Weightlifting requires a variety of considerations for its many different aspects. What movement do you do? Is your form correct? But perhaps one of the initial questions you should answer is "how much weight should I lift?" This question is crucial for both beginners and advanced lifters. Choosing an appropriate weight for your current fitness level is essential for achieving fitness goals and minimizing the risk of injury.
To properly choose the correct amount of weight to lift, you'll need to consider several factors. These include your age and sex, in addition to your current ability level and fitness goals.
Determining How Much Weight to Lift
Figuring out how much your muscles can reasonably handle is often a process of trial and error. You don't want to go too low and avoid the tension needed to build muscles. But you also don't want to go too high and have to swing your body to lift a weight.
To pinpoint your ideal weight and know when it's time to liftheavier weights, you need to learn proper form, listen to your body, and keep to an allotted time, neither rushing between exercises nor resting too long.
How to Determine the Ideal Weight for You
A 10-exercise workout program involving three sets of 10 repetitions for each exercise is a good starting point fora general fitness plan. To determine the ideal weight for a specific exercise for these steps.
- Choose a weight that allows you to do the first set of 10 reps with moderate difficulty. By the end of the tenth rep, you should find it somewhat difficult to lift but not so difficult that you are straining, holding your breath, or shaking excessively. If that's happening, drop it down a little.
- Rest for at least 30 seconds but no more than 60 seconds between sets.
- Make sure by the 10th lift of the third set that you are struggling to complete the lift but still able to do so without grunting or breaking form.
- Aim to sustain this intensity, whether you are new toweight trainingor a seasoned veteran.
Why You Should Lift Weights and Strength Train
Determine Your Goals
The first step is figuring out which goals you want to achieve during your weight-training sessions, whether that is building strength, improving overall fitness, or increasing muscle size. For each goal, there are ideal rep ranges, set numbers, and weekly training schedules.
Gain or Maintain Overall Fitness
For beginners or people looking to maintain overall fitness, a good goal is to do 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps. This means choosing a weight that allows you to complete this many reps without struggling to finish the set.
A strength training session that works all the muscles of the body, including the hips, legs, abdomen, chest, back, shoulders, and arms, two to three days per week is plenty for maintaining overall fitness.
Improve Muscle Strength
For building strength, any rep range will work, but for best results, be sure to include 2 to 5 heavier sets of 3 to 5 reps. To build strength, the goal should be fewer reps at a higher weight that challenges you during each repetition. However, it is wise to establish a solid overall fitness level before moving on to heavier weights, since heavier weights come with more risk if your form is not correct. The use of a barbell pad can help provide a barrier between your body and the weight.
Aim for 2 to 4 days of strength training per week, and be sure to take rest days in between. The heavier weight will break down your muscle tissue, and you will require rest and recovery to repair that damage. That repair process helps build stronger muscles.
Increase Muscle Size
Increasing muscle size, also called hypertrophy, will occur whether you train at the lower rep range with a higher weight or a higher rep range (8 to 12 reps per set) with a moderately challenging weight. The key to increasing muscle size is volume, meaning adding more sets and reps to your workout over time. You can spread these additional sets and reps over your weekly training sessions.
For beginners, 1 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions per exercise with a moderate load (70% to 85% of one-rep max) is ideal. More advanced individuals looking to further develop muscle mass can perform 3 to 6 sets of 1 to 12 repetitions at 70% to 100% of one-rep max. Aim for 12 to 28 sets per muscle group per week, spread over 3 to 5 training days, for optimal muscle growth.
One-rep max (1RM) is a measure of the amount of weight you can lift for a particular exercise for one repetition. It is often calculated using a 1RM calculator where you can input max weight lifted for multiple reps and it will provide you with an equivalent 1RM estimate. For instance, the amount of weight you can lift to fatigue for 8 repetitions is approximately 80% of your 1RM.
Ensure Proper Form
One of the things people fail to realize when lifting weights is how much their bodies move to assist in moving the weight. Unfortunately, this can undermine the very goal of an exercise, which is to isolate and contract a particular muscle or muscle group.
