Note: Charles is here on a weekly basis to help you cut through the B.S. and get to the bottom of the biggest questions in health and training.
Question #1: Weight Or Reps?
READER: In terms of progressive overload, what’s more important – adding weight or adding reps?
CHARLES SAYS: They both play a role, mostly based on your training objectives. If strength is your primary goal, adding weight whenever possible takes precedence. When body composition is most important, adding more reps may be more appropriate.
Knowing your goals plays a big part in planning successful training sessions.
With all of that said, it’s really overall intensity and volume you need to be looking at, and they’re both necessary no matter what your goal. Usually, when I start a workout, I look back to the last time I did that same workout, and I look for ways to improve upon it. If I feel I have a better shot at adding bar weight, I’ll do that. If I think it’ll be easier to keep the weight the same while adding reps and/or sets, I’ll go for that option.
“[I]t’s really overall intensity and volume you need to be looking at, and they’re both necessary no matter what your goal.”
As a final note, consistency is more important than overload, so whenever I improve upon a previous session, I’m not necessarily looking to do it by a large margin, because if I do, the next one or two workouts may suffer as a result. So consistency first, and then seek gradual progressive overload in whatever manner you can.
Question #2: Cutting Weight While Maintaining Muscle
READER: What’s a reasonable rate to cut weight at if I want to maintain as much muscle as possible? 26-year-old male mesomorph, 186lbs, 23% body fat.
CHARLES SAYS: I’d suggest between .5 and 1% percent per week. The first few weeks may go faster of course, but once your sodium and hydration levels settle, shoot for .5 and 1% percent per week. The slower you drop, the less chance of losing your hard-earned muscle.
Incidentally, in addition to weighing myself daily, I also track my average weekly bodyweight, which I feel is a much more useful and honest indicator of your status.
Question #3: Back Pain During Squats
READER: Squats are making my back hurt. Can I do lunges instead? Or is there another substitute?
CHARLES SAYS: Well, it’d be nice to know why squats are hurting your back, right? In other words, don’t just delete an exercise when it causes pain. Sure, discontinue it, but at the same time see if you can figure out why it caused you pain. Most people assume pain means bad form, by the way, but that’s not always the case. Some people are just not well suited for certain exercises.
As for lunges? Hard to say. If they don’t cause pain, and you can’t squat, sure, I’d probably do them, along with anything else I could to compensate for the lack of squatting.
This Week’s Training
Significant Lifts
- Squat: 370×1
- Bench Press: 255×1
- Deficit Deadlift: 470×1
This Week’s Volume: 104,989 Pounds
I’m quite happy with things this week, both in terms of some of the numbers I hit and also in terms of the work I put in. The volume this week is ridiculously high, mostly due to 32,000 pounds of back extensions I ended up doing on Thursday.
Orthopedically, I’ve got some pain in my right shoulder, I suspect from doing parallel bar dips, which I’ve now discontinued until things are feeling healthy again. Aside from that, all’s clear on the orthopedic front.
Finally, I’ve set my sights on a USAPL powerlifting meet on November 21. I’ll keep you all posted as we draw closer to that date.
Thanks all, be sure to check out this week’s videos, and keep sending those questions!
