[mikefish]

After the quarterly the instructor at the tryst center in glasgow done 40kg for the back track and he recond he was the first in the uk to do it, so it got me wondering about the rest of ther tracks so here is my list all bar the squats were done with the 3kg bars the squats witrh a 6kg the weight of the bar is not included in the total weight.

squats 40k
chest 40kg
back 30kg (want to try 40 for pump 61 i like a challenge)
triceps 22kg (pump 61) other releases17kg
biceps tried 20kg for bp61 nearly done it so its a target but have doen 17kg for a couple of the other bicep tracks
lunges 35kg (40kg is my new target)
shoulders (bar) 25kg for new release want to try 5kg plates but think this will be very hard

so what has everyone else reached and has anyone got targets for the future

[mutya90]

The weights i do are:

squats: 20kg
chest: 15kg
Back: 15kg
triceps: 10kg
Biceps: 10kg
Lunges: Dont use a bar use it as support
shoulders: 10kg

[Mel]

mikefish..........I hope in the effort to get those big weights that technique isn't compromised? :shock:

[CuteZ3]

Mike, looking at your weights, I really feel like a wimp and I know I am strong for a girl. I lift more weight than any of the other female instructors, and there is only one woman in my class who sometimes lifts more than I do in biceps.

My weights, each side, with the wimpy hollow bar that seems to weigh nothing:
Warmup: 5kg
Squats: 12.5kg
Chest: 7.5kg
Back/hams: 8.5kg
Triceps: 5kg
Biceps: 5kg
Lunges: usually 8.5kg, sometimes 10kg
Shoulders: 5 kg
Handheld weights, I use the 2.5's because I can't grip the 5's
I always use a 5kg plate for ab platework, as that is my gym's largest plate.

I tell my class that form is more important that weight, but good lord you use some heavy weight!

[melanie]

Okay, weight on total bar:

Warm-up: 7kg
Squats: 10kg
Chest: 5kg
Back: 9kg
Triceps: 4kg
Biceps: 4kg
Lunges: 5kg if using the step box
Shoulders: 5kg

total weight on bar, thats what i meant to write (another blonde moment)

[mikefish]

i try very hard to watch that my technique does not go with the weights that i use, it does get very hard towards the end of the tracks sometimes but i do not do max weights all the time and tend to vary it with different releases, for example chest and shoulders for pump 60, i like to have a target to aim for it keeps pump fresh for me.

I dont know how anyone else feels about there own classes they teach or participate in but i find that a lot of the class that i teach do not like coming out of there comfort zone with regards to there weights. So for yesterdays class we had a challenge for every track ie if the majority have 15kg plus for squats i would do 40kg etc and so on. And do you know it was one of the best classes i have tought for ages, it was so fresh and everyone at some point during the class tried to do that little bit extra, and some even came and said that was such a breath of fresh air, or said that the would never had tried that sort of weight before but that they would be using them from now on, i tell you thats the sort of thing that can make teaching very worth while.

[CuteZ3]

I agree that many people do not want to leave their comfort zone. I have quite a few of these in my classes. In fact, just last weekend I noticed that a few of them upped their back/hams weight - even if it was just by a donut - and I made sure to comment on it over the microphone. I was really proud of my class when they actually LISTENED when I said "you should use something you can row - this is not a shoulder exercise" and "you should have to grunt this weight upstairs!". I always tell my class (for the benefit of new members) that form is more important than weight, but I was so proud of the class last weekend!

[Janne]

Warm-up: 7 kg
Squats: 22 kg (but back tot 7-10 because of back pain...)
Chest: 12 kg
Back: 17-20 kg (no back pain then, strange...)
Triceps: 10 kg
Biceps: 7 kg
Lunges: 0 kg, I'm heavy enough
Shoulders: 5 kg, I can do more, but it'll be 2x 5 kg then, and that's a bit too much

[SGMilne]

I don't know if all Scottish instructors do the quarterlies in the same place but our instructor came back from the one she did the other week and said that there were some instructors loading alot of weight onto the bar (30kg plus) but they were clearly sacrificing technique for weight.

That happens with 'Bodypump Bloke Syndrome'. Alot of guys tend to try and go heavier before they have comfortably beaten their last weight.

Personally for me my heaviest weights are

Squats: 35kg (but I only do 20kg as a maximum now as I find the bar really uncomfortable on the back of my neck - traps a nerve and gives me a headache)
Chest: 32kg
Back: 32kg
Triceps: 22kg
Biceps: 17kg
Lunges: Don't Use Weight
Shoulders: 20kg Bar, 8kg Dumbells (i know thats not proper Pump equipment but hey).

Personally I can see myself going heavier for most of that but the Back would be a struggle. a) You knacker yourself on the Chest track anyway and While I can get the bar above my head fine, my forearms would explode on the rows. It would depend on the track though.

I've made real progress on shoulders. In actual fact I just lifted by heaviest ever Bar/Free weights combo ever tonight.

[Mel]

SGMilne, on Mar 17 2007, 05:08 AM, said:

as I find the bar really uncomfortable on the back of my neck - traps a nerve and gives me a headache)

just a suggestion as you may already be doing this........but check that you're putting your bar on your shoulders and not on your neck?

[*~Crazy~*]

Gawd I feel really silly now.....Lol...

