Just three quick questions...

So yes hi everyone :P I just have a quick question or two...actually three and here we go.

First one - for weight training...I'ver heard you last few reps should have your struggeling to complete them but is it the last few reps of each set or last few reps in general. IE.

Set 1, rep 1-10 perfectly fine.

Set 2, rep 1-10 perfecty fine.

Set 3, rep 1-7 perfectly fine, 8-10 struggeling.

OR

Set 1, rep 1-7 perfectly fine, 8-10 struggeling

Set 2, rep 1-7 perfectly fine, 8-10 struggeling

Set 3, rep 1-7 perfectly fine, 8-10 struggeling

Question 2! - Inbetween sets should I be doing another weight training exercise or resting? 

IE. After one set of bicep curls, I do a set of back extensions, then go back to the bicep burls OR just doing bicep curls with rests

Question 3? - So My daily burn meter is set at 2.5k so I set me food meter at 2k...but none of this includes my gym time inwhich I can burn upwards of 1k calories(I say vigorius weight training because my heart is always pumping)...I stick to my 2k diet limit, should I be eating more?

IE. Well the question is an example itself.

Question 4!?FTW? - Sorry I just got another question due to question 3. What exactly is the difference between vigorious and moderate/low weight training for this site. Whenever I weight train I do so quickly on high weights with very short breaks and my heart is usually racing by the end of one set, in which I rest for about 30-60 seconds and do another set and once again my heart rate is up and so on and so forth. Am I doing vigorious weight training or moderate/relaxed?

THANX! <3

1. It kind of depends - but I think if you are making it to the last few reps of the last set to feel struggle, it's time to up the weight.

2. Different plans do it different. You can do regular sets (3 sets of X, 3 sets of Y,  with appropriate rest); alternating sets (1 set of X, rest, 1 set of Y, rest, repeat); super set (1 set of X, 1 set of Y, rest, repeat). Mixing it up helps. There isn't a right way, but if you want to change your routine, that's one way to change it. You can also circuit - do one set of each exercise, then repeat.

3. You should aim to have no more than 1000 deficit. So if you are burning 3.5k after a workout, you should be eating at least 2.5k, assuming you want to lose fat.

4. Assuming you are using heavy weights and not just going through the motions, I'd say log it as vigorous.

5. You didn't ask, but because you gave it as an example - focus on the compound movements and don't bother with the isolation movements (such as bicep curl)

1. do what the routine you're following tells you to do.

2. See #1

3. Total calories in - toal calories out.

Hmm thanx for the help. Especially with 1 and 3, those have been killing me for the past few hours lol. So I have to eat more on gym days eh...thats gonna be hard but okay. And no I use heavy weights and will log it as vigourous then. For 5, I only do Bicep curls on my bicep back day as an arm warm up and though it would serva as an example and 2 is gonna be hard and confusing!

I really don't know the answer to your first question because I've heard both. I've heard you should go to the point of "failure", in that you go until you couldn't possibly do another rep. And I've also heard what you described. I think maybe the experts in the fitness community are disagreeing, or that maybe one method is for more advanced people and one is for beginners. I'm not sure which though.

For your second question, I usually do alternating sets. I read about this in The New Rules of Lifting for Women. The guy who wrote the workout program in that book is named Alwyn Cosgrove. He recommends doing a set of exercise A, resting for sixty seconds, then doing exercise B, then resting sixty seconds, and repeating. This way your muscles get extra recovery time but you're still doing the same amount of work. I also find it to be more time efficient. If I do alternating sets of say, lat pulldowns and swiss ball crunches (which I usually do) I get both of those things done more quickly (I also don't rest very long in between, which probably isn't what is recommended but it works for me). Alwyn Cosgrove discusses this method in a couple different articles here --> http://www.alwyncosgrove.com/Articles.html 

For your third question. It really depends on what you're trying to do. If you want to get smaller you should be eating at a deficit. If you're exercising a lot you're going to need to eat more to compensate for that. If you want to bulk up and build a lot of muscle you're going to have to eat a lot (of good quality healthy foods. You can't eat a big mac and say its because you're trying to bulk up).

