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After a hiatus I started lifting again at the end of last year with 3x10 but eventually hit a plateau - just couldn't manage to increase the volume with the higher reps after a while.
Recently gone back to 5x5 and managed to increase the weight a bit in a few weeks, 1kg at a time but still creeping up - give it a try & see how it goes, I certainly find it easier to increase with lower reps & higher weights for a similar overall volume e.g. 65kg 3x10 = 1950kg vs 75kg 5x5 = 1875kg total.
5kg jumps sounds like too much though - especially if you're struggling to add more weight, the little 0.5 / 1kg plates are your friends here - try increasing by 1 or 2kg each time & maybe break down the exercises into different days, 4 consecutive days of bench won't allow the mucscles enough time to recover & will also hinder your progress.
Edit: Yeah, also - what chainbreaker said, adding reps is also adding weight (total volume) so don't necessarily get hung up on lifting more & more weight
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mcJ78
Technics100
I'm sort of new to all this (44 year old male) and am trying to built up my upper body.. due to the fact I'm pretty skinny and also have osteoporosis and weight bearing exercises are good to increase bone mass. I have a bar with various weights, squat rack, bench, and pull-up bar..
What's the best way to increase my weights on benchpress and in general? doing 3 x 12 sets of a weight for a week, then just trying to jump up by 5Kg or adding more reps in?? or trying to go heavier with 5 x 5 or similar?? I seem to get stuck at the same weight range for all exercises..
Trying to up my protein and using shakes to do this daily..