How Should I Progress Moving Up Through the Weights?

Sean asks:

"Moving up in weights.

How should progress be done?

Be it barbell, squat, kettlebells, arm curls. There's the various methods, staying on 80% max rep for x session etc.. Sean"

Great question Sean, and one that could spawn many different answers, many that would potentially contradict each other but all would be correct in the right context.

And here is where we have to put some thought, what is the context?

Sean mentions staying on 80% max for x sessions, which is a great method for long term, slow and steady progress.

When we see a percentage listed, we usually are talking about intensity in the S&C definition of the word.

80% means 80% of your 1 rep max. So a weight you can lift once and once only represents your 100%, and we can predict how many reps we'd expect you to be able to lift at various percentages of that and get an idea of what adaptations to expect as a result.

There as several formulae for figuring out probable 1RM's based of how many reps you can do with a given weight, eg "Epley's formula" which is the weight multiplied by (1 + 0.0333 × reps)

My last Deadlift session saw 160kg go up for 5 reps.

166 x (1 + 0.0333 x 5) = 193.639

So in theory my max deadlift as I write this is 193kg's

So I could now workout what I could (or should) be lifting at 80% or 60% intensities.

Lifting at 80%, or 155kg in my case for several sets, never to failure, will give me significant returns in strength, and likely hypertrophy.

But not forever, sooner or later I will adapt to that weight and no further progress will come.

So what do we do now?

We add load. If getting stronger is our primary goal, we could add volume if size or endurance is more important.

Step periodisation is a nice simple easy way to progress here. Simply put, at 80% we'd expect most lifters to get between 5 and 10 reps. Depending on the individual.

So 4 sets of 8 works nicely, as would 5 sets of 5.

Do this for 4 weeks, no changes, then on week 5, add load and repeat.

Keep doing this until you no longer feel you can add load. This could take months, even years.

You may find that you steadily get stronger and stronger month on month without ever feeling like you've had your arse kicked.

If you want something a bit more size and strength oriented, try adding volume.

We start with say 5 sets of 5, then add a set per week to maybe 10 sets. No change in load.

Then we could add reps per set, bringing us up to 10 sets of 10 with the same load we started with.

Needless to say a weight you can do 100 reps in a session with is of a far lower intensity than a weight you only do 25 reps with.

Over the years, I have found most folk progress better as we increase volume first, then load.

Look at one of my most successful programs ever, the Bootcamp program ( access the 3 day/week program here: https://marketplace.trainheroic.com/workout-plan/program/hedges-program-1518018980

4day/week program here: https://marketplace.trainheroic.com/workout-plan/program/dave-program-1666175459)

Strength day on the bootcamps starts at 4 sets of 8, moves to 5 sets of 5 and finishes in the final 4 week block working up to a gym max (as opposed to a comp max)

Newer lifters are cautious with progress, maybe keeping the load constant across all sets, adding a small amount each week, while experienced lifters do better adding load each set, and the following week starting slightly heavier.

Now for the other part of Seans question, he lists several lifts.

Do deadlifts and bicep curls progress the same way?

Do barbells and kettlebells progress the same?

Not usually.

Bicep curls, and most other single joint lifts are less taxing on the nervous system so are generally pushed towards failure more. So do your curls, don't worry too much about the weight, but do hit or come close to failure.

Kettlebells on the other hand generally have large jumps between weights, especially if doing double KB lifts.

With kettlebell only training, step periodisation may not work for long in the manner described above. We may need to stay with a given weight longer. Playing with volume though works most of the time.

Start with maybe 10 total reps and over the weeks build this up to 30, 50, even 100 total reps.

3 sets of 3 can become 5 sets of 5, then jump up in weight

5 sets of 5 can become 10 sets of 10 before increasing load

Ladder sets are awesome, as are density sets (total reps lifted inn a given time frame)

I realise I haven't given a truly comprehensive answer here, but there actual text books out there dedicated to this one subject.

What I hope to have done though is give you the basic concept of how to progress the resistance in your training by either load or by volume as appropriate.

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.Wg-Fit.com

www.DaveHedges.net

Love the Journey, Don't Focus on the Destination

When you love the journey goals just happen- unknown quote

Unfortunately I wrote that quote down without taking not of the persons name.

However, a session this morning with a client named Sarah reinforces this message and makes it the topic of today's newsletter.

Like many of my clients, Sarah struggles with time.

She’s a medical professional and we all know how underfunded and understaffed our poor medical service is.

But she also carries some chronic issues that require some quite specific training protocols to manage, which require time to make happen.

