YAWT: Lifting weights without a spotter

[iamme]

when i'm benching pressing dumbells and i can't lift the particular weight anymore, is it ok to go down in weight and keep going until i can't anymore?

or maybe finish with pushups until i can't do anymore?

does that help or is it counterproductive?

 

[NathanBWF]

I do that all the time. I like it because you can get a good burn out of it...but I'm no certified instructor so you probably shouldn't listen to me.

 

[TheNinja]

You can, it's called a drop set. I assume you are talking taking like 80lbs and doing 4-6, then quickly grabbing 55lbs and doing as many as you can, then finishing with say 30lbs as many as you can. I wouldn't do it all the time but once a month toss it in is good for you. I also am not a personal trainer though.

edit: and by the way, no matter how much weight you are doing you should push to failure. If you can do more than 12 (depending on your goals of course) without getting to failure, you are doing to light of weight

 

[RagingBITCH]

Waste of time IMO. More weight + less reps is the way to go.

 

[stonecold3169]

For what you've described, thats perfectly okay... however, if you are starting lighter and working up in weight till fatigue, no way would I do that. Heck, if I see someone at the gym doing ~80lbs or higher dumb bell presses I offer to spot them, because if they can't get their arms up high enough to lock their elbows they aren't just gonna hurt themselves, but probably the people on the benches next to them too.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Waste of time IMO. More weight + less reps is the way to go.

I agree, however, if you want to burn out on your last set then I say go for it. BUT, I wouldn't drop less than 5-10 lbs.

So...if you're doing dumbell bench-

1x12 warmup
1x8 95lbs
1x6 100lbs
1x4 105lbs
1x8 95lbs

 

[PunDogg]

if you are in a gym just ask someone to spot you, i ask people all the time, most are more than happy to help you out, but if you are at home with no one to ask, then yeah i think it should be ok, but do one or two reps less than doing till you can;t do any more, cuz if you think u can do one more and you can;t and your arms give way, then your toast

Dogg

 

[iamme]

bump for some more opinions.

will this help build muscle faster? or will it matter?

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Staley8
You can, it's called a drop set. I assume you are talking taking like 80lbs and doing 4-6, then quickly grabbing 55lbs and doing as many as you can, then finishing with say 30lbs as many as you can. I wouldn't do it all the time but once a month toss it in is good for you. I also am not a personal trainer though.

edit: and by the way, no matter how much weight you are doing you should push to failure. If you can do more than 12 (depending on your goals of course) without getting to failure, you are doing to light of weight

BS. You don't need to go to 'failure' to get bigger or stronger.

Originally posted by: iamme
bump for some more opinions.

will this help build muscle faster? or will it matter?

EATING FOOD and training will get you there.

How long have you been training?

What rep and set routine have you been doing recently?

Switch it to 6reps x 5 sets heavy as you can go for that period. Bench once or twice a week or whatever you want. In 5-8 weeks you will start to see good results.

GOT TO EAT A LOT OF FOOD. I can not stress that enough in a person who wants to gain bulk. ALSO do SQUATS. If you do not squat you will not maximise your training. It will help to improve testerone levels = build muscle faster.

Why else do BB take Testerone injections and other stuff? They typically havea bout 10x the % then a 'normal' guy.

Got to sleep also. Get good sleep.

YOU WILL NOT get results over a 6-8 week period and be huge in that time UNLESS you are an absolute beginner and push hard for 2 months. It takes 'time' to get to a good size unless you are naturally big already.

SQUATS for size dude.

Koing

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: Koing

Originally posted by: Staley8
You can, it's called a drop set. I assume you are talking taking like 80lbs and doing 4-6, then quickly grabbing 55lbs and doing as many as you can, then finishing with say 30lbs as many as you can. I wouldn't do it all the time but once a month toss it in is good for you. I also am not a personal trainer though.

edit: and by the way, no matter how much weight you are doing you should push to failure. If you can do more than 12 (depending on your goals of course) without getting to failure, you are doing to light of weight

BS. You don't need to go to 'failure' to get bigger or stronger.

Koing

Ummmm, why would you not go to failure? Also I never said you NEED to go to failure to get bigger or stronger, I said you SHOULD push to failure. I guess I"m implying that if you want to see results faster lift intensely and lift to failure.

 

[AndrewR]

You're basically talking about pyramid training -- start lighter, go heavy, go back down to light. The variation I use, partially because it's faster, is half-pyramid, which simply means taking off the third step (work up to maximum then quit). I will sometimes throw in a superset of a really light weight after my maximum to get a really good burn.

If you weightlift at all, I highly suggest reading Muscle & Fitness. They have some great stuff in there. Even if you don't follow what they say exactly, you can get some good ideas on how to vary your training, and the monthly focus on a particular exercise will expand your knowledge about human musculature which enables you to develop personalized weight training plans to match your goals.

By the way, I don't work for M&F.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Staley8

Originally posted by: Koing

Originally posted by: Staley8
You can, it's called a drop set. I assume you are talking taking like 80lbs and doing 4-6, then quickly grabbing 55lbs and doing as many as you can, then finishing with say 30lbs as many as you can. I wouldn't do it all the time but once a month toss it in is good for you. I also am not a personal trainer though.

edit: and by the way, no matter how much weight you are doing you should push to failure. If you can do more than 12 (depending on your goals of course) without getting to failure, you are doing to light of weight

BS. You don't need to go to 'failure' to get bigger or stronger.

