What to do when I'm stuck at a weight

[Kkel7]

Not body weight (that's a whole other story), lifting weight.

Long time lurker, new lifter here. I'm near the end of NROLFW Stage 1 and for a few of the lifts I feel stuck. For 3 sets, 10 reps the 20lb shoulder press is difficult but I feel like I could lift a bit more. However I can barely eek out 1 rep of a 25 lb shoulder press! Similar story with squats. I can do 10 good reps of 75lb (Laughing yet?) squats but once that 85lb load goes on my back, my form goes to crap. What do I do since I'm supposed to do 8 reps of each of these exercises next week?

[foresail]

IMO stay at 20 lb for shoulder press and 75 lb for squat.

Always listen to your body. Trying to progress faster than what your muscles, bones, and joints can handle usually leads to injuries.

[elainedeluca]

Not body weight (that's a whole other story), lifting weight.

Long time lurker, new lifter here. I'm near the end of NROLFW Stage 1 and for a few of the lifts I feel stuck. For 3 sets, 10 reps the 20lb shoulder press is difficult but I feel like I could lift a bit more. However I can barely eek out 1 rep of a 25 lb shoulder press! Similar story with squats. I can do 10 good reps of 75lb (Laughing yet?) squats but once that 85lb load goes on my back, my form goes to crap. What do I do since I'm supposed to do 8 reps of each of these exercises next week?

My advice--find a spotter. Sometimes knowing that someone has your back can help you get past the mindfuk or moving up in weight. Even if you can't finish the set, knowing you put the weight up will get you over the hump and drive you to do more reps next time.

[thepowerwithin]

My advice--find a spotter. Sometimes knowing that someone has your back can help you get past the mindfuk or moving up in weight. Even if you can't finish the set, knowing you put the weight up will get you over the hump and drive you to do more reps next time.

I agree. It's amazing the courage I can muster up with a trustworthy spotter. (Some people don't know how to spot worth a darn!)

I have been trying to progress in a couple of lifts that I have felt stuck and too frigging scared to contemplate on my own. I realize that my strength is not so much the problem, it's my mind because with a spotter and his encouragement, I can normally finish the set and actually lift more than I thought I could. I need a perma-spotter .

[tlrmde]

Always listen to your body. Trying to progress faster than what your muscles, bones, and joints can handle usually leads to injuries.

This. Listening to your body is absolutely essential. A spotter could definitely do you wonders too!

[Rowyn]

Couple of options to try.

Increase by smaller increments. Making progress with shoulder exercises is not easy, the muscle group is small. If you are having mental blocks with a weight, increasing by a smaller amount may help.

Sometimes mimicking the same movement with a slightly different exercise can bust the plateau. Can't press 25 lbs DBs then try to BB OH press (you can increase weights by 2.5 with a BB). Switch to Arnold presses, front squats, whatever.

If you were doing a strength program, it might call for you to actually back the weight down for a week and then go forward again versus sitting at the same weight.

I don't use spotters usually. I make sure the safetys are in the correct position in the power rack when I am squatting and thats it. I worry less about the weight I am moving than the progress I am seeing in the mirror.

[Kkel7]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll try out the BB OH press to see what I can hit that way. Squats, I may stick with 75 for the first 2 sets and try 80 on the 3rd set. I can squat that weight but I start to lose my ROM on the bottom.

Unfortunately I don't have a trustworthy spotter available to me, so that isn't much of an option at the moment.

[aereo41]

Not body weight (that's a whole other story), lifting weight.

Long time lurker, new lifter here. I'm near the end of NROLFW Stage 1 and for a few of the lifts I feel stuck. For 3 sets, 10 reps the 20lb shoulder press is difficult but I feel like I could lift a bit more. However I can barely eek out 1 rep of a 25 lb shoulder press! Similar story with squats. I can do 10 good reps of 75lb (Laughing yet?) squats but once that 85lb load goes on my back, my form goes to crap. What do I do since I'm supposed to do 8 reps of each of these exercises next week?

are you eating properly before?

[latebloomingmom]

Couple of options to try.

Increase by smaller increments. Making progress with shoulder exercises is not easy, the muscle group is small. If you are having mental blocks with a weight, increasing by a smaller amount may help.

Sometimes mimicking the same movement with a slightly different exercise can bust the plateau. Can't press 25 lbs DBs then try to BB OH press (you can increase weights by 2.5 with a BB). Switch to Arnold presses, front squats, whatever.

If you were doing a strength program, it might call for you to actually back the weight down for a week and then go forward again versus sitting at the same weight.

I don't use spotters usually. I make sure the safetys are in the correct position in the power rack when I am squatting and thats it. I worry less about the weight I am moving than the progress I am seeing in the mirror.

this^^^^^^^^
can you up your weights by only say 2.5 lbs or 5 lbs?
I would look into this idea of backing the weights up a bit in order to increase strength.
that is what I am trying with my bench.

[oregonchick76]

Have a spotter, or do it in the squat rack with the safeties (sp?) up high at your shoulders. Also, try dropping your sets to like 5 reps so you have more gas in the tank.

[Kkel7]

Not sure what happened but I had some magic tonight. I pushed the 25lb DB OH press tonight for 8 reps. The 2nd and 3rd set I failed after the 6th rep but I was so excited to get over that hurdle.