Lifting heavy weights is a great way to build muscle strength. It is particularly beneficial to women for a variety of reasons; increased metabolic rate, improved posture and stability, stronger bones, better blood pressure control, maintenance of healthy body composition, and decreased sick days. Dr. Stacy Sims is advocating this training modality in detail in both her books, Roar and Next Level. I highly recommend both. In this article, I want to detail action steps on how to start lifting heavy weights.
- Build a foundation. We can’t walk into the gym on day one a pick up the heaviest thing around. It’s just not smart for our muscles and tendons. Plan on it taking two or more months to build to heavy loads. If you are new to training, it could be helpful to seek out professional help on form or look in to videos and books on form basics. In the first 4-6 weeks of training, you can do 2-3 sets of 8-15 repetitions for each exercise.
- Focus on compound lifts for the heavy ones. Movements like squats, deadlifts, bent over row, and bench press that utilize multiple muscle groups at once. Once the load gets challenging you do not want to overly stress a joint or smaller muscle with exercises such as bicep curls or calve raises. For exercises like these use moderate weight and higher repetition ranges.
3. Add weight over time. Generally, you can add 2.5-5lb each week or each session. But ALWAYS listen to your body and go slow. Injuries are more likely to happen when we make drastic leaps in load, duration, or frequency. Take the long game with heavy lifting and build conservatively. After 4-6 weeks of regular lifting, you can decrease the repetitions as you keep adding weight.
4. Target 4-5 sets of 4-6 reps. You’re lifting heavy once you can perform 6 or LESS reps with good form and be challenged. An example workout of lifting heavy with additional accessory lifts would look like the following:
– Warm Up for 15 minutes with mobility and bodyweight movements
-Set 1: barbell deadlift 4×5
3 pt row 3×8
-Set 2: barbell bench press 4×5
lateral lunge 3×8
-Set 3: plank 3×30-45 seconds
calf raises 3×10
tricep extension 3×10
This is purely an example. I highly recommend seeking out professional advice from a personal trainer in order to get a workout specific to your needs and goals.
Blaze Strength and Endurance 