I cannot complete 3x10 of 75 lb dumbbell bench press. Been on it for over a month. Should I move on to 80 lbs?

[Slammy1]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: Slammy1
Well, bench was my strongest lift cause we'd do a couple hundred pushups and setups in workout plus I only did reps with 220-240# (I had friends doing 300-400# for reps). I'd squat 500-600 for reps (never maxed, I was worried bout my spine) and leg presses were my strongest lower body lift (I'd do 1800#, but that was on the machine so it's hard to translate to real world). All those duck walks as a kid really built up my leg strength.

lol

Perhaps you might provide some information which might call my statement into question? I've provided links showing those weights aren't truly exceptional. Else this is just a troll response.

EDIT: If you notice, they talk about doing 3x your weight in squats as a goal in my link for 2x your weight benches, which is around where I was at. Plus at least 1 other person I knew did the 1800# leg press. You look at this link:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/shannon1.htm

You see that the weight I'd indicated, which I qualified as being the machine weight and not the force, is not actually 1800#. I did every weight on the machine on the higher bar, and could do it several times but I recognized it hurt my back to do it so I only did it once but it was actually pretty easy. In fact, you look at this quite obvious source they talk about doing 2700# leg presses:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leg_press

I think I've probably been lifting a lot longer than most here, going on 20 years.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: psteng19

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: psteng19
I usually wait until I can comfortably do 3 sets of 10 reps before I up the weight.
But I've been stuck on 75 lbs for over a month (I had a month off due to surgery, but the month obviously does not that recovery period). Previously, I have been upping 5 lbs every 2 weeks or so.

I do chest usually once, maybe twice a week, and right now I can get a set of 10, 8 and then 5 or 6.

Should I just go to 80 lbs?
Have I maxed out?
My original goal was just to complete 3x10 80 lbs by end of 2006.
Side goals are to get bigger and stronger of course.

edit: To clarify, it's 75-80 lbs dumbbell.

whats a dumbbell bench press?

75lbs in each hand?

Yes.

nice. anyone spotting you?

 

[jjyiz28]

blah, i bet you lower your arms pararrel to teh floor then lift up and call that a lift. you gotta do it proper and make sure the dumbell touches your chest, don't bounce it though, but go all the way down so it touches your chest, and push straight up,.. thats 1 real rep.

just like little skinny legged pusses in the cage with 3 stackes of 45's, but they barely go down to 45degree angle. silly.. you're supposed to go down at least so that your thighs are parallel to teh floor. buncha wankers

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: jjyiz28
blah, i bet you lower your arms pararrel to teh floor then lift up and call that a lift. you gotta do it proper and make sure the dumbell touches your chest, don't bounce it though, but go all the way down so it touches your chest, and push straight up,.. thats 1 real rep.

just like little skinny legged pusses in the cage with 3 stackes of 45's, but they barely go down to 45degree angle. silly.. you're supposed to go down at least so that your thighs are parallel to teh floor. buncha wankers

Well, if you're doing them correctly the dumbells should touch your shoulders, not your chest.

And you're correct. If you want a big chest, full range of motion and form is everything. Go deep and keep your elbows out during the entire rep. Do not emulate power lifters who keep their elbows in.

 

[psteng19]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: psteng19

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: psteng19
I usually wait until I can comfortably do 3 sets of 10 reps before I up the weight.
But I've been stuck on 75 lbs for over a month (I had a month off due to surgery, but the month obviously does not that recovery period). Previously, I have been upping 5 lbs every 2 weeks or so.

I do chest usually once, maybe twice a week, and right now I can get a set of 10, 8 and then 5 or 6.

Should I just go to 80 lbs?
Have I maxed out?
My original goal was just to complete 3x10 80 lbs by end of 2006.
Side goals are to get bigger and stronger of course.

edit: To clarify, it's 75-80 lbs dumbbell.

whats a dumbbell bench press?

75lbs in each hand?

