For BG fitness fanatics, a question..

[Omnipotent]

Weiing:
for someone 5"9 and ~69kg(~150lbs)? Was 58kg(127lbs)
Bench - 60kg, 132lbs
Any tips/advice?

I am 5'9 and 145lb, and I warm up with 135X20. I don't really know how you get the 2 lbs on a bench but who knows. I am hoping you can do more than 132 lbs, if you can you should be doing less reps with more weight to build muscle, balanced with a good diet focusing on protein and other basic essentials. My goal has always been to bench +100 my weight, and now that I have exceeded that, I am looking for +150.
For the bench, I usually do 135X20, 185X12, 225X5ish, then I finish with 245X2.

P.S. Never use those things that clamp at the end of weights to hold them on. Part of the bench is building stabilizer muscles, essential for almost every free weight workout you are going to do. This also means try and stay away from the bench machine, and stick to free weights.

[Atreides]

You can get 2 lbs by microloading with fractional plates (which most gyms won't have, but you can order them online), or more cheaply with links of chain from home depot. It can be incredibly useful if you're trying to make constant progress but aren't able to add a full 5-10 lbs in a particular week, rather than just keeping the weight the same.

also, if you're looking to get your bench up (as much as it pains me to give advice for this since you should be trying to get all your lifts up, not just bench... people who brag about their bench as the sole indicator of their strength are just plain retarded) as Omnipotent said a good diet will help, but you can look into any of the beginner 3x5 or 5x5 plans around the internet that have good linear progression. With proper nutrition and rest, you can conceivably add 10 lbs to the bar every time you bench (assuming you're only benching 1-2x per week and not overworking your chest with other exercies) for the first few weeks, 5 lbs every time after that.

If your gym doesn't have a squat cage, is there a power rack? For squatting you can use pretty much anything that will set the bar around shoulder level as long as you wont have to move once the bar is on your back, it can just be a little dangerous for the floor if you suddenly decide you need to bail out lol. Unfortunately there's no substitute for the low bar back squat if that's what your program is calling for... I don't like the Smith machine whatsoever, I feel like it's significantly more dangerous than anything you can do with a bar by yourself, at least for squats. I'd definitely look into switching gyms whenever you can.

[Sanoske]

I am 5'9 and 145lb, and I warm up with 135X20. I don't really know how you get the 2 lbs on a bench but who knows. I am hoping you can do more than 132 lbs, if you can you should be doing less reps with more weight to build muscle, balanced with a good diet focusing on protein and other basic essentials. My goal has always been to bench +100 my weight, and now that I have exceeded that, I am looking for +150.
For the bench, I usually do 135X20, 185X12, 225X5ish, then I finish with 245X2.

P.S. Never use those things that clamp at the end of weights to hold them on. Part of the bench is building stabilizer muscles, essential for almost every free weight workout you are going to do. This also means try and stay away from the bench machine, and stick to free weights.

I don't get the high reps at the beginning. Is this German Volume Training? lol But seriously, that's way too much for "Warming up" and you're probably limiting you're max lift by doing so. Why not try a 5x5? Or do the same as working to a 1RM, but stick to doing 2-3 as final set.

Impressive for 145lb though. Where do you lift? We should pump some iron brah.

[Meat]

if u want to get your bench up, stop benching. i know it's funny but i found that when i switched to inclines\dips only for a few months then came back to flat bench my numbers jumped greatly.

More often than not the limiting factor in your lifts are going to be mental, do inclines\dips\machine flats till you forget how much u bench and go back to it.

[Omnipotent]

I don't get the high reps at the beginning. Is this German Volume Training? lol But seriously, that's way too much for "Warming up" and you're probably limiting you're max lift by doing so. Why not try a 5x5? Or do the same as working to a 1RM, but stick to doing 2-3 as final set.

Impressive for 145lb though. Where do you lift? We should pump some iron brah.

Gold Gym, I do 20 cause I have alot of problems with my left shoulder, so I really use the bench to stretch everything and make sure nothing in my body pops or cracks when I get to the higher weight. I can do more than 20 though... 20 is usually the point where I can really feel my blood pumping and a good satisfied stretch.

[Meat]

Weiing:
Looks like a solid routine now. Am sure you'll love doing it.

