Once upon a time, I thought strength training was all about curling, pressing, and raising tiny dumbbells over and over. (And over… and over….) Meanwhile, loaded barbells and gargantuan dumbbells were for the big, muscular dudes who grunted their way through their workouts.
Little did I know that I was missing out on the incredible, powerful feeling I’ve since learned I can only get when picking up the equivalent of my bodyweight—and then some—off the floor, or pressing one of those giant dumbbells overhead.
Squatting, deadlifting, or bench pressing a loaded barbell is an impressive feat, and thankfully, more women are claiming their rightful place at the racks. But if you're a newer lifter or you're returning to the gym after a long hiatus, it's critical to build up a strong foundation before trying to heft a heavy barbell.
Lifting heavy means moving the most weight you can for one to five controlled repetitions, exercise physiologist Dean Somerset, C.S.C.S., tells SELF. And while it sounds simple enough, it actually takes a bit of preparation to be able to do it safely.
Taking the time to first build strength and proficiency in various exercises sans all the weight is your smartest move. “The heavier the weight gets, the more finely tuned your movements and positioning have to be,” Somerset says, “and the more likely a specific joint or muscle weakness will be exposed compared to [when you’re lifting] lighter loads.”
By training for heavy lifts the same way you’d train for any other athletic feat, you prepare your body to handle the stress of strength training, and train your brain to maintain technique under pressure, Somerset says. In fact, he compares training to lift heavy to training for a marathon: “You don’t make your first run a full 26.2 miles; you gradually build up to it.”
When choosing a weight, follow a concept known as “reps in reserve,” which refers to how many more reps you could conceivably do before failure, says Somerset. During this initial strength-building phase, you’ll want to pick a weight that will leave a minimum of three reps left in your reserve. “You’ll see improvements in strength and body composition along the way, but won’t need to expose yourself to the risk of maximum loading until you’re ready to handle it,” Somerset says.
To pack in as much into your prep phase as possible without going overboard, exercise physiologist Joel Seedman, Ph.D., owner of Advanced Human Performance in Suwanee, Georgia, recommends three to five strength training sessions per week, with each session lasting around 60 to 75 minutes. “It’s enough so that the person isn’t going to be overtraining, but at the same time, you’re going to be getting a good workout,” he tells SELF.
During this prep phase, you can—and should—incorporate compound exercises like squats, bench presses, deadlifts, hip thrusts, and overhead presses. Aim for three to six sets of three to six reps, and when in doubt, follow what he calls the rule of 20: “Keep total reps at or close to 20 for the workout,” Somerset says. In other words, you could do four sets of five reps, five sets of four reps, or even six sets of three reps.
It’s critical to build up the strength needed to heft a heavy weight, but lifting weights takes more than just muscle; it also requires cooperation from tissues like ligaments and tendons, which take longer to adapt and recover from exercise. “[Ligaments and tendons] don’t have the specialized cells or blood flow that muscle has to help them remodel so quickly,” Somerset explains. So while your muscles might be getting stronger, your tissues need more time to catch up. If you go heavy before they’ve been prepped, you could wind up with strains, pulls, or even ruptures.
If you’re active but you’ve never touched a barbell in your life, you may need about three to six months to get your muscles and tissues ready for heavy lifting. On the other hand, if you’re a brand-new exerciser or you’ve been out of the game for a few years, you’ll need to build up your strength and conditioning over the course of 12 months before going heavy, Somerset says.
Building up the ability to squat, deadlift, or press a heavy barbell doesn’t depend solely on muscular strength. The amount of weight you can lift also depends on how efficiently your brain can communicate with your muscles. That is, how quickly your muscles—both the muscle groups involved and the fibers within the muscles—can coordinate to lift that weight.
“There’s a direct correlation between how much muscle we can activate and how much weight we can lift,” Seedman says. In addition to strengthening your muscles and tissues, you need to train your nervous system to recognize and perform movement patterns (usually referred to as developing muscle memory) before you pile on the weight. And that means first and foremost, mastering the proper technique.
What’s more, spending time doing the movements at a lighter weight will help you avoid injury down the line. “If you're loading movements that are faulty, you're doing your body a disservice by further damaging your imbalances and asymmetries,” Erica Suter, C.S.C.S., tells SELF. For example, if you squat with your knees caving in, adding weight will only worsen that faulty pattern and greatly increase your chance of getting hurt.
To nail the correct technique and train your nervous system to recognize the movement patterns, Seedman recommends adding practice sessions to your week.
One way to do that is to spend 20 to 30 minutes practicing basic lifts on your days off from regular strength training. “It’s kind of an active recovery day,” Seedman says. Practice one exercise from seven movement categories: squat, hip hinge (i.e. deadlift), lunge, horizontal push (i.e. bench press), horizontal pull (i.e. barbell bent-over row), vertical push (i.e. overhead press), and vertical pull (i.e. lat pulldown). Go for three sets of five to eight reps with a lighter weight.
If you’re not wild about the idea of going to the gym on your day off, split up your normal workout so 80 percent is dedicated to your regular lifts, while the other 20 percent focuses on form with lighter weights.
Practicing lifts throughout the day without any added weight is also a great way to learn proper technique. “Simulating [the lifts] is one of the most effective things you can do,” Seedman says, “and it can be done anywhere at anytime.” So next time you need to get up and walk around at work, perform a few bodyweight squats, Romanian deadlifts, and bent-over rows.
A strong core is essential to lift heavy. “Think of it as the trunk to your tree,” Suter says. “In order for your limbs to move efficiently, your trunk has to be sturdy and resilient.”
In fact, your core plays a starring role in every heavy lift. You have to be able to create full-body tension to keep your torso upright under added weight. “Think about something like squats and deadlifts—your spine needs to be locked into position, and your core needs to be firing,” Seedman says.
To build the core strength and stability you’ll need to advance to heavier weights, Suter recommends training two to three times per week with coordinated bodyweight movements like planks, bird-dogs, dead bugs, hollow-body holds, and crawling.
Meanwhile, Seedman suggests mastering the one-arm plank. “It really teaches people to lock their whole body in and keep everything tight,” he says, “and it does a good job of building that ability within a matter of a few weeks.”
Here’s how to do it: Get in a high plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders and your feet spread wider than hip-width apart. Brace your core and lift one arm off the floor. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds and then repeat on the other side. Perform three sets per side two times a week.
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