Is lifting 3.3 lb weights effective?

[gooddragon1]

So there's a job requirement that I need to be able to at least lift 70 lbs and I'm wondering if lifting 3.3 lb weights will get me there if I do it a bit? I could register an account on some weightlifting forum somewhere but why not ask here?

[valadil]

It's false advertising to call anything below 10lbs a weight. Even a gallon of water is 8lbs and change, and would serve you a whole lot better.

[Grinner]

I'm certainly no expert on the subject, but that strikes me as something you'd use for ankle weights...

You really might be better off with calisthenics (push-ups, curls, etc.).

[Brother Oni]

Lifting light weights lots of times is good for training endurance, not so good if you want to increase your maximum lift.

Depending on what size and shape you are, you're probably able to lift 70lbs already, but I suggest checking exactly what they expect you to lift and how - manipulating 70lbs from table to table requires less effort than lifting 70lbs off the ground.

I suggest getting some heavier weights and then looking up on the proper technique to lift it without injuring yourself. If you are unable to find any, then body weight exercises as Grinner said, would be only other option - squats would be a good start.

[SiuiS]

If it's a postal job like UPS with boxes, you can probably already lift the needed weight in your power zone.

More directly though; no. You will not build strength if you aren't experiencing fatigue from the weight within about 20 lifts. No effort expended before muscle fatigue will really build muscle and no weight too low to cause muscle fatigue will help.

[Fragenstein]

I'm certainly no expert on the subject, but that strikes me as something you'd use for ankle weights...

Yes. If you can find a comfortable set, and wear them without straining your joints (especially through high-impact movements), they can really help your stabilizers. That's important if you want to lift repeatedly without hurting something. They have to be worn for as much of the day as possible, and go best with a matching vest and wrist weights. The extra calories they burn over long periods of time don't hurt, either.

Great for sculpting and a more even development of power and stamina, but I believe the gain on maximum lift would be minor. I've always been a supporter of micro-movements as well, but when you want dead lifting power it's going to take honest break-down-and-repair of major muscle groups. Work your stabilizers for injury prevention, but push yourself hard on the target zones if you want to want to start tossing 70lbs around casually.

[Spiryt]

It really depends on what you mean by 'lift', but in any case it's hard to imagine any exercise at all, where 3 pounds would really require 'lifting' for adult human...

So probably, not really.

[gooddragon1]

Interesting. Well I guess I shouldn't have taken strength as a dump stat.

[thubby]

the good news is that pushups and pullups will get you there easily.

[valadil]

the good news is that pushups and pullups will get you there easily.

True fact! If you can't do pullups yet, do negatives. Grab a bar (or branch, rafter, whatever will support you) and jump up, catching yourself at the top of the pullup. Then let yourself down slowly. Do sets of 8 and don't overdo it - these are more taxing than they seem. A week of that got me doing actual pullups and I was 260lbs at the time.

[Karoht]

Wrist/Ankle weights are excellent for increasing your load while doing cardio, but they won't really boost your overall strength.
I personally enjoy the feeling that comes after wearing ankle weights while on a treadmill. Get off the treadmill, take off the weights, and just walk back to the locker room, you'll feel light as a feather. It's actually sometimes hard NOT to skip at that point.

I'm seconding the advice on negatives. They're awesome.
If you plan on going to a gym I strongly recommend you have someone at the gym show you how all the equipment works, and ask them what machines/exercises you should target to achieve your goals in a safe and effective manner.

[SiuiS]

the good news is that pushups and pullups will get you there easily.


True fact! If you can't do pullups yet, do negatives. Grab a bar (or branch, rafter, whatever will support you) and jump up, catching yourself at the top of the pullup. Then let yourself down slowly. Do sets of 8 and don't overdo it - these are more taxing than they seem. A week of that got me doing actual pullups and I was 260lbs at the time.

Yuss! A lot of common strength training advice is body-builder specific. It will target a specific muscle and teach you to maximize the size gain of that muscle. It will build strength, but only as a side effect. Performing an action that uses those muscles will do better; you will build up muscle groups that see definite use, along with increasing the stabilizer systems that prevent injury. Big body weight exercises – squats, pull ups, push ups, lunges, planks – will take care of most of what you need.

The problem, as with all things, is time. It's easy to overdo it because you think, "I'm not that tired, and maybe doing more will get more results!" But you won't, you'll get less results and be discouraged. Slow and steady results are fantastic, and much better than a biggish result now and then pffffft.

Yoga is good for building strength without building size (like you're used to), since you're doig body weight stuff, but you're contracting the muscle. It creates a leaner body tone, although I'm not 100% on the science behind that yet.

[valadil]

If you plan on going to a gym I strongly recommend you have someone at the gym show you how all the equipment works, and ask them what machines/exercises you should target to achieve your goals in a safe and effective manner.

I've met some very knowledgeable gym folk and many poorly informed gym folk (including one guy last month who told me I didn't have to do the whole range of motion on my bench press, even though my full ROM bench is 100lbs higher than his half ROM bench...). I'd actually skip the machines and the other people and read Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.



