Average weights in the gym. How to determine your working weight in the gym? Heavy weight - start training

A very common question comes up, especially from girls: “how to determine the working weight in exercises?” There is nothing surprising in this; it is often difficult for beginners to adequately assess their capabilities.

And if, for example, when working with exercise machines it is not so scary to choose the wrong weight, then when working with free weights such as deadlifts, squats or bench presses, the wrong weight can cause injury, physical and mental.

How to choose the right working weights for training, or rather, exercises? How do you know that you won't suffocate under the weight of the barbell? What weights can a girl target?

How to calculate

To begin with, we must note that the principle “the more the better” does not work in this case.

The second important point is that working weight is not a static number! This should happen during training.

Determining your working weight depends on your level of fitness. So, in the tables below there are several different levels of physical fitness of people:

Not trained- people who have never done strength training, but (!!!) are able to perform the exercise with the correct technique.
Beginners- regular strength training for 3-9 months.
Average level- regular training for about 2 years. Amateur level for a person working on strength.
Experienced- people who regularly exercise for several years with specific goals. Perhaps they participate in amateur competitions.
Elite- performing athletes who definitely don’t need this table :)

The figures are given in kilograms for one rep max. One-rep maximum is a weight with which you can perform only one repetition of each exercise. with the right technique.

Important: Of course, the tables give average figures based on data accumulated over 70 years. The weight on the bar is always individual, you can't tell how much weight someone else should lift! So in one-rep max, be sure to work with a spotter.

So how to choose one?

In squats

A repetition is considered valid when the top line of the thigh is parallel to the floor.

In the deadlift

A repetition with full straightening of the back, knees and upper back after lifting the barbell is considered to count.

Bench chest press

A repetition is considered counted when the barbell touches the chest, rises up without a pause, and the elbows are fully straightened in the upper position.

How to find out yours for different numbers of repetitions

Using the table below you can find out the weight with which you should be able to perform the exercise for a wide variety of repetitions.

Find in the left column the number of repetitions you perform in training for each specific exercise (upper body or lower body). Then move along the row of numbers until you reach the column with the number of repetitions for which you want to know the weight.

For example, if you squat 50kg for 8 reps and want to know how many kilograms it takes to do 5 reps, you would look for the number 8 in the left column and follow the row of numbers to the right until you get to the number 5. Multiply your weight. to the number in the column: 50 kg x 1.1 = 55 kg and get the required working weight!

How to increase in training

When you don’t feel a surge of strength for a long time, and your results remain at the same level, this means one thing - you have reached a plateau in your capabilities. Strength is not growing, there is no progress, the mood is disgusting.

What to do? Be patient and keep training. Let the weights be the same, no problem. If you want, try increasing them by 0.5 kg, at a minimum. If you can’t bear it at all, take a break for 1-2 weeks. Take up other sports, walk more, listen to your favorite music and allow yourself to enjoy life!

Also analyze your life. Maybe it’s not about sports, perhaps there are other reasons for frustration and poor health?

The standard recommendation of “let the reps determine the training weight” does not work for first-time gym goers. They don’t always understand how to train correctly and what “hard” means. And if there is no trainer nearby who could tell you with what weight to perform the exercise, then it’s a disaster. Let's clarify once and for all how to choose the right weight for training in the gym.

The main rules for selecting weights

The choice of weight depends on how many repetitions you need to perform. The dumbbells/barbell should be heavy enough to fit exactly where you need it, no more and no less. If you have the strength to do more repetitions, you need to raise the weight, if you cannot reach the required number of repetitions, lower it.
The weight of the weights should be unusual for you. If you are a girl, a mother and you constantly carry your child in your arms, then 2 kg dumbbells will be useless. But if you haven’t held anything heavier than a ballpoint pen, then 2 kg may be fine.
Large muscle groups (back, chest, thighs, and buttocks) require heavier weights than smaller muscle groups (shoulders, arms, abs).
You can lift more with pulleys and other machines than with barbell or dumbbell exercises. Therefore, never compare dumbbell rows with horizontal cable rows, squats and leg presses.
For a beginner, it is much more important to learn the movements than to increase the weight. But this does not mean that you need to systematically underdevelop.

Selecting the weight of the projectile in accordance with body weight
In order not to spend a lot of time searching for that same dumbbell (author Ekaterina Golovina), you can use a simple method of selecting weights - based on your own weight. If you decide to go to the gym, then you have a rough idea of what you will do there.