For your last question, again I have no idea. I usually just log it as moderate/low because I don't want to overestimate my calorie burn. I don't really pay much attention to my calories anyway. I used to, but eventually I realised that my low calorie diet was leaving me feeling drained, tired, irritable, and all around unhealthy. Now I just make sure I work out often, and eat when I'm hungry. I've lost a lot more fat that way than I ever did counting calories.

Good luck!

Edit: wow it took me a long time to type this. When I started there were no responses to your question lol. The others gave really good advice I'd listen to them.

Mind if I ask what your routine is?

my routine? Its 4 days,

day 1 Biceps and back

day 2 Legs and shoulders

day 3 Triceps and chest

day 4 Rest(very light cardio)

Rinse and repeat

thanx for the help dana everyones giving me good ideas hehe

And what exercises do you do for each of those?

Original Post by desolate_death:

Hmm thanx for the help. Especially with 1 and 3, those have been killing me for the past few hours lol. So I have to eat more on gym days eh...thats gonna be hard but okay. And no I use heavy weights and will log it as vigourous then. For 5, I only do Bicep curls on my bicep back day as an arm warm up and though it would serva as an example and 2 is gonna be hard and confusing!

I think you're saying here that amethystgirl's response to Question #2 is making it hard for you to decide what to do.  But her answer is really that it depends on what you're routine is.  None of them are "wrong" or "right". 

If you are trying to build your own homegrown workout and still have all these questions about what is right... then maybe you aren't ready to put together your own program?  Maybe you should find one that a professional has put together? 

It's not hard to find a good program, Melkor's sticky has tons of info, and there are books you can get that often have multiple routines that you can cycle through. 

Thanks karozel - I was slowly working up to that point - a professionally done routine (esp. those that melkor lists) is going to be a lot more beneficial than making up your own.

And even without knowing which exercises you do, I'm seeing that you have 2 days of upper body, and only 1 of lower body, which isn't balanced.

Well I usually go machine to machine and see which ones focus on those muscles hehe

Day 1 - Bicep curl, Back Extensions, Single bar that you pull towards your chest, the arm pull thing(? two bars come down and you pull them close to your body) and thats it, 3 sets 10 reps in about 30 minutes

Day 2 - All 6 leg machines at my gym - leg extensions the close and open leg things, the pull leg things for your thighs and the other one where you push a little and not fully extend. Shoulder extensions, and the swing machine thing as well as the machine in which you force your shoulers up on pads. in about 30-40 minutes

Day 3 - Pull downs, Tricep push machine, chest extension machine. bench press using barbells and the one exercise where you pull a weight from behind your head.

On all days I work abs

Yeah. Get a professional routine.  One that uses free weights, not machines (cables are ok). Look in the Fitness FAQ stickie and find Melkor's list of lifting routines.

mhmm will do!

Machines = less results and more injuries.

Original Post by amethystgirl:

Yeah. Get a professional routine.  One that uses free weights, not machines (cables are ok). Look in the Fitness FAQ stickie and find Melkor's list of lifting routines.

What is the difference between "machines" and "cables"? Are you saying that stack cable machines are an okay (but not best) alternative to free weights?

I'm having to use more cable stuff these days because I can't lift more than 50lb DBs in each hand. And I don't have a barbell system/squat rack at home, and I'm recovering from a back injury.

It would be nice to know that those 100lb seated cable rows and 400lb leg presses are a viable option.

feydruss - Check out this, and scroll down to "machines that don't suck".

I've never seens a leg press that was a cable machine - the part that you get to move is on a track, which means that you don't get to control the path it takes. You can use a cable station to do a seated row, and that's fine, if you aren't able to do bent over rows, but what I consider to be a "seated row machine" is not a cable - yes, the weights are attached to a cable, but the part that you have control over is on a fixed path.