upper body strength training stalled
December 7, 2011 7:24 AM Subscribe
Upper body strength training has stalled... help?
Inspired by others on AskMeFi, I picked up a copy of Convict Conditioning and have been working with it for about 5 months now. Initially I was seeing fast improvements on everything, but now my upper body (CC's horizontal pulls and incline push-ups) seems to have stalled while I continue to make progress on the lower body exercises (CC's half squats and flat bent leg raises). By "stalled" I mean that I haven't been able to add reps on those exercises for the last several weeks, and the last rep doesn't seem to feel any easier from week to week either. I've been training each exercise twice a week for the last two months (once a week before that), which doesn't seem to me like it should be overtraining, but could that be the problem? Is it just more difficult for women to build upper body strength? Or is there something else I'm missing here?
Thanks for your help!!
Inspired by others on AskMeFi, I picked up a copy of Convict Conditioning and have been working with it for about 5 months now. Initially I was seeing fast improvements on everything, but now my upper body (CC's horizontal pulls and incline push-ups) seems to have stalled while I continue to make progress on the lower body exercises (CC's half squats and flat bent leg raises). By "stalled" I mean that I haven't been able to add reps on those exercises for the last several weeks, and the last rep doesn't seem to feel any easier from week to week either. I've been training each exercise twice a week for the last two months (once a week before that), which doesn't seem to me like it should be overtraining, but could that be the problem? Is it just more difficult for women to build upper body strength? Or is there something else I'm missing here?
Thanks for your help!!
When you stall the first step is to eat more and rest more.
posted by zephyr_words at 8:00 AM on December 7, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by zephyr_words at 8:00 AM on December 7, 2011 [3 favorites]
Yeah, I would look at diet and maybe sleep/adequate recovery most of all. Do you get 8 hours the night after your work out? Do you give yourself a full 24+ hours to recover? If you do (maybe since the lower body's still truckin') perhaps consider assistance work? I'm not familiar with CC but when I stalled on the military press for similar lady reasons while doing fine with squats etc. I began doing pull ups and dips and it helped me past the plateau immediately (I mare sure not to overtrain--only 10 reps at max weight, never more than that).
posted by ifjuly at 8:01 AM on December 7, 2011
posted by ifjuly at 8:01 AM on December 7, 2011
Go down in weight/reps a little, then see if you can move up and break through the plateau.
posted by The Lamplighter at 8:22 AM on December 7, 2011
posted by The Lamplighter at 8:22 AM on December 7, 2011
here's something a weight instructor recommended recently for me to break a similar upper-body plateau (I am female, over 40 fyi). I have been doing kettlebell swings, military press, dips, and oblique lifts in part to condition and strengthen a chronically weak lower back.
His suggestion? Take a week COMPLETELY off from lifting. Run, do yoga, stretch, ride the bike, whatever. Then start back and see if your plateau breaks.
It turns out that especially if you're doing strength training, frequency may not be as important as we think. There's some science to show that once an athlete has been conditioned / adapted to strength training, unless they're looking to do competitive bodybuilding where they need that last 5% or whatever, it actually works to their advantage to fully rest between sessions.
I only lift once a week now and I'm seeing surprising progress. I'm probably also going to get howled at by the gym rats here, but meh - the worst you can do is try. You're not going to significantly detrain either from taking a 5-7 day break.
posted by lonefrontranger at 9:09 AM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
His suggestion? Take a week COMPLETELY off from lifting. Run, do yoga, stretch, ride the bike, whatever. Then start back and see if your plateau breaks.
It turns out that especially if you're doing strength training, frequency may not be as important as we think. There's some science to show that once an athlete has been conditioned / adapted to strength training, unless they're looking to do competitive bodybuilding where they need that last 5% or whatever, it actually works to their advantage to fully rest between sessions.
I only lift once a week now and I'm seeing surprising progress. I'm probably also going to get howled at by the gym rats here, but meh - the worst you can do is try. You're not going to significantly detrain either from taking a 5-7 day break.
posted by lonefrontranger at 9:09 AM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the replies so far. I'm sure I'm getting enough sleep! Re: diet, I guess I assumed that was an unlikely culprit since I'm still making progress on my lower body, but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise.
Lonefrontranger, thank you for the link. I feel like there's so much conflicting info out there about what frequency is best for training, so it's helpful to have the scientific studies!
posted by SymphonyNumberNine at 9:40 AM on December 7, 2011
Lonefrontranger, thank you for the link. I feel like there's so much conflicting info out there about what frequency is best for training, so it's helpful to have the scientific studies!
posted by SymphonyNumberNine at 9:40 AM on December 7, 2011
Strength-endurance plateaus are notoriously hard to break. Avoidance of repping to failure, always keeping one or two reps "in the tank", can be beneficial as it spares your recovery budget and thus allows you to workout more often. One such strategy utilised by gymnasts is the so-called "greasing the groove" involves performing as many reps as possible throughout the day, never coming close to failure - so over several hours you might perform a total 150 pullups at 1, 2 or 3 reps at a time, yet you won't suffer for the massive volume increase because you never approached muscular failure.
You will also find that the strength-endurance required for the high-rep bodyweight work you're doing will be greatly complemented by any increases to your ultimate strength, i.e. training to lifting very heavy things a few times will simultaneously make you better at lifting lighter things more times. To this end you may want to diversify into some freeweight training of the usually prescribed variety, as there are simply no effective means of stimulating maximal strength gains using bodyweight alone.
posted by Kandarp Von Bontee at 4:29 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
You will also find that the strength-endurance required for the high-rep bodyweight work you're doing will be greatly complemented by any increases to your ultimate strength, i.e. training to lifting very heavy things a few times will simultaneously make you better at lifting lighter things more times. To this end you may want to diversify into some freeweight training of the usually prescribed variety, as there are simply no effective means of stimulating maximal strength gains using bodyweight alone.
posted by Kandarp Von Bontee at 4:29 PM on December 7, 2011 [1 favorite]
Negatives or Eccentric Training is a common way trainees break through plateaus. Static holds or Isometric training is another. If you're really in a bind there are a lot of great weighted vests available.
I suppose solving a non-problem by telling you to start free weight training is one way to go, but fortunately you have a lot options here so that's not needed. Good luck!
posted by P.o.B. at 6:17 PM on December 8, 2011
I suppose solving a non-problem by telling you to start free weight training is one way to go, but fortunately you have a lot options here so that's not needed. Good luck!
posted by P.o.B. at 6:17 PM on December 8, 2011
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posted by unixrat at 7:54 AM on December 7, 2011