Switched from lower sets and higher weight to lower weight and more sets and I’m exhausted

BobbyGosbee
BobbyGosbee Posts: 16 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I have had a generally regular workout routine. I go to the gym, walk for ten minutes to warm up and then do a full body weightlifting workout. I am in no means in great shape (6’ and 280lbs, not muscular) and since I started going to the gym I’ve noticed that the weightlifting app I use keeps putting up my weight, lowering my sets and reps. Because of this I lift about a combined weight of 30,000lbs per workout (about 10 exercises) on average with the last rep very difficult. I decided to switch it up today and double the sets, keep the reps the same and lower the weight and every exercise I finish I felt like I could do more. Funny thing is when I was done I was ready to drop, I’m exhausted and according to my app I lifted 40,000 total pounds.

Loooong story short. Does anyone know which is a better workout plan for me? I did what I did today as a bit of a mixup to see how it went and it got me thinking. I want to lose fat, gain muscle if possible all while in a calorie deficit. What’s the better option? More weight or more sets with the reps the same?

Replies

  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,229 Member
    edited January 2023
    I’d not do the double sets for now. You have a better chance of going some muscle in a deficit with lower reps, also being exhausted and your recovery suffers and can compromise your next workout.

    You didn’t mention your reps or sets however if you keep the reps between 8-12 and 3 sets per exercise you’re in the sweet spot. Figure about 16 sets per exercise per week. 2 exercises per muscle group is plenty.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,849 Member
    edited January 2023
    What is your goal weight? If it's low 200's say, that's a lot of weight to lose. What you're referring to is recomp, which is definitely viable especially for those new to lifting and with high body fat, but it also means a small if any calorie deficit. If you do want to lose that much weight, it's going to be a very slow process.

    It's maybe not what you want to hear, but with your stats (6', 280, not muscular), I think you'd be better off focusing on fat loss first rather than hoping to recomp.

    Absolutely do some strength training. Full body couple times a week is fine. Huge benefits. However, do more cardio, and induce a larger deficit with your diet too, aim for 1-2 pounds loss per week, 500-100 deficit from current TDEE per day. When your body fat % gets lower, you have the option then of focusing on the resistance training and muscle gain with a smaller calorie deficit and recomp.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 11,717 Member
    You said the app is telling you each week to increase weight while lowering sets and reps? I can understand lowering reps, but usually a person will INCREASE sets when lowering reps. For example, going from 3x10 (3 sets of 10 reps each) to 4x8 to 5x5.

    If I understand your experiment, your app was suggesting (for example) doing 5x5 but you chose to do 10x5 using half the weight. That kind of change will tax your stamina, but I don't think you're experienced enough with lifting to make the most advantage of this change.

    Which is better for building muscle: more weight or more sets? The answer: yes. Whether you elect to do 3x10, or 6x10 with a lighter weight, your muscles will respond, if your diet is on point. The problem with doing more sets, IMHO, is it tends to extend your workout, sometimes unnecessarily long. Personal experience says if I'm lifting longer than an hour at a time, either my performance suffers, or I've been spending too much time wasted between sets which I could have got the same results in less time or more intense results from working harder. Either way, doubling sets can double your workout time, and if you have limited time to get a workout done you may encounter difficulty getting done everything you want to accomplish.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,229 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »

    It's maybe not what you want to hear, but with your stats (6', 280, not muscular), I think you'd be better off focusing on fat loss first rather than hoping to recomp.

    .
    Agreed

  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Just out of curiosity what app are you using? If you're looking for a really simple to follow plan have a look at Stronglifts 5 x 5, the program is literally 5 compound lifts broken up to an A workout (squat, bench, row) and B workout (squat, overhead press, deadlift) with the focus being pure strength gains. My only criticism of the program is that you're expected to increase the weight (reps & sets stay the same) by 5 lbs every workout which is fairly easy at first if you're starting with an empty bar but as things get heavier you may want to slow down. The other thing I found as a runner / triathlete that squatting heavy 3 x weekly and training for longer distance races doesn't allow for sufficient recovery but it's a great easy to follow program to get you stronger.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    BrianSharpe wrote: »
    Just out of curiosity what app are you using? If you're looking for a really simple to follow plan have a look at Stronglifts 5 x 5, the program is literally 5 compound lifts broken up to an A workout (squat, bench, row) and B workout (squat, overhead press, deadlift) with the focus being pure strength gains. My only criticism of the program is that you're expected to increase the weight (reps & sets stay the same) by 5 lbs every workout which is fairly easy at first if you're starting with an empty bar but as things get heavier you may want to slow down. The other thing I found as a runner / triathlete that squatting heavy 3 x weekly and training for longer distance races doesn't allow for sufficient recovery but it's a great easy to follow program to get you stronger.

    ditto on the squats. Other simple options have the squats alternate every other session with deadlifts, and add lat pulldowns/pullups to the deadlift day. Or have just lower warmup sets of squats on deadlift days.

    Rippetoe's Practical Programming book has a lot of good suggestions for alterations when plateauing or having trouble with recovery.

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