Working out with dumbbells for the past year, but not getting much stronger?

stephaniegcoffey

Apologize in advance for the novel. I'm hoping to get some advice from those more knowledgeable than me about fitness!

About 14 months ago I realized that, as someone who just turned 30, it's very important that I do some sort of strength training so as not to lose all muscle mass as I age. Not trying to get ripped, just interested in maintaining my good health. i'm 5'7" and weigh 124 lbs if that's relevant.

I bought a set of adjustable dumbbells and started doing a full body workout I found online. Starting with 10 lbs in each hand, after about 1.5 months I was able to increase to 15 lbs in each hand for most of the exercises. It then took me about 9 additional months until the final few reps started to feel "easy" and I felt comfortable increasing to 20 lbs in each hand. I've now been using 20 lbs in each hand for most exercises for the past 4 months, and the final reps are still such a struggle! I know I need to be increasing my weight in order to improve, but still feel very challenged by the weight I'm using. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, so maybe others can chime in.

Here's the current workout I've been doing 3x per week. This is one circuit, I do 2 circuits total.

With 20 lbs in each hand:
Squats x 12
Stiff leg dead lift x 12
Bicep Curl x 6
Chest Press x 12
Chest Fly x 8
Bent Over Row x 12

With 15 lbs in each hand:
Overhead press x 8

With 10 lbs in each hand:
Standing shoulder fly x 8

I also add a 1 min plank to each circuit. In between each exercise I rest by jogging in place for about a minute to keep my heart rate up and burn some extra calories.

Is there a problem with the routine, or is it likely that its just my form? Should I increase the weight even if it means halving the number of reps? Maybe I need to change my diet (I almost never eat meat and get around 70 grams protein per day). Or maybe it's not even a problem to stick to the same weight for an extended period if one's goal is just general health?

rybo

Using the "until the reps feel easy" approach isn't too useful as you are seeing. I would use a rep goal. For example start at 2 sets of 8 reps, and that last rep of each set should be hard, maybe able to squeeze out one more but probably not with good form. The next week try for 2 sets of 9. Try to increase 1 rep per week. When you get to 12 reps for both sets, up the weight and repeat.

SonyaCele

get on a strength program if that is your goal. the workout you listed above isn't a strength workout. You wanna be in the 3-5 rep range. Look into something like Stronglifts if your goal is strength.

rybo

SonyaCele wrote: »

get on a strength program if that is your goal. the workout you listed above isn't a strength workout. You wanna be in the 3-5 rep range. Look into something like Stronglifts if your goal is strength.

If progressed, the workout she does is still strength training. Just because it's not in the 3-5 rep range doesn't mean she won't get stronger.

tulips_and_tea

"Should I increase the weight even if it means halving the number of reps? " - yes! I learned this when I started lifting then stalled. I hired a personal trainer because although I've worked out all my life, lifting was new to me and I had to learn to get over fewer reps if it meant heavier weight.

So yes, progress to higher weights and start with fewer reps.

not_a_runner

rybo wrote: »

Using the "until the reps feel easy" approach isn't too useful as you are seeing. I would use a rep goal. For example start at 2 sets of 8 reps, and that last rep of each set should be hard, maybe able to squeeze out one more but probably not with good form. The next week try for 2 sets of 9. Try to increase 1 rep per week. When you get to 12 reps for both sets, up the weight and repeat.

This

I've done warm ups where the weight feels 'heavy', but that doesn't mean I can't/shouldn't increase the weight for my working sets (while maintaining good form of course). If I trained according to what feels "heavy" I know I wouldn't progress..


Also, you're squatting the same weight you're bicep curling?

I would break the circuit up, so you can use an appropriate weight for each exercise. (I would personally use a different weight for every one of those exercises.)
If strength or hypertrophy is your goal- to me a full body circuit with cardio during your 'rest' is not the most optimal for either of those goals.

lorrpb

But, you *have* gotten stronger. You've doubled the weight you can lift.

SonyaCele

rybo wrote: »

SonyaCele wrote: »

get on a strength program if that is your goal. the workout you listed above isn't a strength workout. You wanna be in the 3-5 rep range. Look into something like Stronglifts if your goal is strength.

If progressed, the workout she does is still strength training. Just because it's not in the 3-5 rep range doesn't mean she won't get stronger.

If she can go heavier weight and less reps, she's gonna get stronger than doing circuits of 12 reps with a lighter weight,which is more a cardio workout. After a year of not being able to progress with 12 reps, its obviously not working. There is a reason the strength programs are written in the lower rep range. Why fight the invention of the wheel, if you wanna get strong do what is proven to work, get in the right rep range for strength.

