New trainer question

[cockswole_gentleman]

I've taken my first training clients this winter. One is female and I'm having an issue with her training.

It seems to be particularly with her triceps. Just a 5 pound bump in the weights leads to a dramatic rep loss. For example, we used the nautilus v-bar machine the other day. With 40 lbs she banged out 20 reps. She was burning and had more in the tank, but I had her stop at 20 so we could bump it to 45 for another"better" set I thought. I did a set, so she got rest time, but she was unable to complete any reps unassisted at 45. I had to put a finger on the bar to budge it past her sticking point toward the beginning of the exercise. We did 6 or 7 reps that way, dropped the pin back to 40 and she ripped off 12 more reps unassisted.

I'm a bit surprised at the difference 5 pounds makes for her. Any guidance you can offer me?

 

[genetic freak]

My advice, don't use that machine. We have that machine at the gym and it has a massive sticking point that differs slightly based off arm length. I have seen the same thing with clients, where it is really easy one set then a slight bump up in weight they cannot get passed that sticking point for a single rep.

Since you are training people, I would also suggest getting a Gym Pin and some micro plates if your gym doesn't have them. This way you can bump up in smaller increments. This is really important when you are working with beginning clients who are often weaker. A 5-10 lbs jump for us is no big deal in most cases, but for them it might be a 25% increase in weight. That is a huge progression.

 

[cockswole_gentleman]

My advice, don't use that machine. We have that machine at the gym and it has a massive sticking point that differs slightly based off arm length. I have seen the same thing with clients, where it is really easy one set then a slight bump up in weight they cannot get passed that sticking point for a single rep.

Since you are training people, I would also suggest getting a Gym Pin and some micro plates if your gym doesn't have them. This way you can bump up in smaller increments. This is really important when you are working with beginning clients who are often weaker. A 5-10 lbs jump for us is no big deal in most cases, but for them it might be a 25% increase in weight. That is a huge progression.

Thanks GF!

 

[Tuffoldman]

You have to keep in mind also sometimes the additional weight goes to people's head and it's psychological More than physical. I've been training for over 20 years and even if I don't tell a client that I've raised the weight they feel the difference and psychologically is psych them out and they can't move it. I can put one finger on the bar and push a little and they'll knock through reps without a problem I take my finger off and to them it's too heavy.


I am not familiar with the machine you're referring to directly but this I've seen throughout many gyms I've trained in and now our personal training Studio. In some cases as much as 5 lb can make a difference depending on the exercise and the muscle used. So a solution is either find another tricep exercise to build some strength and then see if that makes a difference. Maybe eliminate that particular exercise for a few sessions and do some other tricep exercises and then go back to that one and see if that makes a difference.


Sometimes it's kind of hard to get into the mental state that a client is in and how they one day can move x amount of weight and then the next time you do that exercise they're throwing it around like it's nothing or they can barely pick it up.

Also where you do that exercise within the whole workout can make a difference some exercises are easier to do early in the workout and some are easier as complementary exercises such as chair dips due to different placement of your feet on the ground.


I would be interested how your client progresses on this particular issue.

 

[Rottenrogue]

I feel like women benefit more from heavier percentages with upper body than men do.Not directly answering the question here.I rarely drop below 80 percent on upper body stuff .When I work in the higher max percentage weights five pounds could make or break the lift for me .