Question - Choosing the right amount of weight

[FiddleFit]

Hi,

Here's a question I've had for years, but never thought to ask (doh). How do you gauge when it's time to increase your weight load?

1. when you no longer get DOMS?

2. when you can finish that particular exercise with good form, regardless of whether it burns you out for the exercises to follow?

3. when you can finish that particular exercise with good form, and still finish the rest of the workout with good form?

My question comes from my experiences with Cathe's lower body workouts. I typically feel like I can go heavier with the weights on the standing leg work, but then I feel like it will compromise my form and endurance for the floorwork that follows (I'm weaker with floor work than with standing work). So, I stick with the lower weights to ensure I do the entire workout with good form and not too much suffering. Case in point: I did BG for the first time this morning, and did just fine with it all. I felt like I could use 8lb dbs next time, and *possibly* 3 - 3 1/2 pounds for the ankle weights. However, I'm sure the DOMS is going to sink in tomorrow, but good. So, do I go up in the weight amount next time, or wait until I stop getting significant DOMS?

What is your opinion, please? Thank you!
Sandra

 

[allwildgirl]

Mr. Tony Horton suggests that you make sure the last three reps of any exercises you're doing are HARD, that you really have to push to get them out. I'm using that method with P90X and I'm having no problem getting through the workout even though I'm working to close to failure on all the exercises. The DOMS are very enjoyable

 

[red_mct]

I think if you feel that much disparity between the standing work and the floorwork, that you might consider doing those on separate days. You really should be trying to get to failure (where the last couple of reps, like Shelley said, are HARD) if you're looking for strength gains rather than endurance.

Marie

 

[Boybert]

DOMS is not a mandatory sign of a "good" workout, however, a lot of people use this as an indicator for how hard we have pushed ourselves. In fact, the more fit we become, the more adept your body supposedly is at handling the onset and healing from this. It is hard to explain why you get them some days and not others, maybe even from the same workout. You could have been more limber, better rested from the previous workout, etc. This all being said, I do enjoy the experience of them. It can be an addicting feeling.

My first advice always goes to form. ALWAYS maintain good form. If you cannot, you need to lighten your weight or shorten the set. Deciding what weight to bump to is a judgment call that relies on what you feel you can safely handle as well as what your goals are.

If you are looking to gain mass, then typically the idea is to go as heavy as you can safely go where completing the tenth rep is hard or impossible. For endurance type lifting, the standar is a lighter to moderate weight that you can go maybe 12-15 reps where the end is quite challenging.

In terms of finishing the workout, it is up to you & your goals. If you are lifting heavy, you may have to decrease reps or cut out a few segments.

If you are getting serious DOMS in a particular area, I would not change the weight right now. Give your body a chance to adapt and to heal before you move on.

I know this all sounds kind of vague but it is hard to give you exact answers when it is a combination of how it feels to you and how it works towards your specific goals. Everyone does it a bit differently.


Debbie


My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the hell she is.
--Ellen Degeneres

 

[kathryn]

It's harder to gauge this with a workout program that has a specific number of reps. It's easier to do so when you workout on your own (or change up video programs to work on a range of reps).

A standard protocol for muscle building is sets of 8-10reps. That means you start with a weight you can lift for 8 reps with good form. You stick with that weight, increasing reps as you progress then when you can do 10 reps, you increase the weight so you have to go back down to 8 reps.

There's also a '2 for 2' rule that some authors talk about. You increase your reps as above and when you can do 2 more reps than your goal for 2 workouts in a row, it's time to increase your weight.

I agree that DOMS is not a necessary sign of good workout. In fact, the more you can avoid DOMS while still doing a challenging workout (last 2 reps of sets are hard, and you can't do another rep with good form), the better you may be recovering and the better progress you can make.

Remember that you don't have to increase weight on all exercises and all sets. Maybe you can go up in one exercise or two. Or maybe just in the first set of an exercise. As you mentioned, this might also affect how much you can do in subsequent exercises. In the case of the standing work (compound exercises) vs. floor work (isolation exercises), if you go up in the standing exercises, you might have to temporarily decrease weights for the floor work.

When I do a workout for the first time, I usually go on the light side (especially if it's a different type of workout than I'm used to or has new moves). Then I keep notes to indicate whether I think I can go up next time. I don't really factor DOMS into it (as it is more likely with a new type of workout, or a new sequence, or just whatever is new to one's body), but how I feel for each exercise.

I've gotten pretty good at judging what weights will work for me just by previewing and in deciding when to increase.

 

[kathryn]

> You really should be trying to get to failure
>(where the last couple of reps, like Shelley said, are HARD)
>if you're looking for strength gains rather than endurance.


Some interesting info:
In his "Encyclopedia of Muscle and Strength" Jim Stoppani (PhD in exercise physiology)writes all about the differences between working out for strength and working out for muscle size. According to him, for best size gains, one should work to failure on almost every set, with less rest between sets. For strength gains, one should work to failure on only the last set, with longer rests between sets.

 

[FiddleFit]

I just realized that I never replied to your replies. Thank you very much for your answers. I think I do need to focus more on how the weights feel, and be less concerned with wanting to complete the workout as Cathe made it. I've been reading through the P90X manuals, and I like their attitude that you work at your hardest, and stop when you've reached your limit.

Thanks!
Sandra