Section 5, Lesson 2
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Rest Times & Progression Method

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Do 2 warmup sets for each exercise of each workout. Pick a light weight and do 5 reps.

Rest times for all exercises within the 4-8 rep range should be 3-5 mins. Your weight should be heavy enough that you actually need that amount of time to rest to be able to perform all reps for the next set.

Rest times for all exercises 8+ reps are 90-120 seconds as the actual weight you’ll be using in those rep ranges won’t require as much time to recover from. 

When performing each exercise, Pick a weight that you can lift and complete the prescribed amount of sets and reps. With each exercise, the weight should be light enough for you to be able to perform 2 more reps after finishing your set. However, it should also be heavy enough that you’re literally only able to perform 2 more reps.

​Example: You’re Squatting 200lbs for 5 reps. 

After that fifth rep with 200lbs, you should feel like you could’ve done 2 more reps, but only 2 more reps. 

Every week, we will be increasing the weight by 5 pounds. So if you perform the bench press with 40 pound dumbbells, for 5 reps with 4 sets. The next week you will move up to 45 pound dumbbells and aim to hit the same 5 reps for 4 sets.

If you accomplish all 5 reps for 4 sets, we’ll increase the weight the following week to 50 pound dumbbells and keep progressing in that manner.

BUT, what happens if you fail to benchpress the 40 pound dumbbells for all prescribed sets and reps? Let’s say on your Day 1 workout, you squat 135 pounds for all 5 reps on sets 1,2 and 3. But on set 4, you only can do 3 reps. Take note of it and the next week you must perform that same weight for the same number of sets and reps until you reach all 4 sets of 5 reps. THEN, and only then, can you go up in weight.

​Remember, proper form is key and is a priority over increasing weight, if you can’t perform all sets and reps with proper form, don’t increase the weight.

If your knees are caving in while you’re squatting and you’re not going deep enough, stay at that weight and hit the required sets and reps again with proper depth and form. We want to minimize the risk of injury and maximize muscle growth. ​