ever think benching 65lbs would be tough?

[evan938]

lol...me either.

been working out with a buddy of mine from HS who works at the YMCA i go to. he's a pretty fit guy, knows his **** when it comes to working out...i think he benches somewhere in the 335-345 range (and hes not a big guy...maybe 5'10-6', 170lbs?). so ive been working on dropping some weight, and building up some muscle...last couple weeks i had him come over to spot me and really work me out on bench so i can start to see some results.

so today, i go in, he was a little busy with other stuff, so i tried to do what he had me doing last week and really pushing. started warming up set of 10 at 95lbs, 2 sets of 10 at 135, set of 8 at 145, set of 6 at 155...all with some breaks in between. since i didnt have a spot, i didnt want to go any higher...start going back and forth 95lbs set of 8-10, back up to 135-145 6-8 reps, back down to 95, up to 155 few reps, with no break but adding/removing weight. ended with just the bar 30 reps, 1 min break, 20 reps.

so im doin something else once i finished, and he asked me if i did 185...tell him no way, didnt have a spot..so he's like "come on, lets go do it". go over, try to get a few in at 185, but im already worn out, and i think he was helping me a little more than he says...takes it down to a lower weight, back up, mixing it up pretty quick. by this point, with my previous work out, and what hes had me do, ive probably done 150 or so reps...maybe more. do the "seconds", 205 lbs, which killed me...

then, he puts a 10lb on each side (65lbs total) and says "20 more and youre done". i swear, that was the heaviest 65lbs ive ever felt. by 12 reps, my arms were giving out. i almost felt like a big sissy, but thinking of how much i had done for the day, i really didnt...lol...my arms/chest are already feeling it...soreness

but, ive maxed out my bench at 175, which is 40lbs more than i did just a couple weeks ago, and i think i wont have any issue getting to my goal of hitting 225 at least 1 rep by vacation at the end of july. plus, im noticing an improvement in my arms/chest, ive gone from 210-212-ish lbs last year when i started to about 187 now, and the g/f says my gut is getting smaller.

[Pete03GLS]

cool man, id go hit the gym too if it wasnt so god damn expensive... and if i had someone to go with n ****, i dont like going alone. congrats tho.

i gotta drop some weight too... prefferably 30 pounds... so i could get to an even 200. :D

[OPZ]

My scrawny *** could probably bench a little over 100 something...but yet at work I have no issue dragging/moving 200-400 pound games...so I KNOW I got me some leg muscle.

[Munky]

I can bench 110...MAYBE 115 if I'm feeling frisky. But I can press around 350 with my legs, so it evens out..kind of.

[evan938]

lol. i didnt like going by myself at first, but then i just didnt give a ****...then the g/f started going, but she does her own thing on the other side, so its not much different.

i was doing leg presses at about 350, and tried to bump it up to 410 once 360 was getting easy, and i f'ed up my back...got thru 2 sets of 10 just fine, and on the 3rd set, at my 7th rep i felt something pull just a bit, not enough to hurt, so i wanted to get my last 3 in...on the 10th one, i felt my lower back pull HARD...i couldnt even lift the 45lb weights off the rack to put them back on the storage rack. that was probably a month ago, and i can still feel it sometimes...like in the morning after i havent moved much since i was sleeping all night...if i sneeze (just in the AM), i feel like im about to fall over. later in the day though im fine. i actually got back on the legpress today with like 180lbs so i dont pull anything again, and it wasnt too bad.

pete - bad excuse. im sure you have a YMCA around you...here, a membership for a "young adult", which i believe is 18-25, is under 27$/mo. we both have ours drafted out of our bank account monthly, so i dont have to worry about it...i think after 25 an adult membership is like 40-50$/mo, so im sure at that time, we'll get a "family membership" for 700$/year to save the cash

[carbonman]

lol...me either.
been working out with a buddy of mine from HS who works at the YMCA i go to. he's a pretty fit guy, knows his **** when it comes to working out...i think he benches somewhere in the 335-345 range (and hes not a big guy maybe 5'10-6', 170lbs?).


If that guy is benching that much even at his MAX weight, he is Exremely fit not pretty fit. I'd almost be willing to say bs on it but I know a few people, "Personal trainers", that are slightly lower than that. Like in the 280ish range

Personally, I hit my max when I went to the gym at 230lb. I was, at that time, 6' 175 lb Averaged between 8-12% BF
Still 6', lol, now at about 190 lb

BTW- if you keep on that routine for too long, you'll start to get titties and once you stop working out, they will still be there but instead of defined they will look like boobies lol


ive gone from 210-212-ish lbs last year when i started to about 187 now, and the g/f says my gut is getting smaller.

ha, she wasn't talkin about yer gut dude. :nono::tongue: j/k

[evan938]

yeah, pretty fit/extremely fit...you get the picture...ive seen him hit 315 before (3 45s on each side + bar), so i have no reason to doubt he could do 335-345...plus, he doesnt have any reason to bull**** me. lol. last time he said something about it, about a week and a half ago, he said he did 335 the day before or so, but said he didnt try for 345.

im not trying to get my chest huge to the point i have man-boobs...theres a guy there who's like that, but he's a pretty fit guy, but still looks like he has some c-cups. lol

Personally, I hit my max when I went to the gym at 230lb. I was, at that time, 6' 175 lb Averaged between 8-12% BF
Still 6', lol, now at about 190 lb

hold on...are you saying you benched 230lbs when you weighed 175 or hit 175lbs when you weighed 230?