Monday, May 18, 2015
Bodyweight: 200.2 Pounds
Volume: 16,188 Pounds
Power Snatch
- Set 1: 45 lbs × 5
- Set 2: 45 lbs × 5
- Set 3: 66 lbs × 3
- Set 4: 66 lbs × 3
- Set 5: 88 lbs × 2
- Set 6: 88 lbs × 2
- Set 7: 110 lbs × 2
- Set 8: 110 lbs × 2
- Set 9: 132 lbs × 2
- Set 10: 143 lbs × 2
Squat
- Set 1: 45 lbs × 5
- Set 2: 45 lbs × 5
- Set 3: 95 lbs × 5
- Set 4: 135 lbs × 5
- Set 5: 185 lbs × 3
- Set 6: 225 lbs × 2
- Set 7: 275 lbs × 1
- Set 8: 315 lbs × 1
- Set 9: 355 lbs × 1
- Set 10: 370 lbs × 1
High Bar Squat
- Set 1: 135 lbs × 8
- Set 2: 225 lbs × 8
- Set 3: 225 lbs × 8
- Set 4: 225 lbs × 8
45° Back Extension
- Set 1: 120 lbs × 10
- Set 2: 120 lbs × 10
- Set 3: 120 lbs × 10
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Bodyweight: 201.2 Pounds
Volume: 18,915 Pounds
Bench Press
- Set 1: 45 lbs × 5
- Set 2: 95 lbs × 5
- Set 3: 135 lbs × 5
- Set 4: 185 lbs × 3
- Set 5: 225 lbs × 1
- Set 6: 245 lbs × 1
- Set 7: 255 lbs × 1
- Set 8: 225 lbs × 4
Seated Row
- Set 1: 150 lbs × 8
- Set 2: 150 lbs × 8
- Set 3: 150 lbs × 8
- Set 4: 150 lbs × 8
Incline Dumbbell Press
- Set 1: 100 lbs × 8
- Set 2: 120 lbs × 8
- Set 3: 120 lbs × 8
- Set 4: 140 lbs × 8
Bicep Curl (Dumbbell)
- Set 1: 80 lbs × 8
- Set 2: 80 lbs × 8
- Set 3: 80 lbs × 8
- Set 4: 80 lbs × 8
- Set 1: 130 lbs × 8
- Set 2: 130 lbs × 8
- Set 3: 130 lbs × 8
- Set 4: 130 lbs × 8
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Bodyweight: 201.2 Pounds
Volume: 49,781 Pounds
Power Clean
- Set 1: 66 lbs × 3
- Set 2: 66 lbs × 3
- Set 3: 95 lbs × 3
- Set 4: 95 lbs × 3
- Set 5: 115 lbs × 3
- Set 6: 115 lbs × 3
- Set 7: 135 lbs × 2
- Set 8: 135 lbs × 2
- Set 9: 155 lbs × 2
- Set 10: 165 lbs × 2
- Set 11: 175 lbs × 1
- Set 12: 185 lbs × 1 (Video Below)
1.5″ Deficit Pull
- Set 1: 135 lbs × 5
- Set 2: 225 lbs × 3
- Set 3: 315 lbs × 2
- Set 4: 365 lbs × 1
- Set 5: 405 lbs × 1
- Set 6: 435 lbs × 1
- Set 7: 470 lbs × 1 (Video Below)
- Set 8: 405 lbs × 2
- Set 1: 225 lbs × 10
- Set 2: 225 lbs × 10
- Set 3: 275 lbs × 10
- Set 4: 275 lbs × 10
Back Extension
- Set 1: +120 lbs × 10
- Set 2: +120 lbs × 10
- Set 3: +120 lbs × 10
- Set 4: +120 lbs × 10
- Set 5: +120 lbs × 10
- Set 6: +120 lbs × 10
- Set 7: +120 lbs × 10
- Set 8: +120 lbs × 10
- Set 9: +120 lbs × 10
- Set 10: +120 lbs × 10
Friday, May 22, 2015
Bodyweight: 200.4 Pounds
Volume: 20,105 Pounds
Floor Press
- Set 1: 45 lbs × 5
- Set 2: 95 lbs × 5
- Set 3: 135 lbs × 5
- Set 4: 185 lbs × 5
- Set 5: 185 lbs × 5
- Set 6: 185 lbs × 5
Bench Press (Dumbbell)
- Set 1: 140 lbs × 8
- Set 2: 170 lbs × 8
- Set 3: 170 lbs × 8
Military Press
- Set 1: 45 lbs × 8
- Set 2: 65 lbs × 8
- Set 3: 95 lbs × 5
- Set 4: 95 lbs × 5
- Set 5: 95 lbs × 5
- Set 1: 6 reps
- Set 2: 7 reps
- Set 3: 6 reps
- Set 4: 6 reps
Bicep Curl (Dumbbell)
- Set 1: 70 lbs × 8
- Set 2: 70 lbs × 8
- Set 3: 70 lbs × 8
Tricep Pushdowns
- Set 1: 130 lbs × 8
- Set 2: 130 lbs × 8
- Set 3: 130 lbs × 8
Check out these related articles:
- Last Week’s Smart Strength Column
- Save Your Back By Switching to Front Squats
- Functional Mass Gain – How to Build Real Horsepower
- What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today
Photo courtesy of Breaking Muscle.
