Increasing Weight Is Not Necessary for Growth

[MuscleMama]

OK so ya know how people are always saying that in order to gain muscle mass and get huge you have to keep increasing the amount of weight that you lift? (By the way, most sources refer to this technique as "progressive resistance training.") Well, guess what! It's not true. How do I know this? Simple: If it was necessary to continue to increase the amount of weight every week, every two weeks, whatever, then it would not be uncommon for people who have been training only a few years to be bench pressing 600 pounds, deadlifting 1,500, squatting 1,300 ... you get the point.

Comments, anyone?

Get huge,
MuscleMama

[Alex(AJ)]

it is important to increase in weight, but doesn't have to be 5pds every week.

but you do hit a point where instead of increasing by +1rep/week, you'll only do, say, +1/4rep/week

e.g., i'm db curling with 70pd. dbs (no elbow movement, perfect form), 5reps. You think i'm gona get to 80pds in a few weeks- hell no. My reps go up very slowly, but who cares, even that extra 1/4'' you can eek out produces growth

[ChrisH]

I agree.

I do believe it is important to try to squeeze out an extra rep every week or two, but adding weight all of the time is not necessary.

BTW - 1REP extra per week for weights 100lbs and above = approximately the same as upping weight about 3.5-5lbs per week.

1Rep extra every two or so weeks for weights less than 100lbs is approximately the same as adding about 2-2.5 lbs per week.

Just some calculations I made one day while I had nothing else to do.

[MuscleMama]

Damn, Alex ... a 70-pound dumbbell curl in perfect form? That's pretty amazing! Great work, buddy! (I call you buddy 'cause I really like talking with you - and Fudo - on these boards. I'd love to see the three of us in a gym together. We'd be tearing it up.)

Get huge,
MuscleMama

[Alex(AJ)]

Originally posted by MuscleMama
Damn, Alex ... a 70-pound dumbbell curl in perfect form? That's pretty amazing! Great work, buddy! (I call you buddy 'cause I really like talking with you - and Fudo - on these boards. I'd love to see the three of us in a gym together. We'd be tearing it up.)

Get huge,
MuscleMama

considering when I 1st started I was curling 5pds*2reps, yep, i'd say i've made some good progress

what a lot of people don't realize, imho, is that when you let the elbows travel forward (i mean, a tiny bit of motion is unavoidable, i'm talking abotu how you see them almost throw them forward to the point they're beyond the waist) you may lift more, but only in the short run. Everybody laughed at me when I dropped my bb curl to 90pds. and db's to 40's (from 50's) and focused solely on keeping them fixed. hard at first, but i suprised myself because i made serious strength gains with curling. I was like...dayum.

[MuscleMama]

Alex:

Heh. I know the feeling of good progress. Feels wonderful, doesn't it? For example, when I first started lifting, I could only do 25-pound plates on the leg press. Now I'm doing 720 pounds. Bench press, deadlifts ... all major lifts, same thing. Started out pretty crappy, but now ... dayum.

Yep, I toally agree. And I know what ya mean about form and such. Sometimes you have to lower the weight a bit in order to keep an eye on form - and in the long run, make better progress. I see stuff like that all the time at the gym. You should these guys loading up the squat bar with 45s ... then, their whole range of motion is, like, 5 inches. It's so funny. Actually, it's sad that they're not educated on proper lifting. Curls, like you mentioned, are another one. People look as if they're doing hyperextensions while standing with a barbell in their hands. It's ridiculous.

Anyway, I'm officially rambling.

~ MuscleMama ~

[mustang GT]

Originally posted by MuscleMama
Anyway, I'm officially rambling.

Rambling = good if people will learn from what you say. I agree with what you and Alex are saying, hopefully some other people will learn though.