Incline Dumbell PR

[WalkingBeast]

Its not much but for the first time I hit the 130lb dumbells for 1 rep on my incline. Previously 120 for 4 was my best, I only got the 135's up about half way. This was after 4-5 hours of ME chest work though, so fresh i think Id do better. ThanX for the encouragement guys. BTW Im 185 5'8 22 y/o

 

[FatRat]

Good work! IMO Incline Dumbell is the king of chest excersises! You did over 4 hours of ME chest?

 

[WalkingBeast]

Good work! IMO Incline Dumbell is the king of chest excersises! You did over 4 hours of ME chest?

ThanX Rat. I rarely ever even use dumbells for presses anymore. But I decided to attempt them after doing many sets of heavy barbell presses. I took each set to failure (aside from warm-ups) and also attempted to max out. My routine is something like this:


135X20 Warm-up
225x16 Warm-up
275X7-9
315x1-2
335x1 (not including failed attempts)
365x3 (assisted reps)
405x2(assisted reps)

then sometimes I go back down in weight and rep out with 275 or 225 Takes long due to long rests between sets. ThanX again

 

[Exodus]

4 hours is way too long.............. strong lifts though, but your workout shouldnt last more than hour and a half, i think your robbing your body of gains training that much. but your very strong, this would just make you stronger.

X

 

[WalkingBeast]

thanX Exodus Sorry about reviving old posts. First time posting on a board, didnt realize it revived the posts, didnt even know they were old. Ill be more careful. Not sure if less time would be beneficial. I find it takes me alot of rest to prepare for a max lift. Tried that in the past, so now switching to something different. Always open to ideas though ThanX again

 

[Exodus]

thanX Exodus Sorry about reviving old posts. First time posting on a board, didnt realize it revived the posts, didnt even know they were old. Ill be more careful. Not sure if less time would be beneficial. I find it takes me alot of rest to prepare for a max lift. Tried that in the past, so now switching to something different. Always open to ideas though ThanX again

its cool.

but are you eating or at least drinking some kinda drink like gatorade... becuase after about an hour of workout...... your body starts catabolizing muscle......... (ie..... eating your mucle for fuel)........ which is a bad bad thing. if i cant convince you to workout shorter, at least take about 4 20 ounce gatorade's with you, 1 for each hour.

X

 

[WalkingBeast]

its cool.

but are you eating or at least drinking some kinda drink like gatorade... becuase after about an hour of workout...... your body starts catabolizing muscle......... (ie..... eating your mucle for fuel)........ which is a bad bad thing. if i cant convince you to workout shorter, at least take about 4 20 ounce gatorade's with you, 1 for each hour.

X

ThanX for the advice. No usually a granola bar and "Speed Stack" is my only fuel for the workout. Sometimes 7-8 hours in the gym. Then when I get home I try to eat as much as possible. My size and strength in the benches has been plateud for the last year. I only gained 1/4 inch on my arms the last year and very little anywhere else. I bench BB style, and have troube with PL form. Id like to learn it not sure where to start. I read up on the form alot but it hurts my shoulders alot to bench like that. Lifting naturally doesnt help either. Dont think I can afford the gatorade right now haha So working with what I got. ThanX again

 

[Exodus]

ThanX for the advice. No usually a granola bar and "Speed Stack" is my only fuel for the workout. Sometimes 7-8 hours in the gym. Then when I get home I try to eat as much as possible. My size and strength in the benches has been plateud for the last year. I only gained 1/4 inch on my arms the last year and very little anywhere else. I bench BB style, and have troube with PL form. Id like to learn it not sure where to start. I read up on the form alot but it hurts my shoulders alot to bench like that. Lifting naturally doesnt help either. Dont think I can afford the gatorade right now haha So working with what I got. ThanX again

well......... here is my opinon, thats all it is. but the reason for the plateau is 1) due to working out for 4-8 hours straight. and 2) the bodybuilding style of bench press.

i dont think you have the correct form if your shoulders hurt more, bodybuilding style bench hurts the shoulder and rotater's much much more, so if you were hurting, im sure your form was off.

first off if someone is looking at an ariel view of your bench press..... with powerlifting style your elbows are never more than 45 degrees away from your body. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, and shrug your traps....... then drive with your legs pushing backwards not up to dig your traps and upper back into the bench. un rack the bar and squeeze your lats to bring the bar low.... low means around you lower chest, upper ab's area. press with your wrist straight, not bent backwards. and press straight up and down with as fast a push as possible.

i hope this helps.