For my bench, deadlift and squats, I've started doing at *least* 5 sets with 5-8 reps. I just feel that you should get as much as you can out of your compound lift before starting the supplemental lifts. However I don't quite do each set to failure. I make sure by the time I'm done with my sets there's something left in the tank so to speak.

Speaking of the main lifts... how are these stats for someone 5"9 and ~69kg(~150lbs)? Was 58kg(127lbs) when I started in september but can't remember what I could lift.

Deadlift - 100kg, 220lbs
Squat - 80kg, 176lbs
Bench - 60kg, 132lbs
Military press - ?

Only recently started doing squats again, and plucked up the courage to start going as heavy as possible on the deadlifts(i have a real fear of doing my back in). Bench is my weakest by far and am not quite sure how to improve on it. Will be doing military press for the first time tomorrow.

Was quite happy when i hit 100kg on deadlifts the other day as that's the 1.5BW barrier broken. Want to do that for squats soon as well.

Oh, and as an aside. My gym doesn't have a squat rack, only a smith machine so I'm limited to squatting and decline benching on that. Benching is fine, but squatting at an angle is sorta awkward. I also have a problem with the bar really digging into my shoulders and back, and into my delts on the front squat( I have the flexibility to hold the bar as you normally should on the front squat but can't actually lift it out of the rails so I'm using the "cross your heart grip"). How can i can get past this? This is mainly the reason why I've not gone heavier so far as it's very painful to do. Would I be able to squat a heavier weight though if the back/shoulder pain wasn't getting in the way? Easily. Any tips/advice?

front squat later in your leg routing when you're pre-exhausted and will have to use lighter weight, hopefully they're wont be as much digging.

As for regular squats, wrap your towel around the bar to create a cushion. also maybe you're placing the bar too high up your traps,

[In Flames]

Omni: 60kg is 132lbs... that's how I'm getting an extra 2lbs .

Atreides: Was thinking of doing my compounds using wendlers 5/3/1 actually to increase them. It doesn't have a power rack either. The smith is the only thing where I can load a bar at shoulder height. I really don't like using but it's the only thing that would work. Once my training partner and i start uni in september we're probably gonna switch to the uni gym or something else. I already know of another gym in the area which has far superior equipment but it's further away and i have to see this year contract through.

Residue: Tried the towel strategy before it didn't work at all. Maybe i am just placing it in the wrong area. Where should it be?

[Atreides]

should be on the meat of your rear delts if they're fully extended back like you're flexing your arms back to show off your back muscles, it should be a pretty stable platform if you're angled properly. Kinda a crappy explanation but the starting strength wiki should clarify it nicely.

also I was in the same boat as you, I tried to substitute various things for the squat (like zercher squats, which killed my back) and made like 0 progress, then I switched gyms and my squat doubled in less than 2 months. How much would you end up paying extra if you just went to another gym now? I hate to say it, but if your program has you low bar back squatting and you're substituting then you're probably wasting time (to an extent) and severely limiting the gains you'll see.

[In Flames]

Ok thanks for the explanation. Will give it a go on saturday.

The other gym I'm looking at is around the same price per month (£33). I'm sure there's a way out of the contract I have with my current one which lasts until september.

[Meat]

you could also try wearing a hoodie when you do legs. it gives the bar a good cushion to rest on.

[Zoolander]

Most gyms have those cushions you can put on the bar for squats (although I just prefer to use the naked bar), yours doesnt? Either way though...I mean it is pretty much always gunna hurt, the muscle should adapt somewhat though. Bar touching more surface area means less pressure points so make sure you are putting the bar in the optimal spot.

Did my new back/bicep routine...christ I can't believe how weak my grip is getting in relation to everything else. My deadlift is a joke lol, I can do like 4-5 reps before my hands/fingers give out. I got small hands and forearms I guess, really gotta find me some wrist straps. Having forearm exercises at the end of my back/biceps routine is pointless though since they are dead by the end...maybe I should add them to my legs day, would space it out enough I think.

So sad though, I have never seen anyone in my new gym doing deadlifts. Its like come on guys, are you serious with this shit? Actually I've never seen anyone do squats in anything other than the smith machine either (they have one cage that is never touched by anyone but me it seems). Every time I go in I just facepalm, too many people doing that shit to even bother. Personal trainers there are doing those people a disservice.