Yoga is good for building strength without building size (like you're used to), since you're doig body weight stuff, but you're contracting the muscle. It creates a leaner body tone, although I'm not 100% on the science behind that yet.

I suspect that yoga is targeting all your random stabilizer muscles. Ever hear of someone complaining about pain in muscles they didn't know they had? Yeah, it's hitting those muscles. Your tibialis anterior is never going to be as strong as your quad, but if it and all the other minor muscles in your leg get stronger, so will you. But those muscles are so small and tucked away that even when they're fully developed you don't look like a bodybuilder.

[SiuiS]

Maybe. On the other hand, I do know that not all muscle tissue is equal, and that it's possible to build for size over strength, getting an inefficient muscle. And I know it's possible to train the fibers for efficiency, getting more work energy for a given size. I just haven't cross referenced a bunch of sources on this, yet.

Yoga definitely strengthens your stabilizers, though. It also should build body awareness (which weight lifting can also do) which helps for all-purpose better coordination and output.

[Bulldog Psion]

Well, it all depends. If that's all you can lift, then obviously you need to start working out with that weight and work up to heavier weights later. Don't push the weight so high that you damage yourself; the goal is to keep pushing your capabilities higher, but to avoid going so far beyond them that you end up maiming your joints and possibly messing up your ability to develop your body temporarily or permanently.

Still, I suspect your muscles can handle more than 3.3 pounds, unless you've just been in whole-body traction for a year.

[Mauve Shirt]

I don't know that push-ups help you gain lifting powers. Mostly because I've been increasing my pushing up abilities since the beginning of the year and while I have improved immensely at that, I discovered when I moved a few weeks ago that the amount of weight I could lift was just barely influenced. Pushing and lifting motions are not extraordinarily similar, I feel.

[Grinner]

I don't know that push-ups help you gain lifting powers. Mostly because I've been increasing my pushing up abilities since the beginning of the year and while I have improved immensely at that, I discovered when I moved a few weeks ago that the amount of weight I could lift was just barely influenced. Pushing and lifting motions are not extraordinarily similar, I feel.

I think that's true. You lift with your legs, after all.

[ScubaGoomba]

If you're interested in building strength beyond whatyou need for work, I'm going to second Starting Strength. I'll also recommend checking out Stronglifts (http://stronglifts.com/), which is a barbell workout program based around Starting Strength and Convict Conditioning (http://www.amazon.com/Convict-Conditioning-Weakness-Using-Survival-Strength/dp/0938045768), which is a 100% bodyweight workout routine that's great if you can't get to a gym. All you need is a pull-up bar, a table, and a chair!

[JustSomeGuy]

all you lot reccomending OP pick up starting strength are waay off the mark - it's over 3.3lbs already, better lp up with 531 first, it's much lighter

[SiuiS]

Remove the =BLUE from the last tag, sweetie.


I don't know that push-ups help you gain lifting powers. Mostly because I've been increasing my pushing up abilities since the beginning of the year and while I have improved immensely at that, I discovered when I moved a few weeks ago that the amount of weight I could lift was just barely influenced. Pushing and lifting motions are not extraordinarily similar, I feel.

Muscles work in tandem. You'll see people developing their grip strength by putting elastic bands around their fingers and pressing outward. They do this because for some muscle groups, if the opposing muscle can't keep up your body just won't develop more strength there. Push ups strengthen the shoulder girdle in general and specifically counter rows and certain forms of pull ups. Without the opposite number getting better, you'll teach a quick cap at best and severely off balance yourself and cause damage at worst.

The pull up/push up/lunge/plank quad system there is simply the easiest, fastest way to hit your entire body. Push ups require core strength to maintain proper form, and can develop the wrists, stabilizers in the pectorals, lats and seratus muscles, and are one of the easiest ways to develop body awareness because the pubs up position can be held while you feel out your body, but lunges and pull ups are muc harder to do that with.

Where do you put your hands? What angle does your elbow bend away from you at? Which muscle groups do you primarily rely on? What chain sequence do you use to get yourself up? Do you find that when you get tired halfway through push ups youa top using your pecs for extra stability? How about the seratus anterior, do you stop using that? Does your pelvis dip or your butt stick up? How are you dispersing your weight? Are your hands too "high", that is, anterior to the set position/superior to your crown in relative space?

I have a trick knee. Bad form for me puts too much weight into my legs, causing one to give out without proper stabilization. I bring my hands down directly below me for load-bearing and use my feet only as a fulcrum, and generate extra force by using a forward, together-clench as I reach the zenith of my push. I should slowly add in those two motions but they're hard to keep in mind while also keeping weight off my knee and keeping my core tight. Being aware of this is really helpful though, because if I'm having trouble stabilizing a load I can shift it.


And personally, I found when moving my biggest issue was other people. Without coordination we didn't lift the same; if there's one thing I learned trying to do rid busting it's that physics is a jerk. If their end of furniture is off balance, it messes me up. Proper body mechanics and lifting mechanics take focus and make these things waaaay easier.

[Flickerdart]

You should follow Reginald's excellent workout advice (http://nedroid.com/2010/08/no-pain-no-gain/).