Need some advice re: lifting

[Nittany Lion]

I was wondering if any of you who lift weights on regular basis have completely changed up your routine in order to get past hitting a wall? Have any of you found that this has helped you?

I have hit wall making little to no progress for about a month or so. I was thinking my program has become too stale and I might restructure the entire program. I have been doing a similar routine for about year. Lifting 5 days a week, one or two muscle groups a day, 4-5 exercises per group, 4 sets per exercise.

What kind of routine do you do?

[Xanthorius]

I often find that changing it up with a different goal in mind for a few weeks or months helps me. For example- if I've been lifting to primarily bulk up a specific muscle group and I hit a wall with it, I will change it up and work on the toning of that group for a while.

When I come back, it usually helps to break past whatever wall I was having. Taking a break from a group entirely helps sometimes, too.

Additionally, I find that leaving a group but working the support muscles for a group can help. Example- if I've hit a wall in bench press, I'll stop pressing for a month but really work on my triceps, etc.

Good luck! It's discouraging sometimes to do all that work and feel like you're not getting any results.

[Nittany Lion]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Xanthorius:
When I come back, it usually helps to break past whatever wall I was having. Taking a break from a group entirely helps sometimes, too.

Additionally, I find that leaving a group but working the support muscles for a group can help. Example- if I've hit a wall in bench press, I'll stop pressing for a month but really work on my triceps, etc.

Good luck! It's discouraging sometimes to do all that work and feel like you're not getting any results.

---

Thanks, X
"Discouraging"...you can say that again! Last Saturday I left the gym and it hit me that I have benching the same weight for the same reps for a month!! I had been making great progress prior to this quite awhile and I was just happy to be putting what I was doing and didn't realize my progress halted as it did.

By saying you "Take a break entirely" do you mean not doing that muscle group at all for awhile? For example not working chest. And for how long do you take a break for?

Thanks for the help!

[Tprspouse]

Stop hitting walls!

I agree, to tone for a while then return to bulking up. Small amt of reps with large wt to small weight large number of reps.

Not that I'm an expert at it, but it sounds logical. I usually tone with light weights.

[LEO-wanna-be]

X, hitting walls, eh? Well, I'm a bit of a bench presser and I do free weight lifting. I usually concentrate on on certain areas for say 3 days, then move to a different area of my bod. I have a combination though, not just weights. I'm a swimmer, so obviously swim any time I can, I walk a lot...almost everywhere, since I live close to shopping plaza's, I sprint, I do pilaties (sp?) also. My advice is to try different sets at a time and figure out what works for you. Best wishes!

[ProWriter]

If you want to post or PM to me what your routine is for each body-part, how many days between the same workout, what order you do which exercises, how many sets per exercise and what rep range you usually go for, I'll look it over to see if there's anything obvious to change ok?

[ateamer]

Don't do the same scheme of sets and reps for more than five weeks. After about six weeks, the central nervous system gets too used to the routine and will no longer adapt. By varying the load more frequently, the body will be forced to constantly adapt.

I use a specialized powerlifting training system and do maximum effort exercises once a week each for bench press and squat/deadlift. There is also a dynamic workout for each lift once a week each, which builds explosiveness. I change max effort exercises every week or two. By doing so, I am able to go for a max single on a weekly basis without burning out. In addition to the ME and DE primary lifts, there are other exercises for the various bodyparts. I also throw in extra workouts for recovery and general physical preparedness.

These principals can be adapted to a more traditional workout by taking one heavy and one light workout per week per muscle group. For the heavy workout, vary the sets/reps scheme every four or five weeks to ensure constant adaptation.

If you are feeling way burned out, take three or four days off. The first two or three days, do no exercise at all. The last couple days, do something you don't normally do, like lifting stones, dragging a weighted sled back and forth (I do that three to five times a week for GPP) or seeing how many sets of max reps it takes to do 200 pushups.

[Niteshift]

Moving to the Health&Fitness forum