Reps and sets

[Polar Bear]

So, I am back in the gym after 29 months out.  I started back at reduced weights on the various machines and 2 sets of 10 reps.  In two weeks I am almost back to the weights that I was pulling on the various machines and have upped to 2 sets of 12.  Now for the next step:

I am wondering whether to go 3 sets of 10 or 2 sets of 15.  I am not looking to bulk in any way, rather improve overall strength and conditioning. 

What does the panel think please?

[rafletcher]

The weight you can do 2x15, but do it to exhaustion.

[Polar Bear]

Why to exhaustion? 

[Pedal Castro]

I used to do 3x10 but all exercises in rotation for each set to give reasonable recovery time.
Then if I manage all 3 sets I up the weight for the next visit, which probably results in 10, 10, 4 reps and I stay at that weight until I manage 10,10,10 and so on.

[ravenbait]

I've always done pyramids. Start at a weight I can comfortably do 12 reps, add an increment (we're talking about machines here, but for free weights the increments are 1kg for individual dumb bells I'm putting above my ahead, or 2kg for things like bent rows. Anything involving a bar is either 2.5kg increments or 5kg increments) so 12 is uncomfortable, add and do 10, add and do 8. If I fail at 4, next time out I repeat the set rather than starting one increment up.

You go to exhaustion or just shy of it if you want gains. If you just want to maintain strength, there's no need to push to exhaustion.

Increased weight develops strength, increased reps develops anaerobic endurance (assuming they're heavy enough to feel it). So it's down to what you want your weights to do for you.

Sam

[Polar Bear]

Thanks Sam.  Interesting.

I'm in the "maintain" as oppose to "gain" camp but equally I don't want the machine to just feel easy.  The toughest one I find is the shoulder press and I am definitely at the edge of capability with a couple of reps to go in the last set.  Perhaps I should drop the weight by a notch and look to adding a set?

All but one of the stacks go up in 5kg increments though two of those machines also have a 2.5kg slam button so it is possible to increment in 2.5kg jumps.  The leg press is in 10kg increments only.

Food for thought.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Another vote for pyramids but I used to do five reps. Go all the way up to hit a weight that you can only just manage for the number of reps then back down the pyramid. Really works muscles to exhaustion and builds strength and stamina.

[ravenbait]

Another vote for pyramids but I used to do five reps. Go all the way up to hit a weight that you can only just manage for the number of reps then back down the pyramid. Really works muscles to exhaustion and builds strength and stamina.

Every time I need cheering up (which is a lot, at the moment), I go and read this:

https://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/a38304/joe-mangianello-diet-workout-regimen/

Sam

[ravenbait]

Thanks Sam.  Interesting.

I'm in the "maintain" as oppose to "gain" camp but equally I don't want the machine to just feel easy.  The toughest one I find is the shoulder press and I am definitely at the edge of capability with a couple of reps to go in the last set.  Perhaps I should drop the weight by a notch and look to adding a set?

All but one of the stacks go up in 5kg increments though two of those machines also have a 2.5kg slam button so it is possible to increment in 2.5kg jumps.  The leg press is in 10kg increments only.

Food for thought.

You might want to investigate an olympic bar, if they have one. Some gyms make you do a specific induction for free weights, and it's worth doing if so. That way you could do squats with 2.5kg increments if you needed to, but your technique needs to be sound. I've currently got a knackered ankle, so I'm cheating and using the linear leg press, which comes in -- get this -- 50kg increments. LOL. I need to ransack the plate stacks for the chest press in order to make it less insane.

I would suggest doing more reps at a lower weight if you want to maintain. If you are struggling, then you will need to be stronger so as not to struggle. Struggling is the fine line between gains and injury, neither of which you want. You should be looking to finish with perfect form. If I throw form out the window, I can probably up my 1 rep max by 50%, but that is not good for you. It is a good way to injure yourself. If you concentrate on form as well as weight, you should find that the number of reps you can do before you start going baggy and entraining muscle groups you're not supposed to be working is lower. If you can do 15 and it's nothing, you need to up the weight. If you can just manage 12 clean reps, you are probably fine.

Do you have a goal in mind, or is it literally to stay as strong as you are right now?

I'm building strength back at the moment, which is why I'm going to 4 and increasing each week.

Sam

[Polar Bear]

Thanks again Sam.

I have no specific goal other than to fight the tide of age (60 in 6 months) and to stay relatively fit, healthy and capable physically.

I will finish June off with two more workout sessions of 2 x 12 then start July with a shift to 3 x 10.  I will look to elevate the middle set to 12 by the end of July and see where I go from there.

I was exclusively running from February 2020 until May 2022 but my running mojo has vanished and I really don't want to slide so I'm trying to get a mixed regime of gym, yoga and short runs going with plans to add swimming in September.  It's all for keeping fit and healthy at the moment though.

[Blodwyn Pig]

As an ex .....shall we say ...gym goer, I would suggest ditching the machines, and just use free weights. The weight you lift , pull, move etc, can be the same, but the gains are greater, as you have to move ...say dumbell curls, much more accurately,and slowly, and in doing so you also tense other muscles in your body, that you just don't do with machines.  With free weights its all about accuracy, control of movement and balance, with machines it 's brute force and ignorance. With free weights , you learn to tense your whole body to move one arm, a good thing, n'est pas?

[campagman]

I'd suggest free weights too. Sets and reps is easy, 1 heavy weight that you can nearly lift 5 x 5. Then when you achieve this you up the weight.

[Polar Bear]

With my severe lack of vision I don't feel safe using free weights.  Indeed, I once had an accident due to a rogue free weight which I fell over having been left on the floor rather than re-racked.  I was not the person who had failed to put it away.

I might be being overly cautious but I have greater trust in the machines.

[ravenbait]

With my severe lack of vision I don't feel safe using free weights.  Indeed, I once had an accident due to a rogue free weight which I fell over having been left on the floor rather than re-racked.  I was not the person who had failed to put it away.

I might be being overly cautious but I have greater trust in the machines.

I can sympathise with that. And you can still focus on form with the machines. I would complete each rep mindfully, ensuring full range of movement -- e.g. if you were doing lateral pull-downs (or assisted chin-up), then make sure you are pulling all the way down as if you were looking over a wall, that you activate the right muscles in the right order, and you remain seated rather than using your bodyweight (assuming you are using the pull-down machine). Saw a chap on the abductor machine the other day who was doing a lot of very rapid, small movements, which is a good way to limit your range of movement in the long-term. Also release slowly rather than just letting go. Resisting the return of the weight is just as important as making the initial movement.

As I am appreciably older now than I was when I first hit the gym at 15, it's fair to say I'm learning how much of age protection is reassuring my body that I still want to do things with it, and I still want to inhabit something that has good proprioception and neuromuscular control. Anything that enhances your feel for yourself in space and doing things with muscles in space will be beneficial. Cycling isn't super great for that, but yoga and swimming and weights are (I do all three as well). So I think you've got a great recipe there.

Sam