Koing

Ummmm, why would you not go to failure? Also I never said you NEED to go to failure to get bigger or stronger, I said you SHOULD push to failure. I guess I"m implying that if you want to see results faster lift intensely and lift to failure.

No man. Going to failure is not good all the time. You 'shouldn't push to failure' when you train. You can over train and get no results or less results because your body is beat all the time.

You can do this more if your on a number of drugs ala BB style as you are 'normal' but your body is in over drive.

Just bench once or twice a week, eat well and do squats and you will see results in a few months. You got to give it time. Also remember some people are luckier then others to start with. Some guys are stick thin and don't add weight so easily. Some guys just a bit more and train and pack on A LOT of weight. Some guys are just big built to start with. You see Arnie? Well he was never 'skinny' thin guy. He was pretty big and thick bodied before he got in to BB. It gives you an advantage but if you train, eat, sleep properly you can get there.

Koing

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: Koing

No man. Going to failure is not good all the time. You 'shouldn't push to failure' when you train. You can over train and get no results or less results because your body is beat all the time.

You can do this more if your on a number of drugs ala BB style as you are 'normal' but your body is in over drive.

Just bench once or twice a week, eat well and do squats and you will see results in a few months. You got to give it time. Also remember some people are luckier then others to start with. Some guys are stick thin and don't add weight so easily. Some guys just a bit more and train and pack on A LOT of weight. Some guys are just big built to start with. You see Arnie? Well he was never 'skinny' thin guy. He was pretty big and thick bodied before he got in to BB. It gives you an advantage but if you train, eat, sleep properly you can get there.

Koing

I know you lift a lot and have quite a bit of knowledge in the area, but if I still don't understand why I wouldn't push to failure everytime. My understanding is that you tear apart your muscle and force them to try and do more than they are able to. I guess if you try to do entire upper body 5 times a week you'd be over doing it. But I usually hit each body part once a week and really hit it hard. I guess each person would have to adjust according to his/her body but I would still recommend as heavy as possible as many times as possible for adding mass 4-10 reps depending on exercise.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: AndrewR
You're basically talking about pyramid training -- start lighter, go heavy, go back down to light. The variation I use, partially because it's faster, is half-pyramid, which simply means taking off the third step (work up to maximum then quit). I will sometimes throw in a superset of a really light weight after my maximum to get a really good burn.

If you weightlift at all, I highly suggest reading Muscle & Fitness. They have some great stuff in there. Even if you don't follow what they say exactly, you can get some good ideas on how to vary your training, and the monthly focus on a particular exercise will expand your knowledge about human musculature which enables you to develop personalized weight training plans to match your goals.

By the way, I don't work for M&F.

Don't you work for Cosmo?

 

[Geekbabe]

I'm a tall,long limbed,long torsed person with slender muscles I'm noticing some real overall improvements since I added squats and stiff legged lifts to my routine. Really spend some time getting your form down before worrying about greatly upping the weights and do full squats,it's easier on the knees. Also,eat well,lots of good protein,veggies,lots of water,several small meals thruout the day.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Geekbabe
I'm a tall,long limbed,long torsed person with slender muscles I'm noticing some real overall improvements since I added squats and stiff legged lifts to my routine. Really spend some time getting your form down before worrying about greatly upping the weights and do full squats,it's easier on the knees. Also,eat well,lots of good protein,veggies,lots of water,several small meals thruout the day.

Ditto. When you work your legs you will see a good change and it is typically faster then doing anything else. Being they are the biggest muscle groups in your body.

Staley8 Yeah going heavy to 4-10reps is good but going to failure for say too few reps at 4 isn't good or too high at 20reps or 15reps. You should do at least 30rep total volume.

To get size you need volume of training also.

The problem with going to failure is if you push too much on the 1st set you are pretty much finished and can't do much else after that. If you max out on the 1set set you are wrecked and can't do much for the 2nd, 3rd or 4th set. So if you say hit 6 or 8 reps and work on that for 4 sets you can get more volume in. Also if you go to failure you will be resting too long inbetween sets to get a good work out. The intensity is lowered because you rest too much.

If you can x reps for 4 or 5 sets and take no more then 2mins rest that is pretty good. But too light won't get you anywhere and too heavy won't either.

But the main thing in gaining size is work big muscle groups, rest and LOTS OF FOOD.

Koing

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: AndrewR
You're basically talking about pyramid training -- start lighter, go heavy, go back down to light. The variation I use, partially because it's faster, is half-pyramid, which simply means taking off the third step (work up to maximum then quit). I will sometimes throw in a superset of a really light weight after my maximum to get a really good burn.

If you weightlift at all, I highly suggest reading Muscle & Fitness. They have some great stuff in there. Even if you don't follow what they say exactly, you can get some good ideas on how to vary your training, and the monthly focus on a particular exercise will expand your knowledge about human musculature which enables you to develop personalized weight training plans to match your goals.

By the way, I don't work for M&F.

Don't you work for Cosmo?

Wouldn't mind being a photographer for them!