Training Progress: When and How to Increase Strength Training? Tips on how and when to increase working weight How to increase working weights

Hey! Today we will talk about a very important topic, how to increase working weights in exercise.

For a long time, probably, like all people starting to engage in bodybuilding, I seriously did not think about the fact that you need to constantly increase the load.

I had an idea in my head that it was necessary for the load to grow, but I had no idea how to do it. In the end, I stood still until I began to study this topic seriously.

How to find a working weight in an exercise

Working weight

Bodybuilding, in the classic sense, involves high volume training with a lot of sets in the middle repetition range.

In general, it's not about the number of repetitions per se. It's about the TIME OF THE MUSCLES UNDER LOAD!

Reproduction of energy in muscles

Our body and muscles are a constantly adapting mechanism. When there is an increased consumption of energy in the muscles, they urgently begin to synthesize a new one. Only there is a limit for any process.

There are two main ways to synthesize energy:

Glycolysis.
Oxidation.

For glycolysis to begin, at least 30 seconds must pass, and at least 2 MINUTES to start oxidation!

We will consider only the first method, because oxidation is suitable for very long-term stress, from which, in the classical sense, muscles do not grow.

By the way, I wrote about such training in the article. With their help, you can grow muscles completely.

So, it is glycolysis that allows us to take a long-term approach of, say, a minute.

This is good if you want to develop strength endurance, but if you want to build muscle mass, then it is bad.

Because as soon as glycolysis is connected to the work, 30-35 seconds after the start of the approach, the myosin bridges begin to receive enough energy to complete the coupling-uncoupling and there will be no microtraumas.

The attentive reader is interested in the question: why, if the muscles begin to receive sufficient energy financing, we can not continue the approach with the same working weight?

Friends, the fact is that the resynthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the muscles causes the accumulation of phosphoric acid (we are talking about glycolysis) and lactic acid (when we are talking about oxidation).

An increase in the acidity of the environment, in turn, leads to a decrease in the ability of myosin bridges to adhere, therefore, the strength of muscle contraction decreases.

That is why you will not be able to work with heavy weight for long.

But for most, this system will be enough in the beginning.

Conclusion: After the number of repetitions in the approach has reached 12, we increase the working weight by 2.5-5 kg, after which we again gradually increase the number of repetitions to 12.

conclusions

Let us, friends, summarize all of the above.

Working weight Is the weight of the apparatus (weights) that the athlete uses in a given repetition interval with the correct technique for performing the exercise.
Effective work approach- this is when you managed to injure muscle fibers due to energy stores (creatine phosphate), before the rate of energy reproduction evens out with the rate of these costs.

There are two main ways to synthesize energy:
Glycolysis.
Oxidation.

We select the weight that allows us to get muscle failure in the range of 7-30 seconds!
Heavy weight: Do fewer reps (slow pace).
Lightweight: Do more reps (fast pace).

We use an increase in working weight and an increase in the number of repetitions for the progression of the load.

That's all for me, friends.

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Site Master and Fitness Trainer | more >>

Genus. 1984 Has been training since 1999. Has been training since 2007 .. CCM in powerlifting. Champion of Russia and South of Russia according to AWPC. Champion of Krasnodar Region according to IPF. 1 category in weightlifting. 2-time medalist of the Krasnodar Territory Championship in m / a. Author of over 700 articles on fitness and amateur athleticism. Author and co-author of 5 books.

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Date: 2012-10-08 Views: 118 406 Grade: 4.9

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A bit of theory

The training load is the entire volume of work per workout, which consists of the total number of approaches, lifts and the average weight of the apparatus (barbell or something else). Thus, the weight of the projectile is one of the components of the training load. That is, if during the training you performed 30 approaches, on average 10 lifts each, and the average weight of the projectile was 50 kg, then the volume of work = 15,000 kg (30 X 10 X 50). As you can see, the load is measured in kg. This means that by changing the number of approaches, and / or the number of lifts, and / or the weight of the projectile, we thereby change the training load. It's easy to guess that the more the weight of the projectile, the fewer lifts you do. This means that the total load for the workout is less. By the way, you can use the energy consumption for a workout.

