Technique first, then the last-2-reps test, starting points per lift, how fast to add weight, microplates, and the signs your weight is too heavy or too light.
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Pasha Mor
Founder, 1RM.fit · October 20, 2026
Short answer: heavy enough that the last 2 reps of each set feel like a decision, and light enough that every rep looks the same as the first. For most beginners that means starting lighter than your ego wants and adding weight in small steps every session.
I'm Pasha, founder of 1RM.fit. The most common beginner mistake I see in training logs is not lifting too little. It is jumping to a weight that breaks form in week one, then stalling or getting hurt. Here is how to pick the right load without guessing.
Why "How Heavy" Is the Wrong First Question
In your first weeks, most of your strength gain is your nervous system learning the movement. Visible muscle growth comes later. That means the best weight is the one that lets you practice clean reps, because every sloppy rep teaches your body the wrong pattern, and that is harder to unlearn than to learn right.
So ask a different question first: can I do 8 to 10 reps where rep 10 looks like rep 1? If yes, the weight is allowed to go up. If not, it stays or drops. Technique sets the ceiling, not your ego or the plates the person next to you is using.
The Last-2-Reps Test
Pick a weight and do a set of 8 to 10. Your first 6 or 7 reps should feel smooth and controlled. The last 2 should feel like a decision: you have to focus, commit and push, but you know you could still do 2 or 3 more with good form. If the last reps feel easy, add weight next set. If rep 6 already grinds, the weight is too heavy for now.
RIR for Beginners, Without the Jargon
RIR means reps in reserve: how many clean reps you had left when you stopped. Beginners are bad at judging this, and that is normal. Many new lifters think they are at 1 rep left when they actually have 4 or 5.
Target 2 to 3 RIR. Stop each set when you believe you could do 2 or 3 more clean reps.
Be suspicious of easy. If you stop at "3 RIR" for weeks and the weight never feels hard, you may really be at 5. Once in a while, push one set closer and see what happens.
On barbell lifts like squat, bench press and overhead press, start with the empty 20 kg bar for your first session. This is not a warm-up you skip, it is a real working weight for a new lifter. You learn bar path, bracing, foot position and depth with almost no risk.
Do 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps. If it is easy and clean, add 2.5 kg per side the next session. Skipping this step to lift "real weight" usually costs you weeks of fixing habits later. For the movement details, see the guides on how to squat, how to bench press and how to deadlift.
A clean set at a weight you can control beats a heavy set that falls apart.
Sensible First-Session Starting Points
These are rough starting points for 8 to 10 reps for an average untrained adult. Go lower if rep 8 is not clean. They are estimates, not rules, because bodyweight, age and prior activity change everything.
Squat: empty 20 kg bar, or a goblet squat with an 8 to 12 kg dumbbell.
Bench press: empty 20 kg bar, or 6 to 10 kg dumbbells in each hand.
Deadlift: 30 to 40 kg, with the bar raised on blocks if needed to reach a good starting position.
Overhead press: empty 20 kg bar, or 4 to 8 kg dumbbells.
Row and lat pulldown: 20 to 30 kg on the machine or cable.
Leg press: 40 to 60 kg total on the machine.
Biceps and triceps work: 3 to 6 kg dumbbells or the lightest cable stack steps.
Smaller or older lifters, or anyone returning after a long break, should start at the low end or below it. That is fine. Starting lower and moving up fast is better than starting too high and stopping.
How Fast to Add Weight
The simple rule: when you complete all your sets and reps with clean form and 2 or more reps in reserve, add weight next session. Lower body lifts usually go up by 2.5 to 5 kg, upper body lifts by 1 to 2.5 kg. This is the heart of progressive overload.
For many beginners, linear increases like this last 4 to 8 weeks on the big lifts. Then they slow, and a structured plan such as GZCLP starts to help. If you want help choosing tools, see the best app for beginners at the gym.
When 2.5 kg is too big a jump, use microplates. Adding 2.5 kg to a 30 kg bench press is an 8 percent increase, which can be too much for your next session. Fractional plates of 0.5 or 1.25 kg let you add 1 to 2.5 kg in total. Many gyms have them, and they are cheap to buy. Small steps keep your reps clean and your streak alive.
Signs the Weight Is Too Heavy
Form breaks. Your hips shoot up in the squat, your back rounds in the deadlift, your butt lifts off the bench.
Grinding. The bar slows to a crawl before rep 6, or you need a spotter on a normal set.
Reps fall off fast. You get 10, then 6, then 4 on the same weight.
Sharp or joint pain. Muscle burn is fine. Sharp pain in a joint, your spine or a tendon is a stop sign, not a push-through sign.
You dread the next set. If you are bracing in fear, drop 10 percent.
Signs the Weight Is Too Light
You finish with 5 or more reps left. If you could do 15 and stopped at 10, add weight.
Last session felt the same. The same weight feeling easy for 2 sessions in a row means it is time to move up.
No muscle effort. You feel the movement but never the target muscle working.
Light for one session is harmless. Light for a month is lost progress.
How Logging Makes Progression Automatic
Most beginners guess their weights each session from memory, and memory is bad at this. A log turns the question into a lookup. You see last time: 20 kg for 3 sets of 10 at 3 reps in reserve. Today the target is simply 22.5 kg or one more rep. No guessing, no ego, no wondering whether you are improving.
Over weeks, the log also shows you the pattern: which lifts are moving, which stalled, and when a lighter week makes sense. That is how a beginner keeps progressing for months without a coach.
I built 1RM.fit as a free workout tracker so your last session's weights and reps sit right next to today's. Log your first 4 weeks and the next weight to lift will always be obvious.
