WdnUlik2no

This isn't the first time I needed help getting a weight up, but its the first time I literally had it land on my chest without being able to get it off.

Since I hurt my knee last December, I had stopped going to the gym for a while and my strength suffered, Last week I was able to bench 225 9 times and I was going for 10 today. But at about the 6th rep, I felt my shoulder start to give out a little, but I kept going anyway. Big mistake, once the weight got close to my chest, my body said no, and wouldn't let me move it back up, so I just had to let the weight down on my chest and started to roll the bar off me so I could sit up. Luckily this guy saw me and helped me get it off.

After getting over the initial embarrassment, I thanked him repeatedly. He turned out to be a very cool guy, he helped me with my form and told me that I should start bringing the weight down further; letting it touch my chest or I would eventually tear my shoulder up. I lightened the weight all the way back down to 135, and was able to knock out 10 reps letting it touch my chest. Even though the weight was light, it burned like hell in my chest so I know it was working. I raised the weight to 155 and couldn't even get 6 reps using the new form. I told him I was embarrassed struggling with 155 and he told me not to worry about it and that its not about how MUCH you can do, its about HOW you do it. I knew he was exactly right, and I admit I let my ego get the best of me these past few months and I was cheating on my form. He said I may see lots of guys in the gym lifting heavy weights, but less than half of them are doing it right. He also said that with the right form I will get stronger much faster as well as have fuller muscle development.

He also said he was once at 425 before having to take 7 months off, and when he came back he could barely do 135 and he too get weird looks that a big 290 pound guy could barely lift 135, but he didn't let it bother him and now he's back up to 325. He also said listen to my body and if something doesn't feel right then stop; something I have also been guilty of NOT doing.

Embarrassing as it will be. I will start over starting next week. So its back down to 135 for me; using the RIGHT form from now on. Next time I get to 200+ It will be done the right way. Wish me luck!

How long did it take some of you guys to get to 225 after starting from 135? So I can have an idea of what to shoot for?

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

Nice guy. And big so many people think they are bad asses lifting a lot of weight but a lot of them have such bad form, and some probably on roids anyways.

When I used to lift weights, I admit I once was at that stage where I tried to max out on bench all the time, but I did touch it to my chest and thought I had good form and my buddy said it was good form too. Eventually I started doing more reps with lower weight because I didn't want to get bigger but try to get leaner.

Anyways, I stopped lifting weights and now just do cardio

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

i've been lifting on and off for years, but just recently about a month ago started going 4x a week and i feel great. i'm 6'1" and only weigh 170 lbs...but i've gained about 7 lbs in muslce over the past month (a month ago i was 163ish) and my bench has increased. i start out repping 135x10 to warm up, then 165x8, then 185x6, then i try and max out at 205x1 possibly x2.

its all about commitment. you cant go for 2 weeks straight and then take 2 weeks off. you need to make a routine and keep going with it, even when you don't want to. i've gone for a month straight and feel great, and this time...i'm not going to quit or make excuses. it's easy to find an hour a day to get away and exercise.

oh and form is everything. i'd rather lift lighter weights with better form than intense weights with sloppy form. it's a really cool thing to feel your body changing in such a short period of time. diet plays a huge part in it too...gotta be strict, with one cheat day a week. i usually pick sundays (football, beer, etc).

best of luck to you! stay with it!

WdnUlik2no

Thanks guys. Hardest thing for me will be to resist the urge to raise the weight when I'm not ready. I don't like being the weakest guy in the gym and eventhough I know I'm not, it sure feels that way sometimes. But from now on, its correct form over anything else. People will look at me weird, but I have to keep reminding myself, no more of me being "that guy" with bad form. "Quality over Quantity" will be my motto from now on.

I work out 3 - 4 times a week, somedays going twice; once in the morning before work and again at lunch to finish what I didn't have time for in the morning. Then I play football on the weekends.

My diet I would say is pretty good, I don't eat fast food anymore, maybe once every 2 - 3 months and also stay away from soda. I eat lots of vegetables drink lots of water for lunch and only cheat on saturday after playing football. I get my protein after working out. Honestly, I think I need to eat more, but I'm so scared of gaining weight, I skip meals if I don't have the right type of food available. My main weaknesses however is candy, starburst, skittles, laffy taffy, you name it. I don't buy it anymore, but if it's offered, then I'm eating it. People have candy at their desks here at work plus at home, I found my wife's secret stash of candy that she rations out to my son and me, so its real hard to resist now.

Currently I'm 5'11" 180 lbs. My friend measured my body fat at 17%. Not a terrible percentage I suppose, but it could be better. Looking to at least get under 15%, something like 11% would be great. Right now, if I flex my abs, I can start to make out my six pack again, but unless I burn some more fat, it won't come out like I want it.

My weight is about to where I want it, just need more muscle and definition, but if this means me losing a little more weight in the process, then I'm fine with that. I'm not trying to get huge, just more tone and fairly strong.

pttl

Don't worry about what the other guys in the gym think. You obviously have your thinking straight now. It's all about you and your health. That's why you are there. Stay with your thinking you're doing great. As you get older your body heart mind and joints will thank you.

Don't try to impress the weight monkeys. I honestly think that the dudes in the gym who are way bulked up are on roids anyway. There is no way they are all genetically gifted.

<---getting ready for the gym now.

WdnUlik2no

Thanks!

I usually do my chest workouts at the end of the week, but I was so ready to get back in the gym after last week, I decided to go today. Using the new form, I feel like I got a much better workout; did 135 X 10, 155 X 8, and then 185 X 2 I did more sets of 185 X 2 or 3, so I really ended up doing about 10 reps when all was said and done; just not altogether.

I skipped the inclines today because my shoulder is still sore from last week, I will jump on that Thursday or Friday. My decline I pretty much did the same thing as my bench using the same form of letting the bar touch my chest, and I did a little better with the decline than on the bench. I finished my workout with the chest flys, tried a new sitting bench press machine while I was waiting for a guy to finish up on the chest fly, then curls with dumbbells, then more curls with the curl bar, and finally 3 sets of pushups changing my hand position each time.

Funny thing is when I was doing my curls I saw this big guy benching 275, but he wasn't letting it touch his chest; looked quite familiar...

parasitius

I love HIT, you never "don't feel like going" to the gym when you do it the HIT way because you are pretty much always forcing yourself to leave the gym before you even wanted to ... like 20-30 mins max ~2x per week.

After years of stagnation (get to previous highs and then get sick or something and miss 2 or 3 months, starting over... ) seems I'm finally making a break through this month. 160 x 12, which calculates to a one rep max cleanly over 200 -- something I dreamed about for so long... but the real dream is 2 pies ... 2 45lbs plates on each side. Really, really, really hoping I can make that within a year.