How much weight for women?

[Tina Marie]

I am a woman and have recently started weightlifting with a male friend. He wants me to lift a heavier capacity than I am comfortable with. I thought that the weight amount you choose should exhaust your muscles by your last rep. Is this correct or am I just being a baby? I want to get toned and defined, not bulky. Any suggestions? Do I lift the heavier weights with less reps or lighter weight and more reps?

[jjselle]

I find that alot of women (and men for that matter) have their minds set that high reps and low weight is the only way to "tone" or "define." its refreshing that youre actually willing to acknowledge another way. anyway, i think most ppl on this board will tell you that it is most likely beyond your means to naturally become "bulky" or muscular in a masculine way. lifting weights when combined w/ an appropriate diet builds muscle in a pattern determined by your genetics. however, it is true that lifting heavy w/ a rep range between 4 and 10 will recruit more muscle fibers than using light weights and higher reps. of course the words "light" and "heavy" are relative terms for each individual, but if you dont push yourself you prob. wont make steady progress. in addition, its my belief that "toning" and "defining" are misleading as ppl use them - when you lose body fat, your muscles will be more visible. no amount of weight lifting can define a muscle if your body fat doesnt allow it to show. in short, lift heavy and eat clean (check out the nutrition forum) and youll see progress in no time . hope this helps and here is a site that might shed some more light.

http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html

[Torque]

I think we can answer your question easier if you could let us know a little bit about yourself. Most important would be your previous lifting experience and exactly what he's asking. (ie. I normally bench 65lbs for 10 reps and he wants me to bench 100lbs for 3 reps).

That being said, you mentioned that your boyfriend "wants me to lift a heavier capacity than I am comfortable with." If that means heavier than you can complete with good form, then yes you should to lower the weight.

I agree with JJselle's post and will add that by recruiting those additional muscle fibers (by lifting heavier weights) you will increase your body's metabolism as it works to repair the damage. This has the effect of increasing your fat loss (toning) and is more effective than high rep lifting in that regard.

Don't worry about "bulking" , if you search the web you will find a lot of good information that should dispel that fear. Here's another good site for information regarding women and weight training.

http://www.grrlathlete.com

Hope that helps a little

[Iwantneck]

It depends on what your goals are and also sometimes it is neccesary to sacrifce form for busting through weight plateaus.

Girls do not get bulky nor get big muscles like guys ( I sure wish they could ) it is just not possible unless you become best friends with a needle.

[Queen of 1,000 Reps]

Is there a such thing as healthy steroids??

[fayman]

As Lou has stated time and time again, gaining "bulk" has more to do with diet than excercise.

Too many people believe that they will become huge just by lifting heavy. That's not the case at all.

The only way to grow is to eat more food. Case closed.

[shark]

Too many people believe that they will become huge just by lifting heavy. That's not the case at all.

ahhh... if only!!! i wish it were that easy!

[Craig]

Two more great fitness resources for women:

www.RachelCosgrove.com

www.AlwynCosgrove.com

[fitone]

You should not go to faluire at all male or female... Use the RPE scale... 1-10. 10 being extremly hard. Your reps should be from 10-12 for hyprotrophy/strength 12-15 for muscular endurance RPE should range from 7-8 not a 9-10.

[Newlife]

Originally posted by fitone:
You should not go to faluire at all male or female...

I fully disagree with that statement. What are you basing this comment on? 5-1 reps are great for shocking the central nervous system. My best gains in lean mass come from lifting with a rep range below.
Warmup: 5 reps
Work sets: 5, 3, 3, 1, 1

I have log books covered in sweat that prove this system works.


Deadlift jumped 40 lbs in 4 weeks, Squat jumped 35lbs in 4 weeks, Bench went up 25lbs in 3 weeks...

Can you please some links or info please.

[CtA318]

Yeah I disagree with fitone too. I can relate to Newlife because I have experienced gains using low rep training.

[JMR]

He did say hypertrophy/strength, not pure strength increases.

[Newlife]

Originally posted by JMR:
He did say hypertrophy/strength, not pure strength increases.

Okay, but BF% stayed the same and I weight 15 lbs more now. Chest has at least 1.5-2 new inches of growth and my back is wider. So I assume they both increased.

[Angelkae]

Originally Posted by Newlife

I fully disagree with that statement. What are you basing this comment on? 5-1 reps are great for shocking the central nervous system. My best gains in lean mass come from lifting with a rep range below.
Warmup: 5 reps
Work sets: 5, 3, 3, 1, 1

Can you please some links or info please.

