Good day to you, STRONG friend! How’s the third day of the year treating you?
I hope it’s going well.
I was up today bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for my second lift of 2024. Lower was on tap - gltue and ham Focused.🍑 Yesterday was upper - which was on point. Today's liftie was just okay and that's okay by the way. Every workout will not be a knock out of park. Totally
normal!
Btw, one of my performance goals this year is to get weighted pull-ups, 10 pull-ups with 25 lbs. I’m on my way. My average reps are 5-6 thus far. I’m excited about the journey.
Do you have any performance-based goals this year? I would love to hear. My DM’s or inbox is always open. Share away!
Now, the day is filled with workie... 4 client calls are on tap, some SM content, lol, putting away the laundry that I did yesterday, and a
little shopping later today with my sis and nieces.
I have three things for you today.
Kicking things off with how to gauge how intense you should be lifting or how challenging the weights should be.
If you have a prescribed rep range of 8-12 reps, you’ll want to hit that range with your selected weight. If you cannot reach 8 reps, then it’s too heavy; back the weight down. Conversely, if you go over 12 reps, it’s
too light, so then, of course, you increase the load.
Yes, it will be trial and error.
Another gauge to use is how hard the reps are getting towards the end of your set. The last 1-3 reps should be hard, challenging, but doable. The faces are coming out. 😝
Yesterday, for example, I had seated shoulder presses in my workout. I started with 35 lbs, and I got 10 reps. I could have gotten 12. The last few reps
were easy.
So, I was like, for the next set, let me get these 40s... I pressed those babies for the 8 reps, and the last 2 reps were HARD, and on the final set, my tempo slowed down considerably.
That’s the poundage I will start with next week!
Two additional ways to gauge what weights to use:
- Do AMRAP set, which means completing as many reps as possible with good form. So, you’ll pick any
given weight, rep it out, and then gauge what you should use for a set of 8 for your working sets.
- Rule of 2 for 2 - if you can get more than two reps or equal to 2 reps over the prescribed rep range, then you definitely can increase your weights!
I hope that’s helpful when learning to gauge what weights to use. STRONG friend, the weights should be challenging. It shouldn’t tickle.
You want to bring
the intensity to your training smartly, of course. Going through the motions will not build much strength or transform your physique.You have to progressively make the exercise harder!
