How do I pick the right weight for a workout?

Coach, now that we’ve had our first training sessions together (and the workouts are great, by the way!), I need to know how to progress on my own, since I am not going to be working with you every time that I train. How do I know when to go up in weight, and how much?

 

Concept 1: The Central Nervous System Accepts a 1-2% Increase from One Set to Another When at the Upper Threshold of Strength for a Given Intensity

The above statement is the most basic concept to master in weight training. In A1, the trainee lifted 7.5 lbs for the top number of prescribed reps, or 12. Doing so describes a perfectly successful set – all the reps completed for what we assume was perfect technique.

That accomplished, he progresses in his second set to 8.7 lbs. This effort represents an approximate 16% increase in weight, which is a lot, but he is again successful, and completes 12 perfect reps.

In his third set, he elects to try 10 lbs, representing a 14% increase, but this time he fails to lift even the minimum number of reps in the prescription. Suggestion for next workout: begin in the middle of the data stream, between 8.1 and 8.7 lbs, and progress by the smallest platemate increment available – .6 lbs – ensuring that he stays within the prescribed repetition range.

Concept 2: When Beginning a New Program or Performing an Exercise for the First Time, Make the Weight Light

Our trainee performs 20 reps with 5 lbs for the first set in the powell raise, and he progresses to 5.6 lbs, for 12% increase, in set number two. Here he only gets 16 reps. Assuming that 16 was his absolute limit for this set, because he did not reach 20 reps, and knowing that he is very close to lower end of the repetition bracket for this exercise, he makes the prudent decision to lower the weight back to 5 lbs, but it is not enough of a decrease.

Though this is not a mistake in and of itself, the lesson to learn in this case is that, when performing a new exercise, or an exercise that you have not performed in a long time, at the beginning of a new workout, always undershoot your abilities the first time out. You can always go up in weight in the next workout after you have established that you can actually handle the minimum requirements of the training program, which is the volume (number of reps) prescribed.
 

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