Hello,
I made the leap 2 weeks ago to start resistance training and be in better health overall.
I lost 25 pounds since October and it motivated me to start training as well. So here I am.
I bought the Renaissance Periodization 3 days full body workout with dumbbells only to start my journey. I have young kids, so starting at home is giving me the best chance to stick to a program.
With that said, over the 2 weeks, a few questions popped up and I don't know the terminology well enough to answer them and my google skills weren't good enough, so I am trying my luck here.
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I have been sedentary for a long while, even though I did a lot of sport when I was younger. Mainly competitive volley ball, so my legs are decently strong still, but my upper body, not so much. For many upper body exercises I do, it feels like my strength is really uneven, and different muscles are activated, though I make sure that the targeted muscle for the exercise is activated too. Should I stick to the same weight I use if I can reach the targeted reps with good technique (to the best of my knowledge)? Or should I drop the weight a little bit until I am strong enough?
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The program calls for myo reps. Each week, a new set is added. For each exercise, the target is between 5-30 reps. Does that mean that I should target at least 5 reps for each sets? Or if I do, let's say, 7-5-3 reps, is that good enough? Should I drop down some dumbbells weight until I can do all the sets to at least 5 reps? For push ups particularly, I don't use a dumbbell, so I could switch to knee push ups, but my first two sets are over 5 reps, but the subsequent sets are under 5.
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Today while training, I ramped up intensity a little bit and really pushed myself more than before. For certain exercises, even though my targeted muscle wasn't burning and feeling exhausted, I couldn't do more reps and the overall part that was trained was shaky after the set.
For example, I did some sumo squats. It didn't feel like my quads were toasted, but I could not push more and my legs really started to shake (it went away after a bit of rest). Is that a good/okay thing? Or does that mean I pushed myself too much and other parts of my legs weren't strong enough for what I tried? After my training, it felt like my knees worked a lot, so I think this is what limited my sumo squats.
I am aware that other muscles are solicited when doing an exercise, but I feel like the targeted muscle should do most of the work.
Thank you for your time.
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I am on mobile right now, so the response might not be as complete.
Since I just started, I am slowly ramping up the intensity to gauge how it feels if I have close to 0 RIR or not.
2)It might indeed not be a program for a total beginner, but I paid for it so I am trying to get most of it and complete a cycle of 6 weeks. My main focus is learning good technique and I'd rather stop with more RIR and not injure myself rather than pushing to 0 RIR and risking injuring myself. There is no ego (yet?).
My plan is to complete the program cycle without worrying about the gains for now and concentrate on the techniques, how my body feel with each exercise, and trying to figure out where my RIR 1-3 is slowly.
But I must say, I really like myo reps, much more than a fixed sets. There is a cheap gym close to me, so I might mix fixed sets + some myo reps here and there for the next cycle. I feel like the myo reps gamify working out and I enjoy that.
But I will certainly reflect on what you said for the current cycle and the future cycles. Thank you very much.
As long as your first set in the myo rep is in the upper range of the reps, you should be fine. If it gets too heavy down the line, there is no shame in lowering the weight. You should see noticeable strength gain from session to session as a beginner though, so don't underestimate what you will be capable of the next week!
Oh absolutely. I wasn't suggesting you to quit a program you just started. I was mostly voicing my surprise of the myo reps. I'm sure it's a solid program.
I can totally understand how it may seem like a more fun variation than straight sets. My main concern for a beginner doing them is that more of your reps will be done close to failure. Closer to failure will mean increased risk/temptation to not focus on making each rep as good as possible. As a beginner, one should try to hammer down the technique so that it becomes pure muscle memory for when the weights starts to get heavy and more "dangerous".
Just remember to focus on the quality of each rep instead of the quantity and you should be good.
Thanks for the great advices. I am older now, so less of a hothead. I definitely concentrate on the techniques more than the number of rep I do.
I appreciate the thorough feedback.