[carbonman]

No, lol 230lb, that was my max bench when I tried my max. I would estimate that my real max near the end when I stopped going to the gym nearer to 240 maybe though
Its weird, when you start out, big gains come on pretty steady, then you platau and each pound added seems like such a struggle

Also, if you are having issues with your back doing leg presses, Stay away from heavy weights cause you're doing something wrong!!
Do standard squats with just the bar to learn proper form, then add a few pounds still doing proper form and you reap alot more benefits than slugging massive weight with ****ty technique.

I remember being at the gym once when a trainer called some guy out on form. He was lifting (read: swinging) maybe 60lb dumbells. The trainer gave him 20lb weights and corrected him on form and he was struggling after 10 reps. I had to laugh

[Pete03GLS]

yea... id go to the Y... but to me... taht 27$/month is alot. more than i can spend on stupid gym right now. maybe after i pay off my debt. i think im either gonna start riding my bike, or try running to the park.

[carbonman]

Just do situps and push ups in the morning, maybe get a 25lb dumbell
There's lots of things you can do at home to stay very fit and in shape

[evan938]

ive got a 15lb door-holder-opener. lol. usually the nights that i dont go to the gym, i do a stretch the doc showed me for my back, which is sorta like a pushup, but not lifting my legs/waist...just pushing my upper body up and holding it for a few seconds...then ill do 20 or so push ups

[Cypher]

I weigh about 165ish and can bench about 200 something. I don't often try to max because I don't have a spot. I tend to stick to dumbbells when I do chest press.

[SuperGLS]

All of you exercise people do a good job making me feel lazy.

But how does it translate on the kickball field, that's the real question. For Evan I'd say it's working, he's pretty good at kickball.

[Ugzz]

i hate freeweights, i suck at balancing them up for somereason, but if its a machine i usually start around 100lb, duno that i could even do that these days lol. back in hs i used to hitthegym everyday and after a semester of that i was able to easily max out the gyms weeinie 250lb machine (which btw all the pros there said the machine was way easier, if you could do 250 on it it was more like 200 or 225 freeweight). so thats not really anything special i guess

[evan938]

i started on the machines, and started to ween myself and move over to freeweights...the machines get easy because youre only using your core muscles and dont really have to worry about form because they only go where theyre supposed to. i thought the freeweights were gonna kill me when i moved over there...i hopped onto one of the machines a few weeks ago for ****s and giggles and it was easy as ****.

[SWortham]

I've been working out pretty consistently for the past several years but can't really improve much when it comes to the bench press due to an old shoulder injury. If I push my limits too much my shoulder will be hurting for weeks. So I don't know what benching 175 pounds feels like. The most I've done is about 135 pounds. Oh, and here's the funny part about it. My shoulder injury happened during a workout 6 years ago when I was at the butterfly machine trying to blast my chest muscles, and my left shoulder gave out and dislocated on me in the middle of the exercise. It's never been the same since and some day I'll probably break down and have surgery done.

Moral of the story: take care of your joints. Exercise opposing muscles equally. And exercise your shoulders in all directions. And lastly, watch your form for every lift you do.

But I know how it feels to push yourself like you did. Working out to failure like that can really rip your muscles and you can make some fast gains in strength as long as you eat well and don't injure yourself in the process. Working out to failure, by the way, means that your muscles fail, NOT a joint. I guess I was confused about that point 6 years ago, ha.

[slyderdai]

lol..
and the g/f says my gut is getting smaller.

Did you know that for like every 10 lbs you lose in your gut You gain like 1/2 - 1" in penis length? I read it in a men's fitness magazine. lol

[SWortham]

Also, if you are having issues with your back doing leg presses, Stay away from heavy weights cause you're doing something wrong!!
Agreed. I did some leg presses in high school with 300 pounds one day. Here I was, a scrawny 140 pound weakling, leg pressing 300 pounds and thinking I was all bad. I actually felt fine immediately afterwards. But the next morning, my back hurt so bad that I couldn't get out of bed. I'm not sure what happened exactly, other than the obvious fact that I had a weak back and I was pushing my luck.

Do standard squats with just the bar to learn proper form, then add a few pounds still doing proper form and you reap alot more benefits than slugging massive weight with ****ty technique.

I remember being at the gym once when a trainer called some guy out on form. He was lifting (read: swinging) maybe 60lb dumbells. The trainer gave him 20lb weights and corrected him on form and he was struggling after 10 reps. I had to laugh
Agreed again. Squats are where it's at. If you're smart about it, and train with proper form, then doing squats will strengthen your back, legs, and core muscle to the point where you'll be injuring yourself less frequently doing other exercises, working on your car, moving furniture, etc, etc. Needless to say, it's one of my favorite lifts because of what it can do for you.

