While I was doing my week 2 Shoulder & Arms workout, I noticed that I was using the wrong amount of weight. If you go too light, you will do a ton of reps (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), but may not be as effective. If you use too much weight, you won’t be able to complete the exercise. Here is where I think Tony Horton has it right.
He always says “pick a number of reps” and “you should struggle with the last 3 reps”. I now know the importance of this. Lets say you pick 20 reps and choose to use 20 pound dumbbells. If you can do more than 20 reps, you are going too light. You are going too heavy if you can only do 12 reps. You want to be able to do 20, but reps 18, 19 & 20 should be tough.
You can either adjust the number of reps to suit the weight, but it is better to adjust the weight to match the reps. By sticking to a set number of reps and changing the weight you use, you can see the progress that you are making as you will, most likely, be increasing the amount of weight every week.
Be well
