Weight training questions

[Guest guest]

Regarding the increase in weight between sets, is there a particular

suggestion, like increase 5 lbs at a time or increase weight by 25%

each time?

[Guest guest]

There isn't a set increase in weight. It's more about feeling it.

Here are the old posts on finding intensity and hitting a " 10. "

~~~

The weights require a lot of trial and error to get right. Generally,

the first sets of 12 and 10 serve as sort of a warm-up. The last

couple of reps should be challenging, but there's no question you're

going to finish them. By the time you get down to the sets of 8 and 6,

it should be a serious struggle to get the last couple of reps. Maybe

you *don't* get them, but it's better to go hard and fail a couple of

reps early than to use something too light and finish the set easily.

If you keep working at it, eventually you will be able to complete the

set with your chosen weight. Then a workout or two later, that weight

will start to feel easy. Then it's time to increase to something

heavier, where again, you might not quite make all the reps at first

but you're feeling VERY challenged. And on the last couple sets of 12

where you lighten the weight, you should lighten it to the point where

you can get in all 12 reps, but the last couple are a doozy. Then you

switch exercises, and again, it's more of a fiery " feel the burn " sort

of 10-hitting on those lighter weights. You don't want to use

something so heavy that you can only get 5-6 reps there. If you fall

short on a set, it should be by only 1-2 reps, otherwise you know the

weight is way too heavy.

Hitting a ten on weights is when you're completely fatigued, your

muscle is shaking like a lamb in a thunderstorm, there's no way on

earth you're going to be able to finish the set, and yet somehow you

collect yourself, focus your will, push with all of your might, and

crank out that one last rep with perfect form. It won't happen on every

set or every exercise, but hopefully at some point in your workout

you'll hit a 10 on intensity. If the weights always feel easy or if

you're just going through the motions, it's time to step it up.

~~~

~~~

Let me see if I can give you an example of what the 20 minutes might

look like. The levels aren't specific speeds or settings on machines.

They refer to your own rating of perceived exertion on a scale of 1 to

10. Everyone's will be different depending on what kind of shape

they're in. Maybe for you a level 1 is sitting on the sofa watching

TV. A level 5 feels like a brisk walk. You're breathing deeply but

it's comfortable, you could carry on a conversation, and it's a pace

you could maintain for an hour or more. Level 6 would be a little more

challenging, might feel like a brisk walk up a big hill. Maybe level 7

feels like an easy jog. Level 8 feels like a fast jog. Level 9 feels

like a fast run uphill. And level 10 feels like you're running from,

oh say, a hungry lion or somebody chasing you with a butcher knife.

It's an all-out, fast as your legs go, hauling ass SPRINT. It's not a

pace you could maintain for more than 30-60 seconds. That's what

people are talking about when they say " hitting a 10 " on cardio.

The 20-minute-solution in the book looks like:

minute 01 - level 5

minute 02 - level 5

minute 03 - level 6

minute 04 - level 7

minute 05 - level 8

minute 06 - level 9

minute 07 - level 6

minute 08 - level 7

minute 09 - level 8

minute 10 - level 9

minute 11 - level 6

minute 12 - level 7

minute 13 - level 8

minute 14 - level 9

minute 15 - level 6

minute 16 - level 7

minute 17 - level 8

minute 18 - level 9

minute 19 - level 10 - fast as you can go, high-point, " hitting a 10 "

minute 20 - level 5

If you're not on a machine or looking at a clock. You can still do

HIIT. You just go at a moderate and maintainable pace for a couple of

minutes, then you floor it for a minute or two, then you drop back and

recover for a minute or two, then you step on it again, and somewhere

near the end of your allotted time you really give it everything

you've got (picture the lion or the knife-wielding psycho at your

heels). Then you cool down and call it a workout.

~~~

You can increase intensity on the ab sets by slowing them down a

little each time and/or holding it at the top of the movement.

Like, for crunches do:

12 reps at a normal pace

10 reps even slower

8 reps slower still

6 reps maybe holding the crunch for a full 5 seconds at the top

12 reps of the original exercise, normal speed

12 reps of a different exercise

You can also use weight. I grab a plate, dumbbell or medicine ball and hold

it

across my chest for crunches. You can hold a dumbbell between your feet (or

medicine ball between your knees) for hanging abs or knee-ups, or move the

pin

on the weight stack for cable crunches.

Or check out the Ab Boot Camp routine in the club Files section. It can be

done 3 times per week on cardio days:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/bodyforlifewomensclub2/files/

On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 7:31 AM, cashannon2000 wrote:

> Regarding the increase in weight between sets, is there a particular

> suggestion, like increase 5 lbs at a time or increase weight by 25%

> each time?

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the info.

>

> There isn't a set increase in weight. It's more about feeling it.

> Here are the old posts on finding intensity and hitting a " 10. "

> ~~~