As for the form thing, nowadays I'm a big stickler for proper form in all of the lifts I do. I see guys at the gym swinging big weights around all the time, using the momentum of the weights, and so on. They're just risking injury a lot of times, and certainly not getting everything out of the exercise that they could.

Squats, for example, can vary in difficulty tremendously depending on how far down you go and how slowly you perform them. I do "full" squats where my thighs are horizontal at the down position and I use a 3 second down / 1 second up tempo. I also make sure to keep my back straight and look ahead during the entire lift. That's how it's done. ;)

It's also good if you can have someone who knows what they're doing to check you on your form. You may think and feel like you're doing it right, but then it's not until someone watches you from the side that they can tell that your back isn't being held straight, or whatever the case may be.

[indkezra]

i dont even know if i could lift the bar

[Cypher]

Yeah, as for the form thing, nowadays I'm a big stickler for proper form in all of the lifts I do. I see guys at the gym swinging big weights around all the time, using the momentum of the weights, and so on. They're just risking injury a lot of times, and certainly not getting everything out of the exercise that they could.

This drives me NUTS at the gym! I see the same guys in there all the time swinging their bodies and whatnot to lift big weights for something like curls and they feel all bad because of it when in all actuality they aren't gaining anything from it. Sometimes I want to say something but I usually just bite my tongue and keep doing what I'm doing.

Its funny that you should mention a shoulder injury as well. I hurt my left shoulder several months ago doing something while a car was up on a lift. Its been alright for the most part but if I decide to push myself too hard it'll flare up. It doesn't "give out" but it gives that odd feeling down to my fingers because of the nerve and feels extremely tense. It only really hits me on shoulder days, and the thing that usually breaks it is doing external rotations. Usually icing it and vaporrub makes it all better in a few days.

[evan938]

Did you know that for like every 10 lbs you lose in your gut You gain like 1/2 - 1" in penis length? I read it in a men's fitness magazine. lol

i can believe it :D ive gotten an extra 1/2". lol. plus, i got a bit more gut to go :cool:

[tharptroy]

I just started squats on Monday for the first time in years. I used to be quite good at it for my size (190 lb) I hit 405lb as my all time high. I've been sore all week, even though the squat workout was rather light (most was 185 lb).

I've been doing bench for a couple of weeks, and have already hit 205...I imagine that I'll be able to hit 250 if I keep up my workouts.

[evan938]

id like to set small goals...185 w/ no assistance by end of this month, 205 by mid june, 225 by july 25 (leaving for florida on the 26th :))

[Cypher]

Thats nice troy. At my peak for squats, I used to be able to do 335lbs and I only weighed 165 at my max. I need to get back into them after I start feeling well again.

[SWortham]

I just started squats on Monday for the first time in years. I used to be quite good at it for my size (190 lb) I hit 405lb as my all time high. I've been sore all week, even though the squat workout was rather light (most was 185 lb).

I've been doing bench for a couple of weeks, and have already hit 205...I imagine that I'll be able to hit 250 if I keep up my workouts.
405 pounds... nice. That's really good actually. The guy I got my inspiration from is nuts, doing 550 pound squats when he weighed just 180. And those were full squats, going down as far as I do. Of course from what I've seen squats are easier the shorter you are. And he's just 5'9".

I usually do 4 sets of squats, increasing weight with every set and I'll finish at around 185 pounds with around 8 reps. By that point my muscles are usually pretty much exhausted. But I hope to be consistent this year and increase that number a bit.

Tonight... I'll be doing pull ups with a dumbbell between my ankles, seated rows, flies, EZ bar curls, reverse-grip curls, and crunches.

[tharptroy]

when I did 405 lbs, it was with the coach watching to make sure my hamstrings were parallel to the ground, so I guess it all depends on how deep you're going, it would be alot harder if I went with the top of my legs parallel.

[Cypher]

I was usings dumbbells to help add weight during dips earlier today. That was fun. I think I might buy one of those belts so I can just strap a weight to it instead.

[SWortham]

I was usings dumbbells to help add weight during dips earlier today. That was fun. I think I might buy one of those belts so I can just strap a weight to it instead.
I do that too. Dips become very difficult when you're loaded down with weight. Or it also works to wear a backpack and throw in some weights.

[Keyan]

would adding wrist weights and ankle weights be a good idea to get a workout during my daily routine of working on cars?

[Cypher]

I had considered that as well James, but the problem with doing that with our profession is you need your mobility. You can't get your hands into places as well if you have ankle/wrist weights on. From reading, using weight to add resistance to everyday activites can help you to burn up to an extra 40% of calories.

[PILL]

Evan, that is a horrible way to train. Unless your were doing a shocking routine you are seriously overtraining your chest doing that. I suggest you check out muscleandstrength.com. Those guys will help you sort your diet out so that you get the best results, and they have a bunch of great workouts that will work for you no matter what your goal is. Listen to anything Doug or Damien say to you. They are both excellent at giving advice and know their stuff.