gearhead426hemi

I lift weights at work since I work 12 hour shifts and we have a D.B. rack that goes from 10lb to 35lb. You would be amazed how strong you can get even with light weights. Have you tried doing any drop sets? I like to pick one muscle group a week and do a drop set until absolute failure. After 4-8 weeks of that you will start to see and feel the results. Another thing to try is hold or pause reps. While you are doing say a bicep curl stop and hold the weight at the top of the rep not the bottom so the muscle is forced to stay contracted. Or try to lower the weight as slow as possible like say 5 seconds for 1 rep. You can make a light weight feel really really heavy. Same goes for planks, while you are holding plank you should be squeezing every muscle in your body as hard as you can not just trying to hold the plank. You are doing great workouts just try to tweek things a little and you will be fine. Try to randomly change things up from time to time just to find your weak areas. Throw a couple extra reps in or try switching your hand position. Bent over flies with palms facing backwards will work different muscles than palms facing in. Best of luck!

stephaniegcoffey

Thanks to everyone that responded, I really appreciate it! Based on what everyone's advised, I will increase weight again even if it means drastically decreasing the number of reps for certain exercises. I will also vary the weight more between exercises so that I am challenged as much as possible on each one. Previously, I had been doing most of the exercises with the same weight mostly for convenience (since I am using a set of adjustable dumbbells and didn't want to take the time to repeatedly adjust them).

So for all the exercises for which I can currently do 12 reps, I will increase to 25 lbs in each hand right away. For those exercises for which I can't currently do 12 reps I will work on increasing by one rep per week until I get to 12 and then up the weight.

Thank you all again! Cheers to good health!

stanmann571

Using the same weight for Squats and curls means you're probably doing too much for curls and not enough for squats.

Ditto for fly and press.

not_a_runner

stanmann571 wrote: »

Using the same weight for Squats and curls means you're probably doing too much for curls and not enough for squats.

Ditto for fly and press.

Another thought for OP on these exercises -
Things like curls and flies aren't going to increase like bigger compound lifts can.

I've been lifting progressively for several years, my curls and flys have increased by maybe 10-15 pounds on these lifts, while I've added hundreds of pounds to my squats/deadlifts.

mredge73

Exercises in the 10-12 rep range are good for burning calories and for general cardiovascular health. If you want to lift heavier then you must lift heaver. Strongman workouts are 8 sets of 2 reps for example, you don't need to go this extreme. Increase the weight to where you can can only do 4-6 reps, do 3-4 sets like this and increase the weight every week little by little. Note that it takes roughly 100g of protein and 1600-3500 calories to build 1 lb of lean muscle, so it won't be possible to build new muscle on a calorie deficit. You have to feed muscles for them to grow, most advice will be to increase you diet by 500 calories per day from whole foods.

estherdragonbat

My dumbbell program comes out of a book. The author gives three levels for each exercise, so something typical might look like:

Level 1: 3-5lbs, 10 reps, 1-2 sets
Level 2: 8 lbs, 12-15 reps, 1-2 sets
Level 3: 10-12lbs, 8-12 reps, 1-3 sets.

What I've been doing is gradually increasing something each week, so long as I feel able to move on. (Note, there are some exercises where the author only recommends one set and I tend to stay on those a bit longer. Biceps 21s come to mind. I've only recently taken that up to 17.5 after spending about three months at 15.)

So, let's say that I've just topped out at level 3. I'm doing 3 sets of 12 reps at 12lbs. Let's call this Week Zero.

Typically, the next few weeks look like this:

Week One: 2 sets of 12 reps at 12lbs, 1 set of 8 reps at 15lbs.
Week Two: 1 set of 12 reps at 12 lbs, 2 sets of 8 reps at 15 lbs.
Week Three: 3 sets of 8 reps at 15 lbs.
Week Four: 2 sets of 8 reps and one set of 12 reps at 15 lbs.
Week Five: 1 set of 8 reps and 2 sets of 12 reps at 15 lbs.
Week Six: 3 sets of 12 reps at 15 lbs.
Week Seven: 2 sets of 12 reps at 15lbs, 1 set of 8 reps at 17.5 lbs

etc etc

If it gets to a point where I don't feel ready to progress, I'll do another week at the same level. Meanwhile, I've gone from being barely able to lift a pair of 12lbs off the rack in the fitness store without dropping them at this time last year, to doing squats and seated lat rows with 20lbs and being able to (barely! For now...) lift 30.

ETA: Looking at your original post, I see we seem to have different primary goals. You're looking mainly to build strength. I'm trying to minimize muscle loss while getting down to a healthy weight. I might take things a little slower, but the results are still there!

MegaMooseEsq

I started a progressive program using adjustable dumbbells at the beginning of this month and have gone up in either weight or reps every workout - it's definitely a workable strategy. I found that this was a good starting resource for understanding the "why" behind progressive lifting programs: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-ultimate-weight-training-workout-routine/

stephaniegcoffey

Thanks to those who responded above! I will be increasing the weight to on those exercises for which I can do 12 reps and while also attempting to increase the reps on those exercises for which I can't yet do 12.

Thanks for the link regarding progressive overload, I guess I knew I wouldn't improve if I didn't regularly increase the weight or number of reps, but had been avoiding it. On some of the exercises I still feel really shaky by the last rep and really dislike the feeling of pushing my muscles to fatigue. I was hoping that after a year or so I would come to enjoy strength training (as so many people on the internet claim to do!) but no such luck. The only exercise I really enjoy is hiking or jogging outside. However, I am well aware that strength training is very important for health, so I will keep at it!