How much weight is enough?

W

wendyw

New Member
Hi there!

I hope someone can answer this question and relieve me of massive confusion.

I have only recently begun using Cathe's MIS tape. I use very light weights--5lb.

I wanted to start with a small weight, but even after doing the tape a few times, I know 5lbs is not enough for me.

I'm wanting to buy some hand weights. I have hand weights that include a bar and removable plates, but I find them cumbersome and difficult to work with. The thing about buying pairs of hand weights is that I don't want to end up with a big pile of them. I was thinking of getting a pairs of 10, 15 and 20lb weights.

My goal is to tone and sculpt. At this point, I don't want to completely seriously delve into bodybuilding. Right now, I can't see myself using anything more than 20lb weights in the future.

Obviously, the stronger I get the more weight I will use, but is it ok for me to work up to 20lb weights and once I reach this point, stick with them or will I always need to increase my weight to be able to tone and sculpt?

I hope this question makes sense.

Thank you.
 
I would think you would need to eventually increase weight - even if it's only a small poundage, say 10%, to continue to see good tone. There was an article in our newspaper yesterday and the trainer said that your body will adapt to whatever you are doing (say, running 6 miles a week or lifting the same weights every week) and you will stop seeing gains or improvement. I'm sure Maribeth will respond but I have found myself that if I don't increase the weights and/or change the workout to something else every 4-8 weeks, I quit seeing changes. Some folks change every 12 but I'm not that patient.
 
You will need a pair of 8 pound dumbbells as well as a pair of 12 pound dumbbells in addition to the weights you are thinking of buying.

You already have 5 pounders. If you just have 10 pounders as your next size up you will find it difficult to transition from 5 to 10 pounds on certain moves. You need a size in between. The same with 12 pounds. Making the jump from 10 to 15 is just too great for some exercises which is why a set of 12 pound dumbbells is essential.

I know you said you did not want a pile of weights but for best results you need to have a variety of sizes to accomodate different muscle groups.

Here's an example: Let's say you are doing bicep curls with 10 pound dumbbells. After awhile, your body will adapt to this size and your strength will increase. In order to see further improvement you need to add more weight. If you only have 15 pound dumbbells as the next size up it might be too difficult. The 12 pounds should be your next challenge. Eventually you may get to the 15 pounds but you should do this gradually. That way you will keep good form and be able to complete the sets.

Marlene
 
I have to say that I LOVE having "a pile of weights" so I can reach for whatever works with a particular exercise on a particular day. Some days I'm just plain stronger than others (or at least I have more endurance), and I'm glad to have a large selection to choose from.
 
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to those who replied to my question. Your responses helped me a great deal. I appreciate it. :)
 
I also like having a lot of weights to choose from. At first I bought the expensive coated kinds of dumbbells, but as I buy more, I just get the cheap metal ones and wear gloves. There's no reason to go high end on dumbbells!
 
I have 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, and 20 lb. free weights. I also have a pair of dumbells which you can add or subtract weights from. I have 2 barbells. One I load fairly heavy (40lbs) and one I load lighter (20lbs. or so) It makes it much easier to go from one exercise to another without having to trade out weight plates so much. We very seldom dine formally, so I made our dining room into my weight room. I have a bench, another weight machine, treadmill, stepper, ball, step, fanny lifter, weight gloves, and all my dumbells in that room. I love my dining room more than ever. You should invest in several weights so you have choices. If you are limited you may use poor form due to weights being too heavy, or not see the gains you desire due to too light of weights. Invest! Why not?

Good luck in all you do!
Lynn
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Oct-10-02 AT 08:39AM (Est)[/font][p]I don't like having all those dumbbells at home. I don't have a room just for wokring out so all my equipment is under my living room furniture! I have 3,6,8,10,15,20,25,30. I can see that I am going to need 35 eventually. So for me I don't know if their is an end in sight. I'm a strong girl! But I hate working out at the gym and I love working out at home. I have a barbell, but because of limited range of movement problems in my shoulders I don't really use the barbell.

I found that buying 10,15 and 20 worked fine. If your lifting 10's and want to go to 15's you just start using the 15's for the first few reps of a set. Then when you can't lift the 15 you go back to the 10 to finish the set. It worked fine for me. I don't think you need to worry about going up in 2 lb increments.
 
I don't like having all these dumbells either, I have all this stuff laying on my dining room floor and it irritates me. I remember Cory Everson used to advertise something called (I think) a POWER WEIGHT. You have this one dumbell with all these square things that load inside and you add and subtract them. I'm ready for something like this, has anyone any information on how good they are? I remember at the time I didn't want to fork out the money as I think it was around $100, but now I'm ready.
 
But I wonder how much time it takes to switch the weights? Sometimes you have to move rather quickly between different sets of dumbells.
 
In addition to various free weights, I have PlateMates. They are weighted magnets that you place on the ends of your dumbbells so that you can increase in increments. Mine are only 1.25#s each. Adding 2 to a dumbbell seems to an easy step up for me. They are costly ($20 / pair) but keeps me from having so many weights everywhere and will be used a long time.

You can find them at http://www.theplatemate.com/.

dee c.
 
I think I know which one you are talking about. I have seen it advertised here as the Power Block (35lbs of dumbell in one). I think it looks rather unstylish, too big and cumbersome (mind you, I have never seen a real one, only pictures). I much prefer dumbells as they are smaller, but if you do buy one please let us know how you like it.

Yen
 
Thanks for the info. I think you might be right; I just went to their website and they do look rather awkward, I wonder if you could even do chest flies with these?? If anyone has experience with POWER BLOCK, please share.
 
Why don't you post a new thread for this? I would be really interested to know.

I already hate it just by looking at it.

Yen
 
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