2004/10/20, 08:45 AM
A lot has been written and discussed about workouts and such. One question I hear time and time again is this: " how many reps and at what weight"? Ok so that is two questions. Generally the advice given is to use a weight that you can get 10reps with. If you struggle to get all 10 that is good once you get them easily add weight. As a person that is just starting out this is a great way to get going. In fact I normally start off people, including myself after a long layoff, with this routine.
However there are other things to take into consideration. One of the most important things is the rep itself. Most beginners, I include myself in this, make the mistake of adding to much weight at once. This is where the quality of the rep comes into play. It is far better to do the rep perfectly with a lighter weight, than to do it sloppy with a heavier weight. the paradox is that common belief is for most personal trainers is that you need to hit the 10 reps to make gains. I say that is false! This is something that took me many workouts to understand. While doing each rep perfect is key if you use a weight that does not challenge you what good is it. It is ok to have a goal of 10 reps, but not reach it all the time. My best gains came when I set a goal of 10 reps but failed at 6-8. I made sure that in those 6-8 reps my form was perfect, and that by trying to hit all 10 my form would suffer I stopped, lowered the weight a bit and did more reps. Now I did not do this on every exercise, just the main core ones, that is what worked for me.
What I am trying to get across is that quality is great, but you can also get quanity as well...just make sure that your reps are good and add that weight. If you do not make the rep goal at first that is ok keep trying.
-------------- LIFT HEAVY! BECOME STRONG, LIKE BULL!
7707mutt@freetrainers.com
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2004/10/20, 12:38 PM
Somthing to add, that I think helps me, is to keep a log of my workouts, seems pointless, but it does help. Write down your excercise, reps and somtimes rest intervals.
This helps to know how many reps you got last time, and if you need to add or subtract weight. heres what mine looked like for legs(yesterday)
front squats
155/10
185/9
215/8
235/5*
deadlifts
325/4
375/4
415/3
445/1*
Stiff dls--------------onelegged leg press
185x4 X3 90x8 (15) 90x8
110x8 (15) 110x8
140x8 (20) 140x8
setted leg curls 90/failure 2X
walking lunges 20's failure
" 30's failure
* mean I missed a rep or 2, and that tells me not to go any higher than that weight, or lower it down 5 or 10lbs.
+ or - would mean too much weight or too lil weight, and to add 5lbs or subtract 5 lbs, to get a target rep area.
-------- this means it was suppsetted and done back t back no rest.
() mean thats the rest time I took, if there isn't any, that means I wasn't concerned about the rest. (15) meant I rest 15secs, or I was resting as I was doing the other leg.
I promise IF you keep a log, it will make more sense, and you can track your progress.:dumbbell::dumbbell:
-------------- ....I'm probably in my underwear typing this......or maybe not!
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2004/10/20, 01:00 PM
Andrew is correct... a log certainly helps... I've got one (the FT printouts) and keep them in a binder and go back an refer to the week before to see what I did and if I could add or lower the weight... works for me!
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I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is over self. - Aristotle
You have the power to change a life right in your own hands. - Paul Brandt
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