is reps my problem?

[physicaleducator]

to all who can offer some help. i have come to a stand still and wonder if it is the amount of reps im performin. i cant seem to gain any strength. i am doing sets of 8 and on the last set going to exhaustion. i was wondering if i should lower my reps and perform those at a higher intensity? also what if i worked chest twice a week and on one of the days doing low reps while on the other doin high reps with light resistance? one last question if i do lower my reps should i complete all three sets completely or should i have to lower the resistance as i climb in sets? thanks to all!!!!!!!!

[bornbad71]

I take it your having some problems with your chest.......if I lower my reps I will add more sets......say like 10 sets of 3 reps, instead of 3 sets of 10 reps....post your workout and lets look it over......but don't always do the same exercises, reps, and number of sets....mix it up to confuse the muscle, so it want get in a rut.......personally I only do chest once per week...that just seems to work better for me.

[physicaleducator]

my chest workout consists of regular bench, decline, and incline all 3 sets of 8. i do flys on the flat bench 3 sets of 12 with moderate weight. i also do some dumbbell work on the incline and decline low weight high reps but that is on the second day of chest. i started out strong making great progress but then i hit a stop and havent been able to bust it.

[monster.]

Thats 60 reps for your chest, thats plenty...Do you get enough rest... Try changing your exercises up a bit, instead of doing all 3 exercises with a barbell, try doing incline dumbell presses, decline dumbell presses, barbell flat, cable flys...etc. etc.... Looks like you hit a plateau, need to change things up...how long have you been doing these exercises with that amonut of intensity..

[cdog]

Whats your diet looking like???More times than not if your working your muscles correctly and not seeing gains check the diet ....And as the others have said before change your routine around and see what works best for you .I may work chest three times a week but thats me and may not work for you .Basicly dont worry about changeing things around .The only advice I could offer would be to change your routine and check whats going down your pie hole Peace CDIZZLE....

[bornbad71]

What cdog said about diet for sure......check ya diet and your recovery.

There is a bro in my gym that hits chest 3x per wk......and it works great for him...just not for me.......but hey everybody is different.....find what works best for you.

[decadbal]

yep, diet is the first thing id check, and post, that will get your farther, do u do barbell presses or use DB, whatever you use, switch that. do DB instead of barbell, or use barbell is youve been using DB. other than that, just bust ass, it will come.