Has anyone built a great deal of muscle using just machines?

[brad310]

There is a good chance he can do that in less than 10 minutes. (for reference, there are plenty of guys I've personally witnessed do 70+ pushups in 60 seconds while in the military).

Thats why these claims dont pass the eye test for me. I could do 60 pushups a min when i was in. I could get almost 90 situps in 2 mins. Right now i do sets of dips for 15...and while mediocre to poor genes i'd say, that amount of stress on my elbow and tricep is enormous.

Even if he spread it out over the course of a day, there is no recovery because he is doing it every day. Aside from the invevitable joint/tendon/ligament problems...overtrained muscles will stop responding to that kind of stress.

I guess its "possible" given that there are freaks out there that can run marathons every day...but im skeptical.

 

[smackababy]

I doubt he is doing it every day (at least, not to that extent), but I don't see it being that big of a problem for someone with his genetics. They say Bo Jackson never did any sort of weight or strength training before his hip injury and he was the fastest and strongest player I've ever heard of.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Isn't Herschel Walker also vegan?

 

[smackababy]

Isn't Herschel Walker also vegan?

I don't think so.

Walker says he sleeps five hours a night and eats only one meal a day (skipping breakfast and lunch). His diet is made up mostly of soup, bread and salad.

He is a heck of an athlete though.

 

[SP33Demon]

@ 24 yrs old I weighed ~220 lbs and could bench 485.. more impressive is being able triple at 465. I trained with powerlifters. I would warm up with with what they would wear shirts with. Call it a fish story if you want, don't really care.. still a decent bet my 315 at 17 yrs old is more than you have ever pushed. And guess what? did it by myself, didn't pay anyone....

You don't buy into my window of opportunity? some people it will be a year... others, 20+. I don't care at what age you are reading about. again, do it, don't fill me full of "I read this BS"...... In terms of muscle, no problem, your joints are another story. How many workouts can a person push 4 plates+ before you body just, for a lack of better terms, wears out? It's obvious you have never handled weight like that, so it's like trying to describe what sex is like to a virgin

It's clear you believe me as you now are asking for blood tests?? if I had a $ every time someone asked/accused me of taking steroids; I'd maybe have a couple hundred bucks.

What I can tell you is I have dedicated more time to training that you ever will. I was training 5 days a week when I was work 16+ hrs a day 7 days a week.

and building strength is a lot easier than what I am doing now - call it building muscle. strength is easy, workouts are shorter, almost no cardio, eat at a surplus majority of the time. Your bodyfat really didn't matter that much because it was all about the weight you moved. Workouts are a little more intense, but again, shorter.

good luck to you and your quest at a 225 bench
edit:
and you as a trainer??? HOLY sh!t that is laughable. I forgot more about lifting/training as a teenager than you "think" you know right now. I've come across trainers like you at gyms. stick to your day job

1) You are full of shit that you used to bench 485 @220.
Proof: http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=35784911&postcount=11

"I'm kind of over the strength thing. I benched on sunday with my old lifting partner. He was repping 360-370 and I think I got up to 265..... he was like WTF is up with you?"

Quick, edit that post out before everyone sees it.

So you can barely benchpress 265 (which I am repping on at 181 btw - 2 weight classes lower) but you claimed to do 485 back in the day? Cut the BS. No way anyone gets that weak off of their PR while working out and maintaining a physique like yours. You're not fooling anyone. You weigh around 205, 265 = a measly 29% over your weight. If you want to compare, I'm at around 74% (315@181) over my weight and older than you by about a year. I'm only 55 lbs off my state USAPL record for my weight class and 77 lbs off the 100% RAW national record and 105 lbs off the USAPL national record. Lb for lb your lifts are pathetic in comparison.

You've pulled the injury card out again. Like I said, I've completely blown out my AC Joint 7 years ago and my right arm lags on all of my bench lifts. So be it, I still get the weight up and with good form. What's your excuse? "Small window of opportunity" = excuses in my book. I'm older than you and competing.

