If you don't train to failure, how do you know when to increase the weights?

[siamesedream]

So, this entire "failure" concept is something I recently began studying heavily and thanks to madcow pointing me in the right direction again, I realized training to failure is absolutely not ideal. However, ever since I started lifting 9 months ago I've trained every exercise of every workout to failure, and this was how I could guage whether or not I needed to increase the weights.

Not training to failure is something completely new to me so I'm not quite sure how I would know to increase the weight used unless I had some sort of failure mechanism to know if my strength has gone up or not. Of course, with the 5x5 that problem is taken care of for you with planned progressive overload and the like, but say one is doing a custom program and wants to know when to increase the weights. How should that guy know when to increase?

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

When the weight feels easy enough, increase it. Hell, you can increase it every time you hit all your target reps, but some may wait a bit so they are insured continued progress.

 

[anotherbutters]

I say keep it simple and just try to increase the weights each time. A couple of things help with this:

First, if you have some microplates (something like these), you can add small amounts to the bar, even if it's only 1lb per week.

Second, if you base your training around the big compound movements, not only are they better for stimulating growth than isolation movements, but they have a couple of side benefits. a) you shift more weight, so it's easier to add relatively small amounts and b) they're based around the barbell, so you can use the microplates. I can't remember last time I used a dumbbell

 

[blut wump]

Add weight every session until you feel like taking a big load off and starting again. At that time your goal is to beat the weight you used on the previous cycle with that exercise. Your workouts over time would then look like a saw-tooth wave with ever-increasing amplitude.

Into that scheme you can add variety with rep schemes. The ideal is that in some way you make a PR on every workout, even if that PR is simply a week1 PR rather than a new all-out max. Just strive always to improve.

 

[needtogetaas]

"wheres the deads and squats?" WHY AREN'T GUYS TRAINING BALLS TO THE WALL ANYMORE? everybody is so worried about overtraining these days...i cant stand it...lol you've got to realize that when ur packin a shitload of calories, sleeping well at night (thats my number 1 mistake...i never sleep), and juicing to the gills...ITS DAMN HARD TO OVERTRAIN. whatever happened to squatting until u threw up or doing dropsets of deads? hell whatever happened to running up and down the rack of dumbbells until you couldnt move ur upperbody because the pump was too painful? BALLS TO THE WALL IS THE ONLY WAY TO GROW....im waiting for the low-volume guys to come out of the woodwork.LOL

 

[siamesedream]

Alright, so every program should take advantage of periodizing in some way? I mean, increasing every workout whether the same weights would be easier or not would lead to eventual failure in training anyways, so it sounds like you're saying one should train up unto a failure week and do some kind of deloading period (somewhat like the DF 5x5's training philosophy)?

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Don't listen to needtogetas. He's a fucking moron. That's not an opinion, it's a fact of life.

Don't complicate stuff. Dual factor training doesn't need to be applied for quite some time. Most people can get by with single factor types of training for awhile. Add weight whenever you can. When you stall for a couple workouts, drop back a bit, then ramp back up, or slash volume. It's simple.

There's no need to plan for loading/deloading until you get really advanced. Once you notice strength dropping, gains stalling, or something else that's signalling you to back off, slash volume, frequency, or intensity, then ramp back up. "On-the-fly" dual-factor, I guess.

 

[needtogetaas]

Don't listen to needtogetas. He's a fucking moron. That's not an opinion, it's a fact of life.

Don't complicate stuff. Dual factor training doesn't need to be applied for quite some time. Most people can get by with single factor types of training for awhile. Add weight whenever you can. When you stall for a couple workouts, drop back a bit, then ramp back up, or slash volume. It's simple.

There's no need to plan for loading/deloading until you get really advanced. Once you notice strength dropping, gains stalling, or something else that's signalling you to back off, slash volume, frequency, or intensity, then ramp back up. "On-the-fly" dual-factor, I guess.

hay buddy.









































































fuck off.

 

[Ozz2001]

Well this is just my two cents, i dont have no big fancy words or progams. Hell i dont event use a program i always just keep it mixed up to shock the muscles.
Ive packed on 30lbs in 7months and its shows. Here is what ive been doing you can try it or not thought id share...I do everything in low reps and stop before i have to strain and add weight and keep adding weight till i can only do one rep with, 30sec breaks...Then i drop the weight to half and go till i cant go anymore...Then i rest till i am fully healed...and eat as much as i can.
I bench a soild 300, squats are way up as is every other part...Without proper rest and recovery you wont keep going up in weight unless your body is freash...this is just my opinion and everyone is different but my progress picture's posted will clearly show you can grow big soild muscle and mass by doing this..Results will show in about 4 weeks or so...Gl in whatever you do and keep on pumping!

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Yeah, shocking muscles works wonders. You know, 'cause it's physiologically sound and all...