Am only on day 12 of a tiny town gym membership.

The question I have is about technique.

I am starting out on the weight machines really light with 30 or 45 reps and then increasing the weight after three or four days.

I see these 20 and 30 year olds grab free weights and doing six or eight reps that they can just barley squeeze out ,
And they grunting and sweating and groaning and dropping the weights from thigh height ,
Then pacing around for 8 minutes.

I am not knocking any ones methods I just trying to understand the theatrics .

Is there a reason that they have for lift 30% more weight than is comfortable for them ?

What's the benefit ?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,

Attention whores. I lift according to how I feel. Higher weight/lower reps when the energy and strength are there. Opposite when I’m not feeling it. I’ve never maxed out and generally do no fewer than 4-6 reps and that only with weight I can control. Bad form and dropping weights is a great way to get injured.

If the goal is gaining strength and size, the 20 something’s are doing it right. Heavy weight/low reps is how you do both. High reps/low weights are for toning and staying lean. Sometimes banging the weights around happens from reaching burnout, sometimes for show. And stalking around can be just while recovering. Moving heavy weights reaches burnout faster but it’s done for a far different reason. It boils down to what you want to achieve.

I can still throw 75 pound dumbbells up in incline bench for my max set and have to let them drop to the thick rubber padded floor from chest high in the reclined seated position so I don’t hurt my elbow joints trying to ease them down. At 57, not the heaviest I’ve done but it’s where I am, and I still have a good balance between strength and tone.

Who cares how they do it. Do what you want and ignore the rest.

Ask yourself: "Why am I lifting weights?"

The answer will help determine your workout.

I lift weights for overall fitness. I want to maintain muscle tone while maintaining a low injury risk. My weights and lifting plan was established by starting with those I could lift and control while reasonably exerting myself. I increase the weight when I can do three sets of 12 reps. I use a timer to stay focused with one minute rest between reps and sets. I keep a log to record the workout results and plan the next session goals.

This works for me. I stay fit, injury free and continue to enjoy an active life. It all started with the question: Why am I lifting weights? Your plan is based on your answer. Then follow the advice of OttoSig.

When I used to workout for strength I too would do the 6 to 8 reps and even lower reps but with heavier weights. FOR ME, working out with heavier weights and took much longer to regain energy and power to do the next set. However if I was doing lighter weights with higher repetition I was able to recover much faster. Example: at the time I could easily rep out 10 to 15 reps 225 pounds bench press. However when it came time to go close to max of 380 to 405 I would only be able to do 2 or 3 reps and took much longer to recover between sets.
Again this is my experience. God Bless

You build muscle by damaging current muscle so your body rebuilds it stronger. The best way to do that is high weight to failure- enough weight that after a few reps you can't do another. Then you do that over and over again.

There's a whole lot more to it than that, but if muscle mass is the goal making your body move a lot of weight is the road to it.

quote:

Is there a reason that they have for list 30% more weight than is comfortable for them ?

What's the benefit ?

It is how you build muscle.
In order to build you have to tear down the muscle and pushing it to the limit with heavier weights is the optimum way.
More reps, lighter weights do not achieve the same results.

Its called people that don't know what they are doing. Circuit training is by far the hardest and will get you a pump quick. There's nothing wrong with max days to push you through a plateau but typically, I go higher rep and sets. Getting old, its a lot easier on the joints and muscles.

Thanks for clearing that up.

I haven't been to a gym in 20 years,
I don't ever remember people clean and jerking every free wehigt that they pick up.

At 63,
I got time to build ,
I ain't doing it to get chicks.

Oh I get some discomfort at the end of the work out.

But not so much that I want to stay away.

Thanks for taking the time

quote:

Its called people that don't know what they are doing.

You would be wrong.
It all depends on what your goals are.
Size? Strength? General health? Training for a sport? ..and other reasons...

Pretty much every expert on bodybuilding recommends less reps and heavier weights .... for building muscle aka size.
Ever heard of a 5 x 5 workout?
Now, not saying it is the only way everyone should exercise but it is why some are doing it.
FWIW, anything you do is a positive move.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
I see these 20 and 30 year olds grab free weights and doing six or eight reps that they can just barley squeeze out ,
And they grunting and sweating and groaning and dropping the weights from thigh height , ...

