Lets tease out when each option is best.
Unfortunately, as you know, the journey to strength isnt a nonstop flight to funky town.
In fancy fitness lingo, youve hit a plateau.
Plateaus happen for a variety of reasons,many of which weve outlined before.
Basically, it’s possible for you to blame your body for being so damn smart.
Uber strength athletes have taken years to develop this high capacity for work.
Greg explains: As you get stronger, training simply becomes more metabolically costly.
Your training program is too advanced for you: This reason sounds almost counterintuitive, doesnt it?
The general thinking goes that the more advanced the workout, the greater the progress.
(Hell, if Arnold trained like that, I should too, to look like him!)
Nowto answer the very question of: should I change weight or reps first?
Actually, its form first.
No, thats not a cop-out.
However, those quickly fly out the window when you introduce heavy-ass weights that youre not used to.
Soreps first, then weight.
Greg adds:
Increasing weight as long as youre able to is generally a good call.
But when you plateau, you generally need to decrease weight and increase sets, reps, or both.
This is a bit of a catch-all.
This isnt always fun.
Be careful about changing too much, too soon at once.
If thats true, chasing that numbers high is a dangerous game.
Not only does it make you prone to injury, but it hurts long-term progress.
If volume is already high, increasing it further is difficult if not impossible.
Greg outlinessome pointers in his article here, and adds that essentially you try changing your reps first.
Note that you dont have to do the same number of reps and sets every session either.
And thats more important than anything.
Illustration by Nick Criscuolo.
Stephanie Lee is a nomadic writer with a Sriracha problem.
Visit her blog athttp://fitngeeky.tv/for her lighter takes on fitness and her shenanigans.
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