I'm on the same routine as well (if it's Allpro's simple beginner routine). If it's an olympic barbell, you have to include it. 20kg is not light enough to be neglected.

I'm on 2nd cycle (week 3). But I've failed my 12 rep on my first cycle, so I'm pretty much on the same weight (with some slight adjustments). Though today I've made an accomplishment, I completed everything with 10 reps on heavy day. I've never been able to complete my OHP and curls. I guess that's motivation for myself.

And I guess you didn't go through the Q&A on Allpro's right?

Q15: So I managed to complete all reps for both work-sets for all exercises on my "test day" (heavy day of week 5). How much should I increase my weights for those exercises?
A: You should add 10% to each exercise that you passed, and don't forget to include the weight of the bar. For example, if you use an Olympic 45 lbs. bar, and you load that with 55 lbs. for squats, you would increase the weight up to (55 + 45)*1,1 for the next cycle, which would make it 110 lbs (again, this includes the barbell).

This post has been edited by GameFr3ak: Apr 16 2013, 12:07 AM

I'm lifting way lighter than you are right now. I injured my wrist as well, I did not gain a single bit on my previous program. I had extreme exertion headaches for over a week. What did I do next?

I bought a wrist strap to still be able to lift while letting my wrist heal
I took a day off and slept over 13 hours to get rid of my fatigue
I switched to a different program focusing on having a good strength base first
I'm eating a lot more now as my previous issue is me not eating enough

About your issue, I don't get it. You wanna lose your body weight while lifting heavier weights?

Yeah, I'm using olympic barbell but my weight includes the bar, so it's still lighter than yours. Sleep is important. I've learned this the hard way. Exertion headache is no fun. I do have some insomnia issue as well though not frequent. My only cure is cough syrup to help out if I can't sleep.

Wrist wrap will indeed help. My wrist was hurting like mad when I was benching just a lil over 25kg, bought a wrap and I don't feel the pain no more and its all healed up now.

I've just switched to Starting Strength to have a strong base before moving on to a hypertrophy oriented program. I've set a target of squatting/benching around 90% of my body weight before switching.

You can with or without hitting the gym actually. But from my short newbie experience, if the food isnt going in your stomach, your poundages will not go up.

Metabolism....I'll leave this to the pros/sifus.