Yesterday I deadlifted 185 lbs. in three sets of five reps/set. You best believe I was grunting and sweating by those last couple reps on the third set.

I'm seventy-two years old.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Then pacing around for 8 minutes.

It's called "walking it off." You don't want to get your heart really pumping hard and then just stop. Heck, I learned that in high school phys ed over fifty years ago.

I also "walk it off" after a HIIT cardio session.

Eight minutes seems a bit much, though.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
... just trying to understand the theatrics.

It's not theatrics if they're really lifting heavy.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Is there a reason that they have for lift 30% more weight than is comfortable for them ?

What's the benefit ?

Yes. Search on "progressive overload," and "training to failure."

I do train with progressive overload---kind of. I rarely train to failure (not on-purpose, anyway), but, I do train to the point I can just barely get that last rep with full range-of-motion in good form.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
If the goal is gaining strength and size, the 20 something’s are doing it right. Heavy weight/low reps is how you do both.

This ^^^^^

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Sometimes banging the weights around happens from reaching burnout, sometimes for show.

Most often it's people doing heavy deadlifts. It's very common to drop the bar from a little below knee height on the eccentric. This is because it's very difficult to maintain the back properly on the eccentric. Once you start losing the proper form on the way down, it's much safer to just let the bar go. Far less chance of injury.

That's the reason I bought deadlift mats for my home gym--so I can drop the bar w/o destroying the basement floor carpeting.

I alternate between high reps and high weight.

For example, this month, I am banging out 3 sets of 100. So for squats, I just do body weight squats. Lots of bodyweight and band exercises.

Next month, it will be stacking as much weight as I can handle on the bar with a goal of 3 sets of 8 or 10.

I personally prefer the high rep months because I get sore, but seem to recover faster and have much less joint pain.

My purpose is different from most folks. I lift to maintain muscle tone and, more importantly, burn blood glucose. If I cheat one lunch and eat, say, French fries, forty five minutes or so with dumb bells/kettle bells brings me back into range. I usually use relatively light weight, high reps, and walk rapidly between sets, keeping my pulse rate up. At the end, I usually take a brisk 1 mile walk (for me), slowing down the last two minutes to bring the pulse rate back down. It's hard to get on a regular schedule, though, because the blood sugar is somewhat erratic and I will not have an extra meal or snack just so I can work out.

Next week Iam am looking in to walking shoes,
The shoes I have are not cutting it

Admittedly I’ve backed off in recent years, lifting. I will say, correct form is more important than grunting & contorting the body with a few more pounds.

It’s like the drill instructor not counting push-ups unless they are done correctly.

With proper form, then a normal workout, I would go for 8-12 reps. After that a short break, alternating in another exercise.

quote:

I lift weights for overall fitness...I increase the weight when I can do three sets of 12 reps. ...This works for me.

Same here. And I more-or-less shoot for three sets of 12 reps across the board.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Am only on day 12 of a tiny town gym membership.

The question I have is about technique.

I am starting out on the weight machines really light with 30 or 45 reps and then increasing the weight after three or four days.

I see these 20 and 30 year olds grab free weights and doing six or eight reps that they can just barley squeeze out ,
And they grunting and sweating and groaning and dropping the weights from thigh height ,
Then pacing around for 8 minutes.

I am not knocking any ones methods I just trying to understand the theatrics .

Is there a reason that they have for lift 30% more weight than is comfortable for them ?

What's the benefit ?

There is no benefit. Their poor form and lack of control will guarantee their continued lack of progress. They're having fun but won't get to wherever they think they're going.

I actually do 5 sets of 5 on some weeks and it's a real thing but as has been brought up it is all about what you want to do and what your goals are. There's a benefit to doing more reps and lighter weight too. I don't do the weight dropping and screaming though. Thats basically jerking off.

Seems like good stuff provided here so far, and there's obviously a ton more content out there to rummage through for answers. That in mind, here's a couple vids I've found recently on the topic:





Me, I've recently started doing 1/3 my workout 3x more often per week...so I'm exercising 6 days a week instead of two. Just got to be too overwhelming and I'd been doing the same thing for way too long.