The Lifting Thread

[Biaxident]

I usually use 3-8 reps myself. I really like 8 especially for upperbody. I almost never go over 5 on the deadlifts. I prefer to do low reps and lots of sets mostly triples.

Never over 5 for deads?

I usually stick to between 3 and 8 for deadlifts. But sometimes I'll get CAWAZY and throw 315 on a bar and go till failure, usually between 20 and 35 reps. Then I'll crawl to the restroom and puke.

 

[wolfy]

Never over 5 for deads?

I usually stick to between 3 and 8 for deadlifts. But sometimes I'll get CAWAZY and throw 315 on a bar and go till failure, usually between 20 and 35 reps. Then I'll crawl to the restroom and puke.

I've done stuff like that. First guy to 100 reps total etc. Nothing like a lower back pump. 30 minutes in the locker room trying to cool down.
I also like to spend 1 hour doing deadlifts. Any variation I can think of.

Not deadlifts but...

[YOUTUBE="j1AGY5JZxVY"]reps[/YOUTUBE]

 

[mlittrell]

monday- chest/bicepts
tuesday- legs (quads and calves)
thursday- shoulders/traps/abs
friday- back/tricepts/hams
saturday and sunday i work and its a physical job

 

[Biaxident]

I've done stuff like that. First guy to 100 reps total etc. Nothing like a lower back pump. 30 minutes in the locker room trying to cool down.
I also like to spend 1 hour doing deadlifts. Any variation I can think of.

Not deadlifts but...

[YOUTUBE="j1AGY5JZxVY"]reps[/YOUTUBE]

Do you only feel it in your lower back? I always get a pump in my lats and traps as well. It might have something to so with the fact that I arch back at the top of the rep to make sure I have a lock out.

 

[wolfy]

Do you only feel it in your lower back? I always get a pump in my lats and traps as well. It might have something to so with the fact that I arch back at the top of the rep to make sure I have a lock out.

I get a massive pump in my traps. I get sore lats so I'm using them but I don't get a pump.

 

[Biaxident]

I split like this.

Day1: Chest, arms(biceps, triceps, forearms)

Day2: Legs(hamstrings, quads, calves)

Day3: Back

Usually two days between workouts.

 

[Biaxident]

I get a massive pump in my traps. I get sore lats so I'm using them but I don't get a pump.

Interesting.

 

[Randomnity]

kinda sorta very off-topic here, but since I don't feel like starting a new thread, what would you suggest to increase arm strength with little to no equipment, and starting from ummm...ridiculously low upper-body strength? I don't really care about changing the appearance of my arms, I just want to not be pathetically weak.

pushups? is there anything else you can do? my bf has some dumbbells (with the big flat disks) I could borrow in theory but even the littlest ones are pretty heavy for me I guess I could invest in some girly little ones, but I'd kinda rather not.

suggestions?

 

[wolfy]

kinda sorta very off-topic here, but since I don't feel like starting a new thread, what would you suggest to increase arm strength with little to no equipment, and starting from ummm...ridiculously low upper-body strength? I don't really care about changing the appearance of my arms, I just want to not be pathetically weak.

pushups? is there anything else you can do? my bf has some dumbbells (with the big flat disks) I could borrow in theory but even the littlest ones are pretty heavy for me I guess I could invest in some girly little ones, but I'd kinda rather not.

suggestions?

Not at all off topic. That's what this thread is for.

Push Ups are good.
Regular or also put your thumb and index finger of each hand together to emphasise the triceps.

Fat man pull ups. Pull ups with your feet out in front to improve leverage.

Dips using chairs

Ask me if you want me to be more specific. I like to help.　

 

[Biaxident]

kinda sorta very off-topic here, but since I don't feel like starting a new thread, what would you suggest to increase arm strength with little to no equipment, and starting from ummm...ridiculously low upper-body strength? I don't really care about changing the appearance of my arms, I just want to not be pathetically weak.

pushups? is there anything else you can do? my bf has some dumbbells (with the big flat disks) I could borrow in theory but even the littlest ones are pretty heavy for me I guess I could invest in some girly little ones, but I'd kinda rather not.

suggestions?

Push ups will help with general upper body strength. Not arm strength in particular. A good place to start.

And it's not off topic ma'am.

Try getting two 1 gallon milk jugs with lids. Fill them with water to a comfortably heavy weight and you can fill them as you get use to the weight.
A full one will approximate 10 pounds. Then as you get stronger you can fill it with sand, steel ball bearings, etc.

You can do just about every arm exercise with the jugs that you can do with actual dumbbells.

Another good homemade item for forearm and grip strength is, take a broom handle, a nail or screw, and about 3 feet of rope. Tie a knot around the center of the broom handle then put the nail or screw into the knot to hold it. tie the free end to the milk jug we talked about earlier. Now grab the broom handle in both hands, one on each side of the knot.With your elbows at your side and forearms extended to start(later you can extend your arms and try it), role up the string until the top of the jug reaches the handle, then reverse it till the jug is on the floor. Do a complete up and down set 3 or 4 times. And when you can do it without to much effort, you can add more weight in the jug.

3 sets x 3 days a week, of bicep curls, triceps kickbacks, and the forearm roller should get your arms stronger pretty quickly.

 

[Randomnity]

oo thanks guys. I don't have milk jugs though (we buy milk in bags here) but I'm sure there's some equivalent I could figure out.

what is a dip using a chair?

also I heard that using few reps (with as heavy as possible) will make you stronger (rather than building muscle mass). is that true? is it the same thing for sets? or are you always supposed to do the same # of sets?

hehe, I know nothing.

