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How to Pick a Weight to Start With

Pemdas Posts: 973 Joined: 2004/07/22	2008/02/27, 02:14 PM If someone wants to make this a sticky that would awesome. This question seem to come up a lot. For those of you starting out, I will explain what I believe is the best way to figure out what weight to use. I will also provide a few tips/examples of how to progress. Progress is in my opinion one of single most important concepts of weight training. 1) Picking a starting weight. Your first day in the gym is going to a lot of experimenting and figuring stuff out. I will use the bench press as my example, but this concept should be applied to all exercises. Start with bar. Get a feel for the movement. Bang out some reps. If you can get 15+ reps pretty easily then you should probably add some weight. Add 5-10lbs and go at it again. Don't just throw plates on go at it. This is stupid and you might get hurt. Repeat this process until it is moderately difficult to get whatever your target rep range is. Don't worry about how many sets it take to get there. This is one time deal and then you don't have to do again. This will be the baseline weight that will use. RECORD this in a training journal. !!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2) Making progress. The key to making progress in the gym is changing the loading parameters. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, but I will go of the most common first. Weight progression - If during a given training session you complete are all your sets and reps then the next session you should add more weight. It is as simple as that. If you don't get all your reps and sets then stay at the weight the following week and try again. It doesn't matter if take you 4 weeks to hit all your target reps, but hopefully you are least getting 1 more rep than the week before. Set progression - Under this scheme you will added a set each week. Here is an example. Session 1 Bench 100lbs 3 sets of 8 Session 1 Bench 100lbs 4 sets of 8 Session 1 Bench 100lbs 5 sets of 8 At this point you might want to move up to 105 and repeat the process above. Rep progress - Under this scheme you will added a rep each week. Here is an example. Session 1 Bench 100lbs 4 sets of 6 Session 2 Bench 100lbs 4 sets of 7 Session 3 Bench 100lbs 4 sets of 8 Add weight repeat. Time progression - Under the scheme you goal will be to reduce the amount of time you rest between each set. Example: Session 1 Bench 100lbs 4 sets of 8 2 mins between sets. Session 1 Bench 100lbs 4 sets of 8 1.5 mins between sets. Session 1 Bench 100lbs 4 sets of 8 1 mins between sets. Session 1 Bench 100lbs 4 sets of 8 0.5 mins between sets. Add weight. As you can see there are many ways to progress. The most important lesson to take away from this is that progression is the key. You should strive for progress from session to session. This is where keeping a training log will come in handy. I hope this helps clear up some uncertainties.
Pemdas Posts: 973 Joined: 2004/07/22	2008/02/27, 02:21 PM One more comment. Consistency is probable of equal value if not more important than progress. Don't expect to go the gym haphazardly and make good progress cause it won't happen. Be regimented about it. Missing a day here and there is going to kill you, stick with it. Don't give up. This stuff take time.
7707mutt Posts: 7,686 Joined: 2002/06/18	2008/02/27, 04:00 PM Plate=45Lbs -------------- FOR MY WIFE: Her little ring was a little thing but it was all that i could afford now shes mine all mine till the day i die and i never wanted nothing more 7707mutt@freetrainers.com
Pemdas Posts: 973 Joined: 2004/07/22	2008/02/27, 04:04 PM Sweet...my first sticky.
Killakia Posts: 49 Joined: 2008/02/26	2008/02/27, 03:09 PM Thanks, thats closer to what I was looking for.
dobbs8 Posts: 8 Joined: 2008/02/19	2008/02/27, 08:14 PM that is actually one of the best posts ive seen..nicee
Pemdas Posts: 973 Joined: 2004/07/22	2008/02/27, 08:17 PM I meant to say that missing a day here and there ISN'T going to kill you. Just don't do often.
	2008/02/27, 09:37 PM Or 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35, 100 lbs ============ Quoting from 7707mutt: Plate=45Lbs =============
Pemdas Posts: 973 Joined: 2004/07/22	2008/02/27, 09:45 PM I definitely meant 45
7707mutt Posts: 7,686 Joined: 2002/06/18	2008/02/28, 07:45 AM Most times when someone says a "plate" it means 45lb not :2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35, 100 :. -------------- FOR MY WIFE: Her little ring was a little thing but it was all that i could afford now shes mine all mine till the day i die and i never wanted nothing more 7707mutt@freetrainers.com
	2008/02/28, 09:33 AM Remember this is a beginner post. Pemdas meant 45 lbs to stress his point, but that is not to say that a plate only weighs 45lbs. If you look it up a plate has a wide range of sizes. http://www.troybarbell.com/store.php?crn=213 ============ Quoting from 7707mutt: Most times when someone says a "plate" it means 45lb not :2.5, 5, 10, 25, 35, 100 :. =============
7707mutt Posts: 7,686 Joined: 2002/06/18	2008/02/28, 09:35 AM whatever I guess to me a "plate" is only 45lbs. In 13 years I have never heard anyone state they added a "plate" and meant 2.5lbs -------------- FOR MY WIFE: Her little ring was a little thing but it was all that i could afford now shes mine all mine till the day i die and i never wanted nothing more 7707mutt@freetrainers.com
corless319 Posts: 118 Joined: 2008/03/07	2008/03/07, 04:14 PM haha mutt i agree completely but thats to people who lift common sense would say 45's haha
wrestler125 Posts: 4,619 Joined: 2004/01/27	2008/03/07, 08:53 PM Plate: 45lbs Quarter: 25lbs Dime: 10lbs Half: 5lbs Chip: 2.5lbs I'm pretty sure 100 is usually a "wheel", but kids in our gym seems to think they are benching 2 wheels... -------------- SQUAT MORE ~Jesse Marunde Blood Guts Sweat Chalk
koya1893 Posts: 19 Joined: 2008/03/12	2008/04/03, 09:03 AM Wonderful write up: May I recommend with this mind set. find out your 1rev weight. As mentioned above this will take several sets. Do a warm and start with weight you think you can push 10-12 for the warm up. If you can do that use that as starting point. Increase that by 10-15 lbs. do 5 reps. increase that by 10-15 again. Keep increasing the weights until you can no longer perform the exercise with good form. by this time is at the point when you can only do one rep. Make that your 1rev. weight. Do that you for every major muscle to get a 1rev. weight. When you finally get started on a weekly routine start with 80% of your 1rev. weight and increase it accordingly to reach at least 4 sets. My way of gauging when to increase my max to shoot for is when I can do 5 reps of my 1rev.
samanthaschave Posts: 1 Joined: 2009/09/17	2009/09/17, 11:38 AM I think your suppose to start with the lighter weight and move your way up later as you get stronger as time goes on.
sterlinglee38 Posts: 10 Joined: 2010/08/21	2010/08/21, 09:04 PM Great post, Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much. -------------- Peace, Lee