Weightlifting numbers - want some opinions
Context, 31M, 241 lbs down from 275 since Jan. Started training mid March
Weights are in lbs (I'm not Superman)
Hey guys,
I've been on a weight-loss / fitness journey the past 2 months, motivated by the strongest motivator of all: heartbreak. I have a trainer but he doesn't seem to push me nearly as hard as I can go, I think he's used to working with more elderly clientele.
I just switched from goblet squat to back squat and went from 80x8x3 to 135x8x3, and I still think I had room to push further.
Deadlift I went from doing like 150 x 8x3 a week to 225 x 5x3 but my hands are baby hands and I kinda tore the skin of my hands. I think I could do more reps if my hands weren't coming apart during my sets.
Bench I've been pushing consistently up, started at like 95x8x3 and I just did 135x3x8 ( needed a spotter to help rack on the 8th rep of 3rd set).
I do various other exercises such as lat pushdowns, curls, kneeling chop for core, face pulls, reverse flye, and variations of the big 3 (lateral squats, Romanian deadlifts, landmine press, split squat, incline bench) but I'm not too focused on the numbers, I'm just kind of trying to push myself to failure. I tend to do like 12 pushdowns on my first set, can only get 9 on second set and like 7 on third set for example but I'm basically trying to push to failure on exercises that I don't have to drop the weights on the ground afterwards.
So my questions are;
How am I doing?
Have I hit my "working weight?" How do I know? Should I try and push the weight til I can't do it on the big 3 or is that dangerous in case I don't have good enough form?
Would you do anything differently? Any general advice?
How can I not tear my hands when doing 225+ deadlifts?
Thanks in advance :)