Warmup=5kg
Squats=15kg
Chest=10kg
Back=10kg
Triceps=5kg
Biceps=5kg
Lunges=7.5kg
shoulders=5kg

although i do use a plate in abs.....and i do full pressups...sometimes....Lol x x

[melanie]

*~Crazy~*, on Mar 18 2007, 05:30 PM, said:

Gawd I feel really silly now.....Lol...

Warmup=5kg
Squats=15kg
Chest=10kg
Back=10kg
Triceps=5kg
Biceps=5kg
Lunges=7.5kg
shoulders=5kg

although i do use a plate in abs.....and i do full pressups...sometimes....Lol x x

Why?? I lift less than you on some tracks

[marcolanders]

my turn now, on each side:

Warmup: 5kg
Squats: 12.5kg
Chest: 8.5kg
Back/hams: 10kg
Triceps: 6kg
Biceps: 4.5kg
Lunges: 7.5kg
Shoulders: 5kg

i know, i use a small weight on the bicep track, but that's because i get really tired from the back track, and i lose form by the end of the bicep track if i go 5kg...

oh another thing... just my opinion, i know it's a valid option, but i consider it to be a begginer's if you have a lot of new people on the classe or so... not really a every day kind of thing doing lunges with no bar...

[DonBaisden]

This is my best (total weight) where I (1) did not break form and (2) didn't skip out at the end. In all areas, the target is to add 2.27 kg/5 pounds and still attain those goals. On several of these, there are different maxes depending on the track.

I fully agree with those who have emphasized that form should not be compromised in attempting higher weights. I also see too many folks who NEVER go up on weight. Middle ground? I suggest that it is better to try a higher weight and go as far as you can, but stop before breaking form. That is tough to do - silly thing called pride - but it does seem the way to safely challenge one's self. Instructors -- how do you approach that?

I also generally don't try to go for more than one new maximum in any given session. How do some of you approach that?

I've converted from pounds to kilograms using metricconversions.org. That is why the numbers look different.

Warmup - 11.3 kg
Squats - 50 kg
Chest - 36.3 kg on BP 60 -- doing BP 55 with 31.8 kg with pushups on the toes and not eating the floor was harder for me
Back - 36.3 kg
Triceps - 18.1 kg (this varies, though, depending on what it is paired with)
Biceps - 15.8 kg (it becomes very easy to break form if I go higher)
Lunges - 31.8 kg (only on BP 50), 27.2 kg on others
Shoulders - 4.5 kg on each plate, 20.4 on the bar

[mikefish]

as an instructor if i feel that i am losing form i will take a break and maybe crc someone, or joke about stopping. If its a lyind down track etc ou can pop up to check form. I am forever telling people toput more weight on and if they have tyo stop not to worry about its better to try more weight and stop id it gets to much as next time you just try to go a little further before you stop.

Just a final thought , i think sometimes myself included that intructors forget that we are there for the participants in the class not our own workout. Also i think participant should relise that too as some of the blokes and women who come to my class try to compete with me or compent if i stop to check tech in certain tracks(i dont do this very often just on bad days)

[Keyla]

interesting topic...

my weights, each side:

warm up:7
squats:12,5
chest:7
back:8,5
triceps:6
biceps:5
no lunges in my gym
shoulders:5

[mutya90]

i progressed really far in a short space of time but now im sort of stuck in a rutt because in chest one of my arms and both wrists ache and i dont feel i can go up because my technique will suffer

[mikefish]

mutya90, on Mar 19 2007, 09:40 PM, said:

i progressed really far in a short space of time but now im sort of stuck in a rutt because in chest one of my arms and both wrists ache and i dont feel i can go up because my technique will suffer

if your arm and wrist are sore are you sure your tech is right as your elbows should not go below the bench, if you want try doing the chest trach on the floor, also you have got to keep your nuckles up to straighten you wrist so the weights is not all on the wrist but transfered down the begger bones in the arm.

also do you suffer the same thing in the tricep track or when you do press ups

[muis]

Keyla, on Mar 19 2007, 03:08 PM, said:

no lunges in my gym

How so?

[mandy]

I am surprised by the amount of responses for lunges with 0 weight - bodyweight only? Yes, a good option but surely with some of the amounts you are squatting, you should be able to lunge with at least 10kg? Just my opinion.

Having just had a baby 2 months ago, I am working hard to get my weights back to my pre baby stage, but I currently lift

Warmup - 10 kg (total)
Squats - 20 kg
Chest - 10kg
Back - 15kg
Triceps - 10kg
Biceps - 7kg (I have an injury to my hand which prevents me from ever lifting any heavier - it really sucks)
Lunges - 5 kg plate for now, this is the one exercise that I feel my strength is still returning
Shoulders - 5 kg or 3kg dumbbells (same reason as biceps, I have to use dbs, my hand cannot hold plates any higher than 1kg)

I try to encourage my class to choose one muscle group and try to go a little heavier. I try to emphasize to them that they should choose either the legs, chest or back and maybe add 1kg each side. It is very difficult to come to a Pump class and add extra weights for every single track, so I try to get them to go heavier in one bodypart. For example, I might choose chest and go up to 12 kg but then for the back track, I may need to go lighter but at least I have challenged myself in my chest track instead of doing the same old same old. Next class, I might pull back on chest, perhaps lift only 8kg but then go up in back to 17kg.