Hey so gym is going good finally consistent with food and stuff so that's cool. I'm just wondering if my progression for reps is good because I feel like it's not ideal. For example, say for bench press I'll try to hit 3x11 reps this week. Let's say I hit 11, 11, 9. Then next time I hit 3x11 so I move up to 3x12. I try and hit 12, 10, 8. Then keep going till I hit 3x12 then go up weight and assess max reps. Then I do the 3 sets of max added up and divide by 3. So e.g. I do 10, 8, 6 = 24/3 = 3x8 I should aim for. Repeat till 3x12 then go up weight. Is this ideal? Or is there better way to make progress because sometimes I get to like 11 but could do like 2 more and I feel I'm being lazy. I used to just push till failure every set but I didn't really see progress but tbh I wasn't eating properly like I am now. Any advice?.
Rep counting
- Thread starter elam84
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- beginner fitness
mommajulesberry
New member
@mommajulesberry True that's what I thought just kinda feel lazy lol if they guy next to me is like dying every set 
. Tbh I've only been started being consistent for a while so I should probably give it time too. Thx
. Tbh I've only been started being consistent for a while so I should probably give it time too. Thxmommajulesberry
New member
@elam84 if you are seeing progressive overload consistently you are training hard enough.
if you are not seeing progressive overload occur then force yourself to do extra reps. if gun to your head you get a whole lot of extra reps with good technique then you weren't training hard enough and ta-da you know what a given RIR should feel like and have that as a guide to calibrate your effort. if gun to your head you are already close to your limit then either be more patient/increase volume or decrease volume to allow for more recovery or fix lifestyle factors until progressive overload continues.
if you are not seeing progressive overload occur then force yourself to do extra reps. if gun to your head you get a whole lot of extra reps with good technique then you weren't training hard enough and ta-da you know what a given RIR should feel like and have that as a guide to calibrate your effort. if gun to your head you are already close to your limit then either be more patient/increase volume or decrease volume to allow for more recovery or fix lifestyle factors until progressive overload continues.
dinafrancis
New member
@elam84
I'm rather confused here.
Your best option is to follow a proven routine that will lay out the progression scheme for you.
But to explain how I'd go about progression if you were to jsut keep going... have your goal rep range, whatever it may be. Lets say its 10-12 reps. Your first few workouts may just be playing with weights to figure out where you need to be. But lets say you settle on 25lb dumbbells for this example. You manage to get 10, 10, 10. So next time you lift, you hit 12, 10 10. Maybe after that, you hit 12, 12, 12. If you super struggled that last rep, you could maybe do another workout of 3x12, or you could try moving up to the 30lb dumbbells. Now lets say with the 30s you only manage 8, 8, 8. That's fine, keep pushing and continue inching your way up.
If you manage then something like 12, 8, 8... you may want to have a look at your rest time. Resting a bit longer may give you just a bit more strength to hit higher reps.
Now lets say you jumped up to 30 and your reps tanked at like 5, 5, 5. This happens for some exercises when the jump in weight is too much. What I like to do in this case is to do those 5 reps and then immediately drop down to the 25s and finish out the set. This is called a drop set. After your rest, you grab those 30s again and repeat.
There also is merit to mixing up rep counts and rest times as well. My routine has some workouts be 13-15 reps, while others are as low as 3-5 (usually I reserve those for barbell work). The rest times also vary from a minute to 3 minutes. I'm gonna be able to lift heavier weights across any rep range with a longer rest time. But a shorter rest time gets you to failure quicker. But you still want to get enough volume. So this is why I leave this kind of detail to a routine written by someone smarter than me.
https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/
Also diet is incredibly important. Not eating enough protein will hinder everything. If you're also trying to lose weight (ie, calorie deficit) you'll also struggle a bit, but that's accepted since the goal is weight loss at that point.
I'm rather confused here.
Your best option is to follow a proven routine that will lay out the progression scheme for you.
But to explain how I'd go about progression if you were to jsut keep going... have your goal rep range, whatever it may be. Lets say its 10-12 reps. Your first few workouts may just be playing with weights to figure out where you need to be. But lets say you settle on 25lb dumbbells for this example. You manage to get 10, 10, 10. So next time you lift, you hit 12, 10 10. Maybe after that, you hit 12, 12, 12. If you super struggled that last rep, you could maybe do another workout of 3x12, or you could try moving up to the 30lb dumbbells. Now lets say with the 30s you only manage 8, 8, 8. That's fine, keep pushing and continue inching your way up.
If you manage then something like 12, 8, 8... you may want to have a look at your rest time. Resting a bit longer may give you just a bit more strength to hit higher reps.
Now lets say you jumped up to 30 and your reps tanked at like 5, 5, 5. This happens for some exercises when the jump in weight is too much. What I like to do in this case is to do those 5 reps and then immediately drop down to the 25s and finish out the set. This is called a drop set. After your rest, you grab those 30s again and repeat.
There also is merit to mixing up rep counts and rest times as well. My routine has some workouts be 13-15 reps, while others are as low as 3-5 (usually I reserve those for barbell work). The rest times also vary from a minute to 3 minutes. I'm gonna be able to lift heavier weights across any rep range with a longer rest time. But a shorter rest time gets you to failure quicker. But you still want to get enough volume. So this is why I leave this kind of detail to a routine written by someone smarter than me.
https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/
Also diet is incredibly important. Not eating enough protein will hinder everything. If you're also trying to lose weight (ie, calorie deficit) you'll also struggle a bit, but that's accepted since the goal is weight loss at that point.
@dinafrancis I see that's basically what I'm doing. What I meant by adding the 3 sets together was basically a theoretical way to know how many reps you can hit equally across 3 sets. Like so if I went to failure and did 10,8,6 then in theory I should be able to do 8,8,8 because 24/3 is 8. I guess I need to just give it more time now that I'm consistent with eating and stuff. The dropset thing could be good though. Thx