Practice

Varying the weights of the shells is important primarily for those who want to increase the strength or volume of muscles. Since this is a decisive factor for these indicators. If your goal is to get rid of excess fat, then you need to change the weight too. But the main thing here will already be - the total amount of work done. I think that you do not need to thoroughly know human physiology in order to understand: increasing the weight of the shells at each workout for at least a few months is simply unrealistic. Such "linear" weight growth will lead you to a dead end, the name of which is overtraining (). All coaches say, "To get bigger and stronger, you have to lift ever heavier weights." And they are right. But you don't need to take everything so literally. An old saying goes: "To jump, you need to sit down." To cope with a heavier barbell, you need to take a good rest before that. How can you rest if you are going to increase weights at each workout? Therefore, the scheme used by many successful athletes is "Two steps forward - one step back." I'll try to explain what this means. Let's take an approach in which you give all your best - for 100%. That is, if you are maximally able to squeeze 100 kg at 1 time, then this approach is 100% (and 95 x 1 - 95%). If you can squeeze 80 kg 10 times as much as possible, then this approach is 100% (and 80 x 9 or 72.5 x 10 is 90%). I think the point is clear. So, working at each workout 100% (no matter with what weight), you do not give your body a rest, and sooner or later you overtrain and run into a dead end. And it doesn't matter if you want to get bigger, stronger or lose weight - the laws of physiology work regardless of your desires. Such a scheme for changing the weight of the projectile can be depicted like this:
Where this option is taken as a basis, when you perform the same exercise once a week. As you can see, after working at maximum, about 3 weeks of load reduction follow. And the higher you "climbed" the lower you need to "go down" (relative to the height). I want to emphasize that this is an approximate diagram intended only to illustrate this method. But I think the principle is clear. And everyone, based on it, will be able to build their own individual schemes. It is also important to change not only the weight of the projectile, but also the number of repetitions. Choose the maximum and minimum working reps for yourself and vary within these limits. If the goal is strength, then (as a rule) it is 1 - 6 times. If the mass is 6 - 12 times. If the reduction in subcutaneous fat is 12 - 25 times. Do you see what I mean? In other words, you must change the weight of the shells in two planes at once. Simultaneously changing both the number of repetitions and the% of maximum possibilities. Let me give you an example from my own experience. In one workout, I did a 240 kg deadlift for 2 reps (100%). After a week I put on 200 kg. And although I can pull 8 times, I only pull 6 times (75%). A week later I put on 220 kg and do it only 2 times, but I can do it 4 times (50%). A week later, I put 260 kg for 1 time (100%). Hope this article was helpful to you. If so, then share it with your friends and subscribe to new articles. Good luck!

By the way, you can order yourself

The basis of any workout in the gym is working weight and number of sets. These are two inseparable concepts, therefore, we will consider them within the framework of one topic. Below we will analyze the principles and rules of weight selection for different categories of practitioners.

For those who are in the hall for the first time

If this is your first time at the gym, you need to take into account your preparation. Often there is none at all. How to determine the working weight in this case? So far, no way.

People from that and go to swing, which "is already impatient." Therefore, the first training session is a very important moment. If you get a bad impression from (or after) her, you will not come here a second time.

Usually the trainer selects the number of sets and weight. Wait a minute! Does the coach have the necessary education, courses? Or is it just a homebrew jock who has achieved a rapid progression in bad ways? And we must be afraid of them.

The first workout should be introductory. We recommend not to pick up weights yet, but to take what is not difficult for you at the moment. That is, if this is a barbell, then one that you can easily lift. After all, you will lift the bar more than once, so even the weight that seems too light to you for one concept will put a tangible load on the muscles. This is important not only for beginners, but also for children weakened by a long break.

So why is it important to work with minimal weights on your first workout:

Your muscles don't know what iron is.
You don't have enough stamina yet.
You do not know the technique of doing the exercises.

Simply put, you will easily get stretched, or your muscles will ache for a week after training. Believe me, after such a second time you hardly want to come to the hall.

Competent weight selection at the first visit - an empty bar for bench press, 2-5 kg dumbbells for other exercises. If you want to squat - an empty bar. Learn the technique! And if the trainer tells you that the weight is light and you need to add - do not listen to him. This is the first training session.

There have been many cases when, after such training, a person has a fever for a week, and he cannot either bend his arms or straighten. Why do you need it?

The first workout is a minimum of weights. The same goes for the number of sets. We recommend doing 2 approaches. But the program can be taken from the trainer. Or have a coach show you what to do that day.

