What Weights do you use??

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IrishEyes

Member
I'm wondering if people would like to share what weights they do for various exercises? I'm trying to work on adding more muscle, so this would be good information and motivation for me. So if you were doing a few sets of low reps/heavy weights, what weight would you choose? Personally, my upper body lags behind my lower, as it does for many women. Post away! Bragging IS definitely encouraged too! :)
 
Hi, I use a 45 pound barbell for bicep curls dropping to 40 and then to 35 by the time I finish the set. I can also do 60 pound squats for all sets. I can do 50 pound chest press also. Hope that helps you some.

I love lifting heavy.:7
 
Wow...Annette, thats great you use a 45lb for Bicep curls. I am jealous..I rarely get past 20lb myself!. I am slowly working up in legs using about 45lb max in the various leg videos. I am increasing my weight after doing a leg video 2 times. I used to do about 60 on Bench Press, but recently have some shoulder pain which limits the heavy weight. So, just experiment...Carole
 
What weight I use usually depends on which workout I'm doing. Generally, I can do most squats, plie squats and lunges with my barbell, which is currently 45 pounds. Considering I started with 20# six months ago, after being used to the Firm and FitPrime, I think I've progressed quite nicely! I usually do biceps curls with either 2 12# dumbells or a 25 pound barbell, but on Cathe's Slow and Heavy, and on both Push Pull and Super Sets I can do them with 2 15# dumbells or a 30# barbell. The lower the reps, the heavier I try to go. With shoulder work again it depends on which workout I'm doing. For most anterior and posterior delt work, 2 5# dumbells are currently my limit. I can do side lateral delt raises with 2 10# dumbells, but only if the reps are low. Otherwise, it's two 8#'s or even two 5#'s for those. For military presses 2 12#'s are my limit for low reps, otherwise it's 2 10#'s, and during Boot Camp I use 2 8#'s like Cathe and her crew do. Hope this helps!!

Editing because I just realized I missed a few things - LOL!!

For one arm rows I use a 25# dumbell. For chest press it depends. I can do 2 12# dumbells or a 25# barbell, but again with fewer reps I can currently do 2 15# dumbells or a 30# barbell. For tricep kickbacks I use either 2 10# dumbells or 2 8#'s, depending on the workout. For lying triceps extension where Cathe uses a barbell I can use a 20# one, and where she uses dumbells I can use 2 8#'s, and sometimes 2 10#'s. For traditional chest flies I use 2 15# dumbells.

Carol
:)
 
Whenever I see this kind of question I think "it doesn't matter!" and I'm afraid that whoever is asking it is going to try to lift what other people are doing, and risk injury or bad form. I think it's more important to use a weight that has YOU reach failure (no longer able to do another rep with good form) at the end of the reps than to use any specific weight, and to note what weights you are using now and take note of your personal progress than to know what other people use. Unless you know how tall they are, their build, how long they have been working with weights,how their muscle is attached to their joints,etc., there's no way to compare person X to person Y. Also, I've noticed, from comparing my weights to what Cathe uses, it's obvious that we are stronger in different areas. I wouldn't use the same weight for chest flyes as for presses, and I usually go a bit lighter on biceps than she does (except on PUB), but I use heavier weights than she does for back work.

That being said, I use different weights depending on the workout: number of rep, speed of reps, number of sets of each exercise and for body parts. For example, for 1-arm rows, I usually use 20# or 25#, but I have used 30# and 35# for different workouts.

If your upper body lags behind your lower body, you might try a Slow and Heavy rotation for upper body, alternating it with a non-Slow and Heavy workout for lower body. I'm currently doing that. I make an upper body workout from Slow and Heavy (2 sets of incline chest, then 2 sets of flat bench chest, then back, then 2 exercises for shoulders, then one set each for biceps and triceps followed by core.) That ends up being about an hour.

I highly suggest you keep a workout log that notes the poundage you are using for each exercise. Then you can be your own motivation as you see the numbers go up!
 
Kathryn, I agree that someone shouldn't see a post saying "40#'s" and try to lift that amount the next day if they're currently using 12#, however, I do think finding out what others lift can help with motivation and setting goals. I was using 5 or 8 lb db for front delts until another forum user stated that she uses 20 or 15# db for front delts. Well, I upped my shoulder training, took it slow but steady, and can now bang out 3 sets of 12 reps with 12# db. I don't think I would have pushed myself had it not been for the information this other Catheite shared. Sometimes it can be very intimidating or almost depressing to hear what others lift, but heavier weight loads are almost always the result of years of training that way. I just have to remind myself that even women like Cory Everson or Monica Brandt had to start somewhere. Okay, my high horse is put away now, sorry.
Here are my current weight selections (all weights are for dumbbells unless noted and all poundages used are for strength training workouts, not endurance type workouts):
Shoulders: 15# dumbbells for rear delts, 12 for front and side, 15 for oh presses
Tris: 20 or 25 for close grip db presses, 12 or 15 for lying extensions, 12 for kickbacks, (1) 25 or 20# db for french presses
Bis: 20 for hammers, 20 or 15 for standard curls (I usually *try* to do the first set of standard curls with 20 and then drop to 15 for the next set), 15 for concentration curls
Back: 25 for one arm rows, 50-60# bb for back rows (sometimes my forearms burn out and I have to lighten the load), (1) 30# db for pullovers
Chest: 25 for bench press and 20 for flies
Legs: 40-70# bb. When I do PLB, I do the squat, lunge, and plie pyramids like this: 55-60-65-60-55, for leg press it's 35-40-45-40-35, and for dead lifts, it's 40-45-50-45-40. When I do S&H legs I use 65 or 70# (if I can lift it onto my shoulders that day), but when I do Power Hour or Leaner Legs, I use 40#.

Lately, I've been using lighter weight loads because I was getting burned out with lifting heavy (or what was heavy for me) and because the Body Blast series includes so many interesting non-weighted moves (like the inverted shoulder presses, or the see saw tricep pushups). Hopefully I won't lose too many strength gains, but variety is the spice of life.
 
If I'm lifting at home using barbells and dumbells, here's my lifting maximum capacity.

Chest press - 40#
Biceps curls - 30#
Shoulder press - 30#
Squats - 40#
Bent-Over Row - 40#
Triceps extensions - 25#

Using gym equipment, I can do at 90# chest press (vertical), 60# pec flys (vertical), and 60# shoulder press
 
Thanks to everyone who answered! I like reading about whatevers can lift, as I said, for motivation......Jillybean, you are so right, it does tend to make you want to work harder and up the ante! 12# for front delts? I remember when I could do 10#, but now I can only do #8!. And those rear delts, too! Guess I havent' been concentrating on my shoulders enough lately :7
 
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