Question about weight lifting

[supergirll]

I lifted weights last year when I was on the Atkins for the first time. When I strayed from Atkins, I also quit lifting for several months. Since the end of June, I have been back on track with weight lifting. I did skip one week for an experiment though. I used to go 3 days a week but now I only have time for 2. I work everything when I go though...arms, back, legs. I'm lifting much heavier weights than when I first started last year. Anyway, I try to lift the heaviest amount I can and I do 3 sets of 12. I would list the machine and the weight I'm lifting, but I don't know the name of them all. Is this enough reps? If I do more reps I would have to lighten the weights. Should I keep the higher weights and the lower reps or reduce the weights and do more reps?

Also, is twice a week going to do me any good? I know 3 times a week is better, but I'm in there for a couple of hours when I go and twice a week is all I have time for. I do cardio exercises and stretches at home on all the other days but Sunday usually.

[medalian1]

Ideally you don't want to spend more than 45 minutes lifting, so you'll need atleast 3x a week to finish your body. I go 4x and that's monday/tuesday thursday/friday ~ 45min a pop.

The reps/sets depends on your goal. Grow muscle, endurance, or strength? 6-8 Strength 8-12 Muscle 12+ endurance

The general practice is 3 sets of your chosen # of reps.

Make sure your supplimenting your workout with protein within 45 minutes of lifting. I usually drink my shake during the last set.

bodybuilding.com has sooo many articles and resources available for free. I recommend doing some reading there.

[kbfunTH]

If two hours, twice a week is all you've got for now, then make it work. A 45 minute workout is fine 3-4 times a week, but two extended sessions will work well too. There are plenty of things you can do to see some positive results.

[Ackattack]

I've been lifting weights for about 9 years now (4 year break in there, but I'm back into it) In that time I've done several methods/workouts. I've also read quite a bit and talked to a friend who has a degree in kinesiology and is now in school to become a physical therapists.

Anyways, she told me that basically your first set does you the most good, your second set will do you a little good, and the third set really doesn't give you much return.

Another point that Medalian1 brought up is that you don't want to be lifting for more than 45 min (I actually read 47 min, but close enough) So to me that doesn't leave time for a third set.

What is it that you want to do? Tone or gain muscle?

For me I want to gain muscle. For one it looks good, but the most important is that the more muscle you have the more calories your body burns.

Because of time, I usually do 1 set of all of the excersices through 3 times a week.....but here is the key....I do ALL of them to failure. It's a really tough work out to push yourself to failure on every excersice, but it is affective. Another thing is you will need a spotter on every excersice for safety and to help you push yourself for that last rep. Initially I was shooting for 8 - 10 reps and got good results. Now I've switched for a few weeks to 12 -15 reps.

[medalian1]

Initially I was shooting for 8 - 10 reps and got good results. Now I've switched for a few weeks to 12 -15 reps.

I agree with this ... I switch from 6-8 to 8-12. Like ... 8 weeks at 6-8 and 4 weeks at 8-12.

[kbfunTH]

Anyways, she told me that basically your first set does you the most good, your second set will do you a little good, and the third set really doesn't give you much return.


Tell that to the Eastern European Athletes whom have dominated the world in the strength performance arena and have been known to perform sometimes as many as 30-40 sets of a single exercise. Smolov would disagree, as would Russian strongmen who have used 'Bear' (20 sets) training to pack on slabs of muscle (without resulting to AAS) and have freakish strength to back it up. 125 lb men lifting 5x their bodyweight. 200 lb men performing one hand, one finger pull-ups with added weight. High reps, training to failure and 45-minute time limits were not part of the equation. The German’s with their Volume Training would disagree as well. Rock hard, functional muscle with staying power was the norm.