ABBH 10X3 Good, 10X5 Bad

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hey, I’m in my third week of the ABBH program. On my bench/row day I chose my approximate 6RM and was able to get through all 10 sets of 3, struggling on my last rep, but felt like I still could have gotten one more rep at the end.

The next week, I used the same weight and was going for 10 sets of 4. I got all the way through 9 sets of 4 and could only get 3 on the last set. Not too bad, I thought.

Then came the third week (this week). Using the same weight, my goal was 10 sets of 5. Well, I got 6 sets of 5 and that 6th set was to failure, then set 7 and 8 were only 4 reps, then I took off 10lbs and still only got 4 reps for sets 9 and 10 (to failure).

What went wrong, and how should I have dealt with it?

I feel like I’ve been eating cleaner and more than usual the last few months, with plenty of sleep. I just started using a pre-workout meal (one scoop of Grow!), but I only started using that today, so I’m thinking I would have had better results had I been doing that before.

Do you think I should have:
A) Taken longer rests between sets until I got used to 60 second intervals?
B) Lowered the weight, even though I was able to complete 10 sets of 3 the first week?
C) Probably should have eaten more?
D) used the 100 reps recovery method?
E) Can’t say without more info…
F) other

BTW, so far pretty much every other excersize has been right on or possibly to light. I think I just might have over shot with my bench, or undershot with dips, as they felt too easy…

Thanks

2

You might have started a little high with the 10x3 weight. I don’t know, don’t sweat it though.

3

Progress is rarely a linear event, bro. I’ll often be content with just adding a rep or two overall for that bodypart compared to the last time. Take time to “sit” on a program and milk all the stimulation. As Staley has said, you can keep the same weight from time to time as long as you keep the form good. Just because you can increase the load, doesn’t mean you need to.

That being said, if your primary goal is mass, then drop the weight slightly on those rough reps (AVOID failure at all costs). If strength is your primary, then drop the reps to 4’s or 3’s to avoid failure. Either way, you’re still in the hypertrophy range (30-50 roughly) so you’ll get plenty of growth stimulus.

And, if you want some mass, calories are always a panacea…

Best,
DH

4

Thanks.
Looking back at it, I did get more reps overall each time I did get more total reps out with the same amount of sets.

1st week 30reps, 2nd week 39, 3rd week 38 then 8 more with 10lbs less.

I’d say all in all there was definitely improvement. I feel better and every other excersize came up pretty well so I shouldn’t complain.

Thanks again for the input,