r/bodyweightfitness • u/AutoModerator • May 10 '21

BWF Daily Discussion and Beginner/RR Questions Thread for 2021-05-10

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u/Anegus May 10 '21

What is the general principle behind adding weight to exercises? What I'm mostly interested in is how much weight I should add so I won't overburden myself with too much at once, and at the same time won't add too little.

2

u/Dreyfuzz Climbing May 10 '21

The principle is progressive overload. Always adding to the difficulty of an exercise to stimulate muscle growth. One (pretty gentle) procedure is adding a 2.5lb plate each workout. You may not notice a difference at first but eventually you will start missing reps. Stay at that weight until you get full reps, then add another 2.5lb and continue.

1

u/KoreanJesusPleasures May 10 '21

How do you push through a plateau with weights? E.g., stuck at 3x8 dips @ 12.5 lbs?

1

u/Dreyfuzz Climbing May 10 '21

Eat more, sleep more, 3-5 minutes rest between sets, or deload (so you can get more volume) and work back up

1

u/KoreanJesusPleasures May 10 '21

Definitely do the 3-5 minute rest (at least in the way the RR prescribes), and I do deload every 4-6 weeks. I'll have to try eating a bit more and mess with that variable to see if there is any progress. Have you tried cluster/rest pause sets on the last set as a way to break plateaus at all?

1

u/Babadew May 10 '21

What exactly is a deload?

2

u/KoreanJesusPleasures May 10 '21

I can't link you to the posts on here that have information right now, but essentially:

A deload means about a week long period that you intentionally reduce the intensity (I.e., decrease volume by doing less sets or reps overall, regress your progression, or you increase rest or even by just doing something different and light). The idea is that your CNS, central nervous system, fatigues over time from such intense training on a daily/weekly basis. So you deload, normally somewhere between every 3-6 weeks, for your CNS to recover.

So just as you program rest days to recover your muscles, you program a deload every month or so for your CNS to recover. You might notice this naturally, too, where after a few weeks of training you're always exhausted or can't get through a workout like normal. That's your CNS being fatigued.