Hey all, it's been a while!
I did a lot of bodyweight exercises last summer, with the result that I was soon able to do 200 bodyweight squats with no problem, but wasn't really gaining much muscle after that. I took a break from strength training over the holidays and recently got back into it--with a set of weights that I finally purchased! I loaded it up with 40lbs worth of weight and did 5 sets of 6 squats, nearly at failure on the last set, but to my dismay the next day I wasn't sore in the slightest. I also started doing push-ups again, 5 sets of 10 (which is me going to failure on each set because I'm a wimp with push-ups and lost all my upper body strength, with about a minute break in between), not sore at all.
Just for a lark, I decided to add the 40lb weights to the squats that I do in a modified 30-day shred routine--this meant that I was doing 30 seconds of squats with the weights then immediately another strength exercise for 30 seconds with no rest...for 3 sets of each. I really had to push to get through it but...no soreness the next day.
It used to be that I'd be sore the day after doing any body weight strength training...but now it's like nothing can make me sore! Planks, push-ups, lunges, all used to make me sore...since I took my month-long break nothing is giving me that feeling of daily progress--I feel like I'm working much harder during the actual workouts, even though they're shorter. I nitpick my form like crazy and watch tons of instructional video. I just don't want to be wasting my time...
For those of you who started with bodyweight and kept with it, then moved to weights...what weight did you start at? Should I bump it up to 50, 60, or more? I'm hesitant because it feels like I'm working myself hard, but apparently I'm not!
