Weight Lifting Reps

Weight lifting reps and weight amounts.

How Heavy Should Your Dumbbell Weights Be?

The ideal weight of your dumbbells depends … it depends on your weight lifting goal in the first place. If your goal is to increase upper body flexibility and endurance, then you want to use lighter weights, but do more repetitions.

However if your goal is to build strength and muscle mass, then you want to lift heavier weights but with less repetitions. But the part of the question of each goal that remains unanswered is how much or how little should you be lifting? Let’s look at both.

Increase Flexibility and Endurance

The other parts of the equation that determines how much weight you should be lifting is the muscle group you are working and your experience level. If you are just starting out working your upper body, know that you will lift more weight when exercising your biceps than you will with the triceps, deltoids and trapezius.

Regardless of your experience level, use a planning factor of twelve to twenty repetitions (reps) per set – this range of reps should bring you to muscle failure – the point where you are unable to do one more rep; plan for one to three sets. If twenty reps don’t bring you to failure, use more weight.

When first starting out, try using a five-pound dumbbell in each hand. Once you can easily do twenty reps, bump up the weight until you reach failure at twelve. Once you have been exercising for a while, you should be able to fatigue biceps with one set using eight pounds in each hand. If not, reduce the weight and add in another set or two of reps.

For the other upper body muscles, try using between two and five pounds in each hand. Still use twelve to twenty reps per set as a guide.

Build Strength and Muscle Mass

If building strength is your goal, then the amount of weight you lift and the number of reps is much different. For upper body muscles, you want to use a weight heavy enough to allow you to perform two to six sets of six reps per set until muscle failure. Again you will be able to lift more weight when exercising biceps than other upper body muscles.

For increased muscle mass, plan on using a weight that will allow you to do three to six sets with six to twelve repetitions per set. As you max out on reps and sets, increase the weight and lower the number of reps.

Lifting more weight than your body can handle can lead to muscle tears and other injuries. Always start with less weight than you think you can lift and work up one pound at a time as your muscles get used to a certain amount of weight at maximum reps.

Regardless of your reason to workout with dumbbells, lifting weights can be both fun and challenging. Be sure to use common sense and lift responsibly.

How Many Weight Lifting Reps Should You Do?

Once the question of “How much weight should I lift?” is answered, the question of “How many weight lifting repetitions should I do?” soon follows … and with good reason – the two questions are relative to each other. You have to know the answers to both questions before starting a weight lifting routine.

The answer in general is “It depends on your goal.”

A weight lifting repetition (rep) is defined as moving a weight from point A to point B and back again. For example, when working a bicep, it would be the action of moving the dumbbell (and of course your forearm and hand) from horizontal, to vertical, and back down to horizontal; that is one rep. A specific number of continuous reps with a short rest period at the end is a set.

Because the number of reps you should perform is goal-oriented, let’s talk about the goal at each end of the spectrum. If your goal is to make every day lifting easier, such as carrying groceries or the laundry basket, then you are more endurance oriented. With this goal you would be doing more reps with lighter weights.

However if your goal is to get stronger and to have larger muscles, then you are strength oriented and you would lift more weight but with fewer reps per set. In between, there are several sub-goals which end up being a combination of the two major goals.

But we still have not yet answered the question of how many reps, have we. That’s coming! If you are at the endurance end of the spectrum, then you want to do 15 to 20 reps per set; the lower number of reps if you are just starting out – the higher number if you have been working out a while. If you are strength-oriented, then your range is 1 to 5 reps per set.

Now, let’s move on to the number of sets. For the endurance-oriented people, usually 1 to 3 sets is enough to reach muscle failure – the point in which the muscle you are working cannot do another lift; for the strength oriented individuals, that number increases to a range of 2 to 6 sets.

To prevent injury start with a lighter weight than you think you can lift. You know you have about the right amount of weight if you reach muscle failure with your minimum number of reps. Now you can add reps/sets until you max out. Once that happens, then increase the weight and drop back on reps/sets.

In the end, the number of reps you should do depends on your goal, current fitness level and lifting experience. Enjoy!

