question re: strength training

jacquejl

I've been doing the pyramid strength training as outlined in Body for Life for a few weeks now. Today I did lower body and it didn't even feel like a workout. My heart was pounding during the squats, but it seemed so easy on my legs. I know this means I need to increase the weight. My question is...should I re--do the workout with heavier weights tonight or tomorrow, or do I need to wait the 3 days in between like I normally would. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!!

Angela4Health

I would wait 48 hours but that's just me.

kellyscomeback

I'm not familiar with that program so I'd say it's up to you. If you don't feel it tomorrow like you want to you can repeat tomorrow or the next day.

Naekj83

I'm pretty sure you can do weight training on the same muscle group every other day. Also if it's easy on your muscles but is making your heart pound, you might want to up the cardio too. I realized that was "the big missing piece" in my workout when I had been doing a lot of weight training and was getting toned but the flab wasn't going anywhere. I started increasing my cardio and it's already starting to come off.

sarah829522

if you are already doing cardio try doing those cardio workouts in lower HR zones

and i would wait and follow your program. make the modifications to increase the weight next time you do legs, but leave it on your schedule.

hroush

the program I do starts you out at a light weight and build progressively every workout, so I will tell you to do the same. Skip a day, add only a small amount (5lbs total) next time. If you complete that, add another 5 lbs. When you cannot complete the max set and reps, try it two more times. If you still fail, take off 10% and then start building again.

jacquejl

Thanks to everyone for all the great advice!! Naekj83, I was surprised my heartrate got up there since I've been doing cardio for years (walking, jogging, treadmill). I just wasn't seeing any results from cardio alone so I decided to strength train and add muscle. I've done cardio only a few times in the last few weeks, concentrating on strength. Maybe it's my lack of cardio lately that made my heart pound?

jacquejl

the program I do starts you out at a light weight and build progressively every workout, so I will tell you to do the same. Skip a day, add only a small amount (5lbs total) next time. If you complete that, add another 5 lbs. When you cannot complete the max set and reps, try it two more times. If you still fail, take off 10% and then start building again.

Thanks . Right now this is what I am doing for all muscle groups:

12 reps - 5lbs (each hand)
10 reps - 8 lbs
8 reps - 10 lbs
6 reps - 12 lbs
12 reps - 10 lbs immediately followed by 12 more reps @ 10 lbs of a diff exercise working same muscle.

I figured I'd up each set by 2lbs. I wonder if that's enough?

Thanks!!