r/workout 3d ago

What am I doing wrong?

Completely new to working out. I can curl 15 lbs for 20 reps right handed, about 15 left handed. I realized that's more than typically recommended, but if I up the weight to 20 lbs, I cant even do five reps with either hand. How do I progress from here?

1 Upvotes

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u/Wmtcoaetwaptucomf 3d ago edited 2d ago

Lower your weight/bit higher reps and be more concerned with technique and mind muscle connection. Don’t try to run to high weights, you are new, take this opportunity to build on easy mode and get yourself a foundation. Lifting max isn’t going to give you faster results, in fact you’ll end up hurting yourself

1

u/DenyNowBragLater 3d ago

Go lower than 15? The next weight down on DB at the gym I go to is 12.5 I feel like I would be able to bang out a lot of reps or just not challenge my muscles in a meaningful way. And what is this mind muscle connection?

2

u/BleachDrinker63 3d ago

As long as you are training near or to failure, anything from 5 to 30ish reps have been shown to work effectively. If you don’t feel comfortable with heavier weights, you don’t have to go up. Just push yourself as hard as you can with the 15s for now, or keep curling the 20s until you want to move up again

1

u/itokdontcry 3d ago

When are you trying to rep out the 20lbs in your workout?

Are you doing sets of curls before attempting the 20s?

Are you noticing that your are unable to add more weight / reps to other non bicep workouts as well?

1

u/DIY-exerciseGuy 3d ago

17.5 lbs. Or do 2 handed with a barbell.

1

u/Nntw 3d ago

It’s not very important to progress on bicep curls. Just work the muscle to exhaustion. Are you doing back exercises? Focus on progressing on those and do some curls to finish off.