Rapid fatigue and swelling
I'm 23 yo, 6'4 and 180 pounds. I've been working out for approximately 3 years. This includes weight training and calisthenics. I also play basketball here and there. So I consider myself fit and active.
The thing that I find intriguing and somewhat bothersome is that my muscles get fatigued quick. I also get the swelling of it usually after 1 set. I find it bothersome because it makes my continued sets harder, in which I end up doing less total reps.
For instance, I can plan to do 3x8 of bench press @ 135lbs. On the first set, I will knock out the 8 reps. After resting 60-90 seconds, my second set will usually consist of 5-6 reps because my arms are too swollen and I can't get the full ROM. For the last set, to accommodate, I will probably drop the weight so I can get the 8 reps. If I keep the weight, then I'll end up doing about 3-5 reps.
Can anyone point me to the probably cause?
EDIT: I forgot to mention. To be more precise, as I do more reps and get more of a pump, the pump/swelling is always in my arms. Whether I'm doing pull-ups or bench press (usually any exercise), my arms get pumped which restrict my ROM.
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6'4 and 180 lbs sounds VERY lean (so you probably just need to eat more to be honest, more complex carbs to be concise). Assuming it's not an injury since you didn't describe pain, the most likely cause of this is that your ATP or glycogen levels are low. If you are depleted in glycogen, your first set will always be more or less regular, and then you will start to see decrease in reps or weight, since your body already used a chunk of the available glycogen it had. But I would need more info to conclude anything, do you eat enough carbs ? What's your diet like?
Also note that, if you need to rest more than 90 seconds in order to get the full 8 reps, do that, it's a massive bro myth that if you rest more than 45-90 seconds that you won't get the benefits of lifting the weight. There are a few studies showing that resting as long as you need to in order to apply the most tension is better. That means if you do 135 for 8, and u can only get 135 for 6 after a 90 second rest, it would better to rest 120 seconds, or 200 seconds, or however long you need, in order to get the 8 reps again.
www.t-nation.com/training/tip-auto-regulate-your-rest-periods
This article is well written and backed up by a very convincing study.
Furthermore, you may just not be getting enough recovery. Maybe you're training too often? Maybe you're not getting enough sleep? Not eating enough or correctly? Maybe your form is lacking...there are A LOT of things that could be causing this, the carb thing I mentioned above was at least the case for me, your body is your own and it is unique to you so you will need to put in the time and work and experiment. Ask yourself what your daily habits are, are the foods you're eating helping your goal? Are you doing excessive cardio via basketball before lifting weights? ARE YOU DRINKING ENOUGH WATER? (this is a huge one for your problem you described) If you don't have enough water in your muscles they will quickly get tired. Etc...you get the point.
As additional help, there is actually a supplement you can take in order to get more reps per set via increasing ATP supplies (what your muscles need in order to contract, think "muscle energy"). That supplement is creatine. Taking 5-10g a day can increase your reps in hypertrophy range (i.e 6-12) by a rep or sometimes two.
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