Weightlifting

[Solid Dreams]

Originally Posted by jellygod

creatine actually worked quite well for me, although it does cause you to bloat etc, i took it for 3 weeks and put a good 10-20 pounds on my bench. then i stopped taking it and i did lose a little size, but i kept the strength. defianetely a good thing to cycle because it doesnt cost much.

You got lucky, then. I know guys who bulked up a lot from creatine, but as soon as they stopped taking it it all turned into fat.

Creatine's like steroids, in that regard, you have to keep taking it to keep getting the benefit.

[Reach]

I've been doing chest twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. Arms on Tuesdays, legs on Wednesdays, abs and back on Fridays. I've been able to up the weight I curl to about 105 lbs, and increase my weight on leg curls/presses and cable rows/lat pulldowns. But my bench has been frozen at 160 for a long ass time. The only reason I'm doing chest twice a week now is to try and up my bench, I'm not overworking chest by any means :/

You can curl 105 pounds? But can only bench 160?

Well, that doesn't make any sense.

Your bench is already quite good for your weight though. Most people can't bench more than their own weight. It can improve, though.


I used to body build. I don't know much about this 5/10 minute bench thing, but I can almost guarantee it won't give you the gains you're looking for. Some people have suggested less weights and more reps, but no, that's not what you want to do. You want to find the sweet spot in terms of reps/weight, which is about 10 reps. You're wasting your time with lots of reps. You gain muscle mass by lifting big, not doing reps.

I'd sit down with a spotter and find the amount of weight you can bench around 9-11 reps with. Once you find that weight, do 3 sets in a row with the spotter, always. Always go to failure on sets - that is, until you can't finish and the spotter has to help you finish. This will lead to maximal gains.

When you're finished benching, jump right into another chest exercise until you...essentially break. After that you can call it quits on the chest for the day.

Continue using the weight you chose for the bench until you can do like 13-15 reps,and then add 5 pounds onto the bar. Also, you don't need to work your chest two days in a row using this method. 2-3 times a week is plenty.

I don't know anyone that strictly follows this method that doesn't get gains.

Other than that, what's your diet like? You'll probably going to want to stock up on protein and carbs etc after your workout. You can do this in whatever way works for you. You'll want to keep protein and carbs high throughout the day anyway. This will probably lead to some degree of weight gain, but that's good. It allows you to lift heavier, which is going to lead to larger gains in muscle mass.

I mean, if the workout isn't leading to gains and you fix the workout, the only answer is the diet. A lot of people try to make gains without eating enough. You really need to stock up and your problem right now could be your weight. If you want to look cut, it's easier to bulk up and then cut down and lose fat later. It leads to much better results.

[Eddie the munster]

if you bench is under 200 you've got committment issues

[Solid Dreams]

Originally Posted by Eddie the munster

if you bench is under 200 you've got committment issues

maybe if he was over 200 pounds, yeah. Otherwise, no, you're just posturing.

[Eddie the munster]

the op should post his workout logs for the last 6 months i bet dollars to donuts i'm right

[One Winged Angel]

Originally Posted by Reach

I'd sit down with a spotter and find the amount of weight you can bench around 9-11 reps with. Once you find that weight, do 3 sets in a row with the spotter, always. Always go to failure on sets - that is, until you can't finish and the spotter has to help you finish. This will lead to maximal gains.

When you're finished benching, jump right into another chest exercise until you...essentially break. After that you can call it quits on the chest for the day.

Continue using the weight you chose for the bench until you can do like 13-15 reps,and then add 5 pounds onto the bar. Also, you don't need to work your chest two days in a row using this method. 2-3 times a week is plenty.

This sounds like a really good method to me, I'll try it out. Only problem is that I don't always have a spotter because the one guy I work out with goes to a different gym than me, and I have to keep sneaking in as a "different guest" whenever he brings me...I think they'll eventually catch on that I've been four different people. But I figure that I can receive the same results if I work at a slightly slower pace, taking into account I'm always working with a spotter, so it's all good.

My diet is pretty sh*t, I won't lie lol. It's not the quality of food I eat, but rather the quantity. Breakfast is completely skipped because I normally wake up feeling extremely nauseous, but on good days I might have a banana or something. Lunch is usually a sandwich with some sort of lunch meat. Afterwards I might snack on fruits or nuts. For dinner, there's always some sort of meat involved: grilled chicken, steak, sausage, or turkey, usually with something like potatoes or pasta and a salad on the side. Round 9:00, if I'm still home, I'll have another serving of fruit, and if I'm out, I'm usually eating something else (but that something else is probably McNuggets or something disgustingly unhealthy) I used to weigh around 130 and tried to put on weight using protein shakes and adding them on top of what I was already eating...that only made me extremely sick and I ended up vomiting more weight and losing. So I put on about 20 pounds or so just eating fruit, specifically apples, bananas, oranges, and watermelon. I'll have a protein shake post-workout, but then I usually won't have a serving of fruit or else I'll feel disgusting.

I'd love to weigh around 170, but whenever I've tried to put on weight recently, I get sick and throw it all up. I was at 153 for a while and tried the protein shakes + snacks again...not smart. So if you know any other methods I could try with respect to weight gain, let me know. Anything is greatly appreciated.

Also yeah, my arm strength is pretty ridiculous for my weight. When I first starting working out over a year ago, I started with a 25 lb dumbbell next to me while I'd watch TV. I'd do concentration curls until failure, and gradually worked my way up to 30, 35, and now I'm doing 40. I can barbell curl 105 for about six reps with almost perfect form (I might cheat a little on five or six but woop) That's the main reason I thought my bench was suffering...I can curl more than the guy I work out with but he can bench more than me, almost 200 lbs...and he's only 160 lbs :/

Jellygod, I'll PM you in a bit and you can help me with some more stuff if you don't mind...I just feel extremely lazy right now lol