You've offered nothing of value on this forum other than mock things that will help people get better (nighttime supplementation) and ridicule people who are actually competing because your ego can't handle it. Folks, we have a new Al Bundy who loves telling high school stories. Good luck with your "bodybuilding". /chuckle I'll send you an autographed pic once I break the state record, and possibly national.

 

[tential]

I doubt he is doing it every day (at least, not to that extent), but I don't see it being that big of a problem for someone with his genetics. They say Bo Jackson never did any sort of weight or strength training before his hip injury and he was the fastest and strongest player I've ever heard of.

That ESPN 30 for 30 where he just didn't train at all. Training camp? No thanks, I'll just play baseball, be amazing at that, then when the season is over go play football and run that sport too.

 

[smackababy]

That ESPN 30 for 30 where he just didn't train at all. Training camp? No thanks, I'll just play baseball, be amazing at that, then when the season is over go play football and run that sport too.

Oh, I know Bo. He is my favorite athlete of all time. He is like a Herculean figure. There are all kinds of stories about him, who knows if they are true or not. The fact remains, in his prime, he could play baseball professionally, and then just show up in a Raiders uniform and take Marcus Allen's place on the field. It is a real shame he got injured the way he did. I would have loved for him to get a good 10 seasons in the NFL.

 

[Childs]

This. I actually did a short stint in prison and saw guys get absolutely ripped with nothing but bodyweight exercises.

I seen these guys on Youtube called Bartendaz that do nothing but body weight exercises, and it seems fairly effective.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bartendaz&sm=3

 

[classy]

LOL

I am going to start a thread, that requires video and picture proof. Most of what I am reading is BS. For the topic, you can build a great body and not be strong. Size and strength can coincide with each other, but not always.

 

[classy]

I seen these guys on Youtube called Bartendaz that do nothing but body weight exercises, and it seems fairly effective.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bartendaz&sm=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3MTqRWPiZU

Yes this is a perfect example, now they are strong and well developed. But not one of them I bet will survive a 300 plus pound bench.

 

[norseamd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3MTqRWPiZU Yes this is a perfect example, now they are strong and well developed. But not one of them I bet will survive a 300 plus pound bench.

saw that a while ago that that it was fairly crazy

far more worth it than a 500 lb bench

 

[SP33Demon]

saw that a while ago that that it was fairly crazy

far more worth it than a 500 lb bench

Bullshit it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_wdriYOP2E

 

[Koing]

Bullshit it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_wdriYOP2E

Just let the guy have his preference.

As for most impressive you can objectively say how many people can do xxx and how many people can do yyy and compare. 500lbs BP is INSANE but the moves that they were doing in the video are also CRAZY.

People only have an appreciation for things that they can relate to. If anyones tried to BP 300lbs+ then think what another 200lbs feels like on your wrists and shoulder are going to feel it's not going to be anything but easy. If you can squat 440lbs imagine that weight on your wrists and shoulders. No mean feat at all. Most people have not BP a modest 220lbs so won't be able to apprecaite how heavy 500lbs is going to be.

Koing

 

[Zivic]

People only have an appreciation for things that they can relate to. If anyones tried to BP 300lbs+ then think what another 200lbs feels like on your wrists and shoulder are going to feel it's not going to be anything but easy. If you can squat 440lbs imagine that weight on your wrists and shoulders. No mean feat at all. Most people have not BP a modest 220lbs so won't be able to apprecaite how heavy 500lbs is going to be.

Koing

This is the truth... having handled some decent weight in my day, you can tell who the people are that spew BS about the weight they can move. I see it almost daily.

 

[Whisper]

Just let the guy have his preference.

As for most impressive you can objectively say how many people can do xxx and how many people can do yyy and compare. 500lbs BP is INSANE but the moves that they were doing in the video are also CRAZY.

People only have an appreciation for things that they can relate to. If anyones tried to BP 300lbs+ then think what another 200lbs feels like on your wrists and shoulder are going to feel it's not going to be anything but easy. If you can squat 440lbs imagine that weight on your wrists and shoulders. No mean feat at all. Most people have not BP a modest 220lbs so won't be able to apprecaite how heavy 500lbs is going to be.

