Reply to If you are a fairly small woman, what does "lift heavy" mean to you?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]For me, heavy lifting is defined by my reps.  I usually do 3 sets.  Set 1 I aim for 8-10.  Set 2, 6-8.  Set 3, 4-6.  By the last rep, I am struggling to keep my form in place.[/quote]

Interesting (OP again). Someone on Reddit told me that the key to lifting heavy was to go for the amount of weight that limited your reps, so that you could "work to failure." So basically if I can comfortably do 20 reps with 8lb weights, go to 10 and see how far I can go with those, then go to 12 and see how far I can go with those.

I think one issue with dumbbells is that you are dealing with stability (much easier to create stability pressing a 30 lb barbell, than two 15 lb dumbbells) but I wonder if there is benefit to this? I feel like there must be benefit to forcing my body to stabilize dumbbells through an overhead press and keep the motion smooth and even, since that would be easier with a barbell that is naturally more stable as it distributes the weight and holds it together at the same time?[/quote]

Stability comes from your core not from the the body part that is lifting.[/quote]

Yes, I know that but presumably your core muscles have to work harder to stabilize two 10 lb weights than on 20 lb weight when lifting overhead, yes? So there may be benefits to working with two weights versus one if the total weight is the same.[/quote]

No. Theirs is benefit to doing unilateral work, like alternating shoulder presses with dumbbells. But try holding a 60 pound barbell over your head...also requires stability and strength. [/quote]

[b]There are exercises you cannot do with a barbell though. Chest fly, rear delt raise, skull crushers, etc[/b]. As well as a ton of exercises that can be done unilaterally with dumbbells and only dumbbells, as you note (earlier today I did alternating dead bugs on my back with 10lb dumbbells in each hand -- a great core exercise but only accessible with dumbbells). And then you can also do a lot of the same exercises you can do with barbells, with dumbbells.

If you are working out at home, dumbbells are a no brainer (pun intended) and offer greater flexibility and more options, plus are easier to store. Barbells are fine if you have access to a gym and like working out there, but they are not necessary.[/quote]

1. All those should be done with lower weights so yeah, dumbbells are good, but as I said, you tap out after about 50 lbs because of the load on your elbows. 2. She asked about stability using dbs as opposed to a bb. The only real benefit in that regard is the ability to do unilateral work. For compound movements, there is no more benefit to core. 3. 10 pounds is not lifting heavy by any stretch of the imagination.[/quote]

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