Lifting Heavy

Lifting Techniques

There are a million ways to lift weights. Even looking at each Mr. Olympia, you'll find different training philosophies. The two common denominators that I've seen are consistency and intensity.

The Change I've Made

When I started lifting I tried several different set/rep ranges. There is a lot of noise on the internet; science based lifters, strength training, aesthetics vs. functional strength, injury, tendons and tissues, the list goes on and on. Whatever split you pick, someone advises against it. I've written briefly about this before, but I stuck to 2 sets for my main compounds, aiming for around 10 to 12 reps. That being said, around 6 months ago I was making a ton of progress doing a hypertrophy focused push pull legs split Tues-Thurs, then strength focused upper/lower Sat-Sun, resting Monday and Friday. At some point I hurt my back on a squat, so I refocused to a lighter weight higher rep schedule. Over time my intensity started to wane until I was not making progress. Then I saw Eric Bugenhagen. Something about his style just made me want to go to the gym and push weight around. These last two weeks I've switched to aiming for 5 reps on my compounds, and I have been loving it. I'm moving heavier weight and I can increase the weight every time I get back to that particular day. I'm doing a push, pull, shoulder, leg split, which I kinda just made up myself, hitting abs hard on shoulder day. So far it works for me, I'm lifting with intensity, and I feel excited to get back in the gym. If there's any takeaway from this, don't be afraid to switch things up. If pushing strength gets you excited, do it. If hypertrophy makes you want to get in the gym, do it. Do whatever you need to get into the gym and give it everything you have.