How to know if your training hard enough?

[jon6a]

When I’m in the gym I do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps. 3-4 exercises per muscle. I wait 1 minute between sets and do supersets once a week per Muscle, and dropsets once a week per Muscle.

I don’t make noise or slam dumbbells around. Arnold says he only counted reps when it started hurting. Lou Ferringo screams after each rep.

I don’t feel sore after the gym unless I squat for an hour.

How do I know I’m training hard enough for the muscle to grow?

[etet1919]

Jon, my friend, you've posted this very same thing on three different threads today... Through some quick glances, I thought you had received very thoughtful and intelligent answers!

What aren't you "convinced" of?

If you have just started to train, you need to be patient and give yourself time to fully develop... How long have you been consistently training for?

You don't have to make a lot of noise or throw 45 lb. plates around (but I like to), in order to get good results. You might end up scaring the chicks away if you do that (or the dudes, in my case..).

The rep-range you're working in is used for "traditional" hypertrophy gains! Just make sure you pick weight that challenges you, on every set of every exercise. Perform each set with proper form and go close to failure (muscular and/or form failure) as often as possible, and you WILL see both muscular and strength development...I promise!

[mcknzAlex]

You won't be able to see a result right away, it takes time to earn the muscle that you want. You need to be passionate about what you do even in working out for you to be able to see a good outcome.

[recorb]

stop counting reps and sets. Also don’t take a minute between each set unless you are a power lifter. Pick up a heavy weight and use it till you can’t anymore, then go down in weight and do it again. You should be sweating and treat every workout like it’s your last and it’s a fight for your life. You have to like the pain and want to destroy the muscles. Who am I to say, but I’m just trying to give you some motivation. Go hard and give it everything your body has

[ReapingTheField]

If you have to ask

[rawcuz]

I think at the end of the session grade the difficulty of it out of 10. I think if you know it was a somewhat hard, hard, really hard and sometimes even an extremely hard session you know you have done enough. Anywhere 7-9 I feel is a good session. The odd 10/10 is great but unsustainable 52 weeks of the year. Go for it.

[backinthegymbro]

Arnold says he only counted reps when it started hurting.?

I highly doubt he said that. Maybe when it came to sit ups, but not for regular exercises.
Full quote?

[workoutMoma]

Find an exercise that will really fit your need .

Always push yourself to the limits "No pain No gain!"

[glutenvampire]

Arnold says he only counted reps when it started hurting.

I highly doubt he said that. Maybe when it came to sit ups, but not for regular exercises.
Full quote?

Apparently this is actually a quote from Muhammad Ali...
"I don't count my situps, I only start counting when it starts hurting, when I feel pain, that's when I start counting, cause that's when it really counts."

[backinthegymbro]

Apparently this is actually a quote from Muhammad Ali...
"I don't count my situps, I only start counting when it starts hurting, when I feel pain, that's when I start counting, cause that's when it really counts."

Yeah that's what i thought. Big difference in not counting reps for sit ups (which you can go to failure to) and weight lifting though.

[ElrondHubbard]

Yeah that's what i thought. Big difference in not counting reps for sit ups (which you can go to failure to) and weight lifting though.

The only real difference is the number of preliminary reps you have to go through before they start becoming “effective reps”. With a bar properly loaded, you should be doing effective reps each time. With body weight exercises, you have to get a lot of non-effective reps out of the way before they actually start counting. This is where the rest-pause or myo-reps concepts come into play. Once you get into the zone of effective reps, then the real sets begin, with the rest periods short enough so that every rep in the subsequent sets is difficult and effective. Being able to do 50 push-ups is good, but if it’s only challenging for the last 5, you haven’t gotten much out of them. If you follow that with another 4 sets of 5 each, while you’re still a bit winded and fatigued, then you’ve quadrupled your effective work with only a couple of minutes more time spent.

Ali wasn’t a weight lifter, but he had an instinct for training. (And a great trainer)

[MatthewChav]

Guess u know with ur bod is my theory. Aka how many press up's eg b4 u are drained/physicaly sic etc

[rakeshkumar1998]

Do something today that your future self will thank you for.