In conversation this morning I commented on how consistent Sarah has been getting in her workouts. To which she told me how she was getting better at setting boundaries with work and making that time available for training.

I asked what changed that she felt the want/need to change her behaviour and establish these boundaries.

And the answer came back that she was feeling stronger, more mobile and in less pain due which was down to the exercise she was doing, therefore to operate better in work, she needed to put limits on work and get to the gym.

Simply put, if she didn’t workout, she would be in pain and would become less effective in work.

Sarah had that moment of realisation that committing to the journey makes goals happen.

In her case better quality of life.

In other peoples cases it could be sporting prowess, skill acquisition or more.

Sylvia springs to mind here, several years ago she came to me with aspirations and goal, but hated the training process.

Even as we ticked off the initial smaller goals, she still hated the process.

And one day something changed.

Something in her mindset changed and she fully committed to the journey. Realised that training isn’t just for this goal, but it sets up the next one, and the one after.

She realised that each goal wasn’t an end, merely a checkpoint along a longer route.

Where has this taken Silvia? Well last year she ticked off her lifelong dream and became the BJJ World Champion in Las Vegas.

This, I don’t believe, could have happened without her falling in love with the process, the journey.

It would never have happened if she hadn’t made the supplementary training, the S&C work as much a part of her lifestyle as the BJJ training.

If she hadn’t started seeing the S&C and the BJJ as complimentary parts of the whole rather than two separate endeavours, she may never have reached the dizzying heights she currently operates at.

It really is amazing what a person can achieve once you stop focussing on an end result and start focussing on turning up and getting it done.

It’s not that goals aren’t important, of course they are, but what happens after a goal is achieved? We don’t just stop, or wait until we have a new goal.

Goals should act as checkpoints, we train, we reach a checkpoint, we continue training, and we reach the next checkpoint.

But we are more interested in the journey, the longer term outcomes or training.

Being fit for life.

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.Wg-Fit.com

www.DaveHedges.net

How Much Can I Increase My Punching Power In The Gym?

How much can you increase punching power in the gym?

This question was asked in a forum I'm part of, and it reminded me of one particular client who trained with me for that exact reason.

The client in question was (actually still is) a highly competitive combat sports athlete, but never felt that their punches had any power in them.

So we set about training them with the goal of hitting harder.

Long story short, it worked. They've won many a bout with their hands since.

But how?

What did we do in the gym?

And what made what we did in the gym cross over into actual punching power?

That last question I believe is the important part.

A lot of what gets done in the gym, especially from those advocating “functional training” or “sports specific training” falls woefully short.

So, how did we approach training?

The first thing was, as with all new athletes, to look at movement.

Punching hard is a full body experience, the legs and hips drive, the torso amplifies, and the shoulders and arm deliver.

When watching someone, we can gain clues as to where the easiest gains can be made.

Do we need better hip? Stronger legs? Scapula control and spinal mobility are the wrists and hands underdeveloped and simply unable to handle to the forces?

Then, the sequencing.

Are the hips turning like a we want, but then there's a delay at the shoulder where that power leaks away, kind of like the clutch slipping in your car.

Then, we design the training using the lifts that answer those questions.

The point to note here is that we start with questions, never answers.

Many coaches I see around talk as if certain exercises provide all the answers.

I disagree, and while I have my preference for certain drills, if they don't actually answer the questions asked, I will use something that does.

So drills that develop hip snap, such as squats, lunges, swings, deadlifts, cleans, high pulls, jumps, hops, etc.

Drills that connect the hip to the shoulder, such as windmills, get ups, standing presses, one arm push press and jerks, single arm or single arm emphasis push ups.

Drills that enhance Scapula control, windmills, get ups, bottoms up kettlebell moves, hanging scap ups, rows, and even club and mace exercises.

Drills that put it all together, such as hitting the bag with heavy singles, medicine ball throws, one arm clean and jerk/push press.

All this stuff helps, but only if the athlete is then hitting pads and bags to put any improvements in strength, muscle mass, coordination into action.

Nothing in the gym truly develops punching power, but it does develop the potential to punch harder, assuming punching hard is being trained as well.

So, how much can power go up by?

Honestly, I've no idea.

I have had fighters score their first knockout after doing 6 weeks of training with me.

Another turned a losing streak into a winning streak

The athlete mentioned at the start of this became multiple time Champion across several events.

Punching power can increase.

Just know that there are no magic exercises.

The gym is where we build strength, mobility, and endurance to create athletic potential.

Turning that potential into reality happens in the actual sports training.

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.davehedges.net