How do you know when it’s actually time to add weight?
I hit a 65-pound weighted pull-up for my 53rd birthday, but I didn’t get there by making every workout heavier. Sometimes I added weight. Sometimes I added a rep, used less assistance, cleaned up the movement or left the damn thing alone.
In this episode, I break down how to decide what to change in your next workout, including what to do when the next dumbbell is too big a jump, why more weight isn’t your only option, how hard a set needs to be, when another set makes sense and when your smartest move is to repeat the workout you already did.
The companion article includes the video of my 65-pound pull-up plus the written progression guide.
And if you’d rather not make these decisions yourself, Training Labuses the sets, reps, load and feedback you log to adjust your progression from workout to workout.See the pull up: https://deepkimchi.substack.com
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Studies & sources
ACSM: Progression Models in Resistance Training for Healthy Adults. This is the source for the guideline to increase load roughly 2–10% when you can perform one or two reps beyond the target. PubMedRead on PubMed
ACSM 2026 Resistance Training Position Stand. An overview of 137 systematic reviews covering more than 30,000 participants. Relevant here for training volume, full range of motion, training to momentary fatigue, time under tension and resistance-training frequency. PubMedRead on PubMed
Resistance Training Load Effects on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain. This meta-analysis found similar hypertrophy across low, moderate and high loads, while heavier loads produced greater strength gains. PubMedRead on PubMed
STOP-EM trial. Forty peri- and early postmenopausal women were assigned to nine months of twice-weekly supervised heavy strength and impact training or a wait-list control. The intervention improved strength, lean mass, leg power and lumbar-spine bone density. PubMedRead on PubMed
Resistance training in middle-aged women before and after menopause. Women averaging about 52 completed a 10-week resistance-training phase. Both pre- and postmenopausal groups increased squat and bench-press strength, while the muscle-mass response differed by menopausal status. PubMedRead on PubMed
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