When I started Pump almost three weeks ago, I started out small. In Pump, you use a barbell (as opposed to free weights or resistance bands). The bar weighs about five pounds and then you add weights to each side. Since I was just starting out, the first workout I added 5s to each side and did the workout. As I went through the exercises, I made a note on the workout sheet of any track that felt "too easy" with just the five pounds and added a little plus sign. That notation told me that the next time I did the workout I needed to bump it up to 7.5 pounds per side, then 10 pounds, and so on. The first workout, only one exercise needed heavier weights. Now that I'm in my third week, I'm only using five pounds on the warm-up (which is what the suggested weight is) and during the ab section. The other tracks I'm using 7.5 - 12.5 pounds. Gotta love progress! It feels great to squat with 12.5 pounds per side (that's 30 pounds total if you include the weight of the bar) when the first workout I barely made it through with the five pounds (or 15 pounds total weight).
How to Decide if Your Weights are Heavy Enough
There are a lot of styles of weight lifting. Some programs, like ChaLEAN Extreme, have you lift very slowly and aim for 6-8 or 10-12 reps per exercise. Other programs, like Les Mills Pump, use what's called the "rep effect" and you do numerous repetitions over the course of 5-6 minutes (so say 50-100 reps per exercise). I've heard personal trainers use terms like drop sets, and all sorts of things I don't know enough about to talk about them intelligently, but I do know there are lots of different styles of lifting. We can clearly see that what's considered heavy for one program can be completely inappropriate for the other, depending on the style of lifting.
So, how do you know how heavy to go?
First and foremost, it is absolutely essential, regardless of what strength training program you are doing, to write down the weights you use for each exercise. This is the only way to know when to lift more or to avoid using something too light over and over because you forget what you did before. Once you have a system to keep track of your weights/reps/etc., I suggest starting out lower than you expect, especially if you are just starting out. For me, it's mentally easier to say "oh hey, I should increase my weights" than it is to pick something too heavy and be incapable of walking the next day. That's why I intentionally started with just 5 pounds for Pump (since it has so many reps). Pay attention to any instructions given in the video (or your personal trainer if that's what you're doing) and listen for beginner-sized weights. If you've already been working out for awhile, you likely already have a good idea of what you can lift and it won't be necessary to start that low. But if you haven't lifted weights in a few months, I'd at least scale it back from what you used to do.
Now, what's considered "heavy" in 100% determined by you. Not your neighbor, your spouse, or your best friend. You need to determine what is heavy for you based on your current fitness level. Adding five pounds to squats may be extremely challenging for one person but seem like nothing to someone else. Find what works for you. However, don't wimp out and make your workout too easy. It should be challenging regardless of fitness level! Now, here's my big tip on making sure you go heavy enough. Assuming you are using excellent form, if you finish your set and feel like "eh, I could have done a few more reps" you are going too light!! Those last few reps should be so hard that you can barely do them.
*Note: You should never sacrifice form to go heavier. If you find your form falling to pieces towards the end of the set, you need to go lighter. Form is incredibly important both to your fitness gains and to prevent injury. Even the last rep should have perfect form (but it should be really really hard!).
So, whenever I finish up a "track" during Pump and feel like I could bust out a few more reps, I make a note to go heavier the next time. However, to make sure I don't go too heavy and sacrifice form, each time I increase my weights I only add 2.5 pounds per side. This allows me to increase slowly and safely. Sometimes it means I only use a certain weight once and then keep moving up, but I'd rather do that then go up too much and lose my form and hurt myself.
Ladies, you need to lift heavy!
A lot of women are afraid to lift weights for fear of turning into the Hulk. It won't happen; I promise! Women simply do not have enough testosterone to get huge. On top of that, building muscle is a slow process. If you're working out and find yourself thinking, "hey, my biceps are perfect. I want them to stay this size," then that's when you stop adding weight and just maintain that muscle size. But all the research shows that women who lift heavy gain lean muscle mass which makes them leaner and smaller. Fat makes you bulky, not muscle! And the best news of all? Building muscle is the best way to increase your metabolism. So, ladies, go pick up some weights or a resistance band and get strong!
And as always, remember that nutrition accounts for 80% of the way your body looks. If you want to shed fat, while lifting weights is very important, it's vital that you keep it clean in the kitchen.
Stay healthy!
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