Not in too dissimilar a situation having put on over 20lbs onto an already rather "hefty" frame since launching the JA606 site.
I think the rule of thumb is once you can do 12 reps fairly easily you need to up the weights till you are back in the 6-8 range. For Hypertrophy (muscle growth) the muscle essentially needs to be stressed, so if you are using the same weight for more than a few months you probably wont see as much in the way of muscle growth.
Over the last year I've managed to work up to about 19kg DBs(from 10kg) for my Curls/Shoulder work but my wrists haven't quite held up as well, so having to keep it cautious at the moment after a few strains. I was "Breaking" the wrist during my curls.
Protein does aid recovery but it is also an extra 200cals, which I suppose you can live with if you are doing a reasonable amount of cardio, you will probably still lose weight.
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
Forget the 1-4 crap......Reps that low you are just asking for injury....
I like to go 8-12 on everything....really get the blood poured into the muscles.....
Make sure you get enough rest between sets....
Keep the sets number down!! See too many new starters doing way to many sets...
Three of each max......three to four exercises per muscle...
and enjoy it!!!
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
6-8 reps per set is what I do. If I get a spot I aim for 8 non stop if not I will get 6 and either lower weight or take a 15 sec break and finish the set.
Recently I've been jazzing up my number of exercises, I've just done a new shoulder routine consisting of 7 exercises 3 sets of 6-8.
I wouldn't go less then 6 coz as TRUSSMAN66 says you're asking for injury.
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
I think low reps excersises that put strain on the shoulder is one of the most common causes of people snapping stuff and needing surgery. A Low rep bench and rotator cuff tear is very common combination even amongst experienced people.
Sorry for the late replies gents, been working. Appreciate the feedback - even if some of it is a bit contradictory.
The reason I was all upper body is because the calf was very weak, so, I could work the sets sitting down, then it was stable, but not happy to put too much pressure on it.
Now that I'm runing again and the leg is strengthening, I'm going to be incorporating some squats, lunges, calf raises etc in there.
In terms of the number of sets, I was hoping to cause hypertrophy purely by increasing the weight.
My reasoning was thus
10 reps with 12 kg with good form = easy
10 reps with 12kg with good form ( having already completed 60 reps ) = much harder - resulting in muscle tear and therefor muscle growth.
It's really more a question of what I'm working with.
I was thinking that the first few sets would " warm up " the muscle so to speak, while the last few would exhaust it.
I'm sure you can see my logic - however flawed it might be.
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
I'm working on a caloric deficit right now as weight loss is my main priority.
Would you suggest staying off the weights for a month or 2 to get the weight down to an acceptable level then look at building muscle.
Or is it possible to build strength and muscle mass while losing weight?
I know you can't turn fat into muscle ( although it might sound like that's wha I'm saying ), but I'm wondering if as I get smaller, can I see an increase in functional muscle mass and strength.
obviously at a serious level this would be a huge ask, but I'm still something of a blob.
Can the shoulders get bigger while the gut get's smaller?
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
vik, the deficit only approach is something i really struggle with, so kinda decided if I was gonna be eating an extra 200-300 cals regularly i might as well make sure I am training and lifting fairly hard too. Have lost about 14lbs, but still put on a reasonable amount of muscle.
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
Get a calorie tracker on your smartphone (I use MyFitnessPal). Then monitor what you are eating.
This may annoy a lot of people, but it doesn't matter where your calories and macronutrients come from as long as you stick to your calculated numbers you will be fine.
Had 175g of Protein, 90g of fat today (the rest carbs), making a calorie total of 2950 calories (aiming for 3000. On a bulk)
Have used myfitnesspal on and off. But if I am hitting the pub or takeaway using the app is just a record of the bad day.
Why wouldn't you recommend the use of weights when on a cut? That's only likely to accelerate catabolism.
DaStuDogg (U9291)
Who suggested that????
Don't listen to that I made the same mistake 2yrs ago.
I lost sooooooo much muscle (and some fat) and I became skinny fat!!
^Are you saying you lost muscle by continuing to lift weights on a cut?
Honestly, lifting weights on a cut should help reduce any catabolism.
Even if you're bulking, if you stop lifting the weights you were lifting, then your body has no need to retain the muscle with which it had been lifting.
Dropping calories may entail some muscle loss, but ensuring you're still lifting heavy weights means that your body still has a need to maintain muscle - thus offsetting catabolism to some degree.
Perhaps you dropped calories too much?
^No, I'm saying I stopped lifting!
I was running like a on the treadmill 4 times a week
^Oh right! Haha, yeah - definitely don't want to be doing that
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
Ive just started a 2-month cut. Im doing Beachbody Insanity which is cardio intensive but on the rest/recovery days Im switching in lifting days from P90X.
Overall it just means switching a cardio day for one of my 3 lifting days I did previously.
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
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High Reps - Increasing Weights
Page 1 of 2
posted on 4/9/12
Not in too dissimilar a situation having put on over 20lbs onto an already rather "hefty" frame since launching the JA606 site.
