Ive been doin the same routine and am not noticing any strength gains yet, basically im not able to lift any more weight, how long roughly does it take to be able to increase weight?
I know its not really a question that can be answered as its down to the individual, but i was also wondering what would hinder strength progression, food? too much cardio? poor form? all of these?
I really want to improve bench and squat specifically as i am weak at them, current program has me bench 3x a week and squat 1x a week (heavy) with lunges 1x a week. Ive not really got stronger in the past 4 weeks with any of these lifts.
How long does it take to get stronger?
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you must increase wt, there's no other way
so if your program says to do 4 x 6 then it isn;t essential that you get 4 x 6 each time you do it...most people will do this, use a certain wt and think shit i won;t get all the sets and reps next session so i'll keep it the same where you're almost getting weaker each sucessive time you do it as you will have made an adaptation to lift a heavier wt but you haven't increased it so your adaptation goes goew away (the use it or lose it principle)
so idea will be to keep increasing wt for 4 x 6 for as long as you can get all the sets and reps and the week you don;t get them all you might get 4 x 6, 5, 4, 2 which is 17 total reps, you're job next session is to get more then 17 total reps over those 4 sets and then once at 24 increase the wt ands go again
technique may also be an issue too
so if your program says to do 4 x 6 then it isn;t essential that you get 4 x 6 each time you do it...most people will do this, use a certain wt and think shit i won;t get all the sets and reps next session so i'll keep it the same where you're almost getting weaker each sucessive time you do it as you will have made an adaptation to lift a heavier wt but you haven't increased it so your adaptation goes goew away (the use it or lose it principle)
so idea will be to keep increasing wt for 4 x 6 for as long as you can get all the sets and reps and the week you don;t get them all you might get 4 x 6, 5, 4, 2 which is 17 total reps, you're job next session is to get more then 17 total reps over those 4 sets and then once at 24 increase the wt ands go again
technique may also be an issue too
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Joesportstalk
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You must get in your mind , first.... I mean if you already say you are weak at something then work that muscle from a different angle until you are more confident in your own strength.
No matter what the starting point is, as Swanso said, YOU MUST INCREASE IN ORDER TO BUILD STRENGTH. Without progression in a plan you will never get stronger or bigger.
No matter what the starting point is, as Swanso said, YOU MUST INCREASE IN ORDER TO BUILD STRENGTH. Without progression in a plan you will never get stronger or bigger.
Yeah I also agree with Swanso. If you seem to be stuck on the same weight try going up a bit and you should be able to pull off the extra resistance.
Not sure about others, but for me, first starting new routine I would go up in weight about every 2 weeks until I started using heavier weight, now its an increase about every 2-3 weeks. Varies per exercise, and pretty sure it varies per person.
Not sure about others, but for me, first starting new routine I would go up in weight about every 2 weeks until I started using heavier weight, now its an increase about every 2-3 weeks. Varies per exercise, and pretty sure it varies per person.
From experience I have found that 6 weeks is a magic time frame.
Six weeks is how long it takes for most muscles to heal from small injuries.
Six weeks is how long it takes for your body to acclimate to a new routine.
Six weeks is a good cycle length for pyramiding your workouts.
So:
It will take six weeks to get used to your routine.
Another 6 weeks will let you get a good strength gain.
At that point it is useful to back off and let your body do some extra recovery. You can either take a week off, or go with a 6 week pyramid routine.
So there is no short answer, but I've found that 6 weeks is the magic number in weight training.
Six weeks is how long it takes for most muscles to heal from small injuries.
Six weeks is how long it takes for your body to acclimate to a new routine.
Six weeks is a good cycle length for pyramiding your workouts.
So:
It will take six weeks to get used to your routine.
Another 6 weeks will let you get a good strength gain.
At that point it is useful to back off and let your body do some extra recovery. You can either take a week off, or go with a 6 week pyramid routine.
So there is no short answer, but I've found that 6 weeks is the magic number in weight training.
I do try to increase the weight but mistake is that im still trying to hit 4x6, I will do as you suggest swanso, makes sense, even if i dont hit all the reps in a set, ill repeat it each week untill i do get to 24. At least that way im increasing the weight.
