How do you get stronger ?

[upearly]

I have been lifting weights some time now. I love Cathe "gym style" and I have done the p90X series. My question is HOW do you get stronger. I did Cathe Gym style chest and triceps tonight and Cathe did 25 lbs the entire time for chest, I was able to do the first three sets of chest press, but for the fly I had to drop down to 15lbs, and for triceps she was doing twice what I can do.

Should I start by just doing the number of reps I can do at a heavier weight, or should I do some at the heaver weight then change over to a lighter weight for some ?? I have heard rest is important also !!

Any advice would be great!!
Thanks
Upearly

 

[lorihart]

I don't think you need to improve on your chest work.Holy cow girl...thats a great weight your using.
I use 20 lbs and 15 lbs and I match her on the tricep work.
I would do exactly what you said.I would lift heavy weight for the few reps you can.Thats what I did and it worked just fine.Next thing you know you will be using the heavy weight for ALLLL of the reps

 

[catwoman]

Everyone's different. I can almost keep up with Cathe on the triceps weight, but when it comes to biceps and shoulders, I am way weaker. You've just got to do what your body lets you do. You can push yourself to do higher weights and get stronger, but don't try to compare abilities to Cathe's, because that's just not fair to you.

Here's what I suggest: If you don't have the Slow & Heavy series, get it. I think you will see tremendous strength gains from this series. Also, I would suggest doing what you suggested: start with a heavier weight, then switch to a lighter one. That will help, too. Or, do less reps with a heavier-than-normal weight. This will build your muscles and strength, too, and not subject your muscles to injury-inducing lengths. Lastly, take a week or so off from lifting weights. Then start back up again and you should see a vast improvement in your strength gains. I always can lift more and longer after a week or two off from weight training.

 

[honeybunch1]

Very simple - with body weight exercises like push-ups, chin-ups and dips. Emphasizing those and ditching upper body weights has increased my strength like years of weights never did.
Just Do It!

 

[kathryn]

>I have been lifting weights some time now. I love Cathe "gym
>style" and I have done the p90X series. My question is HOW do
>you get stronger. I did Cathe Gym style chest and triceps
>tonight and Cathe did 25 lbs the entire time for chest, I was
>able to do the first three sets of chest press, but for the
>fly I had to drop down to 15lbs, and for triceps she was doing
>twice what I can do.
>
It's normal to use less weight for flyes than for presses: flyes are an isolation move (and put the shoulder in a more difficult position), while presses are a compound move. I never go about 17.5# for flyes, but have gone to 30# on presses in some workouts.

25# is what I use most of the time for Cathe's presses. I often lift more than she does for back, and triceps varies (I go heavier on overhead extensions, but often lighter on kickbacks). We are all built a little differently, with different "leverages," so one person will not lift exactly the same amount as another person on all exercises.

I recently posted something about getting stronger/increasing weights, and I'll put the link here (instead of basically repeating myself).


ETA: here's the link

http://69.0.137.118/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=4&topic_id=214071&mesg_id=214071&page=3

 

[candi]

I have been continually frustrated with my weak biceps. They are defined but I'm never able to match Cathe's weights.

I decided to try something different this morning with Pure Strength upper body. I started with biceps first and did great. I was able to match Cathe all the way on biceps by doing this. The rest of my upper body didn't seem to suffer because I used higher weights than her on shoulders and matched the rest.

I'm going to continue to do this and see what happens.

 

[Soosan]

Thanks for posting this link, Kathryn! I'm printing it out now.

 

[upearly]

Thanks Katheryn !

Your advice is great ! I will change things up some and see what happens !!
Have a nice day !!