Let me make a reservation right away: this method is not suitable for trained people, because... they have greater strength relative to their body weight than beginners with low levels of fitness.

So, below is the table.
1. Choose an exercise. The table shows three types of exercises - free weights (SV), on machines with a lever mechanism (RS) and with an eccentric mechanism (EM).
2. Multiply your body weight by the factor next to the selected exercise. The odds for women and men are different. Weights above 79 for men and 64 for women are not used in calculations. That is, if you are a man and weigh 85 kg, then use 79 to select the weight; if you are a woman and weigh 65 kg or more, then take 64 kg as a basis.

For example, a 50 kg woman wants to know how many plates she needs to put on the leg press machine: 50 kg × 1.0 = 50 kg. A novice male weighing 90 kg decided to bench press the barbell for the first time: 79 × 0.35 = 27.6. Round up to 27-28 kg. The approach is performed for the maximum number of repetitions, and the result is recorded in the training diary.

This is not yet a working weight in training, but only a test.
Go ahead.

Choosing a working weight for a beginner
Look at the following table. Let’s say that 27 kg in the bench press for our conditional man is funny to the point of tears - he was able to bench press 17 times, but for his goals (hypertrophy) he needs 10-11 repetitions.

1. In the new table we find the number of repetitions that were done with the test load.
2. On the left we look for the required number of repetitions.
3. At the point of contact between the real and the desired, we have +7.5. This means he needs to add another 7.5kg to his test weight.

Even all beginners have different initial data, and the tables are compiled so that an untrained person does not accidentally kill himself (and, to be honest, a little clumsily). It would be appropriate to add here: focus on your feelings, let the number of repetitions determine the weight of the projectile, the last 3-4 repetitions should be heavy, if you do more than necessary and recover quickly between approaches, then add weight. If you can't finish the set, then reduce it. Let the tests be your starting point.

What is working weight in bodybuilding?
Working weight is the maximum weight of the apparatus with which you can perform the required number of repetitions.

How to calculate working weight?
Correctly calculating the working weight is extremely important in bodybuilding. Typically, athletes use 6-8 repetitions in each approach, this is the most optimal amount. Therefore, use a weight with which you can perform the exercises 8 times, provided that the last repetition is a failure, but be sure to perform a warm-up weight of 50% of the working one. Remember that for 20% extra repetitions in trial sets, you need to increase the weight by 10%. But it must be taken into account that if you select the weight after several repetitions, the last result will be lower, since the muscles will already be fatigued.

Some methods for calculating working weight in bodybuilding.
Method 1
1. You assumed that in a trial approach you can lift a 70 kg barbell 10 times.
2. Do 1 set of 7 reps with 35kg. (Warm-up set)
3. Lift the barbell as many times as possible. Let's say you get 12.
4. You lifted 20% more times than expected, so the weight needs to be increased by 10%.
5. Your approximate working weight is 77 kg. Check it out in your next workout and make adjustments.

Method 2
At first, it is better to use minimal weight in order not only to feel the work of a particular muscle group, but also to learn how to implement the exercise technically flawlessly.
After a few weeks, the load should be gradually increased, but light weight should be used in the first set. Experienced lifters perform the first set of 15-20 repetitions, usually done with ultra-light weights or no weights at all to warm up and energize the muscles and connective tissues involved in the exercise.
In the second approach, you need to perform 10-12 repetitions, adding a couple of light pancakes. If you can do it (and without much difficulty), strictly adhering to the technique of performing the exercise, you need to slightly increase the weight. If 12 reps are completed flawlessly, increase the weight again. Bodybuilders call a gradual increase in weight with each new approach a pyramid. This training method is considered one of the safest.
You need to add weight until 8-12 repetitions are completed with great difficulty, after which the muscles simply refuse to work. This is how the optimal weight is determined with which to train in the future.
Subsequent weight increases only make sense when the athlete's strength increases and he is able to perform more repetitions. But you should increase the weight by 10%. The athlete may not be able to complete 12 repetitions with the new weight, but this will certainly happen after a short period of time.
This training scheme is called the overload principle. Its meaning is to regularly give the muscles a load slightly higher than what they are accustomed to. In response, the muscles begin to actively accumulate protein in the cells, as a result of which they become larger and stronger. A constant load does not give such a good effect.
A very common mistake of novice athletes is the desire to take the maximum weight, helping themselves with the whole body, which should not be done under any circumstances. The bodybuilder’s task is not to lift weight, but to create the visual effect of a harmoniously developed and proportional body.
It is better to perform the exercise perfectly with less weight than to use an excessively large weight and violate the technique of performing the exercise, which in the future can lead to serious injury.
Each athlete must constantly monitor his achievements; for this he needs to keep another diary - a training diary.
The number of lifts, barbells and other weights is important in bodybuilding. The weight of these projectiles is determined taking into account the number of repetitions: with a large number of repetitions (15 or more), only a small load is permissible, with an average (8-10) a medium load is possible, with a small number of repetitions (1-3) a large load is permissible.

