YAW(eight)L(ifting)T

[CycloWizard]

I've lifted on and off (mostly off) for about the last ten years. Now I have a stack of free weights in my basement, complete with a bench and curling bench with appropriate bars. I think I know what I'm doing and I can build up my weight substantially, but my chest never actually gets bigger. I've seen third graders with bigger man-boobs than mine, and I'm 6'4" and about 225. I don't have a workout partner, so I don't have anyone to spot me. As a result, I've been doing 3 sets of 10 reps at 80 pounds (like I said, no chest... I curl as much as I bench 🙁) on bench, with the weight steadily increasing. I started at low weight to make sure I wouldn't kill myself, but I haven't had too much trouble yet. I'm going to start a new workout routine this weekend lifting 3x per week and was wondering if anyone could suggest anything to help me add muscle mass.

 

[FleshLight]

Because benching 80 lbs when you weigh 225 doens't do sh!t. You'll probably have to invest in a heavier weight set and do incline bench presses and butterflies.

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: FleshLight
Because benching 80 lbs when you weigh 225 doens't do sh!t. You'll probably have to invest in a heavier weight set and do incline bench presses and butterflies.

I have plenty of weights, I just don't feel like killing myself. I guess I'm asking what's the most effective way to get bigger (I'm guessing more weight, less reps) without hurting myself.

 

[dug777]

I found doing wide push-ups helped me get good man boobs, but i assume that is laughed upon by the weightlifting community 😱

 

[CKent]

Some tall guys have problems building their chests, something about the mechanics of longer arms stressing the shoulders more or something. Try adding flyes to your routine.

Regardless of the reason, chest definitely seems like a problem area for you, so doing a fixed number of reps at a fixed weight "because you don't want to kill yourself" is condemning them to never grow. Bump it up to a weight you can do 6-8 times and do it to muscle failure, not for a certain number of reps. Try bumping the sets from 3 to 5 as well. Take a few pounds off if you can only get it up a few reps on the last couple sets.

Edit: Oh, you meant you don't want to literally kill yourself 😛 I'd still say up the weight, just stay careful and if you're not sure you can get the next rep up, don't try. I lift alone, was up to 250 or so x6 reps before I slacked off awhile back, I'm just careful and know my limits. The prospect of dying can also be a powerful motivator, and you can usually put your shoulders more into it to get a bit more power if needed.

 

[Special K]

I'll ask a different question:

what's you diet like?

The best workout in the world won't help you if you aren't eating enough/correctly.

 

[CycloWizard]

I was going to post pics (since I finally got a digital camera today 😀), but my password for my web server has expired and I can't reset it until tomorrow. 🙁

Basically, I lifted for about 3 months starting last July. Once soccer season started again, I didn't have time to lift regularly so I stopped in mid-September. I broke a few fingers and gained some weight instead of losing it since I got stuck playing goalie (since all my goalies quit 🙁). Now I think I'm healed up and motivated enough to get back at it.

I was doing bench, bicep curls, forearm curls, and lunges 3x a week and leg curls, extensions, and calf raises 2x a week. Due to my schedule this semester, I'm trying to combine the two workouts into a longer one and do it 3x a week.

CKent: I decided that if I were doing 3x10, I would feel failure coming on and rack the weights before I racked myself. I didn't have to worry about that at that low weight, but it was still hard for me. I'm really a fetus when it comes to bench. 😛

SpecialK: I'm eating pretty well, generally around 2500 calories per day with a mix of veggies, carbs, dairy, and protein.

 

[CKent]

Originally posted by: CycloWizard
SpecialK: I'm eating pretty well, generally around 2500 calories per day with a mix of veggies, carbs, dairy, and protein.

Doesn't sound like much, a guy your size can need 4k or more to grow.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: CKent

Originally posted by: CycloWizard
SpecialK: I'm eating pretty well, generally around 2500 calories per day with a mix of veggies, carbs, dairy, and protein.

Doesn't sound like much, a guy your size can need 4k or more to grow.

QFT.

OP: do you actually track your weight to see if it is going up?

Try visiting the link in my sig.

