pardon me, but...

[JJFigure]

That's a great point, grlpwrd. The way each of us is lifting right now is dependent on our goals; if your goal isn't to increase muscle mass, there's less of a need to train heavy.

However, since so many of us seem to not have women in our own gyms to help motivate us, and/or give us an idea of how much women can lift (and break those mental barriers), seeing posts like Spatts (Congrats!) keeps me pushing the envelope. I know when I first started lifting, I had absolutely no idea how much women could lift. I would have never even attempted squatting 135 lbs. if I hadn't seen another woman do it. Now I warmup with 135 lbs. on the squat - it's amazing how your mental limitations disappear when you know what other women have achieved! Knowing a woman has benched 300 lbs. keeps me challenged to increase my bench.

 

[fawnmarie]

Since I switched from machines pre-illness (FMS) to free weights, my "numbers" had dropped dramatically, as I now need to concentrate on form and flexibitly (and - quite honestly - trying to learn NOT to bang myself in the back of the head with a dumbell.) My ligaments are a mess, so lighter free weights are more of a challenge than heavy machine weights.

The amount I can legpress is about 4 times more than what I can squat with, so to me the numbers don't really seem to mean much. With FMS, the numbers vary so widely, it doesn't seem to make any sense. Some days I can curl 20lbs easy, somedays 10lbs wears me out after 4 reps.

I've decided on concentrating more on the changes to my actual body to measure progress, because of this.

Fawn

 

[Temple]

JJ - I remember when I squatted and benched with the bar. I gradually added weight but I also think it was Spatt's numbers that got me to thinking that perhaps I wasn't working nearly as hard as I thought that I was.

 

[2Shy]

Spatts, that is awesome. Congrats!