When do you move onto progressively heavier weights?

[fuzzybabybunny]

About a month and a half ago I started lifting. Started out doing bicep curls with 20lb being the most I could handle for only a small amount of reps. I'm now up to 40lb weights doing 10x4 or however many sets afterwards that I feel like. I generally move onto heavier weights when the old weights feel too light, which seems to happen magically. For example, I didn't have the chance to work out at all for 3 days during Thanksgiving. Before Thanksgiving I was doing 35lb weights with moderate difficulty. When I got back the 35lb weights magically felt a LOT lighter.

So when do you know when to move onto heavier weights? Is 20lb increase in 1.5 months pretty slow?

 

[brikis98]

If you're new to weight lifting, you typically will want to try a linear progression in order to make the fastest gains.

1. For each exercise, pick a set/rep combination appropriate for your goals, training experience and exercise. For example, if you are relatively new to lifting and just trying to build strength, 3-5 sets of 1-5 reps tends to be most appropriate. We'll use 3x5 as the example here.
2. Each time you walk into the weight room, you have a target weight X for each exercise. If you complete the 3x5 with X lbs, the next time you do the exercise, add Y lbs and try to do a 3x5 again. Continue adding Y lbs each workout until you get stuck (see step 3). The value of Y depends on the exercise - for something like deadlift, a newbie could add 10-20lbs each time. For the OH press, however, it's typically hard to add more than 2-5lbs per workout.
3. If you get to some weight X where you can't quite finish all 3 sets of 5, re-try the same weight on the next 2 or 3 workouts. If you get it then, continue increasing weight as indicated in step 2. If after ~3 tries, you still can't get all 3x5, do a soft deload. This means reducing the weight by ~10% and working your way back up over the next several workouts. This usually lets you break through plateaus. If after a soft deload, you're still stuck, try a hard deload - it's roughly the same thing, except you reduce the weight by ~20%. If after soft & hard deloads, you can no longer make linear progress on your lifts, you are probably done with the beginner stage and a linear progression will not work for you any more. At this point (which I doubt you'll get to in 1.5 months), you'll need to seek an intermediate program which focuses on making gains on a weekly basis rather than every single workout.

Also, I hope your workout includes more than just bicep curls 🙂

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Increase it every time if you can do it. Like I said, you're overthinking things. Just freaking increase the weight, lol.

 

[conorvansmack]

Everyone starts out as a beginner and beginners will meet the most success when they follow a linear program, like brikis98 said.

I had very limited lifting experience before. My coaches in high school never told me what specific exercises to do or how to do them. When I was working out on my own, I was very disorganized and sort of floated around the gym from machine to machine doing isolation/bodybuilding exercises.

Once I started a program, things clicked into place for me. I knew what I was going to be doing each time and how much I would be lifting. I feel much more efficient at the gym now. I'm also seeing better gains since I'm on a much simpler plan. Starting Strength and StrongLift (you may have seen them mentioned around here once or twice) are great.

 

[sash1]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Increase it every time if you can do it. Like I said, you're overthinking things. Just freaking increase the weight, lol.

yeah, pretty much, learn to love those 2.5lb plates, they're very usefull

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Thanks for the tips. For some reason I was always under the impression that I should fully "acclimate" myself to a weight before jumping on a greater one. Like, acclimate to the point where it no longer becomes challenging to me, then move on.

 

[conorvansmack]

You have to keep gradually challenging yourself, otherwise you'll stop progressing. This is one of those axioms that's applicable all over the place.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Thanks for the tips. For some reason I was always under the impression that I should fully "acclimate" myself to a weight before jumping on a greater one. Like, acclimate to the point where it no longer becomes challenging to me, then move on.

Always push yourself. Find someone who can do more of something than yourself and then beat them. Always try to go up in weight, even if it's just 1 lb or a 1/2 lb. Gains are gains. The more you push, the faster you'll get strong.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Thanks for the tips. For some reason I was always under the impression that I should fully "acclimate" myself to a weight before jumping on a greater one. Like, acclimate to the point where it no longer becomes challenging to me, then move on.

If the weight isn't hard, you're not doing it right. For me, the weights never felt lighter - my body was just able to hold the load as I progressed.

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunnySo when do you know when to move onto heavier weights? Is 20lb increase in 1.5 months pretty slow?

the weights talk to you & say things like "lift me, baby".

until you get older & the weights stop talking.

but seriously, or less un-seriously, i remember once on a Cybex
machine at the Bay Club in SF. it was sort of like a bird-flapping-its-wings
kind of motion, except not a pull-down, a rotation. it felt so good i hogged
the machine for about 45 minutes.

another time at a Gold's in San Diego i did the whole stack on a triceps
push down. that was a rush.

so, it's not like every workout is going to be exhilarating & fun, but some
of them should be.

i think a lot of the answer depends on how you feel afterwards. if you
feel great & have some energy left to eat right & can get a good night's
sleep, those are signs that you're lifting the right amount of weights.

i wonder if SociallyChallenged is going to come along & say i don't
know what i'm talking about.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Originally posted by: wwswimming

but seriously, or less un-seriously, i remember once on a Cybex
machine at the Bay Club in SF. it was sort of like a bird-flapping-its-wings
kind of motion, except not a pull-down, a rotation. it felt so good i hogged
the machine for about 45 minutes.

another time at a Gold's in San Diego i did the whole stack on a triceps
push down. that was a rush.

:thumbsup: