r3mix3r

Yesterday I did 315x10 - 325x8 - 335x7 - 345x5 as my working sets...I usually do DB's though. I'm 175lbs right now.

Doom878

Man I'm stumped. I've been stuck at 135 x 10, 185 x 8, and 225 x 6 forever. I was doing that when I was 185 in my low 20s. Now I'm 29 weighing 200 and still stuck at that. Should I go heavier on the warm up? Honestly the weight feels just right. It doesn't feel easier week to week. However I don't do the same order every week. One week I'll go flat bar, incline dumbells, etc. Then I'll go incline bar, flat dumbells, etc.

danny25

you gotta switch something up. Throw some more weight on and do 235 or 245 a couple times for a while. Or get a spotter to help you knock out a couple more reps at 225.

r3mix3r

If I were you...I'd try something like...

135x12
185x3 (to get use to the increase)
then do the 225 set...I'm sure you would hit more reps that way.
Maybe try
135
185
225
230
235

Cocoa

iTrader: (2)

Just got my membership at 24 hour Fitness! Time to

SuperStar

That's ridiculous. I rarely find someone stronger than me and you are lightyears ahead. I'd love to see someone do full range reps of 315x10 at 175. I dont think I've seen anyone that light do remotely close to that.

5'9 185:

Flat: Rep 245x10
Incline: Rep 225x10
Decline: Rep 275x10

Military: Rep 100x8 (Dumbells)

Doom878

Resurrection time

I finally got a few consistent weeks together of lifting and hit 275x1 and then hit 245x2 no spot and a few more with a spot. I usually use dumbells as well and very rarely do flat with the bar as it does something to my neck (had this for years). I'm a little motivated because my gym is mostly boxers and finally some strong dudes are coming in so I gotta step up my game. I'll go next week something like:

Incline Bar
155x10
205x8
245x6

Flat DB
65x10
75x8
85x6

I know I'll need a spot but this added weight should get me up to 315 my ultimate goal.

godfather2

my max on the flat bench in 315 one time. i'm 185lbs now and don't really care about being any stronger, just more healthy and fit. besides, with one reconstructed knee and another to be done soon, my football/wrestling/rugby career has been over for some time. fyi, never used any creatine/protein/etc.

gr8ness97

iTrader: (5)

I have done 225 before, but im prob down to 200 as of now..

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

No offense dude, you're strong but not really that strong. There was a guy in my gym a few years back who at 5'6"/165 (completely natural) was benching 485 and then at 180lbs (not completely natural) he was putting up 505. He was an absolute freak of nature. He held the northeast regional amateur record for some time for his weight class. And also don't forget that height is a major factor in the bench due to arm length. The guy you quoted could be 5'3", 175@4% body fat and the bar could be 8" past his chest at full lockout!


My personal bests in '99 at 5'9" 180, 275x8 or 9, 315x4 or 5, 355 max, no pause.

A year later at 165 I put up 335 max, which was actually better than the 355 at 180, and made me happy since I doubled my weight.

These days I'm barely 160lbs and struggling to get 225x8, but I took six months off. My metabolism is nuts, even at 35, I actually got skinnier on the hiatus.

mystikk

I normally don't do bench presses, since I get sharp pains through my right shoulder every now and then when I flat bench. It seemingly depends on the day .. But within my second time bench-pressing in 6 months, my max was 225, lifted that 2 times. I got some room for improvement if my shoulder would stop bitching.

I hate cars

The short guys drive me nuts. At 6'1" and 198lbs for the meet, I was happy with 365 with a pause. Then this short guy in the 165lb class comes in and benches quite a bit more than me. Total range of movement looked to be about 4". He had a huge chest and short arms and I thought the judges were going to give him a fault but after examining it, he did touch his chest and pause.

The other thing is, I've noticed as I get older, my metabolism is slowing just a hair but I think strength and size is easier than ever.

Yumcha

New high for me today! 165lbs for reps!

RyeCL

same here, i'm 6' and have long arms. love these guys that come in and throw up huge weight and barely move it since there arms are so short.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

im 6' was a naturally skinny ass soccer player weakling dude in high school but then i broke a couple toes last yr of high school .. couldnt play .. so then i started going to the gym to work out. anyways.. i worked out a lot in college and my best max was 275 lbs. on a good day i would do 10x135 to start out, then 8x185, and however many of 225 i could get which was 6-9. w00t i am cool!

amazing... now i only run and dont do any weight workout and ive lost like 20 lbs of muscle mass in the past 3 or so months but my body still looks nice n mediumly cut/built.. not too big not too puny. i like it

Doom878

I prefer dumbells as well. But my gym only goes up to 100. Last night I did 70x10, 80x8, and 90x6 (spotted last 2 reps). I normally do a little more but my arms were tired from throwing around my little cousin in the pool Sunday. Time to petition for heavier dumbells.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

Wow I feel so weak. Granted I am not a gym person. But I was there last week. Benched 110 for 10, then 150 for 5 & I was done. Next day I was in a ton of pain.

I need to work out!

mclovintsx

iTrader: (2)

man haven't been to the gym for ages. 4 1/2 years of constant work outs all thrown out ever since I went to college.

808havok_tsx

what is your goal? to build mass? to build strength? to build strength endurance? your goals will dictate how you train. your current regimen will build endurance at moderate weights. the old adage of "lift big to get big" is true. to achieve that, you need to keep your reps under 3 with about 5 minutes of rest between sets.

you'll surprise yourself at how strong you really are.

for example: try warming up with 135x12 as your warm-up set. then jump up to say 160x3, 225x2, 245x1. that's it you're done. try that cycle a couple of times - when that becomes easy, you can up the weights to say 135 warmup, 170x3, 235x3, 255x1. something along those lines anyway.

i'm guessing your incline bench is stronger because you have strong shoulders/upper back. i'm also guessing you have weaker triceps and lats since your flat bench is weak.... working up your stablizer muscles also will help increase your flat bench.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

There was another guy in my area who was only 5'3" and maybe 220 ish? He actually ended up becoming a powerlifter I believe and got some endorsements from some of the big name supplement companies. I can't remember exactly, but his bench was in the 530 range. Never saw him lift, but I used to see him in public and he really didn't have much range of motion; he couldn't turn just his head, but had to turn his whole body. Looking at his chest/arms, he didn't have too far to push the bar! I did a google for him and found this write up. He probably has a messed up liver now.

http://www.angelfire.com/ab/bigmuscle2/waterman.html

Doom878

I'm really not trying to build mass so that's why I don't do the lower reps, heavy lifting regimen. I understand my max won't go up as fast as the workout you recommended would allow it but I do like having muscle endurance for my other activities.

I do the incline first because for some reason when I do flat bench press with a bar, I feel a strain on my right neck where it meets my trap. Also I lift more evenly on incline and flat dumbells. Plus, I've personally seen better definition in my chest by doing incline first. I had done flat first for years and just didn't see what I wanted to see. Sometimes I'll do flat dumbells first and very rarely flat with the bar first because I like to mix up between bar and DB's. When I maxed out last week, it was flat with a bar. I haven't tried on the incline because I don't care. My flat is weaker because naturally my chest is a little more tired from the incline exercise.

You are right about my shoulders. I have pretty strong shoulders. My military workout is 135x10, 185x8, 205x6. But my triceps are very strong as well as I push down the whole rack with proper form on my last set. My back is pretty strong as well. I'm overall a fairly strong person for an average guy but I'm not in that small percentile of people that lift in the 300s. I think my chest workout just kind of suffers because I usually lift alone and it's a very small gym that's focused on boxing so I can rarely get a spotter unless I train with my brother-in-law.

Thanks for the input BTW.

Python2121

Right now I'm repping
115, 125, 135.

Not bad considering I weigh 140

808havok_tsx

if that's the case, your max will almost never go up.

you should get that checked. imbalances in joints, weak tendons/ligaments, as well as muscle imbalances can cause pain. pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong.

actually, benching with dumbbells requires more stabilization and takes away from max effort.

again, what is your goal? aesthetics or athletic performance?

arnold schwarzenegger had some of the weakest calves ever. he trained those first to bring them up. always train your weakest point first, not after.

what is your weighted pull-up numbers?

are you training to be a boxer? if not, join a proper gym that'll allow you to lift heavy and where there are plenty of powerlifters. 24-hour and bally don't qualify as a proper gym btw.

my heavy lifting days are over and aesthetics is no longer my goal but if i can help others, i'm more than willing to help.

btw, look up mark rippetoe's "starting strength" - training the way the book outlines will increase athletic performance and aesthetics will be a bonus. hope this helps.

