How Heavy Should I Lift, and When Should I Increase the Weight?

TTG Staff

8 hours ago

7 min read

Man deadlifting a heavy barbell in a gym, wearing headphones and a belt, beside text: HOW HEAVY SHOULD I LIFT?

You look at your program.

Three sets of eight to twelve repetitions.

You know the exercise.

You know how many reps to do.

But there’s still one important question:

“What weight should I use?”

Then, once you’ve been doing it for a few weeks, another question follows:

“Should I be lifting more by now?”

These are sensible questions.

Choosing an appropriate weight is a skill, and it takes practice.

The answer depends on the exercise, the purpose of the session and your current ability.

But you don’t need to guess blindly.

Choose a weight that lets you complete the prescribed repetitions, with the intended technique and effort. Increase it when you can consistently meet those requirements and are ready for a little more challenge.

Here’s how to put that into practice.

Start With What the Program Is Asking For

Before choosing a weight, check more than the number of repetitions.

Your program might also specify:

A controlled lowering phase.
A pause at a particular position.
A particular range of movement.
An effort target, such as RPE 7.
A set amount of rest between efforts.

All of those affect the appropriate load.

Eight squats with a three-second lowering phase and a pause can feel very different from eight squats performed at your usual speed.

If you need to rush the lowering phase or remove the pause to finish, reduce the weight so you can perform the exercise as prescribed.

"The weight needs to suit the task."

How Challenging Should the Set Feel?

For many of our general strength exercises, we want you to finish knowing you worked, while still having a few good repetitions available.

This is where "repetitions in reserve", or RIR, becomes useful.

Ask yourself:

“How many more repetitions could I have completed with the same technique?”

On the resistance-training RPE scale, the following are useful approximations:

Effort	What it means
RPE 7	You could complete approximately three more good repetitions.
RPE 8	You could complete approximately two more.
RPE 9	You could complete approximately one more.
RPE 10	You could not complete another repetition.

Those extra repetitions need to resemble the ones you were asked to perform.

Shortening the movement, bouncing or getting help changes the task.

These estimates also take practice.

Research shows that people can misjudge how many repetitions they have remaining, so use your coach’s feedback alongside your own assessment.[3]

You don’t need perfect accuracy to start learning the skill.

If your program asks for RPE 7, you don’t need to turn the last repetition into a maximum effort.

If you finish and could comfortably do another ten, the weight probably needs to increase.

Finding Your Starting Weight

If an exercise is new, start conservatively.

Practise the movement with a manageable load, then build towards your working weight through a few preparation sets.

For a heavier barbell exercise, that might mean several gradually heavier sets.

For a lighter accessory exercise, you may need much less preparation.

Your preparation should help you find the right weight without exhausting you before the working sets begin.

Suppose your program asks for:

Goblet Squat: 3 × 8-12 @ RPE 7-8

After your preparation, which should include activation exercises and warm-up sets, set up and assess from the first working set:

Warm-up Set - Twelve reps with plenty left: "increase load slightly for the first working set."
Set 1 - Ten controlled reps with two or three left: "you’re in a useful starting range."
Set 2 - Six reps before you need to stop: "reduce the weight."
Set 3 - Eight reps only by losing the prescribed depth or control: "reduce the weight to restore the movement! Leave notes to remind yourself when this lift returns in the program."

Your first choice is an estimate. Adjusting it is part of training.

When Should You Increase the Weight?

For exercises prescribed with a repetition range, a straightforward approach is to:

"build your repetitions first, then increase the load."

This is often called double progression.

Using three sets of eight to twelve as an example:

Session	Weight	Repetitions completed
1	12 kg	10, 9, 8
2	12 kg	11, 10, 9
3	12 kg	12, 12, 11
4	12 kg	12, 12, 12
5	14 kg, or next suitable weight	Work back within the 8-12 range

This is an illustration, not a promise that you’ll improve every session.

Before increasing, check that:

You reached the top of the range across your working sets.
Your technique, range and prescribed tempo remained appropriate.
You stayed within the intended effort target (RPE).
You used the prescribed rest periods.