 

[EvilYoda]

I wouldn't worry too much about killing yourself...worst that happens when you've maxed out and can't lift the bar is you drop one end and then roll the other end off of you. It's not like you're out of options when a bar's sitting on your chest. I also can't do too much weight in terms of chest exercises...but I don't really try to either. I do sets of 155 (my bodyweight), usually 8 * 4 sets. For building mass, I'd do the usual higher weight/lower reps. The suggestion to concentrate on flyes/flies could possibly benefit you more with longer arms.

Note: I was drinking earlier, so if any of this is wrong or extremely basic information...I apologize 🙂

 

[CKent]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
I wouldn't worry too much about killing yourself...worst that happens when you've maxed out and can't lift the bar is you drop one end and then roll the other end off of you. It's not like you're out of options when a bar's sitting on your chest. I also can't do too much weight in terms of chest exercises...but I don't really try to either. I do sets of 155 (my bodyweight), usually 8 * 4 sets. For building mass, I'd do the usual higher weight/lower reps. The suggestion to concentrate on flyes/flies could possibly benefit you more with longer arms.

Note: I was drinking earlier, so if any of this is wrong or extremely basic information...I apologize 🙂

I feel this way too, but I remember a 17 y/o kid dying a few years back trying to bench 135, couldn't get it up and asphyxiated. YMMV I guess.

 

[gopunk]

if you're still a student, go to the school gym and use one of those chest machines so you don't have to worry about killing yourself when your muscles fail...

 

[Amused]

A larger chest is all about your benching form.

Most people try to bench like a power lifter with elbows tucked into the body. This does not build your chest as well as you could be doing.

Keep your elbows out as far as possible through the entire rep and keep your hands at a width in which your forearms will be perfectly vertical when your elbows are at 90 degrees.

Also, full range of motion is a must. The bar must touch the chest on every rep and pause, then lift.

Your chest will not grow overnight. Keep adding weight and once you have your form perfected, keep your rep range between 6-8 to near failure without a spot, and failure with a spot/safety bench.

Also, work your chest only once a week. And work the rest of your body as well, breaking each body part into it's own day. Nothing leads to injury quite like muscular imbalance.

To start out, do 3 heavy sets of flat bench, 3 heavy seats of incline bench, and 3 heavy sets of decline bench. Then work your triceps for 3-6 sets of varying exercises. Your chest wont get larger unless your arms can push the weight.

Once I followed these simple rules, I realized the my full potential. I used to barely have a chest. Now I have enough clevage to make most women jealous. I realize not everyone can get as big as me (I'm genetically gifted), but everyone CAN reach their own full potential.

Finally, isolation exercises are a waste of time, and energy. Flies are mostly useless. If you feel you need, do a couple sets after you do all your compound chest exercises.

Don't be afraid to go heavy. If you can't get the last rep up, rest it on your chest for a while. BTW, NEVER secure your weights when benching heavy alone. If they are unsecured on the bar, and you get stuck, you can let one side dip and the weights will slide off. Then the bar will lean the other way and those weights will slide off... freeing you. If the weights start slipping while you are benching, your form sucks. You need to lighten the weight and work on your form.

 

[Fineghal]

Try either a) a slightly higher weight with less reps or b) more time.

I used to lift about three times a week, and I could never get my pecs to buff up much. Once I got into college I began lifting more regularly, and I found that doing a general work out, and then doing another 10-20 minutes later in the day (just pecs) helped considerably. The only analogy I can find right now is, for me at least, there's a critical point after which I start getting an absurd amount of mass quickly. And I'm not the type of guy to buff up, I mostly just get wiry. In example, I went from running 2-3 miles a week to 21-30 miles and my calves gained maybe 1/2 an inch.

Short Version: Do your regular workout, come back later in the day and do one or two sets at 5-10 lbs (if you can handle) more than what you did earlier. Think 2x5-8.

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: CKent
Doesn't sound like much, a guy your size can need 4k or more to grow.

So maybe I do need to eat more. And here I've been going the other direction...

Originally posted by: gopunk
if you're still a student, go to the school gym and use one of those chest machines so you don't have to worry about killing yourself when your muscles fail...

I'm a grad student, so it's a 30 minute walk/15 minute bike to the gym each way. I have to work out before I go into the lab in the morning since there's no telling when I'll actually make it home at night. Grad students live the high life. :

Originally posted by: Special K
OP: do you actually track your weight to see if it is going up?