I think the rule of thumb is once you can do 12 reps fairly easily you need to up the weights till you are back in the 6-8 range. For Hypertrophy (muscle growth) the muscle essentially needs to be stressed, so if you are using the same weight for more than a few months you probably wont see as much in the way of muscle growth.
Over the last year I've managed to work up to about 19kg DBs(from 10kg) for my Curls/Shoulder work but my wrists haven't quite held up as well, so having to keep it cautious at the moment after a few strains. I was "Breaking" the wrist during my curls.
Protein does aid recovery but it is also an extra 200cals, which I suppose you can live with if you are doing a reasonable amount of cardio, you will probably still lose weight.
posted on 4/9/12
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 4/9/12
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 4/9/12
Forget the 1-4 crap......Reps that low you are just asking for injury....
I like to go 8-12 on everything....really get the blood poured into the muscles.....
Make sure you get enough rest between sets....
Keep the sets number down!! See too many new starters doing way to many sets...
Three of each max......three to four exercises per muscle...
and enjoy it!!!
posted on 4/9/12
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 4/9/12
6-8 reps per set is what I do. If I get a spot I aim for 8 non stop if not I will get 6 and either lower weight or take a 15 sec break and finish the set.
Recently I've been jazzing up my number of exercises, I've just done a new shoulder routine consisting of 7 exercises 3 sets of 6-8.
I wouldn't go less then 6 coz as TRUSSMAN66 says you're asking for injury.
posted on 4/9/12
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 4/9/12
I think low reps excersises that put strain on the shoulder is one of the most common causes of people snapping stuff and needing surgery. A Low rep bench and rotator cuff tear is very common combination even amongst experienced people.
posted on 4/9/12
Sorry for the late replies gents, been working. Appreciate the feedback - even if some of it is a bit contradictory.
The reason I was all upper body is because the calf was very weak, so, I could work the sets sitting down, then it was stable, but not happy to put too much pressure on it.
Now that I'm runing again and the leg is strengthening, I'm going to be incorporating some squats, lunges, calf raises etc in there.
In terms of the number of sets, I was hoping to cause hypertrophy purely by increasing the weight.
My reasoning was thus
10 reps with 12 kg with good form = easy
10 reps with 12kg with good form ( having already completed 60 reps ) = much harder - resulting in muscle tear and therefor muscle growth.
It's really more a question of what I'm working with.
I was thinking that the first few sets would " warm up " the muscle so to speak, while the last few would exhaust it.
I'm sure you can see my logic - however flawed it might be.
posted on 4/9/12
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 4/9/12
I'm working on a caloric deficit right now as weight loss is my main priority.
Would you suggest staying off the weights for a month or 2 to get the weight down to an acceptable level then look at building muscle.
Or is it possible to build strength and muscle mass while losing weight?
I know you can't turn fat into muscle ( although it might sound like that's wha I'm saying ), but I'm wondering if as I get smaller, can I see an increase in functional muscle mass and strength.
obviously at a serious level this would be a huge ask, but I'm still something of a blob.
Can the shoulders get bigger while the gut get's smaller?
posted on 4/9/12
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 4/9/12
vik, the deficit only approach is something i really struggle with, so kinda decided if I was gonna be eating an extra 200-300 cals regularly i might as well make sure I am training and lifting fairly hard too. Have lost about 14lbs, but still put on a reasonable amount of muscle.
posted on 5/9/12
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 5/9/12
Get a calorie tracker on your smartphone (I use MyFitnessPal). Then monitor what you are eating.
This may annoy a lot of people, but it doesn't matter where your calories and macronutrients come from as long as you stick to your calculated numbers you will be fine.
Had 175g of Protein, 90g of fat today (the rest carbs), making a calorie total of 2950 calories (aiming for 3000. On a bulk)
posted on 5/9/12
Have used myfitnesspal on and off. But if I am hitting the pub or takeaway using the app is just a record of the bad day.
posted on 5/9/12
Why wouldn't you recommend the use of weights when on a cut? That's only likely to accelerate catabolism.
posted on 5/9/12
DaStuDogg (U9291)
Who suggested that????
Don't listen to that I made the same mistake 2yrs ago.
I lost sooooooo much muscle (and some fat) and I became skinny fat!!
posted on 5/9/12
^Are you saying you lost muscle by continuing to lift weights on a cut?
Honestly, lifting weights on a cut should help reduce any catabolism.
Even if you're bulking, if you stop lifting the weights you were lifting, then your body has no need to retain the muscle with which it had been lifting.
Dropping calories may entail some muscle loss, but ensuring you're still lifting heavy weights means that your body still has a need to maintain muscle - thus offsetting catabolism to some degree.
Perhaps you dropped calories too much?
posted on 5/9/12
^No, I'm saying I stopped lifting!
I was running like a on the treadmill 4 times a week
posted on 5/9/12
^Oh right! Haha, yeah - definitely don't want to be doing that
posted on 5/9/12
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 5/9/12
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 5/9/12
Ive just started a 2-month cut. Im doing Beachbody Insanity which is cardio intensive but on the rest/recovery days Im switching in lifting days from P90X.
Overall it just means switching a cardio day for one of my 3 lifting days I did previously.
posted on 7/9/12
Comment deleted by Site Moderator
Page 1 of 2