When should I increase weight?

I do as many reps as possible each set for 5 sets. Once I can do 12 on the first set I add some weight the next workout. Squats and deadlifts go up 5 pounds each workout pretty easily, but bench and overhead press are progressing slowly. I benched 130 for 10 reps my last push day and overhead pressed 60 pounds for 10 reps. I've been at those same weights for a few weeks now.

Is 12 too much or should I move it down to 10 so I'll be lifting a bit more weight? I care more about hypertrophy than strength

I'm not sure I understand. You're concerned that your numbers aren't going up but then don't train for strength. Unless you train to get stronger, which it doesn't seem like you're doing, your numbers won't move.

I'm asking if I should add weight once I can do 12 reps on the first set or once I can do 10 reps on the first set

please respond

8-12 is fine

make sure you don't rest too long between sets (maybe 1 minute)


5 sets is overkill as well. 3 is good. 1 set of DLs is good also

if you dont make gains it might be diet or recovery related

[QUOTE=Lee72;814265371]I do as many reps as possible each set for 5 sets. Once I can do 12 on the first set I add some weight the next workout. Squats and deadlifts go up 5 pounds each workout pretty easily, but bench and overhead press are progressing slowly. I benched 130 for 10 reps my last push day and overhead pressed 60 pounds for 10 reps. I've been at those same weights for a few weeks now.

Is 12 too much or should I move it down to 10 so I'll be lifting a bit more weight? I care more about hypertrophy than strength[/QUOTE]Do you add weight every set or every workout? Say for bench do you add weight after every set or just add weight the next day you bench? Plus how long has you been with this routine, could be a plautea in which case mixing up the rep range might break it or just adding more weight and push through it yourself.

My advice is to not do as many reps as possible every set. You may find it more effective to increase the weight once you can complete all sets at 12 reps. Then increase the weight, drop back to 8 or so reps for all 5 sets and move back up until you hit 12 for all 5 sets again.

I've been on a push/pull split for 3 months. I only do one exercise per body part so that's why I do 5 sets. 3 doesn't seem like very much at all. I stay at the same weight for all 5 sets and add 5 the next workout when I need to. Bench has been going up by 1 rep per workout. It might be stalling a little now because I'm doing it slower and more controlled. If I still can't do more than 10 next workout should I just go up to 135 anyway?

[QUOTE=qeynos;814541771]8-12 is fine

make sure you don't rest too long between sets (maybe 1 minute)


5 sets is overkill as well. 3 is good. 1 set of DLs is good also

if you dont make gains it might be diet or recovery related[/QUOTE]
Should rest be at least 60 seconds or at most 60 seconds? And I think I'm recovering fine because I'm hardly sore the day after

When you can do 10 reps on 1 exercise, try adding more weight to it, then repeat. For example, you said you did 130 with 10 reps, try adding more weight next time but doing fewer reps, the coming workout you do bench, try doing the same weight but with more reps, until you reach 10 reps, where you again increase the weight. This has helped me quite a bit when stalling. :) Hope this helped!

Regards,

[QUOTE=TimeToBiceps;814620051]When you can do 10 reps on 1 exercise, try adding more weight to it, then repeat. For example, you said you did 130 with 10 reps, try adding more weight next time but doing fewer reps, the coming workout you do bench, try doing the same weight but with more reps, until you reach 10 reps, where you again increase the weight. This has helped me quite a bit when stalling. :) Hope this helped!

Regards,[/QUOTE]
That's what I'm doing, but I'm wondering if it would be better to add weight when I can do 10 reps or 12 reps, or if it matters at all

Keep your weight challenging and keep your reps above 10. You will get more out of this if you do. Muscle size is built more with volume training that just mere weight. Weight is important but not the only factor. It is intensity under time. So move the weight up if you can when you can..

[QUOTE=Lee72;814635861]That's what I'm doing, but I'm wondering if it would be better to add weight when I can do 10 reps or 12 reps, or if it matters at all[/QUOTE]

Opti-madness will most likely cause you harm. I can't tell you whats good/bad for you, as everything is individual, you will have to find that out yourself.

Try adding more weight once you can do 10 reps on a given exercise. :)

[QUOTE=Lee72;814635861]That's what I'm doing, but I'm wondering if it would be better to add weight when I can do 10 reps or 12 reps, or if it matters at all[/QUOTE]

It mostly comes down to preference but here's how I go about it:

Some days you may feel weak/unbalanced but able to do a lot of reps, so stick to the higher range... but you're feeling really powerful that day, bump up the weight even if you're already at a low rep range.

For example: let's say my PR is 205x10 on squats.
One day I feel powerful but have no endurance... rather than doing 205x8 due to quick exhaustion, I will bump up the weight and simply do less reps (ex. 225x5).
Conversely, if I feel weak but like I can last a while, i will keep it at that 205 weight, but find that I can actually do more reps than normal and hit a 205x12.

This ensures that, regardless of how I'm feeling that day, I can still hit continue to increase my lifts.

An alternative approach, for those prefer to play it by schedule rather than by feel, is to simply designate light and heavy days to alternate between.
For example:
Day 1 - Heavy Push, Day 2 - Heavy Pull
Day 3 - Light Push, Day 4 - Light Pull

I know you say that you "care more about hypertrophy than strength," but remember that periodization is an important part of that equation.
For more information, I recommend Lyle McDonald's article on it: [url]http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/periodization-for-bodybuilders-part-1.html[/url]

[QUOTE=Lee72;814618431]Should rest be at least 60 seconds or at most 60 seconds? And I think I'm recovering fine because I'm hardly sore the day after[/QUOTE]

at most. if you're trying you're 12RM then it will be 1-2m

if you switch to some strength program you will have longer rest times though (sometimes 5 minutes)

if you want muscle hypertrophy you need to be in the 8-10 rep range. 12 is getting into more of the muscle endurance range. failure is a big part of getting bigger; you need to be failing at the rep range to get the benefit so you need to pick a weight that will be appropriate. As far as increasing weight a good rule of thumb is if you can do 2 reps past your normal rm for 2 workouts consecutively you can increase the weight. Keep in mind you can increase weight in the lower body by like 10-15lbs and upper body 5-10lbs. You need to be doing alot more excercises for each muscle group. You need to be recruiting the most muscle in each muscle group to build new muscle. Doing some isolation exercises like front and lateral raises will help increase your overhead press. Good luck!!