When to increase or decrease weight?
A golden rule to stick by is...
If you can EASILY do your goal reps, the weight is too light.
You want to be starting to fatigue a couple of reps before your goal rep for the ideal weight.
However, the moment you start to find those last couple of reps a little easier, you should increase the weight and drop the rep goal.
In your workout plan, some of your exercises will have a set containing decreasing reps such as:
15 12 10 8 8
In this situation, start with something you can easily do 15 with to warm up.
The final 8 reps, should be a struggle. It is GOOD to fail. If you try a weight and only hit 4, that is good. You are going to keep that weight until you can do the goal of 8!!
If you find a set that has an increase of reps at the end, such as:
12 10 8 15
Do the final 15 with the heaviest light weight you can, if you can manage the full 15...drop the weight and continue until you hit 15!
(You can record this in your notes!)
When to decrease? The only times I would suggest dropping the weight is:
If you cannot lift it with good form
It causes pain
You cannot feel the correct muscles working
Too heavy a weight can be DANGEROUS! It can cause your form to collapse and therefore uses the wrong muscles/joints and can cause serious injury. If in doubt....go light, readjust your form and try to feel the correct muscles working before upping the weight again.
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