When it comes to training, one of the most common questions people ask is ‘what weight should I use?’. You want to make progress but you don’t want to lift too heavy and cause yourself an injury. This can be especially important if you’re training in a home gym and can’t ask a professional for advice.

There are many elements that influence what weight dumbbells you should use, it doesn’t simply come down to how strong you are. In this blog we aim to give you a breakdown of the different factors you should consider when deciding what weight to use during your training sessions, along with some examples of weights that my personal training clients use.

Exercise Type

The type of exercise you perform can determine the weight you use. Compound movements that use several different muscles at various joints enable you to lift heavier weights. Examples of compound movements include dumbbell squats, lunges and bench press. In contrast, single-joint movements such as calf raises where only a single muscle is used requires a lighter load.

Another thing to consider when choosing the weight of your dumbbell is the size of the muscle you’re working. You can lift more when training your chest than you can when training your biceps, because the chest is a larger muscle. Also, it’s likely that you’re able to lift more for a lower body session than upper as the lower body muscles are larger and more powerful.

Physiology

Your physiology can also influence the amount that you’re able to lift. Anthropometrics are measurements of the body, and everyone’s measurements are different. For example, some people have longer femurs (thighs) than others and therefore they will move in a different way when they squat. The way your body is built will have an impact on what you’re able to lift.

Training Goals

Your training goals will also determine how much you lift in your workout sessions. If you’re training for maximal strength then you will need to lift heavier than someone training for hypertrophy or muscular endurance. The less repetitions you perform, the heavier the weight you will need to lift. As a general rule of thumb, these are the repetition ranges you would work through for different training goals -

• Maximal strength - 1-3 reps

• Strength - 3-6 reps

• Hypertrophy - 8-15 reps

• Endurance - 15+ reps

Lifestyle Factors

If you’re planning on working hard in your training sessions, it’s also important to acknowledge what you’re doing outside of the gym. The first thing to consider is rest. You need enough sleep in order to give your body time to recover and repair muscle in between sessions. If you’re tired, then you won’t be able to lift as much weight and can also increase the risk of injury as you’re not able to concentrate as well during the lift.

Nutrition is just as important when it comes to exercise recovery. Protein is vital for muscle growth and without it we wouldn’t get the outcomes we want in the gym. Therefore, if you want to lift heavier weights to get stronger, you need to be fuelling sufficiently with enough calories and protein.

Experience Levels

It’s not wise to throw yourself in at the deep end and begin curling a 25kg Dumbbell. When you’re starting at the gym the main focus should be executing good technique in each exercise before you prioritise lifting heavier. Once you advance, you’ll have a better understanding of the amount of weight you can lift at a certain repetition range to enhance performance, without it being detrimental to your form.

Furthermore, you will also have to adjust the load if you’ve had to take a break from training for reasons such as illness or a holiday. You begin to lose muscle mass after just two weeks of not training. If you take an extended period of time away from exercise, then you will become deconditioned. It’s important to ease yourself back into training with lighter weights.

Training Frequency

To maximise strength, you need to make sure you’re having adequate rest between gym sessions. If you’re doing full body sessions, you should perform 2-3 sessions per week and try to leave 48 hours between your sessions. If you’re training any more than that then you should consider changing your splits to upper/lower or body parts.

Signs You Should Increase Your Dumbbell Weights

• You’re not making any progress towards your body or health goals.

• You don’t find the sessions difficult.

• You can do more than 2-3 reps in each set at your chosen repetition range.

Signs You Should Decrease Your Dumbbell Weights

• You can’t hit the rep range.

• You’re feeling fatigued in and around sessions.

• You’re accumulating regular injuries and niggles.

Personal Training Client Examples

Not everyone progresses at the same time. This can come down to all of the different factors stated above. These are three examples of real life clients who have progressed in their training over different time periods:

A postnatal client came to the gym 3 months after a c-section. At this point the aim was to rehabilitate the body post-birth. We began with bodyweight hip thrusts at the beginning of the journey. Now 18 months down the line she is doing barbell hip thrusts at 55kg for sets of 6.

Another client started working with me as a complete beginner to weight training. During the first few weeks of her training, we began with 30kg deadlifts to focus on getting their form right. One year later they managed a 1 rep max of 135kg.

After a long break from training after suffering with a long term illness, a client was restarting their fitness journey going back to basics. After 6 weeks of consistent training the client went from 4kg Dumbbell shoulder press to 8 kg for 8 repetitions.

These examples highlight how no two people are the same and the most important thing is to focus on your own fitness journey. What weight dumbbells you should use can be determined by several factors. It's important to take all of these things into consideration when planning your workouts, and then you’ll get the best results possible. You can also treat yourself to a Dumbbell Weight Rack for extra strorage, or a weight bench set to add to your home gym.

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Tags: Equipment > Dumbbells ; Exercise Type > Strength ; Misc > Gym Planning