If you’re new to lifting or want to make sure your mechanics are dialed, this is the short version of what every coach would tell you. Three exercises, four things to nail on each: how to set up, what the lift should feel like, what to avoid, and one mental cue that ties it all together.
“Bend the bar in half.” Trying to twist the bar apart engages your lats and locks your shoulders into a safe, powerful position.
“Elbows back, not arms back.” If you focus on driving the elbows, the bar follows correctly. Focus on the hands and you turn it into a curl.
“A plank that moves.” The push-up isn’t an arm exercise — it’s a full-body lift. If your plank breaks, the rep doesn’t count.
“A plank that moves.” If your plank breaks, the rep doesn’t count. If feet-elevated push-ups become easy at 10 reps, raise the feet higher or load a backpack with books.
“Elbows back, not arms back.” If you focus on driving the elbows, the handles follow correctly. Step further from the anchor if the resistance feels light.
“A plank that moves.” If you can’t reach failure with standard push-ups, switch to a harder variation — diamond, decline, or slow eccentrics.
Add reps first, then weight. Live inside the 6–8 range on the bench and rows. When you hit 8 clean reps on all four sets, make the smallest weight jump you can next session and reset to 6. Then climb back to 8 and repeat. On push-ups, the lever is simpler: add one rep per set until you’re maxing out.
| Session | Load | Set Reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 135 lb | 6 · 6 · 6 · 6 |
| 2 | 135 lb | 7 · 7 · 6 · 6 |
| 3 | 135 lb | 8 · 7 · 7 · 6 |
| 4 | 135 lb | 8 · 8 · 8 · 8 ← top of range |
| 5 | 140 lb | 6 · 6 · 6 · 6 ← +5, reset |
Example: bench press starting at 135 lb. Your numbers will differ — the pattern won’t. Reps climb, then load jumps, then reps climb again.
Without weights, load doesn’t add itself — progress the other levers: more reps before adding difficulty, a harder leverage variation (feet higher on the chair for push-ups, stepping further from the anchor for band rows), or a slower 3–4 second lowering phase on every rep. Any one of those is a real overload.
Log every session — weight, sets, reps. If a number drops two sessions in a row, that’s your body asking for a deload: cut the load about 10% for one week, then resume the climb. “Beat last time” is the whole game — same weight, one more rep; same reps, a little more weight.