Max Strength Training (update!)

[Deeko]

Alright ATOT weightlifters, I need your help.

I've been lifting every day for the last 3 years, and made HUGE gains. I generally do 12,10,8,6 or 10,8,6 sets for a combo of strength & tone.

We had our pound club last term, and I didn't do that well. I did 810 in bench, squat, deadlift. What killed me was deadlift(I never really did them) and I've improved vastly in that since then.

Starting March, 3 weeks before the next competition, I want to start a max strenght training to improve my max(I never work my max). I weigh about 160 now, I finished at 5.25 per pound, 2nd out of the 10 guys that competed, but 1st got 6.1. I need to beat him. With my improvements in deadlift I'm up to about 5.8.

What do you guys suggest?

UPDATE: Just did the competition, got 240 bench(HORRIBLE), 365 squat, 365 deadlift...I was thiiiis close to getting up 395 on deadlifts for an even 1000, but not bad...I also lost 2 pounds, so I was at 158....6.14 per pound, new record!

 

[upsciLLion]

Getting a life.

 

[Kipper]

I have found good experience alternating dumbbell/bar for my bench sessions. One week bar, next week dumbbell, etc. I've also found that doing a 12/8/6 pyramid then closing it off with a superset to failure, concentrating on speed, with around 40% of the weight increased my bicep weight by a fair amount.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: upsciLLion
Getting a life.

Ouch

#

 

[aplefka]

Steroids.

I kid. How is your diet? Pack on some extra calories to gain some. Also work on your quads, for squat purposes. I'm sure you already work pretty hard on the bench and you said you did on deadlift, so squat is the only thing left.

 

[Turkish]

Originally posted by: MadCowDisease
I have found good experience alternating dumbbell/bar for my bench sessions. One week bar, next week dumbbell, etc. I've also found that doing a 12/8/6 pyramid then closing it off with a superset to failure, concentrating on speed, with around 40% of the weight increased my bicep weight by a fair amount.

1. Dumbells > Barbells

2. Chest / Back supersets.

3. Tricep / Bicep supersets.

4. Resting.

 

[watdahel]

Getting a life is funny.

I do jumping jacks. You should do those.

On a serious note, I've been told before that if you're not in pain then you haven't worked out hard enough. I don't necessarily believe in this practice. I used to do reps to the point of muscle cramping and even going beyond. Then for the next several days my muscles slowly stiffen and ache so badly that I pretty much rest for those days. Moving my arms would be painful.

On the other hand, I find that by not burning out my muscles by doing reasonable reps, I can pretty much eliminate my rest days and lift everyday. For me there's a fine line between reasonable reps and muscle burn-out. Sometimes, all it will take is just one more pump and I'm sore for several days. I've learned to know where this fine line is.

 

[Aharami]

damn. EVERY day for the last 3 years! talk about dedication!!

 

[Kipper]

Oh, I forgot to add. ROTATOR CUFF. Do rotator exercises prior to your shoulder/bench sets and strengthen those up. They help with a.) definition, b.) lifting because the shoulder is such an integral part of both the deadlift as well as the benchpress.

 

[gutharius]

Originally posted by: Aharami
damn. EVERY day for the last 3 years! talk about dedication!!

I'd say obsession. But I would be one to wish I had that capability to do this without having to sacrifice friends, life, and evertyhing else just to have the time for it.

 

[gutharius]

BTW 5.25 per pound? What does that mean? Weight lifted per pound of muscle?

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: gutharius

Originally posted by: Aharami
damn. EVERY day for the last 3 years! talk about dedication!!

I'd say obsession. But I would be one to wish I had that capability to do this without having to sacrifice friends, life, and evertyhing else just to have the time for it.

What a bad obsession to have too, huh? I mean he's keeping healthy, strong, and helps himself stay tough mentally as well as physically.

People need to lose the misconception that someone who lifts a lot is a meathead.

 

[Kipper]

Originally posted by: gutharius

Originally posted by: Aharami
damn. EVERY day for the last 3 years! talk about dedication!!

I'd say obsession. But I would be one to wish I had that capability to do this without having to sacrifice friends, life, and evertyhing else just to have the time for it.

I go to my gym about 5-6 days a week. It's actually a social activity, if you go with friends. I'm there two hours, tops. Usually in and out in an hour or so.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

A bunch of ATOTers telling a weightlifter to get a life. Right.

The usual rules of thumb have helped me improve my strength a lot, though I haven't been nearly as dedicated as you (particularly as of late)
1) Vary your exercises, don't do the same exact thing for a certain muscle group every time. This helps with getting over plateaus.
2) Rest for at least 48 hours between heavy lifting sessions. Eat well.
3) Lift the greatest weights you can until your muscles are completely exhausted and you can't do a single additional rep. This is what triggers your muscles to continue growing.

 

[RagingBITCH]

http://www.ast-ss.com/max-ot/max-ot_intro.asp

That's what I use when bulking. It basically calls for low reps + low amount of sets (think 4-6 reps, 3 sets MAX). Lifting weights wise, you're literally in the gym for no more than about 30 minutes per session, depending on if you do the 5 day a week or 4 day a week schedule.