Yes.

nice. anyone spotting you?

Definitely, I can't even get the weights off the floor while lying on the bench, so spotter loads and unloads weight. I don't like throwing/dropping weights.

 

[psteng19]

Originally posted by: jjyiz28
blah, i bet you lower your arms pararrel to teh floor then lift up and call that a lift. you gotta do it proper and make sure the dumbell touches your chest, don't bounce it though, but go all the way down so it touches your chest, and push straight up,.. thats 1 real rep.

just like little skinny legged pusses in the cage with 3 stackes of 45's, but they barely go down to 45degree angle. silly.. you're supposed to go down at least so that your thighs are parallel to teh floor. buncha wankers

You talking to me? Weights don't exactly touch the chest but I go all the way down, and obviously I don't bounce them off my chest if I don't touch.

 

[Slammy1]

lol. Yeah, I had to wonder, given the hostility towards me in this thread, if it was directed at me as well. Hang in there, you'll advance. I don't know weight lifting like a lot of people here. Training to me is mainly the ability to manipulate your own mass well so I've focussed on pushups, pull ups, etc., thus recommending people add mass is contrary to what I see as good health. I think it's why I can still do weights where stronger friends had to give it up earlier. What advice I have is more to find a goal beyond just body building. Me, I try to keep active and play sports, hike, climb; and my routines are more focussed towards those activities. I gave up training combat a long time ago. Good luck in your goals!

 

[JImmyK]

I didnt read all te posts when the stupid comments started...

BUT we do all have our limits.

at 18 I was only able to bench the 45 lb bar, by 20 I was putting up 185 with all my sets, but I couldnt go higher, so for the first time I started taking supplements in 6 weeks I was up to 225, I decided to try 235... and my right arm gave I tried to compensate with my left arm and that gave as well, I popped both my tendons out of my sholder groove and even after 6 months of physical therapy I still cant do bench biceps, triceps, or lats.

Whole point is wahtever you decide to do TAKE IT SLOW, cheers mate.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: jemcam

Your father-on-law isn't necessarily wrong, PT and rehab operate under different rules than all-out weightlifting

Did the OP not say he was rehabbing from surgery?

Sorry, I still believe a man with 40 years experience with his own succesful private PT practice. The human body hasn't changed much in the last 50 years now has it?

Sorry homie, sadly most personal trainers don't have the slightest clue what they're talking about...and, from the sounds of it, your "man" with 40 years experience falls in that categeory.

Mass and "strength" have more to do with diet than the amount of reps and weight that someone is doing. I'm sorry, but in my experience, the guys with significant amount of "mass" are also pretty flippin strong.

Bottom line, diet is the key here. You want to "get big" you eat like a horse and you stick with your compound exericises. You want to simply get "stronger" you still eat but you manage yourself where you're not gaining too terribly much weight. But, this is difficult as in order to gain muscle you need to eat significant amounts of protein.

Sorry man...I'm not discredting your "guy" but I bet if you really got into his brain regarding this stuff he'd agree with me...and if not, he's probably one of those "PT's" who think that high-reps and low-weight = toning.

 

[Slammy1]

Sorry JK, that sucks. I really do trust in tons of pushups, it builds a core strength with far less chance of injury than weight training. I did creatine for a bit, it where I was finally able to add mass. I almost injured myself with military presses. I was working out alone so I was lower weight (140#) and dropped the bar above my head. I caught it, but it was pretty scary and I was glad I wasn't max'ing out. After that I backed off on the weight some and went to hand weights instead of a bar. So many friends who were serious lifters when I started out were injured at some point. My routine now is to focus on CV for the warmer months and weights in the Winter months (something like 7:5 CV:weight training). My one complaint is my lower back, probably due to doing too much weight in squats and leg presses but I did move furniture for a while.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: Slammy1

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
You'd be in the olympics with those stats.

