I lift heavy in the gym. Not crazy or super strong, but for how much I weigh, I can move some heavy weights. That said, my age has changed my strategy on how I do this… safely. When I was younger, I’d often lift to my maximum, my one-rep max. Now, I don’t know what my one-rep max is for any of my exercises? I never try.

Instead, I work to get every set to 10-12 reps. When I can get 10-12 on my third set, that’s when I consider moving up in weight. That happened today on shoulder press. When I move up in weight next week, I will be at that new level for a long time, I’m not going to get to 10 reps any time soon… And that’s ok.

I haven’t moved up in weight for bar bench press in a couple years, but I have significantly improved my free weight barbell bench press. Why? With the bar, I feel a lot of pressure on my shoulders. That doesn’t mean I don’t push hard. I’m still only at 5-7 reps for my last 2 sets, I just haven’t seen gains with the bar, and again that’s ok with me.

The point being, with any set I’m still going to the point where I’m struggling to get to 10-12 on my second last set. I’m going to hopefully get 4-7 reps on the 3rd set. I’m going to be pushing my muscles to fatigue. What I won’t be doing is straining to lift a heavier weight which I can only lift 1-2 times. Those days are over.

I’m so much better at listening to my body now. I’ll lift lighter when I feel fatigued. I’ll adjust my hand placement or change my workout when a set doesn’t feel right. I’ll sacrifice lifting heavier for good form. That said, I still need to do a lot of self-talk to temper pushing hard with pushing smart.

And while I’m doing my best to lift safe and smart, I also want to push hard and make gains. I’ve got a few more years of gains to make, as long as I stay healthy.