I was skeptical just like sp33ddem0n was but it's a fantastic program and you if you're an easy gainer (which it sounds like you are) you'll do great on this program. (I'm a fairly hard gainer)

 

[Gravity]

I'd say focus on the deadlift. If you rarely did it then you will prolly make greater gains by working that excercise.

We don't know which excercise you did what lbage but lets assume that deadlift was low.

Work it...strengthen the supporting muscle groups and then spank it. The 1st place guy prolly did better in the deadlift.

 

[Sluggo]

While it wont do much for your waistline, my suggestion is:

EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap...EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap... EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT

Repeat as needed. Seriously, eat an assload (pun intended) of food. Start feeding yourself 4000-6000 good calories a day and you should see some impressive strength gains.

 

[Kipper]

Originally posted by: Sluggo
While it wont do much for your waistline, my suggestion is:

EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap...EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap... EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT

Repeat as needed. Seriously, eat an assload (pun intended) of food. Start feeding yourself 4000-6000 good calories a day and you should see some inpressive strength gains.

The problem with that is if the OP gains weight his weight/bodyweight ratio will drop.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Sluggo
While it wont do much for your waistline, my suggestion is:

EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap...EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap... EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT

Repeat as needed. Seriously, eat an assload (pun intended) of food. Start feeding yourself 4000-6000 good calories a day and you should see some inpressive strength gains.

There's such a thing as overeating A 160lb guy with a metabolism of 3 guys would still put on fat with 6000 calories a day.

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: Sluggo
While it wont do much for your waistline, my suggestion is:

EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap...EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap... EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT

Repeat as needed. Seriously, eat an assload (pun intended) of food. Start feeding yourself 4000-6000 good calories a day and you should see some inpressive strength gains.

There's such a thing as overeating A 160lb guy with a metabolism of 3 guys would still put on fat with 6000 calories a day.

Yeah, and its almost impossible to eat that much without resorting to weight gainer shakes and the like. But adding some good calories wont hurt much, I wouldnt imagine that at 160 he has a really slow burn rate or anything, so he should be able to up his food intake and not put on too much excess weight.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: Sluggo
While it wont do much for your waistline, my suggestion is:

EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap...EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap... EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT

Repeat as needed. Seriously, eat an assload (pun intended) of food. Start feeding yourself 4000-6000 good calories a day and you should see some inpressive strength gains.

There's such a thing as overeating A 160lb guy with a metabolism of 3 guys would still put on fat with 6000 calories a day.

Agreed, unless he swam 2 hrs per day. A couple of my friends that swim have to take in at least 4500 calories per day just to keep up to the amount they burn.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: Sluggo
While it wont do much for your waistline, my suggestion is:

EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap...EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT...crap... EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT

Repeat as needed. Seriously, eat an assload (pun intended) of food. Start feeding yourself 4000-6000 good calories a day and you should see some inpressive strength gains.

There's such a thing as overeating A 160lb guy with a metabolism of 3 guys would still put on fat with 6000 calories a day.

Agreed, unless he swam 2 hrs per day. A couple of my friends that swim have to take in at least 4500 calories per day just to keep up to the amount they burn.

6000 calories a day isn't quite unheard of, but you have to be seriously hardcore to need it. Even burning half that much requires quite a bit of effort.

And just eating 6000 calories won't give you a better build. The bodybuilders who eat that much have already built themselves up to enormous size and have astronomical metabolisms - some of them probably burn more calories just sitting in a chair than most of us would while sprinting full-speed. You need to eat enough to maintain the muscle to already have and supplement what you're trying to build.

 

[upsciLLion]

Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
A bunch of ATOTers telling a weightlifter to get a life. Right.

The usual rules of thumb have helped me improve my strength a lot, though I haven't been nearly as dedicated as you (particularly as of late)
1) Vary your exercises, don't do the same exact thing for a certain muscle group every time. This helps with getting over plateaus.
2) Rest for at least 48 hours between heavy lifting sessions. Eat well.
3) Lift the greatest weights you can until your muscles are completely exhausted and you can't do a single additional rep. This is what triggers your muscles to continue growing.

I was joking, spanky.

Now get back in #Neochat with the rest of us losers.

 

[edro]

The general idea to bring up your max, quickly... is just as many others have said. Drop your reps to 4-6, use explosive power (do the motion as fast as you can under control), rest for 2 min., then repeat, doing about 6 sets. Everytime I have been at the same weight for more than a few months, I will use this method and it gets me over the plateu. (it's not a secret, every damn magazine and trainer will tell you the same)

 

[gutharius]

Originally posted by: MadCowDisease

Originally posted by: gutharius

Originally posted by: Aharami
damn. EVERY day for the last 3 years! talk about dedication!!

I'd say obsession. But I would be one to wish I had that capability to do this without having to sacrifice friends, life, and evertyhing else just to have the time for it.

I go to my gym about 5-6 days a week. It's actually a social activity, if you go with friends. I'm there two hours, tops. Usually in and out in an hour or so.

Yeah, last time I tried I really got beat up by the trainer cause I did not have the money to invest in the supplements and his version of what I should be eating and when i should be eating. It really beat me up moralwise and ultimately i quit the gym. Always have wanted to go back but there is the time issue and money issue.