What did you do today?

[muggiwhplar]

So, about a month ago I could barely do a dead-hang with one arm from the pullup bar for more than a few seconds. A couple of weeks later, I developed the strength to barely pull myself up to about a 90-degree angle with one arm. Right now, I can pull myself up to 90 degrees almost instantly without much effort... but then I can't pull myself any higher <_<

 

Not sure where to go from here >_> Reckon I'll keep doing weighted pullups an' shit..

[HappyNooblet]

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

yoga

[muggiwhplar]

Just pulled myself up to eye-level with the bar :) Can't get my chin over the bar yet, though.

 

But hey, PROGRESS!

[jimmy_jim]

Can anyone here bench double their weight?

[muggiwhplar]

That was my original long-term fitness goal... I benched 200 lbs @ 125lbs bodyweight back in April. I don't currently have a gym membership... going to buy a gym membership after I can do a one arm pullup at home, and once my gym buddy has enough free time to lift with me in the evenings. He's one of my two friends that can bench double their bodyweight, so they've always been good at keeping me motivated :) Anyways I probably won't be able to finish that goal for at least another six months :(

 

Pretty sure fastortoise had that goal as well.

[Jeffwilson99]

Lolz I probably can't even bench my weight. Last time I tried I could bench 75 like 4 or 5 times. I went to the gym this morning, but struggled through 60x8x5. Must keep going to gym, I got those shoes too, pretty siiick.

[stevepole]

I've only done an actual bench press like once in my life. It's never really been an interest of mine, but I imagine I could do about half my weight comfortably.

 

Lately I've been really into power lifting (squats, dead lifts,& cleans) mixed with some cardio. Good stuff.

[muggiwhplar]

How can you be into power lifting without bench?!?! MADNESS!!!

[obfuscator]

I think at most I benched 125 at 175 body weight. I could probably do 100 at 140 bw now...

[muggiwhplar]

Summer fitness goal complete: Just did a one-arm chin-up :)

 

...[bleep], that means I need to go buy a gym membership now :(

[obfuscator]

Summer fitness goal complete: Just did a one-arm chin-up :)

 

...[bleep], that means I need to go buy a gym membership now :(

 

Goal not completed until you can do it with either arm! :P

[muggiwhplar]

Lol I did it with my left arm, which is strange because I'm right-handed. Not sure how that happened lol

[stevepole]

How can you be into power lifting without bench?!?! MADNESS!!!

 

I always workout alone, so I don't have anyone to ever spot me. I know I could always ask someone, but I have zero motivation to bench. When I work my chest I usually do cable machines, or one of the incline bench machines, so I don't completely avoid it.

[Jeffwilson99]

I find bench pretty easy to do so that's why I do it. I go alone and don't use a spotter, if you get stuck you can just slide the bar down your chest to your waist.

[muggiwhplar]

This is me training to defeat the Huns:

 

http://tinypic.com/r/2rztg5w/6

[Jeffwilson99]

Hah good effort!

[jimmy_jim]

Dude nice! I just looked it up one arm pull ups on YouTube and there's some monster guy [bleep]ing smashing them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBFRZnjK8a4

 

Also, I asked about the double bench thing 'cos I can bench 90kg(198lbs) for around 2 reps now at 77kg(169lbs) body weight, but it's been the same for a while (4 months), I've been going up in other exercises but have just hit a dead point in bench. My body weight has either been going down or staying the same. Maybe I need to eat more..

[muggiwhplar]

Yeah that guy's really cool. I watched a few of his videos for inspiration/motivation :D

 

As far as bench plateaus go... I've hit wayyy too many of those lol. Whenever I hit a plateau I'd change my workout a bit. I'd usually plateau every two months or so.

 

I started lifting at 105 lbs bodyweight, then gained about 20 lbs in the first two months, and after that never gained any more weight. Strength goes up (slowly), but bodyweight remains the same... which is good for me because it means I can bench double sooner. Though, on a few occasions (usually when I've hit a plateau), I've actually tried to gain weight-- which is HARD, but doable. Basically I'd eat a small meal every three hours, as opposed to a large meal whenever I feel hungry. Doing this, I "bulked up" to about 135 lbs in about a month or two, and I cleared my plateau as well. But unfortunately a few weeks later, I got really sick and lost 20 lbs (!!) and months of bench progress. Shit sucked.

