Which is better?

[Levi]

One of the things I liked about the P90X series is that you chose the weight and did as many reps as you could until your muscles were completely tired.

In your educated opinions, when doing a Cathe workout, do you always do the number of reps she does at a challenging weight or do you pick a weight you know will bring you to failure and just do as many reps as you can?

Say for example you are doing chest presses from whatever series. Now you know 40 pounds will kill you if you do all the reps that way, but 35 pounds isn't really working it anymore. Do you do as much as you can at the heavier weight and proceed until failure, regardless of how many reps are left, or do you pick a weight you know you can finish the whole set with?

Does that make sense?

I think I inhibit my own progress because I feel compelled to do ALL the reps, and therefore, do not always pick the weight that will bring my muscles to failure, but only until I get a bit tired. I may get the "good" pain, but I can go week after week without upping my weight because I have it in my head that if Cathe does 2 sets of 16 reps, then by God so am I! And if I can't do the whole set with the weight I pick, I'll just use a more conservative weight.

You thoughts/opinions are always appreciated!

P.S. This is really eminenz2 posting.

 

[MSJ]

I'd like to know this too.

Maggie

 

[CathydsRNA]

Hi, I always pick a weight that will bring me to failure by the last rep or sometimes the rep before the last rep. Its trial and error and I keep a log of the weights I use for each workout because its frequently diffrent even for the same exercises due to the diffrences in counts and or the number of reps between different workouts. If a perfect weight isn't available, for example you jump from 15lb dumbells to 20lbs and if 15 isn't bringing you to failure but you can only complete a few with 20lbs, I would use 20lbs until you can't go further and then fill in with the 15lbs. This is how I typically add weight.

 

[MSJ]

Thanks, Cathy.

The jump from 15 to 20 or 20 to 25 is so big, that this sounds like a good solution. I wish they made 17.5 and 22.5 dumbells--the non-adjustable kind that is. I hate taking time to adjust.

Maggie

 

[Mic]

I think they do have those weight sizes but only in the clubs, I could be wrong. You know it would be interesting to see what Cathe says about this? Although I'm with the previous response I would just go with what is going to exhaust my muscle group and then finish up with a lighter weight.

 

[Lunacat]

I also pick a challenging weight that I couldn't finish Cathe's set with, then when failure hits, I'll drop the weight down a bit and finish the set.

You bring up an interesting topic though. I started working out with Cathe 4+ years ago and she brought me from a flabby 140 (5'4") to a tight 115. I'm now about 126 with 17.5% bodyfat and much more muscle than before, all thanks to Cathe. So it stands to reason that I'd stick pretty closely to what she's doing in the DVDs in terms of reps speed, weight and everything else. Lately, I've really wanted to expand into some exercises or methods I read about in M&F Hers, like dips to failure, or Siff squats, but I never do them because I use Cathe's workouts instead. I hope I'm not rambling too much here but I think it gets to the heart of what you're asking: stick hard and fast to what Cathe is doing, or add your own twist (or reps, sets, weights, etc.) to the workouts.

 

[clareMc]

Sticking haard and fast to what caathe is doing is a good, general rule. But, if you have plateaued at a weight that you can now use to complete all reps with ease, the only way to move to the next weight level is to up it to that more challenging weight, do as many reps as you can with that weight, then finish the set out with the lighter weight. It's a sort of drop setting technique.

Clare

 

[hippahips]

Like everyone, I always use a weight that I know will bring me to failure. Once there, I use lighter weights to finish the set.

If I know 40 lbs. will kill me but 35 won't work anymore, I'd use a weight between 40 and 35 -- 37.5. Obviously, you can't get such a weight with dumbbells, so I'd use a barbell for this.

Another alternative would be for me to use 40 lbs. until it actually kills me (two 20-lb. db's) then switch to a 37.5-lb. barbell.

When strength training, I keep in mind that I don't have to do all the reps. It takes only 8 reps per set (some insist on 6) to work for muscle mass. When endurance training, I do try to finish all reps. For me, I'd have no excuse since I'm using lighter weights.

Pinky

 

[Levi]

Thank you for all the responses.

Depending on the exercise, sometimes I can match Cathe, and can now exceed her (but rarely) in weight one one or two exercises, so I do see some progress. Often times I can match her.

In most other exercises, though (mostly chest and some shoulder exercises) I still cannot match her weight or reps.

So if I understand what many of you are saying, here are two strategies I have to get to match what Cathe is doing, with a preference towards the first one:

1. Heavy up as much as I can go, and when I get close to or at failure, drop to a lighter weight and finish the set.

OR

2. Heavy up and do as many reps as I can until the muscle fails, regardless of how many Cathe does, with the obvious goal of eventually matching Cathe's reps and speed, and don't worry about finishing the set. If I have to slow down my count or stop that's OK.

Am I understanding?


Thanks!

P.S. I'm still eminenz2 , but I've changed my usernames on the couple of different boards I visit to match my new email address. My old address was hopelessly inundated with junk. Thanks for humoring me !

 

[tytbody]

if it's a dumbbell exercise you can increase your weight with plate mates. They are 1 pound disks that stick to your weights. or get the sports block that corey everson uses that increase by just 3 pounds, 3,6,9 etc or get the inbetween barbells if that is a help. I was told you drop down also if you can't finish at the higher weight like a previous poster suggested. then you are able to finish the set.

 

[CathydsRNA]

Yes. Nix idea #2. You should try to finish the set with a lower weight after doing as many as you can with the higher weight. If you are doing a Slow and Heavy workout, it is probably OK to do just one set of 8 reps if you have increased your weight for that workout
but I always still complete the other 2 sets even if it means I have to drop the weight to the one I was previously using for that workout.For example, if I always used 50lb for static lunges and then went up to 60 lbs, I do 60lbs for ther first set only and then do 50lbs for the last 2 sets.

 

[kathryn]

I've thought of this myself. Working out with most video/DVD workouts (P90X is the only exception I've found) has you doing a set number of reps rather than necessarily working to failure on the muscle.

IMO, the best results would come from following somewhat of a bodybuilding protocol. Set a rep range (say 10-12) and start with aweight that will let you perform 10 reps to failure. Stay with that weight until you can do all 12 reps, then up the weight so that you return to a 10-rep-to-failure situation. You can apply this to Cathe's tapes by taking the number of reps she does as the top number (as in the 12 above) and going heavier than you would be able to use for that number of reps.