How much weight should I be lifting?I'm lifting a 20 pound dumbell 20 times on each arm every day.?

Question

Does weight,age,& height determine how much someone should be weightlifting?If so than how much should an 18m, ft5,9 180pound should be lifting?

Answer 1

Theres one question you want to ask yourself first, do you want to build muscle or just tone. If you want to build muscle mass you should be slowly increasing your weight and limiting your reps to 15 and do 4-5 sets. If you want to tone stay at a lower weight maybe even 15 pounds, do a higher number of reps maybe 25 and stick with 4-5 sets.

Answer 2

To find this out, you need to use some trial and error. First, find your maximum weight you can lift. So, grab 50lbs. dumbell and see if you can lift it 1 time. You do this until the weight you are using can only be lifted once, or twice, and that is it. Now that weight is your max. at the time. Now, from there, you want to lift a weight that is about 40-50% of that wieght as your "normal" weight lifting. In my example, that would be 10-15 lbs. You should be able to lift this for three sets, 10 times each with no problem, but yet still feeling the work out. This can go with most secondary body parts. For major muscles, such as chest and quads, the same thing goes for maximum weight, but use about 60-70% of that weight to do 3 sets of 10 reps each. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

“If you pick a weight and you do 3 repetitions and you’re fatigued, then you drop down in weight. If you pick a weight that you can do 12 or 15 times, then you increase the weight.”

Once you can do several sets of 10 repetitions, you can add more weight. The new load should be such that you can do about 6 to 10 repetitions again.

If you can do 10 repetitions, you are lifting about 72 percent of your 1-rep maximum; the greatest amount of weight you can lift one time. Six reps amounts to roughly 85 percent of your 1-rep max. It’s at these higher percentages that you are especially taxing the high-twitch muscle fibers that grow so fast. And that’s the idea. If you do 15 to 20 repetitions of an exercise, you’re performing at 50 to 60 percent of your 1-rep max. Now you’re hitting more of the slow-twitch muscle fibers that promote endurance but grow less quickly.

It’s especially important for novices to use proper technique in their weight training programs. They can become easily discouraged if, because of poor form, they don’t see results in a few weeks. If you work out in a gym, ask the trainer to keep an eye on you and let you know when your form is wrong. If you’re working out at home, just keep at it. And read the instructions for each exercise again every few days so that you’ll keep proper form in mind.

If you can get to the 6-week mark, you probably won’t have to convince yourself to keep going with your program. Once you see results, it’s easier to get yourself motivated to go to the gym.

Answer 4

Are you trying to get bigger or define? I was 18 260 fat but i could do 55 lbs. Im now 23 and 220 not in the best shape but i can still do 50 lbs no prob but i also havent touched weights in a long time. If you want to get bigger you need to do either less weight first and start going up in increments up to where you can barely do a few and gradually you will get strong enough to keep increasing the weight. If you trying to tone just keep doing what you are just more reps or less weight and more reps. Diet and cardio also help gain muscle. Having Good Endurance will help you lift more weight.

Answer 5

Depends on if your trying to lose weight, or gain Bulk Muscle. If your wanting to get bigger mucles you should be lifting enough weight where you can do atleast 3 sets of 10. The last set of 10 should be torture. It also helps if you do a Triangle work out. lift 10 times with 20lbs then lift 8 times wtih 30 lbs then 5 with 35 lbs do 3 sets of each with those amounts and you will notice definition with in only a couple of weeks!!

Answer 6

First off you shouldn't be lifting weight like that everday. Your body needs time to recover. Give your muscle at least 48 hours before working it out again otherwise your just hurting yourself.

Otherwise, lift whatever you can comfortably lift while maintaing good form. If you have to throw your body into it it is too heavy. Everyonce in a while increase the weight and see how it feels.

Answer 7

Depends what your goal is. I recommend Arnold Schwartenager's books on body building. In his system it is not the weight, but the repetitions. I'm somewhat a mesomorph, so for my body type, 20 pound dumbells are enough for me to put on a lot of muscle. Body types differ, but I can develop a lot of strength and muscle just doing 3 sets of 30 reps of each 20 lb dumbell exercise. Using Arnold's technique, one does one set of each exercise, moves on to the next exercise without stopping, and then proceeds to the next set of repetitions of the same exercises.

Answer 8

are you sure the dumbell likes being lifted, I know some pretty weird dummies