An example for beginners

Your coach told you to do 3 sets for all exercises. Reps 10-15. Your task is to do 2 sets with the same number of repetitions. For bench / squat / deadlift, it is better to take an empty bar or add 10 kg. Flexion-extension of arms, press of dumbbells - 5-6 kg. And isolated exercises on the shoulders are best done with 3-4 kg. You will understand why.

If everything is very easy, you are most likely doing the wrong thing. In the case of dumbbell dilutions through the sides, for example, if it is easy for you, then most likely you bend your arms a lot, or did not turn your elbows up. Wrong technique - easier to do. Remember!

After a long break

After a forced break in training, we recommend doing 2 sets, instead of 3 or 4. And take 50% of the weights that you did when you were still training. Yes, muscles will ache after training. Strongly. But not so that you fall out of the schedule for a week.

In the future, you will gradually return to your working weights and begin to progress.
Start small and increase the weight in each set: for a barbell by 10 kg, for dumbbells by 2. You will definitely not miss!

Bench Press Example

Warm up - empty bar, 20 times. We hang 10 kg, make an approach. We hang another 10, work. And there we reach 60 kg. If in some approach it became difficult, then the weight in this workout does not need to be increased. In the future, when it becomes difficult, add 1-2 kg each and see the result.

Weight selection during training

Now you know where to start training for the first time or after a long break.
What to do next? And then we will learn to listen to our body and predict the desired weight.

The principle of any progress is to work at the maximum, "to failure." The state of "failure" is a special feeling when you can no longer do a single repetition. Cancellation may occur earlier than planned if you have chosen too much weight. And later, if you made a mistake downward.

For muscle growth, failure should occur within 6-12 reps. If less - you work for strength, if more - for endurance. Therefore, the weight is selected so that you could do at least 6 reps with it, but could not do more than 12. How to guess this weight? By trial and error.

The first approach in any exercise is warm-up. For example, before pressing, you take an empty bar and do 15-20 reps with it. At this moment, you can already feel how easy it is for you. You can compare this feeling with a past workout and roughly calculate the weight for this one.

When you start working with light weights and gradually increase them, at some point you will receive that precious number of kg, with which you will work "to failure". You need to come to this.

This weight will increase from workout to workout. Slowly, but it will be, believe me. Thus, when the desired number of repetitions (6-12) and this weight will be given to you easily - a good sign to add 1-2 kg to the bar. Or increase the number of repetitions if you do them less than 12. And then you will still increase the working weight, returning to the previous number of repetitions.

Finding the right weight right off the bat, especially during the first workouts, is an impossible mission. This is why we start small. And the body itself decides what is a lot for it, and what is just right.

Dependence of weights on training goals

When choosing a weight, you can focus on the following criteria:

If your goal is muscle and mass growth, failure should occur at 6-12 repetitions, as mentioned earlier. If you have, say, on the eighth repetition, try to perform the next workout 9. Then 10, 11, 12. After you have mastered 12 approaches, add weight to the barbell.
If your task is to increase strength, the weights are taken on more significant ones. The failure must occur before 6 repetitions. And you need to do few repetitions in the approaches.
If you're doing endurance work, the weight is reduced so you can do more reps. Refusal should come not at 12 repetitions, but at 30. In general, it is better to go jogging. In your case, it is important to choose the type of sport, and not the number of kg.
Recovery from sprains requires light weights. For a very long time (months) you need to engage in small weights, strengthening the healed ligaments. Haste is dangerous and impractical.

How to be girls

It doesn't matter what gender you are. The mechanism of muscle progress is the same for everyone. It's just that the weights will be different. A man squats with a weight of 100 kg, and a woman - 30-50, for example. The feeling is the same, the same refusal. The principles are the same, so feel free to use the above recommendations.

A separate article on our website is devoted to the selection of dumbbell weights for women.

What to do during a plateau

When you do not feel a surge of strength for a long time, and your results are barely kept at the same level, this means one thing - you have reached a plateau of your capabilities. The strength is not growing, there is no progress. A bad mood and weak self-confidence often leads to a "rollback" of the force.

Now you need to be patient and work hard in the gym. Let the weights be the same. Try to increase them by 0.5 kg, at a minimum. Redefine your lifestyle. Maybe it's not about training at all?

It is believed that in order to overcome the plateau during training, you need to lose working weight. As a rule, this option is good for those who take pharmacology, that is, for professional bodybuilders. Therefore, just be patient and keep the level that you have achieved. In 90% of cases, progress will come.