Yeah, when I'm working out I keep track of weight, sets, and reps for each lift (including exactly how many reps I did in the last set if I fail), and I weigh myself every day. I'm an engineer, so I have lots of pretty spreadsheets telling me how well I'm doing as soon as I put the numbers in. 😛

Try visiting the link in my sig.

Thanks, I'll definitely take a look.

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: Amused
A larger chest is all about your benching form.

Most people try to bench like a power lifter with elbows tucked into the body. This does not build your chest as well as you could be doing.

Keep your elbows out as far as possible through the entire rep and keep your hands at a width in which your forearms will be perfectly vertical when your elbows are at 90 degrees.

Maybe this is part of the problem. My bench bar is pretty short (el cheapo from Craigslist).

Also, full range of motion is a must. The bar must touch the chest on every rep and pause, then lift.

Your chest will not grow overnight. Keep adding weight and once you have your form perfected, keep your rep range between 6-8 to near failure without a spot, and failure with a spot/safety bench.

Also, work your chest only once a week. And work the rest of your body as well, breaking each body part into it's own day. Nothing leads to injury quite like muscular imbalance.

To start out, do 3 heavy sets of flat bench, 3 heavy seats of incline bench, and 3 heavy sets of decline bench. Then work your triceps for 3-6 sets of varying exercises. Your chest wont get larger unless your arms can push the weight.

Once I followed these simple rules, I realized the my full potential. I used to barely have a chest. Now I have enough clevage to make most women jealous. I realize not everyone can get as big as me (I'm genetically gifted), but everyone CAN reach their own full potential.

Finally, isolation exercises are a waste of time, and energy. Flies are mostly useless. If you feel you need, do a couple sets after you do all your compound chest exercises.

Don't be afraid to go heavy. If you can't get the last rep up, rest it on your chest for a while. BTW, NEVER secure your weights when benching heavy alone. If they are unsecured on the bar, and you get stuck, you can let one side dip and the weights will slide off. Then the bar will lean the other way and those weights will slide off... freeing you.

Not securing the weights is something I hadn't thought of, but it makes perfect sense. All sounds like good advice.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: CycloWizard

Not securing the weights is something I hadn't thought of, but it makes perfect sense. All sounds like good advice.

Not only that, but unsecured weights are a perfect indicator of form when benching and doing miltary presses. If the weights move during your set, your form needs work.

 

[magomago]

Cyclowizard - Lift more and mix it up with other stuff.

I've also been interested in increasing my chest size recently. Actually, more like my entire upper body 😉 I'm greatly disproportioned in that regard - I have very strong legs, and very big calf muscles...but I have no upper body. I used to lift weights for wrestling back in highschool, but would BS it 80% the time (ie: when the coach leaves the weight room we'd just sit and talk and be safe since we were in the back of the weight room) mainly because when I lifted weights I would experience a "popping" in the chest that I have no idea how to explain. That was pretty much the last of the weight lifting I've seriously done....but around early December I started to lift a lot - but not pure weight lifting 😉

I mix in weights(problably once to twice a week at most, and I focus on chest, shoulders and back. I don't do too much arms because doing those engages my triceps/biceps anyways) with a lot of other activities that use my upper body such as Tennis. I'm also doing many reps of push ups anywhere from twice a week to five or six times a week depending on how lazy/busy I am that week 😉 I also engage in some tai chi training that builds muscle strength density (or so I am told 😉) as I do want to become stronger rather than gain puffy muscle that doesn't have as high of a strength density as the former.
In terms of improvements, I've gone from being able to struggle through one pushup to preforming many pushups in repeition with a much greater success than before. I've also had, two times in the past 2 days, people comment on how I look bigger and greater muscles. Of course its been slightly over a month , and I don't expect massive changes...its something that is enough that people notice...
just one thing though: get enough FOOD. Make sure you intake enough protein (I like to get it through meat, not pills) - you need enough to not just MAINTAIN what you have, but you need plenty extra to BUILD weight.
There is actually a really good thread on how to build muscle with that protein stuff, but I'm not that hardcore that I time it down to a science 😉 Ultimately you gotta have fun!

