weightlifting - transitioning to higher weight/fewer reps

[Guest guest]

>>>>>I generally do 6-7 sets of an exercise, however 1 or two of these is

insignificant warmup or cooldown, and 3 of these are singles. 4 sets might

be too

much for 8 rep sets, but 8 reps is pretty high. If you look at some earlier

writings from the mid-20th century there's talk of " high-rep regimes "

ruining

progress, by which they meant doing 7 reps. I think 8 is a good start, but

the

goal in short time should be 8 max and ideally lower, in my personal

opinion,

based on my experience.

----->well, i'm doing 12-15 reps now, with one warmup set and 3 regular

sets. i will transition to 8 reps max now and maybe stay with 4 sets. do you

(or does anyone) have a suggestion as to how to transition from high

reps/lower weight to low reps/higher weight? i'm wondering if i should

transition to 10 reps, for a week, then work my down to eight. i guess i'll

have to play with the weights a little to see how much i can increase and

still do 10 reps, then 8 reps, etc. i tried increasing weight and lowering

reps on the calf extension yesterday, but i was still able to do at least 12

reps even though i increased the weight quite a bit. i guess it's something

i'll have to experiment with.

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

“The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

----------------------------

[Guest guest]

Suze to transition what I would suggest is

pick a weight that's higher than your normal weight that you're

confident you can lift for 4 reps.

Do the 4 reps.

If you have more reps in you then go to 8.

If you could only do 4 and no more you found the right weight and

this exercise is done for the day. If you were able to go to 8....

then increase the weight yet again.

Do the 4 reps.

If you have more reps in you then go to as many reps as you can up to

8.

If you could only do 4 and no more you've found the right weight and

this exercise is done for the day. If you got to 8 again then repeat

this process up to 4 sets. Depending upon how well you guess your

weight increases you might need to do this for 1-3 workouts but by

workout 3 or 4 you should be at a maximum of 1-2 sets of 4 reps. I

really can't stress enough the real lack of need for more reps or

sets. Give your body a slow long enough period of time under a load

(10 sec rep) and make it so your last rep is hard and 1-2 sets of 4

is all you'll need. Enjoy the extra time you'll have.

DMM

[Guest guest]

>

> ----->well, i'm doing 12-15 reps now, with one warmup set and 3

regular

> sets. i will transition to 8 reps max now and maybe stay with 4 sets.

After I had my last baby I got back to the gym. I was pressed for time

and lifted the heaviest weight I could for about 4-6 reps and then moved

onto the next machine. I got in and out of the gym quickly. Several

months ago I decided to get a trainer so I could make sure my form was

good and learn some more. He had me doing a warm up rep and then 3 sets

of 15 reps with the goal to slowly move down to less reps and heavier

weights. He also got me to add all kinds of silly little muscles

exercises that I've been crossing off the list. Grrrrr What I was

doing before I got the trainer is what DMM is recommending! I liked

working out like that. I got through my time at the gym quickly and got

home to baby.

What is the best approach to take for aerobics? I need to lose fat and

while I'm nursing I find it incredibly difficult to lose fat. My babe

is over a year now.

Laurel

[Guest guest]

Reply there are lots of different thoughts on aerobic training

ranging from 90 grueling minutes a day to NONE at all. For mere

mortals like you and I who have busy schedules and time crunches I

like Winett's GXP aerobic training quite well. It will work into

your one set heavy weight routine quite well.

One of these articles is a most recent update but I forget which is

most recent.

http://www.ageless-athletes.com/aerobics_and_health.shtml

http://www.ageless-athletes.com/cur_faq.shtml

--- In , " Laurel " <laurelmc@a...>

wrote:

> >

> > ----->well, i'm doing 12-15 reps now, with one warmup set and 3

> regular

> > sets. i will transition to 8 reps max now and maybe stay with 4

sets.

>

> After I had my last baby I got back to the gym. I was pressed for

time

> and lifted the heaviest weight I could for about 4-6 reps and then

moved

> onto the next machine. I got in and out of the gym quickly.

Several

> months ago I decided to get a trainer so I could make sure my form

was

> good and learn some more. He had me doing a warm up rep and then

3 sets

> of 15 reps with the goal to slowly move down to less reps and

heavier

> weights. He also got me to add all kinds of silly little muscles

> exercises that I've been crossing off the list. Grrrrr What I

was

> doing before I got the trainer is what DMM is recommending! I

liked

> working out like that. I got through my time at the gym quickly

and got

> home to baby.

>

> What is the best approach to take for aerobics? I need to lose

fat and

> while I'm nursing I find it incredibly difficult to lose fat. My

babe

> is over a year now.

>

> Laurel

[Guest guest]

Laurel-

The idea that aerobics is the way to lose fat is simply a fraud. If you

want to lose fat, you need to change your dietary composition (almost

certainly reducing carbs), but adding some muscle via weight training will

help too.

>What is the best approach to take for aerobics? I need to lose fat and

>while I'm nursing I find it incredibly difficult to lose fat.

-

[Guest guest]

Laurel I might also add that I would caution you about losing

weight/fat while nursing. If you can do it with normal amounts of

exercise and no dieting that's fine but it is not a good idea to be

in caloric or nutrient defecit during nursing. Its not good for you

or babe.

DMM

--- In , Idol <Idol@c...>

wrote:

> Laurel-

>

> The idea that aerobics is the way to lose fat is simply a fraud.

If you

> want to lose fat, you need to change your dietary composition

(almost

> certainly reducing carbs), but adding some muscle via weight

training will

> help too.

>

> >What is the best approach to take for aerobics? I need to lose

fat and

> >while I'm nursing I find it incredibly difficult to lose fat.

>

>

>

> -

[Guest guest]

>> i tried increasing weight and lowering

reps on the calf extension yesterday, but i was still able to do at least 12

reps even though i increased the weight quite a bit. i guess it's something

i'll have to experiment with. <<

I had the same experience just now with free weights. I can do the high

reps/sets with TEN POUNDS! I feel so stupid that I've been wasting all this time

with the light weights.

I'm going to work with 2 sets of 5-8 reps and 10 lbs for a few sessions and see

how my back reacts. Assuming it is OK, I'm going to increase my weight.

I'm also very glad this came up.

Christie

[Guest guest]

>>>> I had the same experience just now with free weights. I can do

the high reps/sets with TEN POUNDS! I feel so stupid that I've been

wasting all this time with the light weights.

----->ha! bet you haven't wasted a whole YEAR though. LOL!

suze