How Much Weight Should I Use When I’m Strength Training?

Mike Dingley

Personal Trainer at Harvard Recreation

Answering such a broad question of “How much weight should I use when I’m strength training?” requires experienced trainers to consider a set of key variables, such as, level of experience, weight, height, age, body type (i.e., mesomorph, ectomorph), goals, what lifting phase you are in, what kind of circuits you are performing (four or more exercises back to back), supersets (back to back sets of exercises targeting opposing muscle groups), or just consecutive sets of the same exercise. The answer varies for all of the aforementioned; this is very complicated stuff, in theory, and, of course far more so in practice. 

So, where should you begin? If you’re just starting out lifting weights, you need to use a weight that you feel comfortable using, meaning, a weight that you can easily lift 10 times that eventually becomes difficult after 15-20 reps. I recommend that you do not take sets to failure (perform until you can’t do another rep) because this significantly increases your chance of injury; this is a technique that highly experienced lifters use. There is plenty of time to work on this technique after you become more experienced. Also, do not use weights that are too heavy. If you pick up a weight and you feel unsure or it immediately feels heavy, then it is too heavy. The GOAL at the early learning stage is to build technique and sound fundamentals to prepare yourself for more intense lifting phases to come. A beginner should perform four to six weeks of total body circuit training that alternates from one muscle group to the next, in a diffuse method (stressing all the muscle groups in a total body method before repeating a particular muscle group) allowing adequate rest for each muscle group before they are targeted a second time. This programming protocol will allow the lifter to get conditioned and allow their body to become more efficient at dealing with lactic acid build-up and local muscle fatigue. This type of programming is a safe way to introduce a beginner to weight training; it will safely strengthen the individual's joints so they are prepared for more intensity and volume for future phases. With each passing week of Phase 1, the program should slowly shift from total body circuits of one set per muscle group to total body circuits of super-sets and upper-lower combinations (this phase could last up to 4-6 weeks depending on your training frequency and fitness level). For example: 

• Week 1, 12-17 reps per exercise (not approaching failure): chest press, ball situps, lat pulldown, glute abduction w/external rotation, biceps curls, hamstring curls, dumbbell scaption raise, and triceps overhead DB extensions. You can see that this program moves from one muscle to the next allowing ample local recovery for every muscle group. Week 2 would focus a little more on hitting muscle groups with multiple back to back sets.

 • Week 2, 12-17 reps per exercise (not approaching failure): chest press, lat pulldown, ball sit-ups, core chop, glute abduction w/external rotation, hamstring curl, dumbbell scaption raise, rear deltoid fly, knee extension, adductor rings, biceps curl, triceps overhead DB extension. Week 2 hits a particular muscle group with back to back sets, utilizing supersets (opposing muscle groups back to back, such as a chest press and seated rhomboid row, or a biceps curls and then a triceps exercise). Week 3 should have two consecutive superset exercises per muscle group before shifting to the total body program.

 • Week 3, 12-17 reps per exercise (not approaching failure): chest press, lat pulldown, cable fly, dumbbell row, ball sit-ups, core chop, plank, glute abduction w/external rotation, hamstring curl, butt blasters, knee extension, adductor rings, dumbbell scaption raise, rear deltoid fly, 60˚ incline dumbbell press, biceps curl (supinated), triceps overhead DB extensions, biceps curls (neutral grip), triceps pushdowns. You can see that this routine targets three to four exercises per body part back to back before moving on to the total body format. This routine gradually prepares the lifter for a local muscle endurance routine, which then leads to a modified hypertrophy routine (muscle growth), followed by a Strength and Power Phase. 

Now, if you’re an experienced lifter, you should be lifting through the Major Four Phases, which are, Endurance AKA local muscle conditioning, Hypertrophy, Strength, and Power. The traditional, or classic recommended reps and sets for these four phases are as follows:

 • Endurance 13-15-20 reps with 30-60 seconds rest, and 2-3 sets per exercise

 • Hypertrophy 6-12 reps and 4-6 sets per exercise with 45-75 seconds rest

 • Strength training 3-6 reps and 8-12 sets per exercise, with 2-5 minutes rest and

 • Powerlifting 1-3-6 reps and 6-12 sets per exercise and 2-5 minutes rest.

As far as how many exercises per muscle group, that depends on how many days per week you are lifting. In general, you could perform 3-5 exercises per muscle group once or twice per week. Once you've gone through the major four phases you can simply repeat the 4 phase cycle or stay in any particular phase, for 6-12 weeks that best suits your goals. If you want to take your training to the next level, you can move into a more complex training phase where you blur the dividing lines between the particular phases that you wish to exploit. Let me give you a quick example: if you’re a seasoned lifter and you want to get stronger at squats, you would perform the protocols for a Strength, which would look like the following:

• approximately 89%-95% of your one-rep max

 • 3 to 5 reps

 • 8 to 12 sets

 • rest intervals can be 2-5 min.

The goal here is not to get the best work out or sweat profusely or hypertrophy (muscle growth), rather, it’s to get stronger, therefore, the more rest you take, up to a certain point, the more weight you’re going to be able to squat. Now let’s combine a Strength Phase routine (listed above) with a Hypertrophy routine; Hypertrophy protocols would require:

• 75%-85% of your one-rep max

 • 6 to 8 reps • 5 to 6 sets

 • Rest intervals can be 45 to 75 seconds rest. 

You can see that the two training phases have very different protocols, but that should be expected because they have totally different goals and outcomes/results. A more complex training phase would combine specific variables from each of the strength and hypertrophy protocols, which essentially means that you’d be blurring the particular variables between lifting phases. This is complicated but fun and can raise your performance and physique to a higher level. Thus, a more complex squat training protocol could look like the following: perform the Strength squat protocols mentioned above, but change the rest interval from 2-5 minutes to 45 seconds. These new demands placed on your shoulders, back, legs, core, heart, lungs, central nervous system, and endocrine system, while performing the more complex squat protocols would share elements of a Strength, Hypertrophy, and Endurance Phase, hence the blurring effect. These new training protocols would stress your body in an unfamiliar way, and your body's response to this unfamiliar stimulus manifests in clear physical adaptations or “results”. You would need to make some changes in your squat load; the weight would be closer to what you would lift during a strength phase, and the reduced rest would cause an acute increase of lactic acid build-up, which are the essential resulting factors caused during a Hypertrophy phase (large amounts of lactic acid build-up are the key factors for muscle growth, AKA, Hypertrophy). The reduced rest would also require significant endurance from the lifter to meet the demands of a high volume routine. You would have to adjust the weight used in your Squat Strength phase by a few percent of your one-rep max (% of one-rep max), and the specific weight would depend on your strength and conditioning level; a very conditioned individual could try 83%-93% of their one-rep max. This protocol can easily lend itself to many other multi-joint lifting exercises such as pull-ups, bench presses, lat pulldown, dumbbell row, overhead press, dips, lunges, leg press… The protocols for this more complex phase would look like the following:

• 83%-93% of your one-rep max

 • 3-5 reps • 7-10 sets

 • rest intervals can be 30 to 45 seconds

If you’d like more information on programs, check out our personal training offerings and set up a FREE consultation with one of our highly knowledgeable personal trainers. 

 

Reference: 

NSCA -National Strength & Conditioning Association 

Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning 

Fourth Edition ISBN-13: 978-1492501626, ISBN-10: 9781492501626