AMUSED:
What do you think of pushups? Yay or nay? I like them, although I believe that they don't increase chest size as much as the strength

 

[Mentat]

Another thing to keep in mind, the largest muscle groups in your body are your back and legs. If you work them out too your body will start producing more testosterone...building not only your legs, but supplying more muscle building material to your chest as well. Plus, there is nothing more unsightly than walking into the gym and seeing the guy with toothpick legs and one MASSIVE upper body. those kinda guy remind me of the Toy Story character that had buff arms but no lower body. So don't neglect your back and legs!!

 

[Alprazolam]

Some Dbol and Test. Enthanate will work wonders!

 

[CycloWizard]

Originally posted by: magomago
Cyclowizard - Lift more and mix it up with other stuff.

I've also been interested in increasing my chest size recently. Actually, more like my entire upper body 😉 I'm greatly disproportioned in that regard - I have very strong legs, and very big calf muscles...but I have no upper body. I used to lift weights for wrestling back in highschool, but would BS it 80% the time (ie: when the coach leaves the weight room we'd just sit and talk and be safe since we were in the back of the weight room) mainly because when I lifted weights I would experience a "popping" in the chest that I have no idea how to explain. That was pretty much the last of the weight lifting I've seriously done....but around early December I started to lift a lot - but not pure weight lifting 😉

I mix in weights(problably once to twice a week at most, and I focus on chest, shoulders and back. I don't do too much arms because doing those engages my triceps/biceps anyways) with a lot of other activities that use my upper body such as Tennis. I'm also doing many reps of push ups anywhere from twice a week to five or six times a week depending on how lazy/busy I am that week 😉 I also engage in some tai chi training that builds muscle strength density (or so I am told 😉) as I do want to become stronger rather than gain puffy muscle that doesn't have as high of a strength density as the former.
In terms of improvements, I've gone from being able to struggle through one pushup to preforming many pushups in repeition with a much greater success than before. I've also had, two times in the past 2 days, people comment on how I look bigger and greater muscles. Of course its been slightly over a month , and I don't expect massive changes...its something that is enough that people notice...
just one thing though: get enough FOOD. Make sure you intake enough protein (I like to get it through meat, not pills) - you need enough to not just MAINTAIN what you have, but you need plenty extra to BUILD weight.
There is actually a really good thread on how to build muscle with that protein stuff, but I'm not that hardcore that I time it down to a science 😉 Ultimately you gotta have fun!

I was playing tennis against my girlfriend about once a week in the summer, but she handed me my ass regularly (she played D1 tennis, so I don't feel too bad, never having played before). I still play soccer once a week, but the games are only 40 minutes long and it's indoor, so it's a little different. I've put on weight around the gut and my legs are fading... I just need to redistribute myself. 😛 I need to go back and read some of my biomechanics notes and model weightlifting to keep myself interested or something - I'm spending too much time sitting at my computer doing simulations and not enough actually moving around. Still thinking about going to grad school? 😛

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: magomago

AMUSED:
What do you think of pushups? Yay or nay? I like them, although I believe that they don't increase chest size as much as the strength

Pushups wont do anything for chest size once you can do 3 sets of 15 or more. After that you're just doing really short cardio work.

Think of it like running to make your legs bigger... it doesn't work.

The key to muscle growth is intensity. Minimize everything but intensity. Go heavy, and do fewer reps, fewer sets and work each body part just one day a week... but give every set everything you have. Treat it like every set is a performance or competition and give it all you've got.

Doing anything else is just a waste of time and energy in the long run.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Alprazolam
Some Dbol and Test. Enthanate will work wonders!

The last thing he needs to be doing now is relying on supplements.

Supplements are a waste of money if you're not working smart.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: Mentat
Another thing to keep in mind, the largest muscle groups in your body are your back and legs. If you work them out too your body will start producing more testosterone...building not only your legs, but supplying more muscle building material to your chest as well. Plus, there is nothing more unsightly than walking into the gym and seeing the guy with toothpick legs and one MASSIVE upper body. those kinda guy remind me of the Toy Story character that had buff arms but no lower body. So don't neglect your back and legs!!

QFT.

 

[Alprazolam]

I believe they are more than supplements.