Doom878

I PMed you.

blueracer17

Here is my Flat DB press #'s. Any idea's on what my BB flat bench may be. All are unassisted unless noted. Thanks. All reps are done with good form and ROM.
75X10
80X9
85X6
90X3-spot on 1 and 3
80X5

Incline
65X6X3
70X5
70X6

Decline
65X6X5

ferizzo

I started reading this thread and the first few pages people were talking about doing in the 100-200 range and then I fast forward to the last page and people are doing well over 300.

At my best I could rep 235x9 times on the flat but that was in college. Last year I was doing 225 6-8 times on incline before I tore my labrum in my right shoulder. I had surgery about 10 months ago and still recovering. I do not plan on lifting heavy anymore and will stick only to high reps. Never really truly maxed out.

zguy95135

heh Yea same here.

apsec06

my warm up is 135-185
reps 225lb x10
reps 245lb x10
reps 275lb x8
reps 300lb x4
max bench 325lb x1 flat bench

incline igo up to about 225-250 alot heavier due toinclination

decline dosome here and there..

btw.. im 5'7 216lb if you really want toget strong.. seperate body parts by days like bench monday , back tues, legs wed, bicep and tricep on thur .. its what i do just a lil advice that has worked for me.. i take no supplements allnatural

myron

iTrader: (4)

I am 5'9ish, 200lb, and I am trying to lose some weight right now.
reps 200x12
reps 220x12
reps 240x12
reps 290x8
I never tried to see how much is my limit (1 lift max weight) but I am assuming over 300. which is good enough for me. Took 95% pure protein mix for the first month to gain some weight and it worked wonders. I gained 15lb and built alot of strength and now I am not using anytihng for the past 6 months and I am still going up in weight while toning down. Anyone know of a good work out plan for toning down PM me please. Mind you i drink on the weekends so I ingest alot of calories during the weekend.

Doom878

http://www.crossfitbrandx.com/index.php/forums

It will incorporate weightlifting with some cardio. These types of workouts are what they gave the actors/stuntmen from the movie 300. It's getting more popular lately since the movie came out but has been around for a few years. If you go to the WOD section (Workout of the Day), you'll see what the recommended workout is. They scale it down for the newbies because even if you've been lifting for years, some of these workouts are more tuned for "athletes" who are more fit.

808havok_tsx showed me this and www.rosstraining.com as some nice resources. When you get into it, you'll still have power. That guy Ross deadlifted like 500lbs and he helped train Chuck Lidell (famous UFC fighter).

phipark

Well, I almost put up 225x10. Turned out to be 9.5x.

Oh and I'm 5'9"-5'10" and 175 lbs.

808havok_tsx

the beauty of it is that ross doesn't specifically train for the deadlift. he was called out by some internet scrub and he shut him down. ross is living proof that if you work out for performance, you'll get the body you want as a natural by-product. you won't just look strong, you will BE strong.

ross getting called out:
http://www.rosstraining.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19472

ross's response:
http://www.rosstraining.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19703

check out the deadlift vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95D7lj-A6tA

Blazing GT

I was a work out machine...In highschool i used to max out 265 (1-2 reps) now i have no idea lol

Blazing GT

I weighed 170 in highschool now i weigh 162


lazy-ness ftl

apsec06

whats his name? hahahah j/p

VoLLy

iTrader: (8)

Just started yesterday (never benched before), I can do 10 x 140lb. Now im hurting like crazy.

TommySalami

I'm a skinny bastard. I've only been working out consistently for the last month or so and am doing reps of around 125 now, 10 each

apsec06

175lb doing 345 on the bench? seems a bit off.. not saying it aint possible.. seems a bit much for a person wh is 175 i know guys who are taking gym candy and still cant do that. im not syaing you cant i find it hard to believe. u allnatural you taking roids? supplements?

Doom878

Wow 140 x 10 never lifting before is pretty impressive. Most adults start at 95 that I've seen.