[Osede]

I had to wear the grip glove to do any workout. One day, I left my glove in my friend house, this end up I couldn't get a grip on anything at all

I think that day, I have done about 30% for every workout that I did usually.


For the deadlift, in my school fitness center, I can count the number of people doing deadlift by myself. Maybe because most people prefer to do the reverse sit up to train their back. But usually the squats are occupied for most of the time.

[Meat]

http://forums.rxmuscle.com/forumdisplay.php?f=133

Find a gym from a "hardcore registry" odds are they wont require a contract nor will they frown on any gay shit you find at a "fitness center" ie chalk and dropping the weights.

[Sanoske]

When I went to the gym today, some guy was squatting ~500lbs, couldnt tell if he had 5 plates or 6. Then I busted on with my 5x5x155. Ohhhh yea.

[Weiing]

Yeah...those bar cushion things are sometimes there. They disappear randomly though. I don't use a towel/cushion...but then again, I"m only squatting 115-135 depending on the repxsets, so not that heavy.

And yeah. So many people not doing deadlifts/squats at my gym, too. Makes me sadpanda. However, when I see a guy do them, I'm instantly attracted to them, despite how they actually look. It's like "OOOH. You know what to do"

I tried the grip strap today for my deadlifts. I must be stupid. I don't know how to properly use???????? Maybe I didn't tighten the straps enough around the bar. It actually made it harder for me to grip.

PS
most personal trainers are....... lame.

[Meat]

yah, that'll happen. If your gym has fatter bars the straps will only make them fatter lol and thus harder to grip. if that's the case versa grips might be your best bet

[Weiing]

~_~;

And thanks Residue for that gym link. I may check out the gym near me. >_> MAy be better than 24 hour fitness. >_>

[Lhyet]

I've been signed up to a gym for the past three months assuming that if I'm putting down money each month, I'd have more reason to get my arse out of the house and do something.
And to that end... it's not really worked. I've gone quite a few times, but it's been sporadic. I've gone three times a week on a really good week, but struggled to go down there even once in other weeks.

I think my main problem is that I don't really know what I need to do. I jump on the treadmill, bike and rowing machine but don't really touch the weight machines.
I guess I really need to sign up with a personal trainer a few times a month or something, but that's extra money and I'm a tight bastard~

I don't suppose there's any advice anyone can give me on what I should be starting on, is there? I've average in body fat ratio so it's not like I've got rolls of fat to burn off (though I would like to cut down this pudge a little bit).
What I'm interested in is increasing my general fitness and giving my upper body a bit more definition.

[Sanoske]

Yeah...those bar cushion things are sometimes there. They disappear randomly though. I don't use a towel/cushion...but then again, I"m only squatting 115-135 depending on the repxsets, so not that heavy.

And yeah. So many people not doing deadlifts/squats at my gym, too. Makes me sadpanda. However, when I see a guy do them, I'm instantly attracted to them, despite how they actually look. It's like "OOOH. You know what to do"

I tried the grip strap today for my deadlifts. I must be stupid. I don't know how to properly use???????? Maybe I didn't tighten the straps enough around the bar. It actually made it harder for me to grip.

PS
most personal trainers are....... lame.

The friend I went with has grip issues (something with his tendons) so he uses hooks for lifting. They looked a bit better/easier to use(?) than straps, but I dont really know if there are any pros/cons or if its all the same.

[Osede]

I don't suppose there's any advice anyone can give me on what I should be starting on, is there? I've average in body fat ratio so it's not like I've got rolls of fat to burn off (though I would like to cut down this pudge a little bit).
What I'm interested in is increasing my general fitness and giving my upper body a bit more definition.

you may want to set up a short term and long term goal. Then try to force yourself keep on track to achieve these goals.

Then start up with something light. Like light weight lifting, keep adding alittle weight for every volumes. Then, for like a 20mins cardio. Repeat for like 2-3 weeks, the increase the resistence gradually.

And you may want to write out the plan, like what you want to train for each day. If you go to gym without any plan, you may find that you are easily get bored. Even you just arrive for like 10mins, because you don't know what you should do.