What Does Lifting Heavy Imply for Girls? A No-BS I...

“Raise heavy shit.”

It’s greater than a slogan—it’s a name to arms. A problem. A permission slip. And for a lot of girls, it’s the lacking piece of their coaching.

For generations, we’ve been fed a watered-down model of strength: tiny pink dumbbells, infinite reps, and exercises which can be solely “price it” in the event that they depart us sweaty, sore, and exhausted.

It’s time to vary that. It’s time for workouts that make us stronger and extra empowered.

To do this, we have to lift heavy a couple of instances per week. So let’s break down what that really means—and why it issues a lot.

What’s Energy Coaching?

First, let’s speak phrases.

Resistance coaching is a normal time period used to explain train that makes your muscle tissue work in opposition to a weight or power to construct muscular power, endurance, and measurement. This resistance can come out of your physique weight, free weights (like barbells, kettlebells, and dumbbells), weight machines, cable machines, or resistance bands.

Energy coaching is a kind of resistance coaching the place the purpose is to extend the power of your muscle tissue. It normally includes lifting heavy weights for fewer repetitions (round 1-5 reps per set), with longer relaxation intervals in between units, so you may hold lifting heavy. Coaching to extend power is basically about depth – lifting as heavy as attainable for a couple of reps whereas sustaining correct type.

Hypertrophy coaching is a kind of resistance coaching the place the purpose is to extend the measurement of your muscle tissue and your muscle mass. It usually includes extra reasonable weights and better repetitions (round 6-12 reps per set), with shorter relaxation intervals in between units. The important thing to hypertrophy coaching is extra about quantity – doing extra work (units/reps/whole weight) in every exercise.

Whereas each power and hypertrophy coaching will end in muscle development and power positive aspects, the emphasis is totally different. Hypertrophy coaching results in better will increase in muscle measurement, whereas power coaching leads to bigger power positive aspects.

Your particular person objectives decide which strategy or mixture of those approaches is healthier for you.

Usually talking, if you happen to’re seeking to construct muscle mass and “appear to be you carry”, hypertrophy coaching could also be extra appropriate for you.

If you happen to’re aiming to enhance useful power and energy, then strength training is perhaps the best way so that you can go.

Coaching Energy vs. Hypertrophy: What’s the Distinction?

Let’s break it down:

• Energy coaching = lifting heavy weights for fewer reps (1–6), with longer relaxation between units. Purpose: get stronger.
• Hypertrophy coaching = reasonably heavy weights for reasonable reps (6–12), shorter relaxation. Purpose: improve muscle measurement.

Each approaches construct muscle and power so a mixture of each is good. And sure, girls ought to do each.

The Science of Adaptation

Energy is your physique’s response to a selected problem or stimulus—one which requires extra muscle fiber recruitment for much less repetitions. Your muscle tissue adapt to that particular stimulus by recruiting extra muscle fibers in order that the subsequent time, the identical problem feels simpler.

Within the first 6–8 weeks of coaching, most of your positive aspects come from neural diversifications—your nervous system studying how you can recruit your muscle tissue extra effectively. Muscle acquire (hypertrophy) tends to lag behind, but it surely comes with constant effort.

Progressive Overload: The Key to Progress

Progressive overload means you steadily improve the load, quantity (units/reps), or depth of your coaching over time. That’s what tells your physique, “Hey, if you’d like me to stage up once more, you’ll want to up the problem and provides me a cause to get stronger.”

That is the explanation why you may get superior beginner positive aspects from a exercise or exercise plan but it surely stops working after 4–8 weeks. Your physique adapts shortly. With out development, you plateau. However that’s only a signal that you’ll want to change one thing up – quantity, depth, frequency – to maintain seeing progress. However the magic by no means stops if you happen to keep constant and intentional.

What Does “Lifting Heavy” Even Imply?

A very powerful factor to know is that the time period “heavy weights” is relative. It means no matter weight is heavy for you. There is no such thing as a magic quantity you’ll want to hit to be deemed as lifting heavy.

For instance, you don’t must be squatting 2x your body weight to reap the power positive aspects out of your lifting. It merely a matter of making use of sufficient stimulus to your physique that your physique is pressured to adapt. That’s how power is constructed—your physique steadily builds the “circuitry” wanted to make it really feel simpler to do the subsequent time you carry that very same weight.