New life, do you think the 5,3,3,1,1 thing is good for women?

Everyone, how do you know how much weight you can handle? the reason I ask is because I want to lift more (I only use 8# db's right now and it takes a LOT of reps to get tired), but I don't have a workout buddy who will lift with me so that means no one to spot me or help with my form, and I can't afford a trainer (did 3 sessions and he is into the low weight/high reps thing anyway).

Any advice would be great.

[Iamjennmedic]

Angel what are #8 db's as in lbs???

[Marykaa]

JENNMEDIC.. me and my tendencie to be dislexyque... I understood #8 DBs as 8# DBs.. but it's true that it's confusing..


ANGLEKAE while we're at questions.. how much are "alot of reps" for you?

****************************** ************
*crazy idea*

In my last program I had DB bench presses.. and was doing them at the end with 30 lbs DBs.. I was SO scared when they were above me.

There should be rope (chain) system where you tie the DBs so that they don't fall on you .. maybe we could "belay" the weights with our feet (does it show that I went indoor climbing?

If I was working out at home.. I'm sure I'd rig something up.. ok.. it would REALLY look like a S&M room.. but it would be secure! LOL

[Tony Gentilcore]

Here is something I like to give to all my clients, especially women: Helps to debunk many of the myths surrounding resistance training and women.

High Reps vs. Low Reps for Fat Loss


A certain woman's goal is to simply lose some body fat and get "toned" (not big a bulky)....just enough to get "cut up". She has been under the assumption that high reps with low weight is the best way to achieve this goal.

Fat loss is going to, or should, come primarily from diet (as much as 80%) with the rest coming from cardio (primarily HIIT or interval training). Your weight training should be focused on getting strong, and keeping your muscle, not fat loss. Let the other 23 hours of the day take care of that.

Do not train with light weights. You'll just end up looking soft, as your muscles will not have, what is known as, good neurogenic or myogenic tone. Basically a measure of muscle hardness. Simply put, there are two types of muscle tone: myogenic and neurogenic. The first refers to your muscle tone at rest, the second refers to muscle tone that is expressed when movements occur. Lower reps increase the sensitivity of various motor neurons resulting in increased neurogenic tone. Myogenic tone is affected by the density of your muscles and is improved by stimulation of the contractile proteins myosin and actin. Higher rep ranges result in more sarcoplasmic (fluid) effects, which in turn yields a soft look and is temporary.


Light weights while in caloric deficit will likely also result in muscle loss, as your body, while attempting to adapt to a caloric deficit will try to 'slow down' and does so via various hormonal responses (ie leptin for example) as well as eliminating metabolically active tissue - muscle. If you don't need it, you'll lose it. You're not going to be building significant amounts of muscle in a caloric deficit. You can't build a house out of sweat - you need raw materials. However, what builds muscle is what keeps muscle, and while dieting for fat loss, you want to keep every last ounce you have. So, quite simply don't bother with these 20 rep sets. Train heavy and try to get/stay strong.


What about all these claims in magazines that high reps and long drawn out sessions of steady cardio is what burns the most fat?

Actually it's not a matter of what fuel is burned during exercise. That plays little role - hence why even though high intensity interval training uses a lower % of fat and a greater percentage of carbs DURING activity, it still results in greater energy loss.

The loss of muscle while on restricted calories and training 'light' is partially hormonal. Your body will always attempt to adapt to any change you throw at it - and this includes a caloric deficit. The more you deviate from your set point, the more your body will respond to bring you back. Hormones respond to OVER and UNDEREATING. On a diet catabolic hormones rise, promoting increased amino acid oxidation (protein breakdown). Anabolic hormones decrease (bad). Net protein accretion/retention decreases. Protein oxidation increases. Cell volume generally decreases, leptin production decreases, etc., etc. Our bodies are smart, very smart. In an attempt to 'slow down' to work at your reduced intake, it will try to do what it can to reduce whatever is metabolically active - muscle. So, specific to training. If you train light, you'll keep enough muscle to be able to continue to train 'light', or with higher reps, or whatever. But given this doesn't take a lot, from a relative and individual standpoint (ie. it takes more muscle to lift a weight that limits you to 8 reps, than it does to lift a weight that limits you to 20) you'll keep what you need to accomplish these generally 'easier' tasks.

The key to a lean, hard body is a nice balance between nutrition, cardio and low rep, heavy weight training. What builds muscle is what keeps muscle.

[canuckguy]

Tony, that seems to be a good bit of information.

What is the orignal source of it?