How do you determine your starting load when lifting weights?

When you first begin lifting weights, how the heck do you determine what weight you should start with?!

The answer to this question is not exactly that straightforward and can get overly complicated at times. Fear not! I have taken it upon myself to answer the question as simply as possible.

There are several methods used to determine your starting weight, for example, some are based on a percentage of your one repetition maximum (also known as 1RM or 1 Rep Max) which is the maximal amount of weight that you can lift during a particular exercise one single time. Without getting into the pros and cons of using this method I am going to explain an alternative method that works quite well.

Let’s take 3x10 for example. This simply means 3 sets of 10 repetitions. In order to determine what weight you would begin with you would simply pick a weight that you can complete 10 repetitions with (but not many more). That’s it! This blog post is over!

Hold on! Not so fast!

Let me expand on that a little bit more. The weight you picked should allow you to perform 10 repetitions on your first set with absolutely perfect form! To do an 11th repetition may be possible, but it is highly likely that your form would deteriorate and…to do a 12th repetition would be virtually impossible unless you had a friend helping you out.

Another handy little method to gauge whether the amount of weight you have is correct is by being aware of your lifting speed. Let’s say you are performing a flat barbell bench press. Now assume that during repetitions 1-9 on your first set your lifting speed is consistent but on repetition number 10 you start to slow down, this would indicate that that weight is likely heavy enough for a set of 10 repetitions.

Don’t overthink this too much! Essentially get as close to the repetitions outlined in your program as possible (whether that is 4, 8, 10 and so forth) but if you are off by a repetition or two that is OKAY!

NOTE: Always perform at least one warm-up set starting with about a quarter of the weight you would usually use. For your second warm-up set, using approximately half the weight that you would usually lift would be a good place to start. The number of warm-up sets to be performed is generally determined by how you feel and the exercise that you are performing (complex exercises require more). For example, you probably don’t need a warm-up set for a wrist curl, but you may require several prior to lifting a heavy load with a deadlift.

Below is what 3 sets of 10 repetitions of a flat barbell bench press might look like (with about two minutes of rest between sets). For example:

Set 1: 135lbs 10x

Set 2: 135lbs 10x

Set 3: 135lbs 9x

How do you know when to increase or lower the weight?

If your set of three looks like that outlined below then increase the weight.

Set 1: 135lbs 10x

Set 2: 135lbs 10x

Set 3: 135lbs 10x

If your set of three looks like that outlined below then lower the weight.

Set 1: 135lbs 10x

Set 2: 135lbs 7x

Set 3: 135lbs 5x

Lowering the weight doesn’t necessarily mean you have to lower the weight for each set, it might look like this:

Set 1: 135lbs 10x

Set 2: 135lbs 7x

Set 3: 115lbs 8x

You see, on the second set you didn’t really know how many repetitions you would get but after getting 7 repetitions you knew that for the third set you would have to lower the weight in order to remain closer to the 10 repetition range.

Conclusion

Whether you are picking a weight to perform 10 repetitions or 5, this method can be used. If you found this blog post helpful in any way or if you have any questions please post a comment. In addition, if you know someone else that might benefit from this information then please share it.