However a 2017 research discovered that most individuals select weights for his or her power coaching workouts which can be too gentle to maximise power. That signifies that many people are leaving a number of power positive aspects on the desk once we do our power coaching exercises.

So how do you be sure you’re lifting sufficient?

Many weight lifting coaches and private trainers will prescribe the load for use as a share of the lifters 1-rep max (or the utmost quantity the lifter can carry for that resistance coaching train for only one rep). Most newcomers to weight coaching won’t have established their 1-rep max and that’s utterly high quality—establishing a 1-rep max will not be one thing you’ll want to do as a beginner to weight lifting and even as an intermediate or superior lifter who isn’t competing.

So as an alternative, I like to recommend utilizing your individual expertise of the trouble as proven within the graphic under.

Within the RPE scale graphic, you’ll see two numbers that are each primarily based in your subjective expertise when weight coaching—they’re Fee of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and Reps In Reserve (RIR).

RPE refers to how arduous (on a scale from 1 -10, 1 being a chunk of cake and 10 being completely maxed TF out) the load coaching train – with the load you’ve chosen for the prescribed variety of reps – feels to you.

RIR refers back to the variety of reps you possibly can do AFTER you’ve completed the prescribed variety of reps for the load you’ve chosen for that exact weight coaching train. In different phrases, it’s the variety of reps you left “within the tank” whenever you completed your set.

Lifting heavy is usually an RPE of 8+ with not more than 2 RIR.

Due to this fact, to get most power positive aspects, I’d suggest doing 3-5 units of 3-6 reps in your lifts with use a weight that’s difficult sufficient to make every set an 8-10 out of 10 RPE with 0-2 RIR for every set.

Moreover, you must take 90seconds to three minutes relaxation between units. This ensures that you just’re capable of hit these reps throughout your whole units so that you’re getting the fitting stimulus to maintain making power positive aspects.

NOTE: In case your purpose is power (or hypertrophy) DO NOT spend your relaxation breaks between units doing burpees. That is power coaching, not a bootcamp. You’re not right here to burn energy—you’re right here to construct power.

Why Lifting Heavy Shit Issues

• In girls, muscle mass naturally begins to say no after age 30—by about 8% per decade. Lifting heavy (and consuming sufficient protein) can sluggish and even reverse this.
• Muscle power is what allows us to carry out day by day actions with better ease and transfer about our lives independently.
• Subjecting our bones to extra compressive forces – like holding weights whereas transferring – will increase bone density and reduces the danger of fractures from falls.
• It improves stability, coordination, and joint stability—all important for getting older effectively and avoiding harm.
• Extra muscle = higher blood sugar management, improved metabolism, and fewer visceral (deep belly) fats.
• Energy coaching helps coronary heart well being and vascular operate.
• It’s nice for psychological well being by lowering stress, enhancing temper, and rising shallowness.
• And eventually? Being robust is enjoyable as hell.

TLDR: Indicators You’re Not Lifting Heavy Sufficient

• All your units for all workouts are for 8-12 reps. (Begin your exercise with compound strikes like squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows in units of 3-6 reps to construct extra power!)
• You end your set and will simply do one other 3, 5, 8, or 12 extra reps. (Time so as to add some weight, child!)
• You’re not making the “that is arduous” face in your final 1–2 reps of every set. (You gotta work for them positive aspects, woman!)
• You don’t want 90 seconds to three minutes of relaxation between units to completely get well and do it once more. (Earn that relaxation and get stronger sooner!)

The Backside Line

• Lifting heavy = difficult your self within the 1–6 rep vary (with some hypertrophy work too)
• If it feels simple, it’s too gentle.
• Two days every week is the candy spot.
• Relaxation is required—not elective.
• Energy is the purpose. Heavy is the way you get there.

Nonetheless Not Certain The place to Begin?

That’s the place we are available.

LIMITLESS is my group teaching program for girls who wish to practice good, get robust, and construct a physique that lasts. 👉 Join the LIMITLESS waitlist

Need a extra personalised plan? Apply for 1:1 teaching at Miles To Go Athletics. We’ll assist you carry heavy, get well effectively, and really feel highly effective. 👉 Apply for 1:1 coaching

So go carry some heavy shit. You need to really feel robust. —Alison