How do you choose the right Weight for an Exercise?
Fairly recently I wrote an article on “What weights to choose if you want to lose weight?”. In this article I wrote about the importance of using free weights and weight machines in your training regime to help the body get rid of excess body fat. This was written for a specific demographic when really there are very simple rules that you can apply to your training whether your goal is to lose weight , gain muscle mass or improve your strength (at last some simple rules to apply to the complex world of training! – Beeble).
Repetitions are the key
There is a saying in the gym that states that you should use light weights to reduce body fat and heavy weights to increase muscle mass. While this is partially true it is not the whole picture; the real factor is how many repetitions you perform within each exercise. The basic rules are as follows:
Strength gain: 1 to 8 repetitions
Muscle gain: 8 to 14 repetitions
Fat loss and toning: 15 plus repetitions
Weight selection
If you take the lightest weight you can find and perform 15 repetitions the “lighter weight” rule would state that this will help with toning. But the real truth is this: if after the 15 you feel you could keep going then the weight you have selected is too light for you. Whatever your goal and however many reps you have chosen to do, your aim is the same for each: that is to fatigue your muscles; muscles will only develop and you will only see the changes if you challenge them.
The rule
The rule is to select a weight that enables you to complete the reps with perfect technique, but is heavy enough so that at the end of the exercise you could probably do one or two more reps but no more. This way we take the muscle to fatigue but do not put your body in danger of an injury.
Good technique
Technique is very important because if you cause yourself an injury then you won’t be training at all. You must learn how to perform the exercise of choice with perfect technique. Swinging a couple of dumbbells around not only won’t give you the results you are looking for but may injure you or someone else. Gym training and exercise is a lifestyle change not a race to get to your goal as fast as you possibly can.
Trial and error
It is impossible to say “oh, for this muscle you should be using 5kg” unless you have tried it and know that you can perform the exercise with perfect technique and it pushes you. Everyone is different and 5kg for some people in some exercises may be too heavy and for others too light. To find the weight that is perfect for you, you have to try them one at a time. The easiest and safest way is to start at the lightest weight and work up from there. It may take a while but once you know the weight then remember it so you can go straight into the exercise the next time.
Remember
Exercise makes you stronger so after a while the weight will become too light for you. So make sure you use this rule regularly so that the weights increase as your strength increases. This way you will continue to see and feel the benefits of exercise.
Your safety
If you see a friend or colleague exercising and they are obviously using weights that are too heavy for them (you will be able to tell because they probably will be red in the face, arching their backs and swinging the weights around – Beeble) please tell them about this rule as they are likely to cause themselves an injury which will mean no training. If you are worried that you may be using weights that are too heavy for you, then use a mirror and see if you arch your back or swing the weights during the exercise. Even better ask a well educated personal trainer or fitness instructor if your technique is safe. Don’t think for one second that if you reduce the weight you won’t see the strength gains you were hoping for. By reducing the weight you will be training the actual muscle you want to because only that muscle will be used and not all the other supporting muscles that get over used when the weight is too heavy. Therefore you should see more improvements rather than less.
Summary
The advice here is to make sure you use a weight that is heavy enough to push you but not so heavy that you can’t perform the exercise accurately. Always check with exercise professionals how to perform an exercise correctly and check with your doctor before you take on any lifestyle or dramatic exercise changes. Exercise can be a huge benefit to your health and wellbeing if performed correctly.
Good luck to all you fitness fans out there.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:43 am
Really great blog, I’m loving this !
In relation to the weights issue, should I be doing 15 and ONLY 15 reps per day on each muscle group or could I do several sets ( maybe reducing the reps at each set? )
I’m very new to this… I can’t afford to go to a gym ( neither money not time! ). But I have very, very recently converted my garage and have an exercise bike, an elliptical trainer, a 30kg heavy bag and some free weights. I’m currently pretty overweight ( 14st 10lbs /or/ 197.4lbs – 6ft in height – 36 years old ). Though only 3 weeks ago I was 15st 4lbs… so something is working. All I’d like to do is lose weight and build some nice, tones muscle. Hope that’s possible. Oh, and I work out every morning for around 45mins to an hour.
Sorry, this has become an essay!
Please keep up the great work on your blog.. it’s helping so, so much.
Lee
October 7th, 2008 at 9:27 am
very useful information. many people,especially women who are afraid with lifting weight, they are afraid become bulky.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Dear Lee,
Many thanks for your feedback it is always a massive boost to learn that my hard work is actually helping people.
As for your question with regards to sets I will try and keep it brief and to the point (Itend to waffle when it comes to exercise!). It has been discovered by the scientist boffs that extra sets produce very little additional benefit to the first set. Each set gets less and less beneficial to your goals.
However sets have been a major part of gym training for many many years and I believe that they are still important as the main goal is to take the muscle you are training to absolute fatigue remembering to keep good technique. So on the one hand adding a couple of sets could be a good idea.
Exercise is never that straight forward though and you also mention reducing the reps on each set which can also work as it is a style of training which I wrote about here http://beebleblog.com/2007/04/07/training-styles-pyramid-training/ you also need to add weight as you reduce the reps.
You could also choose to choose many different exercises so that you have many many sets but each one is different. It has a similar effect to the other training and is good for your type of training as would circuit training which you can read about here http://beebleblog.com/2007/07/31/exercise-classes-circuit-class/
To be honest there is no right way that will get you to your goals quicker. There are just many different ways and styles you can use to help you get there. There are three simple rules though that you can stick to that whatever training style you choose it will make sure you get the most from it.
1. Variety – The body can get use to a workout in about 4 weeks so you must change your program regularly to keep the change going. So change the exercises, the reps, the sets, the style and anything else to keep the body guessing and therefore developing.
2. Overload – This does not mean that you lift a weight that is too heavy for you but that you keep increasing the weights as and when you get stronger. Make sure that you keep good technique throughout, this is a lifestyle change and not a race!
3. Heart rate – Specifically for weight loss and the reason you are doing 15 reps is so that you can keep your heart rate up to about 75% ish of your max heart rate. Max heart rate = 220 minus your age then times that by 0.75 and you will have the level you should be maintaining your heart rate at. IF YOU HAVE SUFFERED OR HAVE HEART RELATED PROBLEMS IN THE FAMILY PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE DOING ANY MORE EXERCISE. Heart rate monitors are relatively cheap and would be a good buy for you if you want to keep an eye on your heart rate level to ensure your safety and that you are getting the maximum from your workout.
Sorry I have waffled after all. I hope this has been of some help, I will write a post on sets shortly to go into more detail so keep posted. It sounds like you are really doing well with your training so keep up the good work.
Hugo
PS. Something that may be of interest to you: We have begun a new project called Beeble’s exercise library which will list all exercises (hopefully) and how to do them with perfect technique. It is far from being finished yet but it has about 60 exercises on there so far and we are about to include another 70 and we will add to them regularly. This will obviously help to give you some ideas on new exercises to bring to your workout. You can find it at beeblefitness.com (hope you like it).