it's the other 15 weeks in between (before and after the 3 week marathons) that you have to be worried about
When I was younger, I was seriously into it. My top bench was 320, but I usually topped out at 315 but could do three to five reps. Got put out of action playing rugby in college against the University of Maine.
A few quick things. #1 each person is different, recovery, ability to gain mass, etc. #2 that is why you split what you work. I don't do every part each day, I break it up. For instance currently my weeks consist of. Monday Chest Tuesday Mid/Upper Back Wensday Lower Back/Legs Thursday Shoulders Friday Mix with emphasis on bi's and tri's I will also work abs and other minor groups in as well. In my more extreme phases it might break down like Monday Chest Tuesday Mid/Upper Back Tuesday Night Arms Wensday Lower Back/Legs Thursday Shoulders Friday Chest Friday night Arms Saturday Abs and other minor groups. etc. I change it up. BTW I'm happy, today wasn't even my chest day. Already hurting from this weeks workouts I decided to try 335 quick benching, got it up w/o a problem. I guess on a good fresh day I gotta hit at least 350. Now if only my shoulder would heal!
How big were you? There are guys solid muscle, 6'4" I know who can barely do that if they even can weighing 230+ I'm almost 240 solid muscle and I can't do that. Granted bench is not all strength it's also form, and a bit of back bend, or not doing it raw can add alot of weight. I also used to bench closer to 400, you just don't look very big in your avatar so it's kind of hard to believe.
That's cool Wasn't that I didn't believe you, I do however bet at least 50% of the people who say they did x amount of weight or more are full of crap even if they don't know it. #1 'Cheating' when benching. A guy at my gym does a bridge while benching, his arm travel is 1/4 of what a normal press should be. He thinks he's doing the weight, but under a proper form he wouldn't do 1/2 of what he's putting up. #2 Spotters doing the work. I've seen so many guys maxing with 2 guys spotting, pulling the bar up and they think when all is said and done they did the weights. Fresh I could do 315 for 5 or more reps, once I get up into that weight though I'm drained. If you're doing it for that many reps you should beable to do at least 340-350 I'd think on a good day.
No, I don't recall doing more than 320. I only got that far because the number "315" became such a big joke, it was like a mental block that I couldn't get past. It was also a long time ago, and I don't clearly remember how many times I did multiple reps above 300. It's not like every time I sat down I could whip out multiple reps at that weight. I had a good role model who really inspired me to do well.
I used to hate seeing that at Gold's...a lot of guy's form sucked.....if you need to swing your body 40degrees to complete the bicep curls....you might want to use the proper weight!!!!
lol hey, I laugh at so many of them. Out of all the people who lift at my gym, I could count on one hand how many actually lift properly. Gotta love the guys who look like they are doing rows when they are curling!
Here's a pic of me back in my lifting days. Warming up with some squats I think, dunno what the weight there was.
Squats are something I think sent from Satan! I do them, but god I hate them Looks like 2 plates on each side, hard to tell though. 225 if it is. Looking at the pic again, I'm 99.9% positive it's 225 as long as the bar is standard. It's wide grip plates, 45 each, 45 for bar. 180 in plates and 45 in bar = 225
I agree.. The biggest problem I have with them is my neck... Actually that bone right around the cervical vertibrae... I use a pad on the bar and try to lean my head down and out to rest the bar on my shoulders more, but no matter what I do that little bone drives me insane... We do of course have a inclined squat press at the Y that is heavily padded and makes life easy for me when my neck is getting sore. I'd like to think I am just doing it wrong, but no matter what I do, that little bone is a problem. Is the bar 45 or 40. I've always gone by 40 at the Y, as that is what they told me it was... Thanx!
I work four day and rest one day, so i work at least 5 times a week..Just plan it out and you will be able to recovery well day 1. Chest & biceps day 2. back & triceps day 3 core & chest day 4 leg and back I change the grip, angle and pace between set,
Should look into rippetoe's program for bulking - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=712752&highlight=riptoe ill be giving a try soon, just squats kill me
Hard to see, I loaded it in my image program and messed with the color I see a divide clearly showing 1 plate and the other plate, 2 no 3 plates. No matter how hard I look, or change colors I only seen 2. I'll take your word for it though Yeah I've had that problem, you've just gotta find the 'sweet' spot so to speak. If I move the bar just a 1/4" or so either way it hurts like hell. I use a towel wrapped around the bar, no pad. As for the bar weight, it depends on the gym and machine. Most bars are 45 but not all. There is such a thing as a 40 pound bar as there are also bars over 45, and so forth. I even have an olympic bar at home that's like 25.
Pretty sure that's 3 plates a side, looks like you had decent form. That's commendable. Heh heh, GRIM's on the money. A good spotter should just stop you from killing yourself otherwise not touch it. Peter lemme show you something...I hit the same bench as you but was about 30 lbs lighter, used to love to be a power monster and didn't use very good form - it was 'okay' but not 'good' though the range was full http://www.gaining-mass.com/attachments/BadPressForm Illustration[60].jpg Looking back I can't believe I didn't end up completely squashed! So I had to use a Smythe which also inflates the weight you can use.
Terry...that program's pretty close in some respects to Brute/Volume we use on gaining-mass.com. Difference is our method and the workout records are free. Maybe pop by, see if you like it.