Today's Featured Question:
 
The trainer at my gym set me up with a strength routine that includes two sets of 10 lifts for each of eight exercises. He told me to increase the weight on the second rep. But a gym regular who has been a bodybuilder for 50 years told me that's all wrong. He says I should lower the weight on t he second rep. Who's right?
-- B.W., Mishawaka, Indiana

Answer:
 
Raising the weight sounds too much like lift failure -- that is, you lift until you can't lift anymore. That can lead to injury and hasn't been shown to increase strength any more than just lifting until it's difficult. According to Phil Wharton, who trains many top athletes and is co-author with his father, Jim, of The Whartons' Strength Book, research has shown that each set after the first delivers only an 11 percent gain in benefit. So a second set is worth the effort after two to three minutes of rest, but the first is where you should focus your energy. A team from the American College of Sports Medicine reviewed 264 studies of resistance training and concluded that novices should start with eight to 12 reps at 60 to 70 percent of the most weight they can lift. When you are able to complete two reps more than your maximum during two consecutive workouts, increase the weight for that exercise to the point at which the final reps area gain difficult. This will typically be a jump of two to 10 percent.

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Photograph by Stewart Smith