I'm actually really new to strength training *And* this forum, so if this question has been asked, forgive me

Anyway, I'm the type of person that needs to have long term, "ultimate" goals to reach for. I also want to be really strong and really fit.

So...what's a reasonable "ultimate" goal to reach for with say, a bench press? 100 pounds? less? more? I'm 5'4" and my goal weight is 125-135 or so.

Or should I can the idea of working up to lifting heavy weights?

Thanks in advance!!

Laura

I love weights but I never had a weight lifting goal. My goals are really to lose weight and weight lifting is just an aid in that goal. I think there are simple things that I have as goals like I'd like to do a real pushup one day and I'd like to do a real pullup one day. I'd like to be able to climb a rock wall as well one day. I couldn't say my goals include bench pressing this weight or squatting that weight.

Yeah, I'd like to be able to do a pullup someday. I can already to pushups, but I've never in my life been able to do a pullup. I don't even know how to train for one. I just hang there looking pathetic. I know there's a machine in the gym that can help with that, but without a gym membership I'm not sure what to do.

I love setting lifting and fitness goals. Working towards them is fun and gives you measureable goals. But be careful with your goals- pick them wisely. I aimed for a bench press competition and managed to lift the weight that I knew I needed to lift in practice, but injured myself two years in a row while training. I think I have some permanent injuries due to heavy bench pressing. It's probably not the best goal for a 52 year old woman with 52 year old shoulders and elbows. While winning a benching comp may not be on everyone's "to do" list, I'm kind of disappointed

I think body weight exercises make great goals, are 99.99% safe, and can be achieved without professional help. Face it- if you are going for a 100 pound bench press or 285 pound squat, you need a trusted spotter for most of your leg and chest workouts. Doing your age in pushups or doing unassisted pullups is very achievable once you have a program in place for gaining strength.

Don't just focus entirely on those goals, though. Make sure you do complete workouts that work towards overall fitness...unless of course you really want to be a powerlifter. (In that case, stop trying to lose weight...it's counter productive to cut calories and go for giant lifts!) Seriously, most of us don't want to look like powerlifters. I started playing powerlifting games years after I'd achieved my goal weight and a high level of overall fitness.

Have fun!

Mel

Thanks Mel!!

I don't want to be a "powerlifter", but I do want to be pretty strong. I don't want to look huge and bulky, but I hear it's pretty difficult to do. I like your idea of body weight goals...it will obviously be awhile before I'm there, but it gives me a "prize" to keep my eyes on, if that makes sense. I've been finding that weight lifting info for men is widely available, but for women, it seems limited. I figured my goals shouldn't be that of what men can do, but I also knew that if I kept at it I could lift more than what is sometimes suggested for women. My husband and I workout together, so we spot each other and keep each other motivated.

www.stumptuous.com is a really good site for female lifters....

One of my lifting goals this year is to an unassisted pull up easily... Just one or two I'd be happy with... One trainer at the gym said to start with "negatives", which is like a reverse pull up if you will...

I found this article Pull Ups: Strategies for Getting More Reps
Here's the description of the negative pull up...

Ilene..

Thank you *so* much for those links

I know I'll be spending awhile checking out sumptuous.com and I'm glad to find a way to find a way to train myself to do pull up. I have hope

thanks!!

You're welcome and keep us posted on your pullup progress ...

I believe more in short-term goals myself. I just like to see frequent and continuous progression and I'm happy and feel that as long as continue to take small, but constant steps in the right direction, the long-term will take care of itself.

That said, if you want to make some long-term weight-lifting goals, I would check out the following:

http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLi...hStandards.htm

This is a link to some weight lifting "standards" for different body weights, lifts, and experience levels. For instance, the standard for a 123 lb adult female who is an intermediate level lifter (training for about 2 years) on the bench press would be 90 lbs. That is the 1-rep max. If you want to see what that weight translates to in terms of the number of reps you are probably lifting in your program, then you can use a 1-rep max calculator such as

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/1rm.htm

In the case of the 90lb bench press, that would equal approximately 68 lbs for 10 reps.

Therefore, you might want to set a long-term goal of reaching lifting 65-70lbs for 10 reps by the end of your first 2 years of training.

As Mel said, if you are going to be lifting heavy on lifts such as Bench and Squat, especially if you ever test your true one-rep max, make sure you have a reliable spotter. Also, it's not a race, if you try to progress too quickly you are probably going to get injured (which will also cost you training time and make you miss your goal). Slow, steady progression. If you can do one more rep each workout, or raise the weight minimally every two weeks, you should reach your goal in a safe, steady manner.

I lift and run. Over the winter, after more than a year of lifting, I reached my goal of squatting and deadlifting my bodyweight and doing one unassisted chin-up. Now I'm running a lot, so I'm sure I'm undoing some of that progress If my emphasis stayed on lifting, I'd shoot for squatting and deadlifting 1.5 times bodyweight. As it is, I'd be happy to maintain what I've accomplished. Personally, I care not a fig about bench pressing. It's not safe to try to bench press a lot of weight without a spotter, and I like being left alone while I lift. So I do presses, they're just not something I push. (Har Har. Weight lifting humor.)

Can you go into more detail about this? Assuming that running tears down muscle fibers, but haven't heard alot about this. My eventual goal would be to do 20 min runs in the mornings to replace my 1/2 hour walks that I'm doing now, so is there something I should be cautious of so I don't undo my weight training as well?

Hi Laura,
I would say that a bodyweight benchpress is a readily achievable goal for a female trainee, and 1.5xBWT for a male lifter. As Mel and others mentioned, though, you should pursue your strength goal with caution. Pushing your self too hard and/or developing strength imbalances can lead to some serious injuries.

FWIW, I am not a big fan of the benchpress, and I am more interested in the overheadpress and the deadlift. More people seem to manage to injure themselves benching than just about any other exercise.

Robert

Depalma



I like to do both actually(long and short term goals). I have long term goals and then mini-goals set to achieve the long term goals. That way I get little rewards more frequently, but I still have that goal to reach for.


Thanks for those links. I definitly want to take it slowly and *not* hurt myself and eventually reach my strength goals.

Thanks again for the info!!

Robert...

Thanks for the advice and I do plan on taking it slowly. The last thing I want to do is injure myself. I didn't realize bench presses could cause so many problems. I'll take it slowly and cautiously for certain and I'll check out the overhead press and deadlift

Thanks again for the advice!!