When To Increase The Weight

Most people increase the weight for their workouts every week or every other week because of the logic that they are getting stronger so the weight needs to increase. We have all been there before. You are bigger and stronger, so increase the weight, right? That's how you are going to get more gains, right?

This is usually fine at the beginning because you're really just getting your muscles used to being worked hard. But increasing the weight every time needs to stop after a little while. We all know it's form over weight, but we start to lose form anyway over time and keep increasing the weight. Having good form and full range of motion makes sure you never get injured and you break down the maximum amount of muscle and stay flexible. So, how can someone make gains without increasing weight? I'm about to tell you.

Making gains means that you make it harder. Making it harder demands your muscles to become stronger to meet the new conditions you have forced on them, which is what "gains" are. Weight is only one factor that makes it "harder" on your muscles. Here are some other factors that can make lifting "harder":

- Range of motion.

- Isolating and targeting the inner, outer, top and bottom of the muscle (wide/close grips).

- Explosive positives and slow negatives.

- Pausing for a moment before the lift.

- Drop set the weight.

- More reps.

- More sets.

- Combine the exercise with two more for a Super set.

Make sure you do all of these things before you increase the weight. Before any weight is added to your exercises, make sure you are lowering the weight for a count of three, holding the weight for a count of three, bursting through the lift, and increasing the repetition count from last week as well as going into another exercise with no rest (Super set it). I have stayed with the same weight for almost a month and a half and still made all the necessary gains from my workout because I made it harder before increasing the weight.

I will share with you a video from the Hodgetwins on youtube. They have a strange sense of humor, but the information they share in this video is extremely valuable and reiterates everything I've already mentioned using their own experiences.

Can I Still Make Gains Without Increasing The Weight...

Fig 1. Can I Still Make Gains Without Increasing The Weight, "twinmuscleworkout" on www.youtube.com

The main point:

Make sure you are making the workout as hard as possible before you increase the weight. If you can't do six sets of twelve reps with slow negatives, pausing before the lift, bursting through the lift, and follow up with two other exercises after with no rest (Super set), then it's not time to increase the weight yet. It's about making the burn as intense as you can, not straining your joints with heavy weight.

Stay safe my friends, and keep on working. Don't use weight so light that you can do 50 reps of it, but make sure the weight is not hurting you. A good balance will give you the best workout.

Blog Question:

How do you make your workout harder without increasing the weight? Comment below!

Workout Philosophy: What is Happening?

I am going to share with you today a new philosophical perspective of what working out really is.

On the outside, working out is going to the gym and working till you sweat a lot to look "better". First of all, what is better? Better is different for everyone, but the general principle is that you are attractive which means you have physical traits that represent strength, good health, and good genes. In an animalistic sense, we are attracted to those who are most fit to survive and create/raise babies with. We get the images of who we want to be physically by imagining ourselves fit to survive and healthy to reproduce.

Now, what happens behind the scenes in the gym? Working out happens like this; you apply a restraint on your physically body, a barrier, or a restriction and then overcome the force that is holding you down. This is creating a physically demanding challenge for yourself. When you overcome the physical demand, your body will evolve and adapt to the physical demand making it easier for you to do next time. To put this as simple as possible; everything you do at the gym will be easier next time because your body evolves to do that thing better.

Some people think that you can get big strong arms and chest by pounding out a thousand push-ups every day. The truth is that if you do a thousand push-ups every day, you're going to only get good at doing a thousand push-ups every day. In an aesthetic perspective, all that is happening is you are making your chest and arms smaller, denser, and more defined because they need to be light and have high endurance for the volume of push-ups you are performing. Big arms and chest only come from forcing your body to lift the heaviest weight they can bare. It is there that the mass is being recruited for the restraining demand of the heavy weight. If you run, your body will make muscle denser so it is lighter and drop body weight because running demands your body to be light and able to keep going for long periods of time.

The main point:

You can't just do anything at the gym and look "better". You have to create an image in your head which you want to become and then find out what exercises will demand your body to look like that. From that point on, evolution, the cause and effect of time and life itself, will make your body into the image you have set as your goal.

Keep in mind, there are some other restraints on you such as genes, body type, and any physical/health handicaps. This does not mean you can't look like your imagined goal, but it will make the process a bit longer.

Best of luck to everyone!

Blog Question:
Do you prefer cardio, toning, strength training, or body building?

Extra reading:

Determine Your Body Type

Body Shapes for Men

Body Shapes for Women

Red Muscle vs White Muscle

Aerobic Exercise vs Anaerobic Exercise

Body Building vs Strength Training with Elliot Hulse (video)