Even if you’ve been strength training a while, weights rooms can feel super intimidating. You might have spent the past few months chest pressing and deadlifting in your living room, but suddenly, you’re faced with way more weight options. The key to overcoming gym anxiety is to have a plan in place before you even step through the front door – but if you’re not sure which weights to go for, that can be a little difficult. 

To help make that decision a little easier, we’ve roped in PTs Alice Miller and Zara Ozard who know all about creating a sustainable, effective gym regime. Not sure where to begin on your weight lifting journey, or how to translate your home practice in the weights room? Keep on reading…

“For most people, choosing the right weight will require a little trial and error,” says Ozard. “I always say that the weight you’re lifting should be challenging but doable. If your form is being compromised during both the lifting and lowering phase, then that would suggest that you’re lifting too heavy.”

She suggests choosing a weight that allows you to work for eight-to-12 reps per set, and which leaves your muscles feeling fatigued during the last couple of reps. “You might do your first set and know that you could get more out, in which case add some weight on for your next set. It’s also great to write things down so you can remember where you were last time and pick your weight accordingly.”

Miller agrees with Ozard that it’s really a personal choice. “It depends on how long you’ve been training, if you’ve taken breaks, if you’ve got injuries and what your goals are. If you are completely new, I would focus on getting used to using dumbbells. They are a great way to start out on your lifting journey. 

“You want to make sure that you’re not lifting so heavy that you can’t control your form, but also need to lift something that feels challenging. A 2kg dumbbell is probably lighter than your backpack, so don’t be shy about trying heavier!”

Now, you might think that weight trianing is all about lifting as heavy as you can – but head to a spin session or pilates class, and you’ll find instructors using really light dumbbells. Both kinds of weights can burn, which is better to choose if you’re on your own in the gym?

“It depends on the goal but if you’re totally new to training, I’d suggest doing lighter weights for more reps until you have the form perfect, rather than jumping in to heavy weights and injuring yourself,” Ozard says.

“If your goal is strength, choose a weight you can only lift for a maximum of six reps. Muscular endurance, on the other hand, happens around the 15 rep mark, so you’ll need much lighter dumbbells.”

Miller, however, says that she believes “every single person should be lifting heavy”.

That means lifting around 80% of your one rep max – ie the heaviest you could possibly squat just once. If you don’t know what that is yet, then Miller recommends using ‘rate of perceived exertion’, which is an effort ranking between one and 10. “Lifting heavy would probably be an eight, nine or 10, on that scale, with nine being the feeling of ‘that’s really heavy but I could probably do one more rep’ and 10 being ‘I am maxed out, I can’t do anything more’.”

Why so heavy? Miller flags that the body won’t adapt if it’s not being surprised or stressed, so gradually adding more weight every few training sessions is going to help you progress.

OK, so we’re committed to lifting a little more than usual. But given how important form is, it’s important to know exactly how to lift heavier. 

Go slow

Miller stresses the importance to gradually getting heavier: “Work on consistency and focus on the basics. That means learning to move well. My advice is to go a little bit slower and so you can really focus on that control. Think about what muscles are being worked when you’re doing it.”

Remember to breathe

“Something that people kind of forget about is how powerful your breath is when doing strength work,” she continues. “If you don’t work with your breath and if you’re not creating tension in your body, you’re not going to be able to lift as much. All the great strength coaches are going to teach you about intra-abdominal pressure and creating that tension in the midline.”

Be consistent

Ozard says that “you also need to be training quite regularly, but also with enough time out to rest and recover”.

Focus on your core

“Having a strong core is also important because when we lift everything comes from the core,” Ozard concludes.

Images: Getty