Help Needed With Weight Lifting Technique

Dear Fitness Coach,

When I'm lifting free weights with my arms, and doing a bunch of different exercises, such as chest press, bicep curl, triceps, rows, etc., I often do my three sets of 15 reps right in a row. However, I've been to a few trainers who prefer that I do the sets in a circuit, rotating from bicep to tricep to chest press, etc., and just do three rounds of the circuit. So my question is: Does doing it that way versus my preferred way actually make a difference and, if so, how? Which is the better way to do it?

Yours,

Lady Who Lifts

Dear Lady Who Lifts,

Neither way is best. You should be focusing on one body part at a time. I spoke to a couple of highly experienced trainers at Gold’s Gym in Tewksbury - one male and one female - and they both had the same answer. You should always start circuit training with the largest muscle group: in this case the pecs, then move on to the triceps and, lastly, the biceps. Circuit training is a great way to mix it up, especially when you’ve hit a training plateau - but your day-in-day-out training should be doing body-part splits. Also, noting what you say about doing 15 reps on any exercise, the weight is most likely too light. The rule of thumb is: if you can lift more than 12 reps, the weight is too light; if fewer than eight, the weight is too heavy. You should be lifting to exhaustion by that 12th rep.