I think you should reconsider your point, maybe talk with a trainer I'm sure they've seen more impressive things. You look at the first link I pulled up from a basic google search they talk about squatting over 1000# as "inferior" for these olympic class lifters.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drsquat17.htm

I was a little heavier when I was putting up the numbers I indicated, for squats, around 165#. I stopped the heavy lower body workouts cause I had huge legs and a not so big upper body and it was hurting my back even at those weights. Combat training differs from weight training, it was a lot of strength towards specific tasks so I could do really well with some lifts (training since I was 8). I took 2 forms of martial arts, judo was all about squat strength and we'd do duck walks til you dropped every session then we'd spend the rest of the time body slamming each other. Karate was a lot of physical activity as well, you'd stretch for a while then do a lot of practice kicks/punches before moving to forms and "special topics"; but I was more into judo for a longer time. In boxing a typical work out was 50 pushups, 50 setups, repeat for 200-250 of each, do a few rounds on the heavy bag (3 minutes is a long time to throw punches) then you sparred; it was hard to put on weight but I was pretty rock solid back then (that's when I could bench twice my weight, you look here, the first hit from a google search, benching twice your weight doesn't really seem a big deal).
http://www.43things.com/things/view/122417

It's very different than straight weight training, having too big of muscles was a hinderance. I didn't mean I did flys with 300# in each hand. I do understand your skepticism some cause my roommate at the time was pretty heavy into weightlifting and lifted with his "serious freinds", I had to prove to him I could do it. I needed 1 witness, so I guess I understand; but this is the net. If you want to call me a liar please present authoratative evidence to support your claim.

I don't mean to come across mean or like I'm picking a fight or anything. Just saying, I don't understand why you'd want to accuse me of lying here.

I'm not coming across mean, and I do not mean any harm, but your lying. I am a compeition powerlifter and I know what it takes. Now go google whatever crap you want to and post it, but I know your lying.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I just went through the first couple of pages so someone may have mentioned this already. Everyone is telling you different ways to change up your bench press but I have to ask another question. What exercises do you do for your shoulder/back workouts? Bench press improvement can be had by making other muscle groups stronger as well. Are you doing squats? Deadlifts?

 

[purbeast0]

Yesterday I kind of hit a milestone for myself.

On my final/burnout set of benching, I did 225lbs 8x. I was pretty damn happy about that

 

[RapidSnail]

Slammy1, I have a very hard time believing your bench claim, but I will trust you because you gave us your word. Either way, you're not the only one who can lift that much weight pound-for-pound.

Curtis Dennis

It's definitely possible that you can do what you say, so I will take your word for it.

Cheers!

 

[Balt]

What is your weakness? Are you unable to do more reps because you are reaching failure in your arms or your chest?

Do some isolation exercises to strengthen up whatever is falling behind.

 

[3NF]

Try an exercise that really isolates the chest, e.g., dumbbell presses. Surprisingly, a Bow Flex works good for this. Done right, you'll walk away and your chest will feel like it's on fire. I've never been able to get that kind of burn doing a strict barbell bench press.

 

[mercanucaribe]

You are supposed to do 6-8 reps. 10 is too many.

 

[Slammy1]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
I'm not coming across mean, and I do not mean any harm, but your lying. I am a compeition powerlifter and I know what it takes. Now go google whatever crap you want to and post it, but I know your lying.

Just cause you keep saying it doesn't make it true. At least offer some sort of evidence to the contrary. I've known a few competitive lifters in my time, they didn't think it was so out of the ordinary. A guy I used to work with, in fact, described it as good but thought I could improve (he had probably 30+ trophies and travelled around the country for competition). There was a guy who could bench amazing weight per pound body mass. I did further searching, I could link you to others that have done 2x benches and, certainly, more than 3x squats. From my reading, a fair number of people leg press more than 3000#. The 3x squats and leg presses I did for reps, the 2x bench was just once. I have a couple of football coaches from high school that were witness to my squats and leg presses, and I worked out on those lifts with a competitive lifter (there were several in the club I was in).