Koing

Agreed. 1) It's all about personal preference, and I don't think you're going to be able to come up with a way to objectively say which goal is "better" (if you even wanted to bother trying); whatever goal keeps you motivated and physically active is the right one for you. 2) Yep, if you're into weightlifting, then you can truly appreciate how difficult some of these heavy lifts are, but it might be tough to then imagine/appreciate how much dedication and training is required for less weight-intensive feats (such as the BW stuff shown in the video above, cardio-related goals, etc.).

And frankly, I'd be a bit surprised if at least a few of the guys in some of the videos above couldn't get close to (or exceed) a 300 lb. BP, especially if given a couple weeks to get used to the motion (assuming they'd never done it before, which probably isn't true). There's going to be at least some carry over between these types of things. We all of course know the type of person who may not "look like much," but who can lift ungodly amounts of weight. But at the same time, I see an equal number of folks (if not more) who look like the bartendaz guys and who can also hold their own lifting.

 

[norseamd]

not a bench expert

was just guessing going by the fact that there is video of tank benching 600 and that appantly fedor used to be able to bench 400. keep in mind fedor did at most lifting once a week but did a ton of calithetics and cardio as well as other excercises like throwing a hammer on a giant tire. also it apparantly takes less to maintain strength and that was used as part of his training program

not sure but i thought that professional lifters often did 750+ in professional competitions. so it was just a guess that i threw out as part of my opinion.

 

[Whisper]

not a bench expert

was just guessing going by the fact that there is video of tank benching 600 and that appantly fedor used to be able to bench 400. keep in mind fedor did at most lifting once a week but did a ton of calithetics and cardio as well as other excercises like throwing a hammer on a giant tire. also it apparantly takes less to maintain strength and that was used as part of his training program

not sure but i thought that professional lifters often did 750+ in professional competitions. so it was just a guess that i threw out as part of my opinion.

Not an expert here, either, but a large part of how much is lifted likely depends on whether or not bench shirts are allowed, as I'd imagine very, very few people can hit something like 750#+ raw.

 

[Zivic]

Not an expert here, either, but a large part of how much is lifted likely depends on whether or not bench shirts are allowed, as I'd imagine very, very few people can hit something like 750#+ raw.

agreed.... but to some, unless you're 250+ lbs, you aint big. Funny, the same people that post about things like that, don't even even lift/have gym memberships

 

[Koing]

Agreed. 1) It's all about personal preference, and I don't think you're going to be able to come up with a way to objectively say which goal is "better" (if you even wanted to bother trying); whatever goal keeps you motivated and physically active is the right one for you. 2) Yep, if you're into weightlifting, then you can truly appreciate how difficult some of these heavy lifts are, but it might be tough to then imagine/appreciate how much dedication and training is required for less weight-intensive feats (such as the BW stuff shown in the video above, cardio-related goals, etc.).

And frankly, I'd be a bit surprised if at least a few of the guys in some of the videos above couldn't get close to (or exceed) a 300 lb. BP, especially if given a couple weeks to get used to the motion (assuming they'd never done it before, which probably isn't true). There's going to be at least some carry over between these types of things. We all of course know the type of person who may not "look like much," but who can lift ungodly amounts of weight. But at the same time, I see an equal number of folks (if not more) who look like the bartendaz guys and who can also hold their own lifting.

I'm sure the guys would put up decent numbers. An ex national level gymnast had NEVER BP in his entire life. He did 100kg x6x6 his first session. He could do about 35-40pull ups though.

Koing

 

[Whisper]

agreed.... but to some, unless you're 250+ lbs, you aint big. Funny, the same people that post about things like that, don't even even lift/have gym memberships

This is true; it's all relative, and again, all comes back to personal preference. For me, I'm fine sitting at my current 180-185#. It's hard enough maintaining my abs as is, so I can only imagine how tough that would be were I to try and hit 200+. Not to mention all the extra money I'd be spending on food...