Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below
My ass-kicking road to getting HUGE
- Thread starter xblitz44x
- Start date
xblitz44x
New member
gjohnson5 said:
Actually I have tried that awhile back when my training was crap and my diet wasn't in order; so I can't really give a review one way or another. What I've found though, is that I feel better making my own weight gainer with whey, milk, bananas, peanut butter, and sometimes eggs because I know what's in it.
xblitz44x
New member
Tuesday, June 13th
So-So workout tonight. My upper-body workouts have been pretty disappointing lately for some reason. Tonight wasn't a total wash but I just wish the weights felt lighter.
Bench:
195x5
225x5
265x3
300x3
250x3 - tried to work on my form for the last 2 sets but the weights felt heavy.
225x3
*I was aiming for 300 x 4 or 5 but just barely locked out the third rep; which is where I was at last week. I hate feeling like I made no progress over a week. I felt a slight pinching in my right shoulder when the bar got to about my chest and about 2 inches above; not an excuse just a factor. I'm noticing that it becomes extremely difficult to keep my elbows tucked when the weights get heavier. I think my triceps are very weak compared to my shoulders and chest, hence why I added the close grips.
If anybody has any advice on what I could do to bring my bench into the area of 'respectable' compared to my other lifts, please I'd love to hear it. Any program, progression plan, I'm open for anything at this point.
Bent Row
185x5
205x3
235x3
260x3
225x8
*The rows were the bright spot of the evening. 260 felt very nice with just a very slight jerk of the hips for the last rep. But I know it was working because my entire back was pumped after the set. It felt wonderful getting 225 x 8 after barely cranking out 5 on Friday.
Close Grip Bench:
185x5
230x8
205x7
*This was weird. For my last rep of 230 I came very close to pinning myself with no spotter. Not that it would have been a huge deal because I could have slid my hands out and lifted the weight but I took it to failure; which i didn't want to do. I figured I'd be able to crank out an easy 10 with 205 but my 7th was the last. Guess I was destroyed frm the 230 set.
Barbell Curl:
125x8
125x8
*not bad. Slight arch to my back for the last rep of the last set but it was barely worth mentioning. I'll add weight next week.
Like I said, my upper body workouts have been disappointing. Anybody have an idea of what I could do? Cut the volume by killing the curls and the backoff sets? Add more volume? Rest? Thanks in advance.
So-So workout tonight. My upper-body workouts have been pretty disappointing lately for some reason. Tonight wasn't a total wash but I just wish the weights felt lighter.
Bench:
195x5
225x5
265x3
300x3
250x3 - tried to work on my form for the last 2 sets but the weights felt heavy.
225x3
*I was aiming for 300 x 4 or 5 but just barely locked out the third rep; which is where I was at last week. I hate feeling like I made no progress over a week. I felt a slight pinching in my right shoulder when the bar got to about my chest and about 2 inches above; not an excuse just a factor. I'm noticing that it becomes extremely difficult to keep my elbows tucked when the weights get heavier. I think my triceps are very weak compared to my shoulders and chest, hence why I added the close grips.
If anybody has any advice on what I could do to bring my bench into the area of 'respectable' compared to my other lifts, please I'd love to hear it. Any program, progression plan, I'm open for anything at this point.
Bent Row
185x5
205x3
235x3
260x3
225x8
*The rows were the bright spot of the evening. 260 felt very nice with just a very slight jerk of the hips for the last rep. But I know it was working because my entire back was pumped after the set. It felt wonderful getting 225 x 8 after barely cranking out 5 on Friday.
Close Grip Bench:
185x5
230x8
205x7
*This was weird. For my last rep of 230 I came very close to pinning myself with no spotter. Not that it would have been a huge deal because I could have slid my hands out and lifted the weight but I took it to failure; which i didn't want to do. I figured I'd be able to crank out an easy 10 with 205 but my 7th was the last. Guess I was destroyed frm the 230 set.
Barbell Curl:
125x8
125x8
*not bad. Slight arch to my back for the last rep of the last set but it was barely worth mentioning. I'll add weight next week.
Like I said, my upper body workouts have been disappointing. Anybody have an idea of what I could do? Cut the volume by killing the curls and the backoff sets? Add more volume? Rest? Thanks in advance.
BiggT
New member
Don't be too hard on yourself with the benching. Well, be hard on yourself to the point where nobody likes to hit a wall of course, but in my opinion, the bench is proportionate to everything. It is about 100lbs less than your ATF squat, and the ATF squat is about 150lbs less than your DL (which is about right on for guys who don't have huge bellies). I really think everything is right where it ought to be with respect to everything else, and I wouldn't consider the bench a weak area by any means.