X

 

[WalkingBeast]

thanX once again. I will try to learn the technique. Not sure my structure allows it. Im able to press a strict 350 on the flat bench Slow negative and explosive positive, but the guy I train with can only do the lift fast but using 400lbs. He arches his back majorly, jerks his hips, and puts the belt as tight as humanly possible, even tells me his legs get sore the next day. So I see theres a huge difference from the two styles. Maybe one day Ill get it ThanX

 

[Exodus]

thanX once again. I will try to learn the technique. Not sure my structure allows it. Im able to press a strict 350 on the flat bench Slow negative and explosive positive, but the guy I train with can only do the lift fast but using 400lbs. He arches his back majorly, jerks his hips, and puts the belt as tight as humanly possible, even tells me his legs get sore the next day. So I see theres a huge difference from the two styles. Maybe one day Ill get it ThanX

yeah you can do it........... and your buddy seems to have the powerlifting style.......... 1 thing though. at a contest you have to pause the bar on your chest..... you cant just touch and go. so if he fixes that, and you work on it......... you both will find your numbers greatly increasing on bench.

X

 

[WalkingBeast]

thanX again youve been very helpful I will work on the technique for sure

 

[WalkingBeast]

Hang on, did I miss somethig? You are not actualy working out for 7 - 8 hours are you? Please tell me you are a gym employee...

haha a little excessive huh? Get that all the time Known as the gym psyco Insane and Violent tatted on my neck metal all over me hehe Its fun though Gotta vent though Cant go out killing people hehe

 

[FatRat]

Hang on, did I miss somethig? You are not actualy working out for 7 - 8 hours are you? Please tell me you are a gym employee...

 

[WalkingBeast]

Lol, well I guess its preferable than killing people, for all involved!

And all you eat during this 8 hour marathon session is a granola bar and "Speed Stack"? And you say your size and strength has plateud for the last year, thats not surprising!

haha Well I only do 2 of those sessions a week and eat alot when Im not in the gym.

 

[FatRat]

Lol, well I guess its preferable to killing people, for all involved!

And all you eat during this 8 hour marathon session is a granola bar and "Speed Stack"? And you say your size and strength has plateud for the last year, thats not surprising!

 

[Warpath]

What are the benefits of db presses vs. bench presses?

 

[WalkingBeast]

What are the benefits of db presses vs. bench presses?

Hey Warpath. ThanX for responding. Personally I like barbell presses on the incline and flat bench more then dumbells. I hardly ever use dumbells for pressing anymore(only when I train shoulders). I can never get myself sore on a stictly dumbell pressing routine. Soreness to me is a gauge of effectiveness for growth. Though my training is a mix of BBing and PLing. I like the barbells better also because I can do forced reps, heavy negatives partials and things like that. When my arms give out with a pair of dumbells they just crash down, and even with a spot I cant push myself as far. However I know alot of people who swear by dumbells and are huge. Thats just me Hope that helps

 

[FatRat]

Walkingbeast, since you are online and this thread has popped up to the top, I hope you don’t mind me asking about these workouts, as you have got me intrigued! From the very fact that you posted this thread about a PR and your stated frustration at hitting a plateau, it would seem that you look forward to progressing in the gym. Therefore, how do you justify this type of 7 or 8 hour workout if it is clearly going to be detrimental to your goals? (not killing people is an acceptable answer btw)

Also, could you post up what you actually do in this time? Im finding it hard to picture what sort of workout could be achieved over such a long duration with minimal food…

Thanks

 

[WalkingBeast]