The load can also be calculated using a method that is based on the percentage of the applied weight relative to the maximum (100% is taken as the maximum weight):

more than 100% - supermaximum load.

Each athlete personally selects for himself an effective weight of weights that corresponds to the number of lifts in one approach and its value in relation to the maximum result.
This is determined purely experimentally. Starting with a weight that is comfortable for him, the athlete, lifting or cutting it, gradually finds a training weight that meets a certain number of repetitions.
For example, to lift a barbell of optimal weight 15 times in one approach, an athlete places a weight equal to 50% of the maximum potential when performing this exercise.
But still there are no universal recommendations. In reality, one athlete can lift 50% weight in one approach 15 times, another - 18, and someone no more than 12 times. In this case, it can be recommended for the second athlete to slightly increase the weight of the barbell, and for the third, on the contrary, to decrease it.

A large number of repetitions is used in three cases:
if a novice bodybuilder wants to quickly transform his lagging muscles, reduce body fat and thereby improve his figure;
if an experienced athlete wants to acquire more prominent muscles. In this case, the number of lifts can reach up to 20-30 times in one approach (at a pace of exercise from average to maximum possible);
if it is not possible to use a heavier weight.

Thus, exercises with a large number of repetitions are carried out with a light weight apparatus (60% and below) or without weights at all (push-ups from the floor and on parallel bars, pull-ups on the bar, etc.). In the latter case, the weight of your own body is used as a burden. Such exercises are very useful and convenient for the athlete: they develop endurance and can be performed anywhere and at any time. In addition, they help remove excess fat and develop sculpted muscles.
The main training load for a bodybuilder is an average number of repetitions (6-10 times). In this case, a barbell is usually used, the weight of which is no more than 60-70% of the maximum. This is a suitable load for the development of muscles, strength and endurance, as well as for the growth of muscle mass.
For well-trained bodybuilders at this weight, a range of lifting weights of 6 to 10 times per set may be optimal.

Planning the number of approaches also has several options:
the same weight is lifted the same number of times in each approach;
the number of approaches with the same weight remains constant, but the number of repetitions increases or decreases;
with a constant weight and number of repetitions, increase or decrease the number of approaches;
with a constant number of approaches with a constant number of repetitions in one approach, increase or decrease the weight of the weights;
Only the number of approaches remains constant, and the weight of the weight and the number of repetitions in each approach can be increased or decreased.
If it is necessary to work out a specific muscle group, the number of approaches in some cases can reach up to 10, but most often it is in the range from 3 to 6.

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When starting their first workouts, most beginners who cannot afford personal training with a trainer in the gym are faced not only with choosing the right one, but also with how to determine the working weight in an exercise? Indeed, the question is very important, because the weight of the weight directly affects your further achievements in building the body of your dreams.

Before answering the question of how to determine working weight, you need to find out what it is. In fact, everything is not as complicated as it seems at first glance. Simply put, a working weight is the maximum possible weight for a particular exercise that an athlete can perform for the required number of repetitions and sets with proper weight lifting technique.

For example, you have in the gym, where opposite all the exercises it is indicated how many approaches to do and. Take, for example, squats with a 2-3x8-12 barbell. You need to perform 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions each. It's clear. But usually beginners have questions about how much weight to squat with, etc. That is, in essence, they are interested in how to determine the working weight in a particular exercise.

How to determine the working weight in an exercise?

Experienced athletes will have no problem determining their working weight in any free weight exercise. For beginners, it is possible to determine the initial working weights in all exercises only by searching through options, also known as the trial and error method.

For example, let's take the same squats. Start with an empty barbell and try to do 10 reps. If you don't even feel the weight of the empty bar, then try doing 10 squats with a weight of 30-40 kg. Typically, beginners start with approximately this working weight in the barbell squat. If you can do 10 reps with this weight without any problems, then increase the weight to 50 kg. Rest for 2-3 minutes and try again to do the set number of repetitions.

