How's your progression?

One mistake when exercising to improve your body is never pushing yourself harder. Sometimes, we get comfortable and stick with the same old stuff we've been doing over and over. Same amount of weight. Same rep range, same number of sets. Or, maybe the same cardio machine. Day after day.

Where's the progression?

I was definitely guilty of this in the past. Until I learned that your body is quick at adapting, especially the more fit you are. If you are a beginner, you can use the same workout for quite a long time and get results with it. Maybe you can even do those cutsy little workout plans in the magazines: "do 3 sets of these 5 exercises 3 times a week and in a month you'll have sleek legs!" Did that stuff ever work for you? Me either! And after that miracle month that gives you legs like the model in the magazine, what then? I guess we'd have to move on to their "sleek arm" workout the next month since our arms would still be flabby from only working our legs that previous month. I used to have a whole folder of workouts that I kept from magazines, with the super fit models showing you how to do the moves. Basically it was all stuff you'd barely break a sweat doing. How does this improve my physique now? Uh...it doesn't.

Rant over....moving on....

I keep a small notebook with me at the gym so that A)I know what I have to do that day B)So I can keep track of the weight that I'm using

I need to see progression. Sometimes, I do feel like I stall at certain things for quite a while before I build up the strength and/or stamina to move forward. And sometimes it feels like I soar from one week to the next.

Progression is generally pretty slow. Even if it's only one more rep, or a teensy bit more weight, it's still MORE.

If I follow my planned workouts (and I do), it will take me a full two weeks before I progress to a heavier weight. Because I have two workouts that I alternate on M/W/F. I start at the low rep range, high set range and increase one rep each time. Once I hit 6 reps for 6 sets, I raise the weight and go down to 3 reps for 6 sets. This might seem really easy (only 3 reps, really?) but it's incredibly taxing to use heavy weight. And it's not a range I would typically use. It's something I'm not used to. It's a shock to the system "oh, she's lifting much heavier weight and not using strictly 8-12 reps for 3 sets here....this is weird....what's going on......" and so my body is responding really well to it.

Looking back on my progression:

My incline sprints have improved. I've cut my work to rest ratio down from 1: 1.5 to 1:1. That's a whole 30 seconds off the resting interval! And that is from February 5th.

I've also dramatically increased the number of pull ups I can do in a workout. At home, my usual was about 9 total, maybe 12 on a good day. Now I am up to 36!! Of course that isn't all at once, but 6 reps x 6 sets. Still, that's a huge jump! Hello sexy muscular back and arms, nice to see you!

Working out at home, I never made it past 42.5lbs on a hamstring curl. At the gym, I've progressed to 70lbs!

Right now, I'm deadlifting 155lbs. Just a few weeks ago 135lbs seemed too heavy for me. Monday, I was cranking out more than the necessary reps at 135lb so I upped it to 155lb. Although, 155lb seems really heavy right now and I can only do maybe 3 at a time without comprising form. I can feel my back start to round as I stand up and then I know it's time to quit. At home - 100lbs seemed impossible.

Squats - this is the one thing I really REALLY want to improve. I've been squatting at 105lbs for a while now. But as my progression chart indicates, today is the day I get to increase weight and go back down in reps (yeah, my favorite day!).

My bench press was at 90lbs on Monday.

For my dumbbell shoulder press, I was holding 25lb dumbbells in each hand. Not that long ago 20lbs seemed very heavy. Lat raises and front raises seem to stall at 10lbs though.

I've added more weight to my walking lunges; from 20lbs to 25lbs in each hand.

I've added more weight to my curtsy lunges; from 10lbs to 25lbs in each hand.

Improving is all about progression. And I love having my workout journal to look at so I can see the improvements I make and where I might need to step it up a little.