Walkingbeast, since you are online and this thread has popped up to the top, I hope you don’t mind me asking about these workouts, as you have got me intrigued! From the very fact that you posted this thread about a PR and your stated frustration at hitting a plateau, it would seem that you look forward to progressing in the gym. Therefore, how do you justify this type of 7 or 8 hour workout if it is clearly going to be detrimental to your goals? (not killing people is an acceptable answer btw)

Also, could you post up what you actually do in this time? Im finding it hard to picture what sort of workout could be achieved over such a long duration with minimal food…

Thanks

Hi Rat. ThanX for the response. Im not sure my routine is counter-productive since I havent tested it long enough. In the 9 years Ive lifted I have tried alot of things, and certain things like low volume ,short lifting sessions never seem to work for me. I generally like to rip myself apart each time I enter the gym. This type of extreme routine is only something Ive been testing for the last two years. The first year I got great progress. (55lbs on my bench and 315 ,a weight I had never touched w/out assistance for 4 easy reps unassisted, not to mention over 130lbs on my deadlift and rows with 375) This is a big increase for me in one year, so Im continuing the routine for now until it stops yeilding results. As far as what I do in these 7-8 hour routines heres an example for back:

(Note that I eat very little as you mentioned, and Im able to push myself through the fatigue , lightheadedness fairly well, havent passed out yet haha, Not sure if its optimum for me to eat like this but I do have digestive conditions and fucked up nerves)

5 sets of Lat Pulldowns: 165X12 (warm-up) 205X12 225X12 275x10-12 and 305 (5lb plate added) for 13 (body momentum used)

8 sets of partial deadlifts: 135X20 (warm-up) 225x8 (warm-up) 315x1 405x1 495x1 515x1 535X1 then back down to 405 for 13-17 reps (bouncing weight off pins at times) (Partials done on power rack with pins set one notch from the floor)

then on to:

5 sets of barbell hack squats from the floor: 315X10 (warm-up)
405X5 (warm-up) 495X1 545X1 565X1

Then:
4 sets of barbell rows: 225x25 275X20 315X17 365x8

3 sets on pin loaded rowing machine to finish off with stack for reps

Chin-ups done between sets of deadlifts during rest period.

Also sometimes I alternate dumbell rows with barbell rows and might do 3 sets of them 160lb dumbells for 16 reps


Since deadlifts are the staple of my back routine , I do them after lat pulldowns and rest long between sets. Deadlifts and HackLifts are why my back routine takes so long. I will attempt my maxes many times and also try to break records with reps on certain weights. So your looking at well over 30 sets for back. I have done workouts where Ive knocked out over 40 sets in an hour, but never really gave me the results I was looking for. Not only that but Id probably be dead if I tried to do that with these weights. haha Ive never really done anything the conventional way. I live on a night schedule, just cuz its natural to me. I go to sleep around 9am typically, sleep real long sometimes wake up real late. I eat high fat , high protein high carbs high calories whenever I can. Just do what seems to work for me. My chest routine for the first year used to be something like 30 sets also (all barbell presses, sometimes even all flat benching) But lately Ive cut the volume down and just concentrate more on setting PR's (which has only happened once in the last year) So Im down to maybe 12 sets on my flat and incline I just take all night to do them. Like to rest psyche up take my time etc Sometimes I finish in 4 hours on chest day. Hope that helps ThanX for the comments

 

[crew9]

You say you'll stop this 8 hour marathon once you stop making gains. From what your saying it seems like your not making the best gains. You spend more time in the gym with your sessions than a lot of haredcore lifters spend in a week or 2's worth. You get big by eating and sleeping not by training non stop.

 

[ironanimal]

7-8 hr marathons in the gym? WTF??? Next thing you know someone will be trying to inject their gear into their asshole.. wait someone already tried that...I guess I've heard it all now. Even pros who run all sorts of shit don't spend that much time in the gym.. they do however spend lots of time eating and resting. Whatever works for you man....

 

[WalkingBeast]

thanX for the feedback everyone I only trained chest for 4 hours on Saturday haha Managed my second PR on the bench in a year also. Atleast its something Look forward to seeing more posts and Pr'S from you guys.