determining weights to use - Cathe or Educated crowd

[jazz]

I need help determining what weights to use with the Cathe series I currently own. After reading the STS forum, I'm probably going to light.

My question is, for muscle endurance, power hour and the circuit work, how much lighter do I use than for the Gym styles, Slow & Heavy, Pure strength 4D's. Etc.

Should I figure out my 1RM by lifting a heavy weight 10 times as Cathe said in her post or just go by instict and how I feel?

Currently I can lift 12lb for bicep, 12lb - 15lb chest - 12lb - 15lb back - triceps - 3lb - 12lb - depending on exercise and shoulder - 3lb -12lb depending on exercise.


Thanks.

 

[SirenSongWoman]

What I do (mostly during Gym Style workouts) is lift the heaviest I can with good form. If I have real trouble by the end of the first set I downgrade, if I think I can get through a second set with that weight I stick with it. I guess you could say I use the trial-by-error method. It will be great when STS comes out and I can calculate my 1RM. I recently read in a fitness mag that most women lift HALF the weight they can/should. At least with my method I FEEL challenged. And I increase my weight all the time - though my barbell weight doesn't seem to go up as often as my dumbbell weight...

 

[maddiesmum]

I have no idea about what percentage lighter or heavier a weight you should use for endurance and strength lifting respectively.

I use instinct, and trial and error to decide if I am lifting the appropriate weight or not. I keep a journal and write down the weight I managed to lift for each exercise, every time I weight train, because I like to track my progress.

SNM has said on here recently that most people, women in particular I suspect, routinely select a weight that is far too light to be effective and challenge their muscles. But, you do not need a computer or software system to tell you if the weight you select is challenging and effective or not. Say you are doing S&H and you have 8 reps per set for each exercise you do. You may use a different weight for each successive set, depending on how heavy your starting weight, how quickly you are fatiguing, how much energy you have today. Ideally, you want to select a weight that has you finishing the set of 8 reps still with good/reasonable form, but you are definitely fatigued by the end, and keen to put that weight down, and not sure that you could possibly have squeezed out another rep without compromising your form.

You know your weight was too light if you did all 3 sets and felt you could carry on. Lift a heavier weight next time, at least to start with, you can always lighten up as you go along. You know the weight is too challenging if you can only do 4 reps of the 8, and now your back is getting contorted as you involve other muscle groups other than the one targeted to help you finish the set. Experience, trial and error and instinct all come into play here.

But once you have successfully lifted a certain weight for a certain exercise 2 weeks in a row, or for whatever time span you use as a measuring stick of improved strength, then take it up a notch. Not for all exercises at the same time, but definitely for a select few for each workout, and see what else you are capable of.

Clare

 

[JumpHigher]

Hi Jazz,

1 repetition maximum (RM) is the amount of weight a person can lift with proper form only one time. Most people can lift 75% of their 1 RM ten times with proper form -- this is the 10-repetition maximum (10 RM).

Say, for example, you can lift 20 pounds 10 tens with good form (but not 11 times), then your 10 RM is 20 pounds, which would make your 1 RM approximately 27 pounds.

Here's a chart from my ACE PT manual:

Percent of the 1 RM and Repetitions Performed:
%1RM - No. Reps Performed
100 - 1
95 - 2
93 - 3
90 - 4
87 - 5
85 - 6
83 - 7
80 - 8
77 - 9
75 - 10
70 - 11
67 - 12
65 - 15

I've recently started training people (got my ACE certification 2 months ago), and it is very interesting to discover what people perceive to be "hard" doing resistance training. It's not what Cathe would think was hard, I can tell you that. ;-) I nearly always need to have them increase their weights, and they can almost always do more than they thought. I love to see the light come on when I guide them into really focusing on the targeted muscle. It's a beautiful moment.

Here are the guidelines for endurance/strength/power:

Muscular Endurance -- less than 70% 1RM, 12-20 reps, 1-3 sets, 20-30 seconds rest between sets

Hypertrophy/Strength -- 70-80% 1RM, 8-12 reps, 1-6 sets, 30-120 seconds rest between sets

Max. Strength/Power -- 80-100% 1RM, 1-8 reps, 1-5+ sets, 2-5 minutes rest between sets

HTH,
Marla
(edited to fix a typo)

 

[jazz]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to print this out.

I think I have been guilty of lifting lighter for fear of injury.

For example, I'm taking a short break from Cathe workouts (short break - I'm still using her cardio) and doing a 3 week AWT rotation.

For shoulder press, I've always been afraid to lift higher than 8lbs but yest. I lifted 12lb without problem. Granted, it's a different style than Cathe and the set was shorter but I definately could do it with good form and I didn't hurt myself.

After this rotation,I'm going to start Slow &Heavy and I think I'll figure out my 1RM or just go by instict and start heavier than I think and go from there.

I don't have the $$$ right now for STS so I'm trying to just simulate the training method by creating my own muscle confusion by rotating all my different Cathe systems and throwing in other styles too.