1. [Home](https://www.workoutsmart.com/) 2. [Ask Dan](https://www.workoutsmart.com/ask-dan) 3. [Weight Training](https://www.workoutsmart.com/ask-dan/weight-training) Weight Training # How important is doing the exact weight? I have a multi station and the plates… The question How important is doing the exact weight? I have a multi station and the plates are 10LB each, which makes it impossible to do 5 LB increments. so I just use the same weight for each of the sets. Is that OK?\ Also, some of my body parts are never sore while others ones are sore for a couple of days. Does this mean that I am not working certain parts hard enough (even though they are exhausted during the workout) or am I not using enough weight or am I doing to much with the parts that are sore. I am the kind of person who feels that no pain is maybe not really a gain. Dan's answer Dan Wirth, MA, CSCS It is always best to use the exact weight the workout calls for. However, as long as you are within 5 pounds, it's not a big deal. The most important thing is to make sure you can do all of the prescribed sets and reps for each exercise. The reason that completing all of your sets and reps is so important is because of the specific periodization model of each program. Say, for example, the workout calls for 10 reps but you could only do 6 reps. Then, say, you didn't change the weight to allow you to complete the 10 repetitions and you continued doing the 6 reps. By the time the workout actually did get into the 6 rep range you would already have been doing them for about a month\! This creates a lack of variation and ultimately a lack of progress. To answer your question about muscle soreness: If certain muscle groups get sore (and other don't) even though you are working just as hard on everything, it is usually a neuromuscular problem or a technique problem. This is a little hard to explain, but I will relate something that I have experienced that might help. Every once in a while I will put a new exercise into my program that I have never done before. I will work hard on the exercise but I won't start getting sore from doing it until 2 weeks later\! No, this isn't some kind of massive delayed onset muscle soreness\! It is more a lack of ability to get the right contraction or just the right "feel" in order to stimulate the muscles hard enough to create soreness. After a couple weeks of doing the exercise it feels more natural and my technique is better and I can create more of an intense workout for the muscles involved. This could be what is happening to you. If you have had an injury or nerve damage to certain parts of your body, you will also experience the same thing. You will be doing the work but not really feeling the exercise as much as you could. Make sure you concentrate on technique and squeezing the muscle groups you are working to get the most out of them\! Dan designed the periodization models the Wave Engine runs. See how the Wave Engine turns his programming rules into your workouts. [How the Wave Engine works](https://www.workoutsmart.com/wave-engine) ## More in Weight Training - [I will be starting the 4-Day Get Lean Program and had a quick question. I know the weights for the sets are calculated from our strength tests, but are we supposed to basically reach failure by the end of each set. For example, if it says 15@25lbs. should I barely be able to do 25, and if it seems easy, do I increase the weight or the number of reps?](https://www.workoutsmart.com/ask-dan/weight-training/i-will-be-starting-the/265) - [How important is the length of rest between sets?Will it effect gaining mass?](https://www.workoutsmart.com/ask-dan/weight-training/how-important-is-the-length/851) - [I've been following your website for a long time now, and I think its great\!\! I have a question, On the days I work my bis,tris, and forearms, I dont get sore the next day. Is this ok?? I mean I got sore on the first week, but after that, I rarely get soreness the next day. Is this alrite or is this the sign of me not working out hard enough? I do 5 sets of 6-8 reps with 3-4 exercises per muscle. BUT the day I work my chest, back and shoulders I do find myself sore the next day. So is the lack of soreness a sign of a waste of a workout???](https://www.workoutsmart.com/ask-dan/weight-training/ive-been-following-your-website/1245) - [I have just started working out and on one day split up my workouts but for example i do 5 exercises for biceps with 5 sets but how do i know how much i should lift when im done im tired but i still feel that i could do more. First set i do 15 pounds 15 times to warm up then i do 20 pounds 12 times twice then i do twenty five pounds 8 times twice and then 30 pounds once. I do this for a few different types of exersice and of course I'm sore afterwards but i dont feel tight its like i should lift more, should I?](https://www.workoutsmart.com/ask-dan/weight-training/i-have-just-started-working/134) - [I am a college football player who last summer used a four times a week lifting program very similar to yours. The program, which I followed down to the last detail, left me no stronger or faster than I was before. After the season finished this year, I have been doing a 3 times a week program similar to what I did in high school. I have made surprising gains in my strength. The program goes as follows: MON- BENCH, HANG CLEAN, DIPS, AB WORK WED-INCLINE BENCH, SQUAT, NARROW GRIP CHIN-UPS, AB WORK FRI- BENCH, HANG CLEAN, WIDE GRIP CHIN UPS, AB WORK My question to you is that because I'm making gains with this program should I stick with it or go back to the 4 day a week program? What else can I be doing to make me faster and stronger?](https://www.workoutsmart.com/ask-dan/weight-training/i-am-a-college-football/221) ## Train on the programs Dan writes. [Start 14 days free](https://www.workoutsmart.com/signup)