Group: Beginners to Exercise

Created: 2012/01/01, Members: 970, Messages: 18927

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Reaching Your Max???

DAYNSH
DAYNSH
Posts: 16
Joined: 2007/08/23
United States
2007/08/24, 11:38 AM
Hi peeps...

What is "Reaching your Max?"
Pemdas
Pemdas
Posts: 973
Joined: 2004/07/22
United States
2007/08/24, 11:49 AM
What was the context of this quote?

I assume that this mean a 1 rep max. If this is the case then it refers to the absolute maximum weight that you can lift for 1 rep.
DAYNSH
DAYNSH
Posts: 16
Joined: 2007/08/23
United States
2007/08/24, 12:42 PM
Pemdas,

I think thats it...I read it on a message board, they were talking about how much weight a person should be lifting...
not sure how to put this into context either, my question is, how do I know when to change my weights?

Example: If if I am working my biceps, and have been doing 12 reps at 40 pounds, when do I know I should move up to 45, or 50? I have been weight training for 3 weeks, and I started out at 25 pounds, am at 40-50 depending on the exercise. If I can 12 reps at 40 pounds easily, is it time to go to 50? How do I know if I should be lifting more? Silly question I suppose...:)
Pemdas
Pemdas
Posts: 973
Joined: 2004/07/22
United States
2007/08/24, 01:31 PM
No, its not a silly question. A lot people ask this when they first start out. Personally, I like to have a target rep/set scheme for a given weight. For example, 4 sets of 8 reps.

Take bench for example.

Week One (135 is the selected weight)
4 complete sets of 8

Week Two (140 is the selected weight)
3 complete sets of 8 and 1 set of 4

I would now repeat the weight 140 the next week because I didn't get my target number of reps.

So, as a general rule of thumb I move up in weight when I can get my target number of sets/reps.

Sometime if I miss by just one or two reps, I will still use more weight the next week.