Upper body weights not increasing

iceycoldhot

I have managed to move up on lower body weight workouts. I am up to 70 pounds. But as far as upper body, I remain at 15 pound dumbbells. I cannot seem to progress. I have been lifting 15 pounds for upper body exercises for several MONTHS. They still feel heavy to where I can't do more than 8. What is going on here?

meshashesha2012

what type of exercises are you doing? if you're doing primarily isolation stuff like bicep curls or tricep kickback it's going to be more difficult than you if you worked on increasing your strength via compound lifts like rowing, bench press or lat pull down

also depending on the dumbells you have available, you are going to need a bigger jump in strength. for instance, do you have 17.5 pound dumbbells or is the next size up 20?

rick_po

What lifts are you doing? What program are you following?

For many programs, you would be increasing weights if you can do 8 reps.

That said, you will stall out on your upper body before your lower body. Your program should have de-load rules for getting past a stall - if it doesn't, get a better program.

MrGonzo05

Your program is probably no good. Get on a strength training program designed for novice lifters.

iceycoldhot

what type of exercises are you doing? if you're doing primarily isolation stuff like bicep curls or tricep kickback it's going to be more difficult than you if you worked on increasing your strength via compound lifts like rowing, bench press or lat pull down

also depending on the dumbells you have available, you are going to need a bigger jump in strength. for instance, do you have 17.5 pound dumbbells or is the next size up 20?

Those are the exact exercises I am doing (bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, and overhead military presses). The next weight up is 20.

meshashesha2012

what type of exercises are you doing? if you're doing primarily isolation stuff like bicep curls or tricep kickback it's going to be more difficult than you if you worked on increasing your strength via compound lifts like rowing, bench press or lat pull down

also depending on the dumbells you have available, you are going to need a bigger jump in strength. for instance, do you have 17.5 pound dumbbells or is the next size up 20?

Those are the exact exercises I am doing (bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, and overhead military presses). The next weight up is 20.

then i would advise switching to compound movements that work multiple joints and muscles at once. you may find that your strength increases better that way. just as an example i never do bicep curls but i ended up recently having to curl an 85 pound barbell and it was kinda easy.

try bent rows, lat pulldowns on the cable machine, bench press, push up variations. these things will greatly increase your upper body strength