Im going to stick to this same program for a while, ive gone through a few programs and now really want to just stick with 1 untill i get good results out of it.
Packard you suggest after a 12 weeks i should have definate strength gains, however big/small, after which i take a week off (maybe just doing Body weight exercises?) but what did you mean by a 6 week pyramid routine?
I just hav 1 more quick question, most mornings i do as many pushups i can in 5mins and jog stairs, is this ok? the Bodyweight stuff, would that drain potential for the evening weight lifting session?
I only do this as it helps me wake up, gets me going in the morning
Im going to stick to this same program for a while, ive gone through a few programs and now really want to just stick with 1 untill i get good results out of it.
Packard you suggest after a 12 weeks i should have definate strength gains, however big/small, after which i take a week off (maybe just doing Body weight exercises?) but what did you mean by a 6 week pyramid routine?
I just hav 1 more quick question, most mornings i do as many pushups i can in 5mins and jog stairs, is this ok? the Bodyweight stuff, would that drain potential for the evening weight lifting session?
I only do this as it helps me wake up, gets me going in the morning
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bigboy5491
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Make mental notes on your diet and rest patterns, as that is a problem for some people experiencing a plateau.
I would suggest maybe only doing chest twice a week instead of three times, but make the workouts more intense. Muscles grow outside the gym with proper rest and fuel.
Also, change up the exercises often. This means doing dumbbell bench press one day, wide-grip barbell press a different day, incline/decline bench another day. The possibilities are endless.
Sometimes I like to change up the tempo of reps. Use a little bit lighter weight and do 4 seconds up and 4 seconds down in a controlled motion. You will be surprised how challenging that can get.
favorite exercise to do for chest is dumbbell bench press super-setted with dumbbell flies. Do 6 hard reps on dumbbell bench, drop the weights and immediately pick up lighter weights for flies. Or do the exercises in the opposite order.
Muscle confusion is key for gains during a plateau. Just have fun with your workouts and experiment with many different variables and find out what you feel works best for you.
All the above goes for legs, too. I do reps in a workout in this order: 12 warm up,10,8,6,4, 21 for a burnout, but that's just me. Try to incorporate a couple sets of leg press, hack squats, front squats or jump squats in your routine.
For your last question, cardio is great in the morning. Just be sure to eat good food throughout the day to refuel before your workout. However, I wouldn't max out on pushups the day of your chest workout because you will be fatigued during your workout. Maybe substitute pushups with a 6-minute abs routine. Pushups at the end of your chest workout would be a great idea.
Hope this helps.
I would suggest maybe only doing chest twice a week instead of three times, but make the workouts more intense. Muscles grow outside the gym with proper rest and fuel.
Also, change up the exercises often. This means doing dumbbell bench press one day, wide-grip barbell press a different day, incline/decline bench another day. The possibilities are endless.
Sometimes I like to change up the tempo of reps. Use a little bit lighter weight and do 4 seconds up and 4 seconds down in a controlled motion. You will be surprised how challenging that can get.
favorite exercise to do for chest is dumbbell bench press super-setted with dumbbell flies. Do 6 hard reps on dumbbell bench, drop the weights and immediately pick up lighter weights for flies. Or do the exercises in the opposite order.
Muscle confusion is key for gains during a plateau. Just have fun with your workouts and experiment with many different variables and find out what you feel works best for you.
All the above goes for legs, too. I do reps in a workout in this order: 12 warm up,10,8,6,4, 21 for a burnout, but that's just me. Try to incorporate a couple sets of leg press, hack squats, front squats or jump squats in your routine.
For your last question, cardio is great in the morning. Just be sure to eat good food throughout the day to refuel before your workout. However, I wouldn't max out on pushups the day of your chest workout because you will be fatigued during your workout. Maybe substitute pushups with a 6-minute abs routine. Pushups at the end of your chest workout would be a great idea.
Hope this helps.