Dumbbell Workout Exercises

Dumbbell exercise workouts to make you look fantastic.

Ready for a Complete Set of Dumbbell Workout Exercises That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great?

Are you being shallow when you think hard about how much work you need to do to keep your body in good shape?

Well, maybe you’re not. Not from a practical point of view anyway.

Being shallow is when you spend a fortune on unnecessary plastic surgery, on body tanning and spa works, on having your hair permed or straightened or whatever, but never once paying attention to the condition of your body.

Yes, it happens.

Use a Dumbbell Workout Routine to Shape Up Your Looks

But what’s all the fuss about looking good, anyway? Why is it important for people to look good?

People don’t strive to be attractive, or to look physically fit out of a misplaced sense of narcissism. I mean, come on. Who looks at the mirror and admires himself or herself the whole day? Even if you are a great fan of “selfies,” you can’t possibly be spending all your time just admiring yourself because there are so many other things to do!

So, again, what’s behind this “need” to have a good looking body, that stems from an overall need to look fit and attractive?

Energetic and Enjoying Life

There are those who will say that beauty is simply skin-deep, and that it’s the inner you that matters.

And that’s true. After all, people age, youth fades, and the urge to just relax at the beach and drink piña coladas while watching the surf go in and out does hit sometime, late in life.

But that’s the key – “late in life.” When you are in the prime of your life, you don’t want to slink away to be tired before your time. You want to be energetic, you want to enjoy life, you want to have the benefits of being attractive anytime, anywhere.

Here are some great benefits to looking good by being physically fit:

1. You get access to higher income – I kid you not. This is a fact. According to the highly esteemed Wall Street Journal, people who are attractive can not only make interviewers regard them pleasantly, they are also the ones who get hired much quicker, and they are the ones who can produce the biggest sales.

On top of that, Daniel Hamermesh, Professor of Economics at the University of Texas in Austin, goes on to say that based on his research, “attractive people are likely to earn an average of 3% to 4% more than a person with below-average looks.”

Earning more in these tough economic times is a great incentive to embark on a “get fit, get muscular, remove flab and jiggle” program, which is what a dumbbell workout can do for you.

2. You become an inspiration to your spouse or significant other who may be a couch potato, a tub of lard, or a beanpole — Whether or not you met your partner already in that condition is not the issue here. The issue, as ever, is – are either of you satisfied with the way things stand? Unless either of you has a flabby stomach or pencil-stick legs fetish, I’d say maybe not.

3. You get to save some serious cash from disability, life, and health insurance — You can use that cash for something else, like maybe a deposit towards a new car or just as additional savings.

4. And let’s not forget our friends, the feel-good hormones and neurotransmitters — Serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline, and endorphins – can’t say enough good things about these guys that get released every time we work out. When you are working hard to get buff, you won’t need to get an artificial high from cigarettes, alcohol, or other substances because the feel-good hormones and neurotransmitter can make you feel more awesome and happier than ever before.

So, if you want to begin a total transformation and lead a healthy life, get rid of depression, stay focused, and be strong – start your dumbbell workout now.

Use this dumbbell training guilde for your muscle building success.Remember, start from little things and move up and onward. A structured dumbbell workout today, like the one we will provide you, can lead to better health and more strength in the future.

Take some time to browse the MyFitnessNut.com website and specifically the section on Dumbbells. When you subscribe to the My Fitness Nut Newsletter (form at top of home page) we’ll even give you a complete collection of 52 Dumbbell Exercises and dumbbell workout routines that you can start using and learning from right away.

Through the following set of dumbbell exercise articles, we hope to help you achieve a fit and developed body. To help you get the most out of doing your dumbbell exercise routine you will find separate sections outlining each muscle group that you’ll want to concentrate on for a total dumbbell workout.

The best way to start your dumbbell workout program is to read the articles (below) and watch the videos (above) for each section that’s related to the article you just read. When you’re certain about what to do and your ability to do it, begin your dumbbell workout routine.

Go ahead and browse through these articles so that you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to perform these dumbbell workout exercises in the most effective way possible.

Here’s to better health and a trimmer YOU!