When Should I Increase My Weights?

When Should I Increase My Weights?

This question came from a client who was concerned with exactly how much the weight was going up each week on the bar (or machine, or dumbbell.) After a conversation with her, it was clear that there was a little too much focus on load, and not enough on a few other key factors for determining progress and results.

So let’s dig into the answer!

“When should I be going up in weights?”

This depends on a couple things.

First, are you asking this question regarding within the workout itself? Or from week to week?

If the former, this would be ascending load, where you do set 1 with a starting weight. Then you add a little weight for your 2nd set, then a little more for your 3rd, until you can’t add any more or until you reach your prescribed number of sets (assuming you’re reaching the amount of failure intended.)

This is just one way to load the weights, and shouldn’t be used across the board, but instead, strategically. You’ll often see this type of loading in some neurological-type of programming, as well as some hypertrophy.

There are other programs where the weight you choose should remain the same across all of your sets.

Even still, you should only add weight to each set if you can while still maintaining good execution. This is depending on a number of things, but primarily, your recovery.

For example, if you start your workout after a poor night’s sleep, and having played basketball for two hours the night before, your load for each set would likely look different than a session coming off of a night of rest + quality sleep.

Now, for the latter question:

when should I be going up in weights from week to week?

Or put another way, should you lift heavier on an exercise you’re doing in week 3 of your plan versus week 1?

Yet again, it depends.

It depends on recovery again, as noted in the example above, but it also depends on the exercise.

For example, for a leg press, you have the option of adding just a fraction of the total weight you’re pressing from week to week. A 2.5 or 5 lb plate added to 125# isn’t much. You’d likely be able to progress in weight each week.

Now, for an exercise, like a front raise, where any increase in weight will be a much larger fraction of the total weight? Probably not.

That’s just one reason why weight isn’t the be all end all of progressive overload.

So, how else can you document progression from workout to workout – or even within the workout itself?

-rep range
-tempo
-RPE
-execution (simply getting BETTER at doing the exercise)
etc.

It’s especially important to hit targeted rate of perceived exertion, sets to failure, and proper execution and tempo, in order to achieve the desired stimulus of the workout/program. Just adding weight to a set will do minimal if the prior factors aren’t in line.

I hope this is helpful in that it gives you a fresh thought process in your next workout or current training program.

Please let me know if you have any questions!