What do you guys think of this?

[DerickVonD]

Ok, so last night I was struggling with curling. So, instead of lowering the weight I did 6 reps for 5 sets on my curls and it worked perfectly. I am curling 30lbs and I usually do 10 reps for 3 sets on all my exercises, but I noticed once I go over 7 reps with curling 30lbs I start to struggle badly. I was thinking of switching to 6 reps fpr 5 sets on all my exercises and increasing the weight and then when my body gets used to that after about 6 weeks I was going to go back to 10 reps for 3 sets or even 8 reps for 4 sets. and I was going to cycle between them every 6 weeks untill my body gets used to it. So, for example I'm only benching 80lbs right now and I'm doing 10 reps for 3 sets. Next week I was thinking about increasing that to 100lbs and doing 6 reps for 4 sets. Then after 6 weeks when I hit 130lb I was going to take 10lbs off and bench 120lbs 10 reps for 3 sets or 8 reps for 4 sets. I was goign to do this for alittle while until my body gets used to it and then I was going to change it again. How does this sound? With my curls I was going to do the same thing only instead of 10lbs I was going to do it with 5lbs. I'm curling 30lbs now 6x5, so once I get to 45lbs I was going to switch to 40lbs 10x3 or 8x4.

[Pleonastic]

Your post seems real confusing to me and scattershot. Maybe it's just me, but word your posts better and ask one direct question. You will most likely get more helpful responses.
Then things will branch off and you can get other points involved. Just trying to help!

[Minus83]

Seems like he wants an opinion on increasing weight, while decreasing the amount of reps and increasing the amount of sets. Which is common sense isnt it? lol

[DerickVonD]

I wanted to know specifically if you guys think that I should add 10lbs when I do less reps and take 10lbs off when I do more reps. Is 10lbs a good amount or should I do alittle more like 15lbs.

[Pleonastic]

I wanted to know specifically if you guys think that I should add 10lbs when I do less reps and take 10lbs off when I do more reps. Is 10lbs a good amount or should I do alittle more like 15lbs.

I think you should experiment using the "muscle building rep range" of about 6-12 rep sets.

Your 6 rep set is obviously going to be heavier than your 12. Do maybe 3 sets per excersise so do 6 rep then 8 then 12.

Do each set to failure so your just barely getting the final rep. Good luck!

[littlejeni]

When I started lifting I stayed in the "3 sets more reps" comfort zone, but the more you become intuned with your body and when it is at failure/fatigue you can play with your weights and reps more.

You should change it up frequently, never train the same. Some days I super-set a lot, with high reps (15-20) and go to failure by set 3-5, depending on how many sets I'm doing. On other days I rep low and lift heavy so that I am almost fatigued on set 1 and 2, but I make sure I fail on last set even if I have to up the weight and miss a couple of reps.

My strength has shot through the roof in the last year by concentrating on the failure aspect. For example on heavy days: I warm up with 95lbs BB bench press at 12 reps (I don't count this set if it's a warm-up). I take it to 115 lbs for 10 reps for set 1, if that was too easy I'll take it to 125lbs for set 2 and take it up or leave it depending on how I feel for set 3. If I get all 10 on set 3, then the weight was too light.

Your body is your own lab, experiment with it!

[DerickVonD]

Thanks everybody. I'm just so used to a routine that it's hard to break. BTW I'm doing squats, front squats and deadlifts. Do you think thats too much? Do I even really need front squats? I love doing regular squats but I hate deadlifts.

[littlejeni]

Personally, I believe the more variety the better.