) started to take the joy out of lifting. I needed to try something different.Well, not very different, but different. I decided to back off the heavy (for me) weights and increase the reps so that lifting wasn't literally a pain. What a difference-- lots less pain, and I'm getting some of the old enthusiasm back. I don't know how it will pan out on the field, but I'm starting to feel a little better and will hopefully heal up, which seems like a good thing. And although I'm lifting a bit (not much) lighter, the extra reps result in lifting more total weight.
For example, I was benching (I know, benching stoopid
) 8 reps of 205, 6 reps of 225 and 4 reps of 245 for 18 lifts totaling 3970 lbs. Now I do 8 at 205, 7 at 205 and 6 at 205 for 21 lifts totaling 4305. I do something like this for all my lifts across the board-- backing off the weight a bit and adding in reps. I know about the "go big or go home" mentality, but this, I hope, will work out a little better for me. What are thoughts on doing this? I have heard that you build strength through reps, and size through lifting heavy. Will this significantly impact my strength? Not that I have much choice; I'm banged up and probably couldn't continue lifting heavy anyway. Thanks.