 

[Biaxident]

Let's put it this way, for you, 6-10 repetitions will work fine. You'll probably see some definition appear in your arms after a bit, but don't mistake that for mass. Most females don't put on mass nearly as quickly as a male.

And don't worry about more sets, just do three per exercise to start. Then see how well you do.

 

[Feops]

It gets difficult to add weight if you don't build the reps.
The most simple way is
example
3x8
1x9 2x8
2x9 1x8
3x9

and so on until you get to 3x12
then lower the reps and increase the weight.

That sounds logical. Though, is that for beginners, veterns, or both? My understanding is that newbies gain strength/mass fairly quickly to a point, assuming they eat proper, so it was possible to climb steadily in weight for the first while.

It was also my understanding that for mass gain, heavy and fewer is better.

I watched one kid try to bench 225lbs(102kg) with two of his friends as spotters. I just finished my set, and looked over in time to see the twit tell his friends to let go with the weight fully extended, his arms immediately gave out, and he literally cracked his sternum when the bar hit it, then smashed his nose as he tried to roll the bar off himself. His spotters just stood there for a minute trying to figure out what to do. The guy behind the desk called 911, and they had the ambulance take him to the E.R.

That's so stupid... 225? Really? I thought 100 was a good starting point, though I've upped that to 115.

 

[Biaxident]

It was also my understanding that for mass gain, heavy and fewer is better.

Anywhere between 6 and 12 reps is maximal growth territory.

That's so stupid... 225? Really? I thought 100 was a good starting point, though I've upped that to 115.

Yup, and the kids couldn't have weighed more than 135 each. You sure you haven't seen anyone making idiots of themselves at a gym?

 

[LucrativeSid]

I should start lifting again. Here's where I'm at. I weigh 175, (5'10'') but have a low body fat percentage. I don't work out or exercise at all, and I could probably bench my weight or 10 pounds more than that at best. (Maxing out.) I seem to be at a good starting point because I'm not exactly scrawny and weak. A little over a year ago, I weight lifted for 3 months and quit like an idiot. I think my lack of gains demotivated me, it certainly didn't help. I was heavy lifting on low reps for power. I wasn't taking supplements, I tried to do better with my diet, but it probably could have been better, and I'll bet I wasn't sleeping enough. (I'd hit my muscle groups hard and let them heal for an entire week.) At the end of those three months, I had lost a little weight and I was able to put up more. I was about 165 or 170 and could max out on 205 on the bench press. (How egotistical of me to keep checking!) I think I lost weight because I quit eating junk food and drinking soda. A while after I quit, I remember reading that working your legs could actually make your upper body stronger because gaining muscle anywhere raises your testosterone, and legs are a great way to do that. I don't think I was hitting my legs hard enough, then.

As of now, I still have a bench in my basement and way more weight than I'd ever need to rep with. I'm sure I can use that bar and those weights in a few different ways since that's all I've got. I just don't know if I can afford the kind of diet that I should be eating to gain all that strength.

Any ideas for giving this a second go? Maybe I was doing pretty well before and just got impatient and lazy...

 

[wolfy]

If you want to do low reps and you want mass you'll have to do a lot of sets. Like maybe the old Doug Hepburn routine.
You want to 24-50 total reps on each exercise.

Initially you see mostly strength gains. Nervous system adapting to the lifting. Do it for six months at least. After six months you'll never be able to give up.

 

[LucrativeSid]

Oh, wow. I was doing less than that, that's for sure. Is it advisable to switch up between heavy weights and low reps and light weights with many reps? I had forgotten until now, but I think after every other week or so, I'd do lighter reps more often. I don't know if that's a good idea or if I should just keep it simple. I don't even know why I'm going for the heavy weights, really. I want to be stronger, look better, and feel better. I guess any kind of lifting will help you out there. Faster strength gains with heavy weights and low reps. For some reason, I decided to go that route. I used to read contradicting advice online when I'd research it.

 

[wolfy]

The 2 main ways to get stronger are

Maximal Effort 85+%
nervous system adaptation, tendon strength, muscular density

Repetition Method 70-85% bodybuilding method
hypertrophy

There is one other way the...

Dynamic Method 60%
Lifting weights explosively. But it's more sport specific.

You need to mix the first 2 in your training. I can tell you some ways if you like.

 

[Biaxident]

The 2 main ways to get stronger are

Maximal Effort 85+%
nervous system adaptation, tendon strength, muscular density

Repetition Method 70-85% bodybuilding method
hypertrophy

There is one other way the...

Dynamic Method 60%
Lifting weights explosively. But it's more sport specific.

You need to mix the first 2 in your training. I can tell you some ways if you like.

What Wolfy said.



And as long as you are getting reasonable amounts of protein in your regular diet, and aren't eating a lot of junk, you shouldn't have to worry about supplements for the first 6 months or so.

 

[LucrativeSid]

Are those percentages based on the maximum amount you can lift? Say my max bench is only 180 now, 85% is roughly 155, so I should work out with that? And I need to mix both ways of training. Okay, that's kind of what I was doing last year. Thinking back now, though, I don't think I was stressing my muscles enough because I didn't do as many sets as I was supposed to. When I started, I'd always be sore, and then I stopped getting sore no matter how much I lifted. I probably would have if I'd done 3 or 4 more sets. I don't know.

I'm not trying to make you guys into my personal trainers. I don't want to bother you too much. I'd feel guilty asking for all kinds of specific advice when I could probably look it up somewhere. Thanks for your help!

Addition: I just went and lifted for the first time in a very long time. I already feel good. I remember finishing up and feeling like I could bust through a wall.