So, I started going to the gym about a month ago. Doing dumbell curls I started at 10lbs. I tried 50lbs at first.
Mistake!
Sized down until I got to 10lbs. I was looking for the first one I could do 20 reps. Then, as days went on, I kept moving up sizes. I'm currently at 25lbs. I keep wanting to move up to 30lbs, but my body gives way around the 12-15 rep range. So, not quite there yet. But the first 10 reps of 25lbs aren't even hard anymore. It only gets increasingly more difficult after the 10 mark, but more often than not the 15 mark. 15-20 are the hard ones.
But with 30lbs it's hard right from the start.
So, should I be doing the 30lbs reps, even if its less than 20 reps? Or do the 25lbs reps which I can easily do 3/4ths of before it becomes a struggle for the last few reps?
7 to 10 days between gym time??? I'm in the gym 4-5 days a week for 3-4 hours a day. Now granted some of that time is rest, but that sounds nuts! I just got off an exercise bike, and went for 20 minutes straight. Which is a new personal best. Said I burned 150 calories. I might do it again in 2 hours.
But for now, it's weights time.
Edit: really trying to clarify my statements. :D
I could have stated that more clearly. Little, McGuff, and a lot of other research point to the 7 to 10 day recovery duration between weight training sessions, especially if you weight train to failure. Which, if you want strength gains, that failure + recovery is how it's done. The CV system is capable of base/maintenance/load cardio as much as you want. HIIT approximately every other day, but some people, especially when well-conditioned, are capable of HIIT every day.
I'm with you. I'm in the gym and/or bike commuting every day.
.......you're just confusing me more.
I don't know the gym terms. I don't know what CV or HIIT are.
I'm just going to the gym, basically kicking my own ass every night, and then getting home, showering, going to bed, and weighing myself in the morning. The needle is moving in the right direction. At my heaviest I was 315. I've been dieting for like 2 years, but a month ago I started going to the gym.
Since I started going to the gym, I went from 259, to today 247. I think the cardio combined with my new diet is a good combo. I was 249 yesterday. Then I did like 35 minutes of cardio. Mixed in with arms, abs, and legs strength training.
Today I was 247.
I still don't get what you mean about 7 days rest.
Kick. Ass. So much congrats on the progress! Also, kudos on modifying the diet. As my first cycling coach told me: there's no outrunning a bad diet.
Your original question was regarding your lack of strength gains. The human body requires recovery from stress. I gave you very specific book references. Take it from there.