A six week pyramid might look something like this for bench presses:
Week 1: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 145 pounds
Week 2: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 165 pounds
Week 3: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 175 pounds
Week 4: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 185 pounds
Week 5: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 195 pounds
Week 6: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 205 pounds
Week 1: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 155 pounds
etc.
Obviously the 145 pound week will be an exceedingly easy workout if you are capable of 205 on week six. You are really using the first 3 weeks as part of your recovery time. By the time you get to week 6 you should be working near or at your capacity. If you are not able to complete the week 6 workout, then you simply repeat the 6 week pyramid.
If you can complete the 6th week workout, then the week #1 of the new pyramid should be slightly higher and all the subsequent workouts will be boosted by the same amount.
Once you go through the pyramid a few times you will really appreciate the extra recovery time that week #1, 2, and 3 will offer you. You should make good steady gains on this routine.
Note: Avoid the temptation to add extra work on the earlier weeks as it would defeat the whole purpose of the pyramid.
An additional advantage of the pyramid is that in the earlier weeks you gain confidence in your ability to perform the exercises and it carries over onto the later weeks.
Also, on the earlier weeks, pay particular attention to your form. Imagine that the light weight is actually a heavy weight. Pay attention to your hand position, foot placement, breathing, etc. as though it were a heavy lift.
Week 1: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 145 pounds
Week 2: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 165 pounds
Week 3: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 175 pounds
Week 4: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 185 pounds
Week 5: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 195 pounds
Week 6: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 205 pounds
Week 1: bench 4 sets x 6 reps, 155 pounds
etc.
Obviously the 145 pound week will be an exceedingly easy workout if you are capable of 205 on week six. You are really using the first 3 weeks as part of your recovery time. By the time you get to week 6 you should be working near or at your capacity. If you are not able to complete the week 6 workout, then you simply repeat the 6 week pyramid.
If you can complete the 6th week workout, then the week #1 of the new pyramid should be slightly higher and all the subsequent workouts will be boosted by the same amount.
Once you go through the pyramid a few times you will really appreciate the extra recovery time that week #1, 2, and 3 will offer you. You should make good steady gains on this routine.
Note: Avoid the temptation to add extra work on the earlier weeks as it would defeat the whole purpose of the pyramid.
An additional advantage of the pyramid is that in the earlier weeks you gain confidence in your ability to perform the exercises and it carries over onto the later weeks.
Also, on the earlier weeks, pay particular attention to your form. Imagine that the light weight is actually a heavy weight. Pay attention to your hand position, foot placement, breathing, etc. as though it were a heavy lift.
You can use it for any lift where you want steady long term results. It is not the fast track, but it will allow you to train for a long time without getting over trained and you should get good results.
I would caution you to limit this to just a few of your exercises and you should have them all peak at the same time.
The risk of working too many exercises like this is that you will over-fatigue your entire body.
You want them all on the same cycle so you get the benefit of the recuperation.
I would limit it to 2 or 3 exercises at a time.
I would also suggest that your other exercises should have some "easy" days also, but not necessarily the very progressive pyramiding.
Also, write everything down. When you get to week number 6 look back at the last week #6 and if you only got 4 reps on the last set, you can mentally prepare yourself to do a little better.
If you add 10 pounds with each cycle you will add 100 pounds for the year (if you were able to complete the cycle), so it is not fast, but at the end of the year you should see some significant results. (Hey, in 10 years you will have added 1,000 pounds--a pretty decent bench press I'd say.)
I would caution you to limit this to just a few of your exercises and you should have them all peak at the same time.
The risk of working too many exercises like this is that you will over-fatigue your entire body.
You want them all on the same cycle so you get the benefit of the recuperation.
I would limit it to 2 or 3 exercises at a time.
I would also suggest that your other exercises should have some "easy" days also, but not necessarily the very progressive pyramiding.
Also, write everything down. When you get to week number 6 look back at the last week #6 and if you only got 4 reps on the last set, you can mentally prepare yourself to do a little better.
If you add 10 pounds with each cycle you will add 100 pounds for the year (if you were able to complete the cycle), so it is not fast, but at the end of the year you should see some significant results. (Hey, in 10 years you will have added 1,000 pounds--a pretty decent bench press I'd say.)