Reduce repetitions or sets when can't meet an exercise goal?

gemiller87
gemiller87 Posts: 137 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been using an incremental app for various exercises and i'm curious what the appropriate thing to do when you can't complete the next in the cycle. For example say Today is 24-18-16-12-20 for pushups (it has a timer for the set breaks) but the next day is 32-20-20-14-22 but I couldn't complete that.

What would the correct thing to do be?
Reduce repetitions but complete the set count?
Drop off a set but try to match repetitions?
Simply keep repeating the previous days regiment until can complete the next one?

The app doesn't really tell you what to do when you don't/can't complete a day and it just restarts the current cycle the next time you try. Wondering what solution provides the most growth towards the goal.

Replies

  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I am not sure if there is one right answer, but if it was me, I would probably do the set number of sets and just do as many reps as I could each set.
  • bradzila
    bradzila Posts: 4 Member
    You say the push-up sets are 32-20-20-14-22, giving a total of 108 reps in the workout (that seems a lot to me but let’s gloss over that). If you are unable to finish the prescribed reps in the given amount of sets, I suggest completing all the reps it asked for but in as many sets as it takes to do 108 reps.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
    At what point did you fail? We’re you able to complete the reps for the first few sets, but couldn’t continue, or fix you fail to make 32 reps on the first set?
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    I think that personally i'd try to improve on the previous ones - so in your example you have 24-18-16-12-20 on one day then 32-20-20-14-22 on the next - but say I cna't get to 32 but can do 26 or 28? I'd just do that until I CAN do 32, and then move on to the next increment.

    It's a pretty big jump from 24 to 32 pushups btw!!!

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