Did you only sit down 8 times? Great, you have selected your working weight for barbell squats and at the next workout you will already know what weight to squat with. If you did less than 8 repetitions, then you need to reduce the weight by 5-10 kg so that you can do the required number of approaches and repetitions.

There are other similar methods for determining the optimal working weight, which are used by both beginners and more experienced athletes. Let's say you need to do 3 x 10. You assume that your working weight for this chest exercise for 10 reps is about 50 kg.

To begin, perform 1 warm-up set with a weight of 50% of the expected working weight (25-30 kg) for 8-10 repetitions to warm up the muscles and more smoothly approach the working weights. Then perform a maximum with an estimated working weight of 50 kg. If you did 2 more repetitions, then in the next workout try to do 3 x 10 with a weight of 55 kg. If you did fewer repetitions, slightly reduce the weight of the projectile. You have completed the required number of repetitions - this is your working weight for this exercise.

conclusions

As you understand, the working weight in an exercise is the MAXIMUM weight of a weight or sports equipment with which you are able to perform a given number of repetitions and approaches, without violating the execution technique.

For each specific exercise, the working weight must be selected individually for each person. At the same time, take into account a simple pattern: the more repetitions you need to do in an approach, the lower the working weights in the exercise and vice versa.

Please note that training for beginners in the gym should primarily contribute to the development of the correct technique for performing all exercises, and not to the maximum increase in working weights. Therefore, in the first months of training, very carefully increase the weight of the weight in order to perform the exercises technically flawlessly, without helping yourself with the whole body, but concentrating on the work of the target muscles.

Hello! Today we will talk about a very important topic, how to increase working weights in exercises.

For a long time, probably like all people who start bodybuilding, I didn’t seriously think about the need to constantly increase the load.

I had the idea in my head that the load needed to grow, but I had no idea how to do it. As a result, I stood still until I began to study this topic seriously.

How to choose a working weight for an exercise

Working weight

Bodybuilding, in the classical sense, involves high-volume training with a large number of sets in the middle rep range.

In general, it's not about the number of repetitions as such. It's about the TIME THE MUSCLE IS UNDER LOAD!

Reproduction of energy in muscles

Our body and muscles are a constantly adapting mechanism. When there is increased energy consumption in the muscles, they urgently begin to synthesize new energy. But for any process there is a limit.

There are two main ways to synthesize energy:

Glycolysis.
Oxidation.

In order for glycolysis to begin, at least 30 seconds must pass, and for oxidation to begin, at least 2 MINUTES!

We will consider only the first method, because... oxidation is suitable for very long-term exercise, from which, in the classical sense, muscles do not grow.

By the way, I wrote about such training in an article. With their help, you can grow muscles completely.

So, it is glycolysis that allows us a long approach lasting, say, a minute.

This is good if you want to develop strength endurance, but if you want to grow muscle mass, it is bad.

Because as soon as glycolysis comes into play, 30-35 seconds after the start of the approach, the myosin bridges begin to receive enough energy to complete the coupling and uncoupling and there will be no microtraumas.

The attentive reader is interested in the question: why, if the muscles begin to receive sufficient energy funding, we cannot continue the approach with the same working weight?

Friends, the fact is that the resynthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in muscles causes the accumulation of orthophosphoric acid (we are talking about glycolysis) and lactic acid (if we are talking about oxidation).

An increase in the acidity of the environment, in turn, leads to a decrease in the ability of myosin bridges to adhere, therefore the force of muscle contraction decreases.

This is why you will not be able to work with heavy weights for a long time.

But for most, in the beginning this system will be enough.

Conclusion: After the number of repetitions in the approach has reached 12, we increase the working weight by 2.5-5 kg, after which we again gradually increase the number of repetitions to 12.

conclusions

Let's, friends, summarize all of the above.

Working weight- this is the weight of the apparatus (weights) that the athlete uses in a given interval of repetitions with the correct technique for performing the exercise.
Efficient work approach- this is when you managed to injure muscle fibers thanks to energy reserves (creatine phosphate), before the rate of energy reproduction equals the rate of these costs.

Two main ways to synthesize energy:
Glycolysis.
Oxidation.

We select a weight that allows us to get muscle failure in the range of 7-30 seconds!
Heavy weight: do fewer reps (slow tempo).
Light weight: do more reps (fast pace).

We use increasing the working weight and increasing the number of repetitions to progress the load.

That's all for me, friends.

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