Increasing weights

Hugh Beyer said:

How do people go about deciding to increase weight on an exercise?

This comes up because I just re-read Thibedeau's Canadian Non-Linear
Autoregulating program and he specs a very particular protocol for
increasing weights. You do your last week's max for 3 or 6, then if

you got

Quoted message said:

3 or 6 clean lifts you increase the weight by 5 and try again. If you

get

Quoted message said:

another clean set, you increase by 5 and do it again, for 2-3 more

times.

That's sort of what I used to do...when I could do my reps with too
much ease I would increase the weight...

"Hugh Beyer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

How do people go about deciding to increase weight on an exercise?

This comes up because I just re-read Thibedeau's Canadian Non-Linear
Autoregulating program and he specs a very particular protocol for
increasing weights. You do your last week's max for 3 or 6, then if you
got
3 or 6 clean lifts you increase the weight by 5 and try again. If you get
another clean set, you increase by 5 and do it again, for 2-3 more times.

I thought this was pretty conservative compared to my usual method (take a
guess based on how you feel) because you have to have done the last week's
max before you attempt something higher, so you're already that much more
exhuasted.

But I've been trying it and it's pretty cool. I was actually able to push
some exercises 15 lbs heavier than I'd been doing, and I really thought I
was about maxed out already.

You are adding 15 pounds per week after you thought you had maxed out? Uhh,
yeah.

"The Spungonator" <[email hidden]> wrote in
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Quoted message said:

"Hugh Beyer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

How do people go about deciding to increase weight on an exercise?

This comes up because I just re-read Thibedeau's Canadian Non-Linear
Autoregulating program and he specs a very particular protocol for
increasing weights. You do your last week's max for 3 or 6, then if you
got
3 or 6 clean lifts you increase the weight by 5 and try again. If you
get another clean set, you increase by 5 and do it again, for 2-3 more
times.

I thought this was pretty conservative compared to my usual method
(take a guess based on how you feel) because you have to have done the
last week's max before you attempt something higher, so you're already
that much more exhuasted.

But I've been trying it and it's pretty cool. I was actually able to
push some exercises 15 lbs heavier than I'd been doing, and I really
thought I was about maxed out already.

You are adding 15 pounds per week after you thought you had maxed out?
Uhh, yeah.

Not *per week*. Just today, on chin-ups if you want to know. Clearly I was
slacking.

Hugh

--
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will attend no other.

Hugh Beyer said:

How do people go about deciding to increase weight on an exercise?

I've been working on HST routines for a little while now. To start, I
roughly estimated my 10- and 5-rep maxes, it turned out the estimates
were spot-on in some lifts and I'd under-estimated others, so I made
adjustments on the last couple of workouts. Next "cycle", I just added
ten lb to each "final workout" weight (10-rep and 5-rep) I'd achieved
in the previous cycle and calculated backwards in 5 lb increments to
get the starting weight. If I've over-estimated, I'll soon find out.
If I've under-estimated, I can adjust accordingly near the end of the
routine. I'm limited on one lift (db rows) by the size of the DBs -
biggest DB is 110 lb, and I managed 5 reps last time - so I'll try
setting a target of 8 or 10 reps rather than a heavier weight. On a
side-note - straps are GREAT for these. My grip strength is definitely
the limiting factor. My method isn't too scientific or accurate, but
I've made what for me are great gains in strength over the past few
months.

Quoted message said:

This comes up because I just re-read Thibedeau's Canadian Non-Linear
Autoregulating

Sorry, too many big words there. 🙂

Stephen

"Stephen Mulholland" <[email hidden]> wrote in
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Quoted message said:

Hugh Beyer said:

How do people go about deciding to increase weight on an exercise?

