Maxing out?

[michelle95gt]

I've never tried maxing out on anything i lift.....what's the guidelines here?? I usually do 4 sets of everything- 12 or 10 reps on the first set and a min of 8-10 on the second and then 5-6 on the last two, depending on how heavy i am getting.

I haven't ever tried to max out on anything and do extremely heavy weight, i am curious how much i could do. like on bench (not smith machine), the most i do now (like 6 reps) is 75. Squats, 100, 8x. how heavy should i try going? Al makes sure i keep my form right, and don't just half ass do something the wrong way just so i can lift more. I don't want to kill myself, but i see some chics in there smaller than me, that do more weight.

so when you guys say you can do XXX weight- are you doing it only once????

[The Raven]

Originally posted by michelle95gt
so when you guys say you can do XXX weight- are you doing it only once????

Most people refer to their "max" as the most weight that they can succesfully unrack and lift one single time. I personally don't like to do any sort of heavy warm up as it usually affects my ability significantly, but it is important to make sure that your muscles are sufficiently stretched and "warm" by doing a couple of light sets to get blood moving.

[White_lightning]

from my expereince.. stretching doesnt cut it.. you need to warm up with weights..
Stretching can actualy be counter productive as it sets your nervous system into a lathargic relaxes state.. before i go REAL heavy.. i do a warmup set or 2
put my normal work weight on ther.e. and do say 1 -2 reps
and then max.. its not your True max.. but it keeps it safe..
every time i have hurt myself in the gym it has been because of insufficient warmup

[Monsoon X]

Definately. I do a quick stretch and then warm up with pushups 2 sets of 10x (for the benchpress)

[5111]

This is what I do:

First I do 10 x 135lb very slowly. Then I stretch some and do 5 x 225lb and stretch again. I usually do a couple at 275lb and then max out. It always seems to take me a long time time to warm up. Sometimes I can lift more after a long workout. Who knows?