It's getting heavier!
Diamondmortiz
Posts: 19 Member
So this is my third week doing SL and I must say I love lifting weights! But I have come to a small issue I am hoping you ladies can help me out with...they are getting heavier!! hahaha I know that sounds silly but as they are getting heavier they are getting harder to do but I do make sure I take enough rest time to make sure I can complete them.
For example yesterday I just completed - Squats @ 90lbs and that was fine, Bench Press 75 could only do 3 sets and then had to lower- did 1 set of 65, 1 set of 70, Barbell Row 75lbs and that was ok. Last session I did Overhead Press and I could only do 3 sets at 55lbs and then had to go down to 50lbs.
So my question is how long should I stay at lower weights when doing OP and BP because obviously that is where I am having most difficulty?
Another question - when I am working out my biceps and triceps look good but then as the day continues and onto the next day i have no definition they just look like big arms not fat arms just thick :grumble: , I just need to be patience and with time the muscles will stay right?
Hope you can give me some insight!! Thanks!
For example yesterday I just completed - Squats @ 90lbs and that was fine, Bench Press 75 could only do 3 sets and then had to lower- did 1 set of 65, 1 set of 70, Barbell Row 75lbs and that was ok. Last session I did Overhead Press and I could only do 3 sets at 55lbs and then had to go down to 50lbs.
So my question is how long should I stay at lower weights when doing OP and BP because obviously that is where I am having most difficulty?
Another question - when I am working out my biceps and triceps look good but then as the day continues and onto the next day i have no definition they just look like big arms not fat arms just thick :grumble: , I just need to be patience and with time the muscles will stay right?
Hope you can give me some insight!! Thanks!
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My understanding is that you should not lower the weight within the course of a single workout. Here's my example for you, this is what happened to me with my OHPs over the last week. I went up to 65lbs and was able to do something like 3, 3, 4, 5, 3 the first time at 65lbs so the next time I didn't add any weight, the next time I tried I did even worse! Like 3, 3, 2, 2, 1 or something, so the next time I still didn't add any weight. Today I did 4, 4, 4, 4, 3 on my OHP at 65lbs, since I have failed to achieve the 5x5 for three straight sessions (also known as stalling) I will decrease the weight by 10% (or close enough, I'll go down to 60) and then proceed again. I hope that makes sense and maybe it will help. It is okay to not do 5 reps in a set, from what I understand it is better to do fewer reps and keep the same weight.0
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That sounds great, never thought that if I couldn't complete all 5 that it was ok...just wondering what is the reason behind it's not a good idea to lower weights.0
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Tameko's summary thread has an explanation of why "failure" is good on this programme.0
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That sounds great, never thought that if I couldn't complete all 5 that it was ok...just wondering what is the reason behind it's not a good idea to lower weights.
Here is Mehdi's saying not to do it, but he doesn't give any real solid explanation of why http://stronglifts.com/a-little-5x5-mistake-that-can-retard-your-gains/0
