What Is The Ideal Weight To Lift For A Lower Body Exercise?

I am about 5′8 Tall without shoes of course :-)
and weigh 140 pounds
I am toned but want to get a bit more volume on my lower body.
I am now doing lower body exercises (leg & back “butt”)
and I lift around 40 pounds + the bar is about 5 pounds
when I do squats.
Is this an okay weight for me or should I do more or less weights?

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6 Responses to “What Is The Ideal Weight To Lift For A Lower Body Exercise?”

  1. Reaper12 on February 7th, 2010 at 5:15 pm

    As far as weight goes there is no ideal. What i lift is going to be very different from another person.
    Trying to lift according to a generalised weight is the easiest way to get hurt.
    What you need to do is set a rep range. 8-12 reps is good. If you’re lifting less than 8 it’s too heavy, more than 12 and it’s too light.

  2. clintdaw on February 7th, 2010 at 9:41 pm

    depends on how many repetitions you can do with 45 lbs.
    I would say start with 45 lbs 15 repetitions. Make sure you have a spotter to help you. Then add 10 lbs and do 15 more repetitions. Add 10 lbs and do 15 more. If you can’t do 15 then do 10 do 5 do 1. Find your max squat weight-MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SPOTTER- you dont want to hurt yourself. Then do 3/4 of that weight as your norm in reps of 15 or 10 if you can’t do 15. Do 4 sets a day. Do that 4x a week. At the end of the 4 days give your legs a day off then the next day do tear downs or 15, 10, 5, 1 rep adding more weight each time to find your new max squat, leg lift, etc. give yourself the next day off and repeat the cycle.

  3. sarge927 on February 8th, 2010 at 2:31 am

    Depends. How many sets and reps can you do? Try doing 6 sets of 6 reps with the 40 pounds on the bar, but do them SLOWLY. Take a full 2 seconds to come up and a full 4 seconds to go down. If you can do that easily, kick up the weight on the bar.
    If you want more volume in your gluteus maximus (rear end) do lunges too, but use less weight — start by doing lunges holding 10 lb. dumbbells in each hand.

  4. Hannibal the Cannibal on February 8th, 2010 at 6:14 am

    What bar is 5lbs? The bar you use to squat? Those squat/bench press bars weigh 45lbs by themselves.
    An appropriate weight all depends on your body and fitness level. Aim for 10-15 reps. If you can do them easily, you aren’t lifting enough weight. If you can’t do even 10, you’re trying to lift too much.

  5. care_for on February 8th, 2010 at 10:59 am

    I have given a link to a series of articles about weightlifting which may help.

  6. Steve O on February 8th, 2010 at 3:54 pm

    More weight builds muscle faster; if 45 pounds doesn’t make you exert much, you could use more.

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