Increasing Weight

soldiergrl_101

is it ok to do 5 sets of 1 rep if you are trying to increase your weight when lifting?

plyadnov

I don't see why you can't. Although I am not sure how that would help out in the long run. I would suggest doing declining number of reps while increasing weight.

Set 1: your warm-up set, do normal weight you can do 10 reps
Set 2: go up in weight, push yourself to do 8 reps...if you can do 10, do 10.
Set 3: go up more in weight, push yourself to do 6.
Set 4 (optional): go up more in weight.

Record or memorize the weight of each set. Do this for 2-3 weeks, go up 5-10lbs for each set. I tend to do a large jump between 1st and 2nd set (50lbs), then a small increase for set 3 (10-20lbs).

piperdown44

Short answer, yes. But I wouldn't do it every week.

Article https://www.t-nation.com/training/training-percentages-made-simple
Percentages are from your 1rm. So if your 1rm for squats is 200, you'd be doing 180+ for 1 rep sets.

Chart from article:
Percentages Reps per Set Optimal Total Range
55-65 3-6 24 18-30
70-80 3-6 18 12-24
80-90 2-4 15 10-20
90+ 1-2 4 10