I've been working on HST routines for a little while now. To start, I
roughly estimated my 10- and 5-rep maxes, it turned out the estimates
were spot-on in some lifts and I'd under-estimated others, so I made
adjustments on the last couple of workouts. Next "cycle", I just added
ten lb to each "final workout" weight (10-rep and 5-rep) I'd achieved
in the previous cycle and calculated backwards in 5 lb increments to
get the starting weight. If I've over-estimated, I'll soon find out.
If I've under-estimated, I can adjust accordingly near the end of the
routine. I'm limited on one lift (db rows) by the size of the DBs -
biggest DB is 110 lb, and I managed 5 reps last time - so I'll try
setting a target of 8 or 10 reps rather than a heavier weight. On a
side-note - straps are GREAT for these. My grip strength is definitely
the limiting factor. My method isn't too scientific or accurate, but
I've made what for me are great gains in strength over the past few
months.

Quoted message said:

This comes up because I just re-read Thibedeau's Canadian Non-Linear
Autoregulating

Sorry, too many big words there. 🙂

Stephen

HST and Sheiko-type routines both have the advantage that you calc all the
weights ahead of time... when you get to the gym, you don't have to think.
Good for DF's like me. I've been trying to be more responsive to my own
capabilities with my current program... obviously with some difficulty.

110# db rows? Woot. I think I just discovered that it's the rows which are
screwing up my elbow--big surprise, I hadn't thought of them as likely to
cause injuries. So I'm switching to Yates rows for a while.

Hugh

--
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will attend no other.

"Hugh Beyer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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"Stephen Mulholland" <[email hidden]> wrote in
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110# db rows? Woot. I think I just discovered that it's the rows which are
screwing up my elbow--big surprise, I hadn't thought of them as likely to
cause injuries. So I'm switching to Yates rows for a while.

Hey, don't woot too much - my form is decidedly iffy at that weight!! But
it was for only one workout. There are big "jumps" in db weights in the gym
I use - all ok from 10 - 70 lb, then 80, then 100, then 110. I can manage 8
or so with reasonable form at 100 lb, using straps. And, if it makes you
feel any better, I still have 14.5" arms. Lats like a hang-glider, though.
🙂 (Just kidding on that, BTW!) As for joint problems - I'll take my life
in my hands here, and say - I haven't had any joint niggles at all in
months, and I believe regular glucosamine has had a lot to do with that.

Stephen

"Stephen Mulholland" <[email hidden]> wrote in
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"Hugh Beyer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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"Stephen Mulholland" <[email hidden]> wrote in
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110# db rows? Woot. I think I just discovered that it's the rows which
are screwing up my elbow--big surprise, I hadn't thought of them as
likely to cause injuries. So I'm switching to Yates rows for a while.

Hey, don't woot too much - my form is decidedly iffy at that weight!!
But it was for only one workout. There are big "jumps" in db weights in
the gym I use - all ok from 10 - 70 lb, then 80, then 100, then 110. I
can manage 8 or so with reasonable form at 100 lb, using straps. And,
if it makes you feel any better, I still have 14.5" arms. Lats like a
hang-glider, though. 🙂 (Just kidding on that, BTW!) As for joint
problems - I'll take my life
in my hands here, and say - I haven't had any joint niggles at all in
months, and I believe regular glucosamine has had a lot to do with that.

I'm doing the glucosamine thing too. Elbows haven't slowed me down yet, but
it's one of those nagging things and until today I couldn't decide what was
causing it. Chins were the other suspect.

Hugh

--
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will attend no other.

Stephen Mulholland said:

I'm limited on one lift (db rows) by the size of the DBs -
biggest DB is 110 lb, and I managed 5 reps last time - so I'll try
setting a target of 8 or 10 reps rather than a heavier weight. On a
side-note - straps are GREAT for these. My grip strength is definitely
the limiting factor.

Rather than straps, I like using farmers walk dumbells.
(the kind with handles)
The handle keeps it from rolling out of your hand, so the grip
strength becomes less of a factor.
Since they are plate loaded, you should be able to get them heavy
enough. (not that this is much of a problem for me ... )

to experiment with, you can get the same effect by grabbing a tri-bar
in the middle of one of the long sides ... but there is no knurling.

Martin