I think if all you do is weight training, you miss an important component of strength. Try this, do duck walks for a hundred yards at a decent speed and see what sort of a workout that is. Do that several times a week for a few years, that's what I did. Or even do 200 push ups and 200 setups like I described without rest between sets. You don't build much mass but a lot of strength.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: 3NF
Try an exercise that really isolates the chest, e.g., dumbbell presses. Surprisingly, a Bow Flex works good for this. Done right, you'll walk away and your chest will feel like it's on fire. I've never been able to get that kind of burn doing a strict barbell bench press.

reading comprehension FTL!

 

[3NF]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: 3NF
Try an exercise that really isolates the chest, e.g., dumbbell presses. Surprisingly, a Bow Flex works good for this. Done right, you'll walk away and your chest will feel like it's on fire. I've never been able to get that kind of burn doing a strict barbell bench press.

reading comprehension FTL!

Huh?

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: 3NF

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: 3NF
Try an exercise that really isolates the chest, e.g., dumbbell presses. Surprisingly, a Bow Flex works good for this. Done right, you'll walk away and your chest will feel like it's on fire. I've never been able to get that kind of burn doing a strict barbell bench press.

reading comprehension FTL!

Huh?

Isolation exercises are less effective than compounds. Also "feeling the burn" is not an indicator of muscle growth.

 

[3NF]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: 3NF

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: 3NF
Try an exercise that really isolates the chest, e.g., dumbbell presses. Surprisingly, a Bow Flex works good for this. Done right, you'll walk away and your chest will feel like it's on fire. I've never been able to get that kind of burn doing a strict barbell bench press.

reading comprehension FTL!

Huh?

Isolation exercises are less effective than compounds. Also "feeling the burn" is not an indicator of muscle growth.

Ohh, I see now. Well, thank you for being polite about it.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: psteng19
Well, it was chest day today and I tried this just for the heck of it.

80x5
75x5
70x5
Flat bench, each set until failure.

Not sure if this is better than 3 sets of 75 @ 10,8,6

Just curious, if you want your bench to go up, then why wouldn't you do 70, 75, 80 for fives.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: RapidSnail
Slammy1, I have a very hard time believing your bench claim, but I will trust you because you gave us your word. Either way, you're not the only one who can lift that much weight pound-for-pound.

Curtis Dennis

It's definitely possible that you can do what you say, so I will take your word for it.

Cheers!

Yes, and he trains with a shirt and has trained at Westside.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: Slammy1

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
I'm not coming across mean, and I do not mean any harm, but your lying. I am a compeition powerlifter and I know what it takes. Now go google whatever crap you want to and post it, but I know your lying.

Just cause you keep saying it doesn't make it true. At least offer some sort of evidence to the contrary. I've known a few competitive lifters in my time, they didn't think it was so out of the ordinary. A guy I used to work with, in fact, described it as good but thought I could improve (he had probably 30+ trophies and travelled around the country for competition). There was a guy who could bench amazing weight per pound body mass. I did further searching, I could link you to others that have done 2x benches and, certainly, more than 3x squats. From my reading, a fair number of people leg press more than 3000#. The 3x squats and leg presses I did for reps, the 2x bench was just once. I have a couple of football coaches from high school that were witness to my squats and leg presses, and I worked out on those lifts with a competitive lifter (there were several in the club I was in).

I think if all you do is weight training, you miss an important component of strength. Try this, do duck walks for a hundred yards at a decent speed and see what sort of a workout that is. Do that several times a week for a few years, that's what I did. Or even do 200 push ups and 200 setups like I described without rest between sets. You don't build much mass but a lot of strength.

:laugh: Give it up, not only are you lying about doing that much, you are trying to say you did it with pushups and duck walks. I know how to build strength for the big three, and it is apparently obvious you do not. You got caught trying to inflate your numbers. Deal with it and move on.