For members training independently, meeting those conditions across two comparable sessions is a useful conservative rule.

Your coach may progress you sooner or ask you to consolidate for longer.

After increasing the weight, it’s normal for your repetitions to drop towards the bottom of the range.

"If you’ve made the exercise harder, you don’t have to immediately match your previous repetitions."

How Much Weight Should You Add?

Use a small, manageable increase.

Earlier ACSM progression guidance suggested increases of approximately 2-10% when someone could exceed their target repetitions.[2]

That is a broad guide, not a requirement to add a particular percentage every week.

In practice, the available equipment matters.

Moving from a 10 kg dumbbell to a 12 kg dumbbell is a 20% increase.

It may look like a small step on the tracking, but it can be a substantial jump for the exercise.

If the next weight pushes you below the repetition range or well above the effort target, stay with the current load and speak with your coach.

Smaller plates, a different implement or another progression may help bridge the gap.

You don’t need to force a jump because it’s the next weight available.

What About Fixed Repetitions?

Some programs prescribe a fixed target, such as:

Back Squat: 3 × 5 @ RPE 7

In that case, don’t keep adding repetitions until you reach twelve reps.

Complete the prescribed five and assess the effort.

If the sets consistently feel easier than the target, a small increase may be appropriate.

If the program gives you a specific load or percentage, and your readiness is appropriate, follow that instruction and discuss adjustments with your coach.

The progression method needs to match the program.

You Won’t Lift More Every Session

Some days your usual weight feels comfortable.

Other days it feels unusually heavy.

The Readiness Questions take into account sleep, stress, recent training and illness; all can influence how ready you feel to train.

Use your preparation sets to assess the day.

You may need to adjust the load to meet the intended effort.

That doesn’t automatically mean you’ve lost strength.

It also helps to compare like with like.

A lift performed with a longer pause, greater range or shorter rest period is a different challenge from your previous session.

Recording the weight without recording how you performed it only tells part of the story to your coach.

In Classes, Follow the Purpose of the Exercise

At The Training Ground, different exercises have different jobs.

A strength exercise, a controlled stability drill and an explosive movement won’t necessarily progress in the same way.

For example:

A squat may progress through more repetitions or more weight.
A step-down may first progress through better control and an appropriate increase in range.
A jump may prioritise speed and landing quality.
A carry may have a prescribed load, distance or duration.

When a training block gives you less recovery or more work within the same time, you may also need to reassess your usual weights.

Ask your coach:

“What are we trying to achieve with this exercise today?”

That answer should guide your loading.

Know When to Stop and Ask

Muscular effort and fatigue are expected parts of strength training.

New, sharp, worsening or unfamiliar pain needs a different response.

Stop the exercise and tell your coach rather than treating it as a signal to push harder.

Depending on the symptoms, assessment by an appropriate health professional may be needed.

Likewise, if you’re unsure about your setup, technique or safety equipment, get help before increasing the load.

Keep a Record

This is why we use Trainheroic to make the habit easy for you and your coach.

If you want to make sensible decisions about progression, recording enough information in your program will help to guide your next session.

If previously logged correctly, the app displays something like this:

Half Kneeling Landmine Press:

Predicted Working Max
What you did last time
Any notes you wrote

Being reminded of the load used last time, and knowing that if it was on the lower end of the prescribed RPE, then 6 reps on each side at the same RPE the following week can indicate you can progress the weight today.

Without recording, it’s easy to spend months picking up the same weight because it feels familiar, or to increase too quickly because you can’t remember what happened last time.

What We Want You to Learn

You don’t need to prove how strong you are every time you enter the gym.

You’re there to develop it.

Choose a weight that matches the prescribed movement, repetitions and effort.

Record what you do.

Build from there.

When you can consistently meet the requirements, take the next manageable step.

And if you’re unsure, ask us to watch a set.

Helping you learn what an appropriate training weight feels like is part of coaching.