Before you raise the weight consider this

It is fantastic to discover that your weight training routine is successful because the weights have become too light. Gaining strength is a primary goal for many weight lifters and raising the weight is very psychologically fulfilling to many. However, there are more important factors to consider before raising the weight, as doing so can potentially be counterproductive or even dangerous.

Consider these three points before raising your weight:

1. Technique

It's absolutely crucial to constantly refine technique. It doesn't just prevent injuries, good technique also allows proper muscle focus and the correct recruitment of the desired muscle group. Before raising the weight go over your technique and be sure to flex the muscle you are working before lifting. This helps with body awareness and using the muscle you actually want to exercise. A good example of this is bench press. During your press the chest is suppose to be the primary focus but many people put more shoulders and triceps into their lift. Practice the technique to make sure it is in fact, the chest that has progressed, not arms, before moving up in weight.

2. Speed

Before raising the weight try lifting at various speeds. If you find you are always lifting fast, slowing down the pace of your reps will become much more difficult. Slowing down speed also ties in to the first point of refining technique. Slower reps allow for more control and concentration. They stimulate more muscle growth and development, oppose to endurance lifting fast and light, or power, lifting fast and heavy. If you can lift very slow and still get to 15 or 20 reps, then it really may be time to raise the weights.

3. Exercises

After you have mastered the basics, like bench press, shoulder press, bicep curl etc change the exercises you are performing, before changing the weights. For example, doing a bench press with 100lbs may be easy but the same weight for dumbbell flyes could be extremely difficult. You may need to even lower the weight! Take your time to exhaust the weights you have by trying out more complex exercises that work the same muscles but in different ways. Not only is this better for all around better developed muscles, it will save you the cost of buying new weights for a little while longer!

Weight lifting is a personal sport and everybody should work at their own pace, within their own time frames. Don't feel pressured to lift heavier until your body absolutely needs it. If you are getting great results using the weights you already have, keep at it. Only raise the weights when you are plateauing and it's a matter of progressing results.

Lift hard but not necessarily heavy!

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