Embarking on a fitness journey to build muscle, lose body fat, and become the best version of yourself is an exciting and empowering decision. As you start strength training, one question is likely to come up: how much weight should you be lifting?
This guide will provide simple and straightforward advice to help you find the right starting point for your workouts and ensure that you lift safely and effectively for your fitness goals.
Understanding Your Daily Readiness To Train
First, it's important to recognize that your body will not always feel the same day-to-day. There will be days when you feel strong and energized, ready to tackle any workout. There will also be days when you feel tired, sluggish, or just "off." Having flexible guidelines that consider these fluctuations is important for consistent progress without overtraining or risking injury.
The Importance of Practice
Whether you're a beginner or an advanced lifter, practice is key. Each repetition is an opportunity to practice good form and technique. Proper form helps prevent injury and ensures that you're effectively targeting the muscles you want to work. This will lead to better results. As you try new exercises, approach them with the mindset of learning. Your body needs to learn how to perform each movement correctly, and practice makes perfect. Alright, let’s dive it!
Introducing Reps in Reserve (RIR)
A useful concept to understand when determining how much weight to lift is Reps in Reserve (RIR). RIR refers to the number of repetitions you could still perform at the end of a set before reaching technical or muscle failure. Technical failure means not being able to perform the next reps with good form, and muscular failure means not being able to complete another rep even with bad form. It would be better for you to stick with technical failure when determining your reps in reserve. For example, if you take a set to complete failure, where you cannot perform another rep with good form, that would be considered 0 RIR, or zero reps left in the tank.
As a beginner, I recommend starting with 2 to 4 RIR. Staying on the higher end of this range allows you to practice good form and technique without pushing your body too close to failure, which can be beneficial for learning and building confidence.
Determining Your Starting Weight
To find the right weight for your working sets, you can use the following warm-up routine:
First Warm-Up Set: Select a weight that you can comfortably lift for 30 or more repetitions. This should feel very light and be used to prepare your muscles, joints, and connective tissues. Perform 12 reps with this weight.
Second Warm-Up Set: Choose a slightly heavier weight that you could lift for 15-20 reps. Again, this is not about fatiguing your muscles but preparing them for the work ahead. Perform 8 reps with this weight.
Final Warm-Up Set: Estimate your working set weight and do 3-4 reps with this load. This set helps you gauge how the weight feels and if adjustments are needed. If it feels too light, you can increase the weight; if it feels too heavy, decrease it accordingly.
Setting the Foundation
Finding your initial working weights for each exercise might take some trial and error, especially during the first few sessions of a new program. But, once you determine the correct starting weight, you can progressively increase it over time by adding 2.5-10 pounds incrementally as you get stronger.
The goal is to set a solid foundation for your programming and ensure you're lifting weights that challenge you while allowing you to maintain good form. This is also why I don't recommend changing programs every other week. The first week or two of a new program is about learning how to do the new movements, figuring out the proper weights for you, etc.
Progression and Tracking
As you get more comfortable with your movements and develop more strength, you can gradually reduce your RIR to get closer to muscle failure, especially if your goal is hypertrophy (muscle growth). This means you might start aiming for 0 to 1 RIR in some of your sets to really push your muscles to adapt and grow.
Tracking your workouts is essential for monitoring progress and making necessary adjustments. There are a lot of apps you can use, but if you prefer more flexibility, consider using a simple note-taking app like Apple Notes to log your exercises, weights, sets, and any notes about how you felt during the workout. You could also do the same in a physical notebook. I’ve never been a physical notebook guy; the notes app on my phone allows a good balance between digital and analog tracking methods.
I have a video showing how I use Apple Notes to track my workout in the YouTube description of the video below. You can check that out if you're interested.
Final Thoughts
Starting your fitness journey is about laying the groundwork for long-term success. Begin with 2 to 4 RIR, focus on practicing good form, and progress gradually as you become more confident and comfortable with your movements. By consistently following these guidelines, you will build muscle, lose body fat, and become stronger and healthier over time.
If you have any questions or need further clarification, feel free to leave a comment. Let's make your fitness goals a reality—no more pushing them back!
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