When lifting a weight, you always need to focus on isolating a muscle during the movement. If you swing your body, you are using momentumto lift the weight. By doing so, you are dispersing the energy intended to come from only one muscle to instead come from multiple muscles.
This is why people who grunt, arch their backs, or drop their weights are doing themselves a disservice (and likely annoying others in the process). By simply lowering their weight to a reasonable level, they can achieve so much more with so much less.
Maintain this focus when doing any weightlifting exercise. Keep your back flat, shoulders square, hips level, abdomen taut, and head and neck relaxed but lifted. Not only will this help you maintain proper form, but it can also help direct which weight is appropriate for the exercise you are doing.
If you cannot lift your chosen weight with proper form, it is too heavy, and you should use a lighter weight. Seek the guidance of a personal trainer if you are unsure about your form.
How Slow Weight Lifting Builds Muscle and Burns Calories
When to Increase Weight
If you find you can do the last lift with little effort, then it's time to increase the weight. Progressive overload(adding more weight over time) is a fundamental principle of weight training. If you don't continually challenge your body by increasing your weights, you will eventually plateau even if you increase the number of exercises you do.
If your current weight is not challenging enough, but the next one up is too heavy, you have two choices for reaching the right fatigued state:
- Use the heavier weight and drop down to eight or nine reps.
- Stay with the current weight and increase to 12 or 15 reps.
Here's a trick that can help: Instead of lifting a weight standing unsupported, try pressing your back against a wall or post while doing an exercise. Try it with a bicep curl as an example. You'll be surprised how much more difficult it is to lift a weight when your back and core musclesare not allowed to assist.
5 Benefits of Lifting Heavy Weights, According to Experts
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Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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By Paul Rogers
Paul Rogers is a personal trainer with experience in a wide range of sports, including track, triathlon, marathon, hockey, tennis, and baseball.
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FAQs
How Much Weight Should You Lift to Reach Your Fitness Goals? ›
The amount of weight you should lift depends on what your primary fitness goal is. If your goal is to build strength, then your weights should be heavy enough that you can only perform 4-6 repetitions per set. If your goal is to build muscular size, then you should only be able to perform 7-12 repetitions per set.
How much weight should I lift according to my weight? ›It is often calculated using a 1RM calculator where you can input max weight lifted for multiple reps and it will provide you with an equivalent 1RM estimate. For instance, the amount of weight you can lift to fatigue for 8 repetitions is approximately 80% of your 1RM.
How much weight is impressive to lift? ›The average Bench Press weight for a male lifter is 217 lb (1RM). This makes you Intermediate on Strength Level and is a very impressive lift. What is a good Bench Press? Male beginners should aim to lift 103 lb (1RM) which is still impressive compared to the general population.
How do I know if I'm lifting heavy enough? ›A good guideline is to lift heavy enough that the last 2-3 reps on each set feel challenging to complete but not so hard that you can't do them with proper form. After the last rep, you should feel close to maxed out with enough energy left to do however many sets you have left.
Should I lift 20 lbs? ›For most people, 20 pound dumbbells are not enough weight to experience any challenge or force your muscles to get stronger. That is why focusing on eccentric contractions with this exercise is crucial to make gains.
What is a healthy amount to lift? ›Start with a weight you can lift comfortably 12 to 15 times. For most people, a single set of 12 to 15 repetitions with a weight that fatigues the muscles can build strength efficiently and can be as effective as three sets of the same exercise. As you get stronger, gradually increase the amount of weight.
Should I lift more or heavier? ›The truth is, there's no correct strategy -- both are valid choices. Lifting heavy dumbbells, kettlebells and barbells will certainly make you stronger. But lighter weights can help you get stronger too -- it just may take you a bit longer. It all comes down to one important factor: muscle fatigue.
At what age should I stop lifting heavy weights? ›Is There Really An Age That Lifting Heavy is Not Advised? As I shared above, there is no specific age that you should stop lifting heavy things. The most important thing to know is to know your limitations.