@ladydenise226 You have asked alot about how to know when to increase volume, weight, reps, or time and I think what people are trying to convey is that it's part formula/plan and it's part feel/drive.
You got to get out of your comfort zone. You got to push harder. If you can do 3 sets of 14 push ups comfortably, make it 15 and when 15 isn't enough make it more. When you master a movement find the progression to that movement and master that. When a weight is comfortable add more until it's not comfortable again. Your body adapts to stimulus and once it does it's not going to change again until you increase or change the stimulus some more.
My advice is to set some goals that aren't physical appearance. Like wanting to do 50 push ups unbroken or doing a handstand push up, or whatever it is. That should motivate you to push the workouts further. But stay uncomfortable, that's key.
@ladydenise226 You ever see Naruto or dragon ball z. You see when they train till they collapse. Your sets don't seem no where near intense enough. In 1.5 hours I can probably crank out 300 squats and and 100 push ups with some leg things mixed in.
@emmarona While the general impulse towards intensity and volume is commendable, if you are a real human and not a fictional Saiyan, stopping before you collapse is a real good idea. (Rhabdomyolysis and tendonitis both make for a bummer in anime, but real life cares a lot less about anime.)
That said, I bet if OP put some aggressive emphasis on erring on the side of going to hard, he might start seeing some results. (You know this, but I’m commenting for the benefit of other folks reading that might be new and not know the nuance.)
@ladydenise226 It should be hard. And you should be progressively making it harder. Squatting with 15 lbs is, honestly, laughable if you’re trying to build muscle.
@ladydenise226 Less than 1.5 hours ? A good workout should be 45-60m of intense training doesnt matter how advanced someone is.
Keep volume very low and do ver hard sets, slowly increase volume until you start getting weaker then its too much intensity/volume ratio, go little down to sweetspot
@ladydenise226 Your volume and Intensity is so low. You mentioned you don’t know when to progress, find a weight that’s difficult to complete for 10-12 reps, do 3 sets of that weight, once you get 3 sets of 12 then add weight. You could also do that same progression scheme for a variety of rep ranges ex: 3x5, 3x8, 3x20, 3x30. The research doesn’t support going much higher than 30 reps.
@ladydenise226 I think you’re not understanding that you need to train close to failure. I’d recommend training to actual failure once a week for a while, ie. keep doing reps until all your mental and physical energy won’t allow you to do another. Once you know where this point is you’ll be able to dial it back slightly. Every set you do should be one or two reps off failure.
As reps increase over time from doing this, add weight so you stay in your desired rep range.
@ladydenise226 I’m saying this with kindness intended. Go to a gym, you’re not working out hard enough.
At this level it shouldn’t really be a question of optimal timing to add new weight. Squatting with actual weights you’ll immediately be able to tell if you should go up or down in weight.
Focus on form, but don’t be scared to try new weights with the correct safety precautions. You should be able to add weight pretty much every week until you get to at least 135 lbs squat, and tbh you can probably do it today with correct form.
Bite the bullet, take the pride hit for a few weeks, and start going to the gym.
Unless you have some medical issue, I can think of no reason approaching 3 years of training would equal roughly 6 mo of progress. Have you been at 85%+ consistency and "two minutes of rest is barley enough and I'm covered in sweat" effort?
@ladydenise226 You're lifting way to light. Squats with 7.5lb??? You're 100% capable of more than that. Progressive overload, you need to struggle in the gym to get results.
@ladydenise226 Is your exercise challenging you? I’m your age and I know for a fact what you’re doing would not make me grow. Or change my body at all. Your exercises have to take you to near exhaustion, but not to the point of exhaustion or damaging muscles.
@ladydenise226 Progressive overload is not occurring
Mechanical tension is likely not occuring without progressive overload.
Mechanical tension is the ONLY way to increase muscle. If you disagree, prove it. There is no other way to develop new tissue than by inducing mechanical tension.
@cab1 i actually thinnk your right, although metabolic stress and muscle damage are factors of hypertrohpy, its because of the mechancial tension when reaching failure
@noarque There is no data to suggest or prove that metabolic stress or muscle damage have anything to do with Hypertrophy. It is an old adage that has been spread for years with no basis in science.
To understand how Hypertrophy occurs you only need to understand
- motor unit recruitment
- force velocity relationship
- length to tension relationship
- mechanical tension
- fatigue
