[Meg]

We've had quite a few conversations in the past several weeks about lifting heavy and lifting to failure, so I want to pass it along an article in today's Washington Post:

Don't Avoid the Heavy Lifting
Tuesday, September 21, 2004; Page HE03

Watching people lifting weights, I've often wondered if folks who absentmindedly reel off repetitions -- while seemingly exerting little effort -- are getting much benefit.

They're not, according to a study in the current issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. And that finding might help explain why so many new gym-goers become former gym-goers so soon -- and may help you avoid becoming one of them.

Researchers asked 13 men and 17 women, all strength-training novices aged 17 to 21, to select a weight that would improve their muscular strength.

Both men and women chose a weight that was below what studies show to be the minimum level needed to gain muscular strength -- 60 percent of their one-repetition maximum. The weight they picked put them at 42 to 57 percent. Prior strength training research has shown that loads of at least 60 to 75 percent are required to gain strength.

The researchers at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., and Wayne State College in Wayne, Neb., tried to simulate gym conditions by showing participants how to use the machines first. (Yes, your gym orientation should include such instructions.)

The researchers then let participants try a few different weight settings before deciding which load they believed would yield muscular gains. All chose loads -- at this session and at a follow-up two to three days later -- that were too light, as measured by a subsequent assessment of each person's one-repetition maximum.

Lead investigator Stephen Glass, professor of exercise physiology at Grand Valley, told me, "At 60 percent of your maximum, you should be able to do about 15 to 20 reps before fatigue -- that is, before you cannot do another rep in proper form."

For example, if you can just barely squeeze out one military press with 100 pounds of weight, you should be able to do 15 to 20 reps with 60 pounds.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends people lift 70 percent of their one-rep maximum, doing eight to 12 reps. (For curls where your one-time max is 40 pounds, you'd do eight to 12 reps with 28 pounds.) Glass says some novices may be more comfortable lifting at 60 percent, and still see benefits.

"The key is to monitor how many reps you are doing," provided you do them to fatigue, Glass said. "Do not focus on the weight itself." So if you are doing 17 reps to fatigue, the weight you've selected is in the right ballpark. When that task becomes easier -- to the point where you can do more than 20 reps with that weight -- increase the weight to a point where you can do only 15 to 20.

Glass advises doing two to three sets of each exercise, with two to three minutes of rest between sets. "If you are pressed for time, one set will yield benefits. But two or three [sets] will be better." (Doing the second set boosts the value of your workout more than the third set does.) You may not be able to do as many reps on your second and third sets; that is normal.

Asked if the data can be extrapolated to people older than 21, Glass said, "My guess would be that the older population would [choose] even lighter loads due to fear of injury. When people are not accustomed to lifting, it's hard to determine what is 'heavy' and what is 'fatigue.' "

Glass speculated that failure to see results could be one reason as many as half of new gym-goers drop out within weeks of their joining a gym. Working harder, he said, might change that outcome.

The researchers conclude that working with a trainer is the best way to ensure you are lifting enough. "But if you lack the money for that, this is good information for helping you self-select the right loads to work with," Glass said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer

How remarkable that NONE of the study participants were lifting heavy enough on their own! I personally don't know what my one-rep maximum is on most exercises -- I just go up in weight any time that I can do 15 reps with proper form. I think that's OK since the study says that the weight you can do 15 reps at should be about 60% of your one-rep max. But I'm thinking that I need to be pushing myself a little harder!

[goeatanapple]

I took the advice of some gals in this forum, and started REALLY pushing myself. I select the weight at which I "officially" lift for that exercise. To be honest, I can't do any more than six reps at this weight without having a quick rest. So, I might do 12 reps to start with if I am doing well, then quick rest, six reps, quick rest, six reps, quick rest. Then I'll do just one more set of six at that weight, by which point I'm gettin' close to fatigue, then kick it up a notch up to the NEXT weight for the very last six reps ... my gawd, those last six reps are tough as, but fatigue is almost guaranteed and it it doesn't happen, another rep or two more.

Using this technique, in nearly three weeks, I've increased:
Dumbell shoulder press 4kg - 6kg
Chest press 10kg to 12.5kg
Lat pulldown thingey 22.5kg to 25 kg
45 degree leg press 60kg to 90kg

I was pushing myself reasonably hard before, but now I'm really going for it and I'm pleased with the results ... it used to take me 3 months to see strength gains like these

[flutter]

Wow 90kg on the leg press! Your very stong!
That is my favourite machine, ours is a hmmm im bad at maths but its like your sitting on a chair and you have your legs straight out infront of your body, so if thats 90? degrees angle then im doing 36kg. I have used a different leg press before years ago when i was 12yrs old and it was like, your sorta sitting but on more of an angle and your legs are more up in the air, and i did 45kg then, so i dont know what i could do on that now, because we dont have that type of leg press at my gym. I started out at about 34-36 but 36 is the heaviest im doing and thats hard for me after the 2nd set. I try to do as hard as i can go. My b/f leg presses 300kg and im like whoooaaaa i couldnt imagine it!
lol

[2sw33t]

I've pretty much been moving the weight up when I can get 3 good sets of 12 reps... I think I'll see how many reps I can do in one set for each exercise at their current weights, to see if I reach muscle fatigue before 20 reps. (With some lifts, I know I can't do any more reps in the first set because I can't even make it to 12 - but there are probably some that I'm under 60% of my 1RM.)

Good article!

[srmb60]

OK ... yesterday was legs. I couldn't do 15 reps of what I was squatting nor what I was SL Deadlifting. Because I was also doing lunges, biking and floor exercises, I didn't worry about it. Should I have lightened up so that I could do the 3 sets? After I was done all, I seriously wobbled upstairs to change, scary, holding the bannister. I'm aware of my legs today but not sore.

[Meg]

Susan -- I think what you're doing is just fine.

The way I read the article was that many of us, especially beginners -- are going too light and need to push ourselves to go heavier. I don't think that you need to lighten up to be able to do three sets of 15 (it's not a magic number or anything). Sounds like you're going heavy enough already.

[nelie]

flutter, it is possible that you can leg press 300kg one of these days. Last time I did it, I did 500 lbs or 226 kg. Last night I reached my goal of using a 45 lb plate on each side for a shoulder exercise (front military press).

When I first started lifting, I would do 3-4 sets of a single weight that I'd reach to failure on the last set around 10-12 reps. After talking to a friend of mine who lifts (male), he said he increases his weight so then I started trying that which I like much better. So the first 2 sets, I can do 12 reps, sometimes the second set is a struggle to reach 12 but the first set isn't. Then on the 3rd and 4th set I increase the weight so that on the 4th set I reach failure between 6-12 reps, usually in the 8-10 rep range.