Same exercise different stage question

[Glassonion91168]

Hi all,

I noticed that some of the exercises in a stage appear again in another stage (example, Bulgarian Split Squat). If in the previous stage my last set of my last workout was 20lbs, is that where I should begin when the exercise comes up again for the next stage?

Just curious, what kind of weight increases do any of you implement when doing an exercise in a workout? If the workout has 3 reps, are you increasing your weight at all with each rep? When you do the workout again a few days later, are you starting at a higher weight from your last rep of the last workout, or are you stepping back a little?

If this post is really confusing, let me know, and I'll try to think of a better way to ask my questions.

Thanks!
Lisa

[LancelotsLover]

I think you're confusing sets and reps. The number of "reps" is how many times you lift the weight when you do an exercise; you were using 3 as your example. The number of "sets" is how many groups of 3 reps do you do. I don't think anyone is going to increase weight on each rep (e.g. I do one squat with 65lbs on the barbell, stop, add weight, then do another squat, then stop, add weight, do my third squat!), but on sets she might.

I only start stage 2 next, so I haven't had to deal with the same exercise in a subsequent stage yet, but I see that step ups from stage 1 are repeated in stage 2, so I will have to deal with it very soon. I think I will probably do one set in the first workout at the weight I used for the last set in my prior workout with step ups, and if it seems reasonable to add for the next set, I will add.

During stage 1, I added an average of 5lbs. to every exercise, every workout. If a weight seemed hard for all three sets one day, the next time I would do the first set at the same weight, and judge if I should add or not, depending on how it felt that next time. Sometimes I'd add the weight for sets 2 and 3, and sometimes not. I did add weight for all sets when switching to a lower number of reps. So, if I was doing 12.5 lbs. for DB shoulder presses at 10 reps, then the next workout was 8 reps, I would go to 15lbs. right away.

I think you need to just listen to your body mostly. It will tell you if you are doing too much weight and you should back off. If you make 3 reps easily on every set, you're not challenging yourself. I always figured that on my last set, the last few reps should be really hard, then I know I'm working to potential.

Hope that helps.

[Glassonion91168]

Whoops. I meant to say "sets," not "reps." I meant to ask if you increase your weight between each "set." Let me try again:

Hi all,

I noticed that some of the exercises in a stage appear again in another stage (example, Bulgarian Split Squat). If in the previous stage my last set of my last workout was 20lbs, is that where I should begin when the exercise comes up again for the next stage?

Just curious, what kind of weight increases do any of you implement when doing an exercise in a workout? If the workout has 3 sets, are you increasing your weight at all with each set? When you do the workout again a few days later, are you starting at a higher weight from your last set of the last workout, or are you stepping back a little?

If this post is really confusing, let me know, and I'll try to think of a better way to ask my questions.

Thanks!
Lisa

[missjane]

Each set should be challenging. Only you will know if it's time to increase the weight or not. Generally, you should be able to lift high weights at lower reps; hence, the longer rest periods.

[rubyam]

I used the ending weight from one stage as a guideline for the starting weight the next time. I usually only adjusted the weight during one workout when I felt that I picked something too light. In terms of increasing across workouts I found I could do this a lot in the earlier stages and not too much in the end. Sometimes I felt that I could increase, and did then noticed my form suffering so dropped back. I guess the best guideline is to do something challenging. If you are doing high reps you're supposed to feel like you could do a few more at the end. For low reps you should feel like you can't even do one more.

[Glassonion91168]

Thanks all!