What I would do if you feel progress has really slowed is train inclines or close grips as the main lift for 4 weeks, then come back to the bench and re-ramp......if you don't want to do that, you could always buy some micro plates and keep them in your gym bag so you can bump up 1-4lbs a week on bench.
What I would do if you feel progress has really slowed is train inclines or close grips as the main lift for 4 weeks, then come back to the bench and re-ramp......if you don't want to do that, you could always buy some micro plates and keep them in your gym bag so you can bump up 1-4lbs a week on bench.
Protobuilder
New member
LoL at the karma thing. It is kinda’ nuts.
I’ll bet on that last set of close-grips, you short-circuited your rest. Not necessarily a “bad thing,” but I bet that’s why your strength dropped so sharply.
I think your upper body numbers are strong and balanced, like T said. I wish I could help on bench . . . have you been stalled out and just really grinding away at that weight/rep scheme? If not, if it’s just kind of a one or two workouts thing, I don’t know that I’d drop the movement. From my brief experience, I’ve lost bench strength by moving to even low inclines for a 4-6 week period. Maybe you just need to adjust your intensity/volume to get your bench to move. Just throwing out ideas. I’m no expert. LoL
I’ll bet on that last set of close-grips, you short-circuited your rest. Not necessarily a “bad thing,” but I bet that’s why your strength dropped so sharply.
I think your upper body numbers are strong and balanced, like T said. I wish I could help on bench . . . have you been stalled out and just really grinding away at that weight/rep scheme? If not, if it’s just kind of a one or two workouts thing, I don’t know that I’d drop the movement. From my brief experience, I’ve lost bench strength by moving to even low inclines for a 4-6 week period. Maybe you just need to adjust your intensity/volume to get your bench to move. Just throwing out ideas. I’m no expert. LoL
BiggT
New member
Yeah, I wanted to point out that the advantage of doing inclines or close-grips or even overheads as a main lift for a time is that generally those lifts are weaker than flat bench, so by improving them, you've improved weaker areas, then when you come back to the bench you need to re-ramp, you won't 'magically' add 50lbs to the lift, but the idea is that you've gained new strength, and with an 'adjustment period' to reacclimate to the bench and re-ramp the weights, you'll eventually bust through your old PR's.
So, technically you'll lose strength in that you probably won't be able to hit 300x3 after a month away from the lift, but it is kind of like taking a step back to take 3 steps forward.
Also, you may want to try simply deloading just the bench by slashing weight or volume or just using the dumbells one week, that might be what the Dr. ordered. There are a couple ways to approach it.
So, technically you'll lose strength in that you probably won't be able to hit 300x3 after a month away from the lift, but it is kind of like taking a step back to take 3 steps forward.
Also, you may want to try simply deloading just the bench by slashing weight or volume or just using the dumbells one week, that might be what the Dr. ordered. There are a couple ways to approach it.
Blitz,
regarding your low test levels you experienced and your so-so training, I have an opinion....
I believe that the massive amount of starches you combine with massive amounts of animal meat may be causing poor absorption of nutrients. Also, do you drink your milk after you eat or before? This may sound like silliness, but I notice I feel alot stronger if I eat my starches seperate from my meats. The enzymes your pancreas secretes for starches and meat are on the opposite end of the ph scale. Starches being alkaline and meat being acidic. The 2 cannot work together, and therefore cancel each other out.
The massive amounts of milk, if they are after you eat, can dilute your digestive juices, and therefore mess things up, digestively.
First and foremost, the male body needs well absorbed calories to produce testosterone.
And to add to Bigt's comment on total testosterone....
I have read that the free testosterone is what really matters. The main culprit in hindering free tesoterone is SHBG, or sex hormone binding globulin. There are things you can take to help free up your testosterone, instead of having it bind to stupid receptors and not work for you.
regarding your low test levels you experienced and your so-so training, I have an opinion....
I believe that the massive amount of starches you combine with massive amounts of animal meat may be causing poor absorption of nutrients. Also, do you drink your milk after you eat or before? This may sound like silliness, but I notice I feel alot stronger if I eat my starches seperate from my meats. The enzymes your pancreas secretes for starches and meat are on the opposite end of the ph scale. Starches being alkaline and meat being acidic. The 2 cannot work together, and therefore cancel each other out.
The massive amounts of milk, if they are after you eat, can dilute your digestive juices, and therefore mess things up, digestively.
First and foremost, the male body needs well absorbed calories to produce testosterone.
And to add to Bigt's comment on total testosterone....
I have read that the free testosterone is what really matters. The main culprit in hindering free tesoterone is SHBG, or sex hormone binding globulin. There are things you can take to help free up your testosterone, instead of having it bind to stupid receptors and not work for you.
Similar threads