 

Anyways... diet aside, whenever I hit a plateau I do the following:

1. Take a 2-week break from the gym (this will make you feel really lazy lol)

2. When you return, start out as if you were two "levels" below what you were when you started your break. For example, if you increase starting set weight by 5lbs every time you get stronger, when you return to the gym you'll want to start out with 10 lbs less than what you were doing before you took a break.

3. Do a different bench workout... I would usually alternate between the following workouts, depending on what I felt like:

 

Workout #1 Benchpress sets:

1. 135 lbs x 5

2. 140 lbs x 5

3. 145 lbs x 5

4. 150 lbs x 5

5. 155 lbs x 5

6. 160 lbs x 5*

 

*I would only do a 6th set if I could complete all 5 reps in the 5th set. Then, the following week, I would start out with 140 lbs instead of 135 lbs. If I couldn't complete set #5, I would do the exact same workout next time I bench until I complete it.

 

Workout #2:

1. 150 lbs x 5 (for five sets)

 

Basically you start out with a higher weight and don't increase it, as opposed to starting with a lower weight and slowly increasing it. If I finished the 5th set, I'd increase weight the following week.

 

Workout #3:

1. 165 lbs x 5 (normal grip)

2. 150 lbs x 5 (wide grip)

3. 150 lbs x 5 (wide grip)

4. 135 lbs x 5 (narrow grip)

5. 135 lbs x 5 (narrow grip)

 

Same "leveling up" process as before...

 

Also, I would bench on Mondays and Thursdays. One day would be "heavy" day as described above. The other day would be "light" day, which would basically be using only 135 lbs basically to "warm up," but then not push myself very hard.

 

If you want to increase your max bench, the best thing you can do is max every week. When I started doing that, my max went up 5 lbs per week. The only problem is, after you max you'll be extremely weak for the rest of your workout lol.

 

Similarly, the fewer reps you do with heavier weights, the stronger you'll get. The more reps you do with less weight, the more endurance you'll get + bigger (but not necessarily stronger) muscles.

[obfuscator]

What a beast.....

[muggiwhplar]

Well after some research, I think I'll be a tightwad and not buy a gym membership... and instead achieve my double bodyweight benchpress goal via gymnastics training.

 

Apparently gymnasts who can do

can easily bench press double their bodyweight without ever lifting weights in their life. Whereas people who can bench double their bodyweight are nowhere near capable of doing planche pushups.

 

http://www.t-nation....A27-mcd02.hydra

 

[Jeffwilson99]

Cheers Ralph, that was a good read. I've always admired gymnasts, those guys are so strong and explosive for their size.

[jimmy_jim]

Well, I went in today and did chest. I've always stuck to the 3 sets (plus one warmup) of 10-12 reps so this is a big change. I don't think I'll be doing bench twice a week. I used to do that and didn't see any results at all. I was benching 50kg for like 7 months doing that before I started doing gym properly.

 

I got out

1 55kg (121lbs) x 5

2 60kg (132lbs) x 5

3 65kg (143lbs) x 5

4 70kg (154lbs) x 5

5 75kg (165lbs) x 5

6 80kg (176lbs) x 5

 

I'll start heavier next time. Also, my chest wasn't completely dead at the end of it, I still managed to do incline dumbbells/fly's decline barbell and chest dips.

[Jeffwilson99]

Yeah I find that I usually have to do high reps to kill my chest.

[jimmy_jim]

Read some articles on lifting for strength like that. From what I gather you're not meant to feel like you're popping at the end of it, you just keep adding on 5lbs(2.5kg) per week

[stevepole]

That reminds me a bit like running, when you're trying in increase your distance or whatever, you do it in small incriminates rather then large ones because it's easier on your body to adapt and avoid injuries.