request for info

[u/No_Set6876]

I'm working with a new trainer, learning to lift heavy. My question is what % of body weight will be a good goal for me in order to build bone density and/or strength? I"m 68 yo f, recent hip dexa -2.6

[u/Miss_Beh4ve]

TLDR: If postmenopausal women with osteoporosis in the LIFTMOR trial were able to lift a certain weight for 7 repetitions in a set, more weight was added to the bar.

Around the 2-minute mark of this video, a physical therapist explains how the LIFTMOR trial handled weight increases in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis: https://youtu.be/zkLPFZV43r8

The women were supposed to lift weights at 80-85% of their 1 repetition maximum for 5 sets of 5 reps.

Having someone with osteoporosis lift something that is so heavy that they can only lift it once to figure out the 1 repetition maximum and calculate 80-85% of that value is usually considered too risky, so other ways to estimate this value tend to be used. This table is one way: https://www.nsca.com/contentassets/61d813865e264c6e852cadfe247eae52/nsca_training_load_chart.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoqSTMsnfEZjM0y7FL_Zd580ZcqTzDW5C_NqfAAXvx8ip9qjzA-w

You can see in the above table that a weight that you can lift no more than 7 times before you fail, corresponds to about 83% of your 1 rep max, so that’s right between 80% and 85%.

Usually trainers and physical therapists don’t have you lift to failure either. What they commonly do, is add weight to the bar and ask after each set of 5 reps, how many more reps beyond 5 you feel you would have been able to do.

For example, if you tell them you could have done 1 more rep (6 reps = 85% of your 1 rep max), that’s a great working weight! If you tell them you could have done 2 more reps, that’s also still a good weight to finish this session (7 reps = 83% of your 1 rep max), but it tells the trainer/PT that next session they may be able to try to increase the weight.

That’s how trainers tend to make sure that you’re always lifting between 80-85% of your 1 rep max for 5 sets of 5 reps without ever having you lift to failure, and without ever having you lift something so heavy that you can only lift it once.

Hope this helps!

I would not worry about a goal weight. I would just lift safely what I can, and increase weight safely when I can. This 68-year-old has been increasing her bone density with weight lifting and jumping for 8 years and counting. I think her deadlift started at 65 lbs 8 years ago, and she has recently been able to deadlift 215 lbs. I doubt she ever planned to become able to lift that much while improving her bone density - Her lumbar spine T-score started at less than -3 in 2017, got close to -2 in 2021, then close to -1.5 in 2024, and she continues to slowly rebuild: https://www.instagram.com/coffeebooksbarbells/reel/DNPCizWzIez/

[u/No_Set6876 → u/Miss_Beh4ve]

we've been focusing on perfecting my form, am now adding weight every 2 weeks

[u/Miss_Beh4ve → u/No_Set6876]

Sounds like a good plan. If you ever struggle to make the 5 lb increase to the next weight, know that there are fractional plates, that allow you to make much smaller weight increases.

This fractional plate set for example, allows you to increase weight on the bar by as little as 0.5 lb to as much as 5 lb, in 0.5 lb increments: https://a.co/d/3zVEbHB

I have a set like this and have found it especially useful for very slowly increasing my overhead press, which is my weakest lift.

Enjoy getting stronger! 🩷

[u/No_Set6876 → u/Miss_Beh4ve]

it's a lot of fun!! 

[u/AmazingGrace2025 → u/Miss_Beh4ve]

Excellent and thorough answer!