225lb (total weight including the bar, because you lift it).
If you cannot lift your chosen weight with proper form, it is too heavy and you should use a lighter weight. Seek guidance from a personal trainer.
Some signs and symptoms to be aware of are: pain worsening with movement, muscle cramping, decreased flexibility, difficulty walking, pain with bending forward or sideways, and discomfort when standing for long periods of time.
Your 8RM Is the Moneymaker. Use the "2 for 2" rule when deciding if it's time to increase the amount of weight you're lifting: When you can do two more reps with a given weight than you started out with for two consecutive workouts, increase the weight.
The basic breathing technique for lifters should be to take a deep breath in as they lower the weight and exhale as they lift the weight or work against gravity. You will be able to properly circulate oxygen throughout your body to your muscles and protect you from harm.
“You can lift lighter weights, and as long as you lift them with a high degree of effort, they're as good as heavier weights in making you bigger,” he says. Using a home gym machine or even just your own body weight, like with push-ups or lunges, works.
Noticing changes in your body is a good sign that your workout is challenging enough. If your jeans fit looser, you use a smaller hook on your bra or a shirt is easier to button, these are all signs that your body is changing. An increase in strength is also a good indicator you are working hard enough.
Strength training helps you lose weight and keep it off by building muscle tissue. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate tends to be. More muscle also helps your body burn more fat than muscle, which is important if you want to lose weight and keep your strength.
Track your progress over time. If you notice that you're consistently using the same weights for the same exercises and repetitions, it's a sign that you might not be lifting heavy enough. As you adapt and get stronger, you should aim to increase the weights or reps to keep challenging your muscles.
At that point of failure, you'll feel like you need to drop your weights or have a spotter help guide you into a safer position, Andy says. You'll likely feel a bit of a burning sensation in your muscles. It'll also be challenging mentally to motivate yourself to keep working.
Research suggests lifting smaller weights and doing more repetitions (or, in gym parlance, “reps”) can have a role to play – but it all depends on your goals. In short: if your goal is to build serious strength and bone density, lifting heavy is an efficient way to do it.
You will slow down as fatigue sets in. Notice that change in speed and the number of reps you can get after you start to slow down. These are clues that will help you gauge your effort when you go back to your usual workouts. Compare the number of reps you thought you could do with the number you actually did.
Medium vs. Heavy Weights. For beginners, Ben recommends trying five to 10 pounds for light weights, 10 to 20 pounds for medium weights, and 15 to 30 pounds for heavy weights—or simply starting with five-pound weights for each exercise and working up from there.
For any isolation exercises, you could do just 1-2 sets per exercise and get the job done well. There's no harm in spending more time in the gym, though. If you have the time and ambition, you could start with 4 to 8 sets per muscle per week, and work your way up to 8 to 12 sets.
With StrongLifts, the trainee performs just five multijoint barbell lifts per week: the deadlift, squat, bench press, overhead press, and bent-over row. It's a three-day-per-week program that employs an A/B split, which means there are two different workouts (Day A and Day B)
If you lift more often (maybe 2x per week) you could increase your squat by 100 pounds within 2 to 3 months, if you are starting from very little lifting.