How much weight should I be lifting to grow?

[joeohlandt]

Hello All,

I'm new to this great site and it's a pleasure to read some great posts here, but after many hours of searching I can find no answer to question.

I'm 50 years old, quite strong but due to injuries like destroying a knee and crushing a shoulder in a fall I have become a fat old man.

I'm following the Weekly Dumbbell Workout Plan, diet is (now) very healthy with a lot of protein and I'm feeling great, but I want to build back to what I used to be.

How much weight should I be lifting? I know theres either a formula or common sense approach to this but I just can't find it.

Thanks in advance for your time and answers.

[SarahPT]

Hi Joe!
The amount of weight you should lift totally depends on you. How much are you lifting now and how long have you been lifting? If you want to gain muscle you should take each set to the point where you can't lift for another rep while maintaining proper form. If you have been trianing for a while and are comfortable with exercises try to use a weight that you cannot do more than 6-10 reps.

Hope that helps!

Sarah

[joeohlandt]

I have been lifting only a short time and working with about 35 lb dumbbells at this point for everything doing 15 reps before failure. It looks like from your answer it's time to up it a bit.

Thanks,