Keep a training diary. It should contain the date of the lesson, the name of the exercise, the number of approaches and repetitions made, and the weight. You can find the right working weight based on your own records. Your diary is the best guide on how much weight to start training after a break, or where to start your next training session.
Don't put on weight dramatically. Many beginners do this: in the first workout, they reaped an empty bar (20 kg), in the second, already 50 kg. This is stress for the muscles. Not every person will easily survive this. It is optimal to take a step of 10 kg. And if you have already done it, you can raise the working weight by 40 kg in 4 approaches. At the same time, you will find out what your muscles are currently capable of.
When you immediately take the weight you want, you can be wrong. That is, choose a heavy barbell weight. This will lead to the fact that you get tired before the end of the work sets. You don't need any persistence - remove a couple of pancakes from the bar.
Working “to failure” in the first training session is very dangerous. As well as the second. The body must get used to the stress for a month. During this period, your task is not to chase the scales, but to work out the technique. If you can do more, that’s good (and it’s more often than not). Work on your movements, strengthen your ligaments.

Effective Exercises:

Coach advice: Follow the exercise technique. You will achieve better results if you do fewer reps, but in strict accordance with the technique.

One of the basic rules for muscle growth is constantly increasing weight during exercise. In order to track the change in this working weight, the trainee is imperative. Moreover, the paper version is more convenient.

If you exercise without a training diary, and without fixing the working weights, and rely solely on your memory, then monitoring your progress is almost impossible, since you will not be able to remember the weekly weights in the exercises performed.

How often do you need to increase weight?

If you are working to increase muscle mass, committing to a weekly working weight is rule number one, since the weight must constantly increase.

Note: despite the fact that every week it is necessary to add at least 1-2 kg to the weight of the barbell, this does not mean that in a year you will increase the working weight by 100 kg. Obviously, you cannot constantly increase the weight, and weight cycles alternate with light workouts.

How do I keep track of the progress of my scale?

Often the question is how to compare the progress of the working weight, and how to determine which of the loads was more - 5 reps with a weight of 80 kg or 7 reps with a weight of 75 kg? Sometimes it is recommended to multiply the weight, but this is not entirely correct.

For example, in our case, you will need to compare 5 * 80 = 400 kg and 7 * 75 = 585 kg - in the second case, the figure is almost 50% more, but this does not mean that you did the exercise 50% better. For a correct comparison, the 1MP indicator is used.

One max rep

In theory, 1MP (one maximum repetition) is the weight with which you are technically able to perform the exercise correctly once. But it is obvious that in reality this is impossible, since you will not be able to work with such a large weight.

1MP is a purely theoretical number, calculated by the formula, and is used only to compare the working weight. It is strongly discouraged to try to do the exercise with the maximum weight of just one repetition, as it is extremely traumatic.

How is 1MP calculated?

Empirically, based on multiple measurements, the following formula was derived to calculate this indicator: 1MP = WEIGHT / (1.0278- (0.0278 * POVT)). For ease of use, the coefficients are given below (1):

3 reps - 1.059
4 reps - 1.091
5 reps - 1.125
6 reps - 1.161
7 reps - 1,200
8 reps - 1.242
9 reps - 1.286
10 reps - 1.330

How do I use the odds?

Above, we tried to compare 5 reps with a weight of 80 kg and 7 reps with a weight of 75 kg. To determine 1MP, you need to multiply the working weight by the coefficient of repetitions made with this weight. In our example, these will be the following numbers: 80 * 1.125 and 75 * 1.2.

Both in the first and in the second case, the result is 90 kg. Conclusion: despite the fact that more repetitions were done, there was no real progress in the working weight, although multiplying and calculating the total lifted weight gave a completely different result.

What is 1MP for?

In addition to the task of tracking progress in basic exercises, the 1MP indicator may be required to calculate the optimal working weight. In this case, 1MP is taken as 100%, for the maximum, and decreasing coefficients are applied.

For example, for muscle growth in a beginner, it is not critical with what weight he works - with 60% of 1 MP, or with 90% of 1 MP, but it is obvious that if an exercise is performed with 60% of 1 MP, the technique will be better, and safety will be higher. (2). More details in the next article.

***

Comparing weight by multiplying sets and working weight ("total weight per workout") is not the most correct way to assess progress. If you want to track your progress correctly, you need 1MP (one max rep).

Sources:

One Rep Max Calculator,
Beginning Weight Training Part 3, Lyle McDonald,