Gym achievements

[Admiral Huddy]

Impressive lifts from both of you

I haven't attempted any max lifts since last Christmas but I've lifted the following within the last 10 days:

Squat: 190 x 5
Deadlift: 195 x 5 x 5
Bench: 125 x 5

I'll probably have a go at hitting a few PBs in 5 or 6 weeks and hope to bench 150, squat 220 and deadlift 230+.

pretty impressive..

the squats are made up of what... 8x20Kg + 2x2.5 + bar @ 25kg?
I'd struggle with that on a multi-lift.

 

[Bakedgoods]

The bar will be 20KG if it's a standard olympic bar.

It is impressive though!

 

[Jeffstar]

What sort of training are you doing? Either way, you're still the one moving the weight and they aren't exactly light.

I'm really considering HIT after Christmas. Although my lifts are nowhere near yours, my friend I train with is a good 4 stone or more heavier than me and i'm matching him for every lift and benching 10KG more

Admittedly he could probably push out few more reps in the squats though.

My routine is basically hitting each body part twice per week, one session all out poundage and the other lighter + more isolation. We do volume training so sets are always quite high, certainly a lot higher than i see quoted on this forum anyway.

Will be interesting to see how you go on with HIT old skool style!

 

[Freefaller]

Huddy - I do concentrate on technique, as bad form can lead to injuries as we all know. And yes I push it but then I also do a week of lighter weights at higher reps in between, it gives a good variation.

Didn't realise there were so many strong guys on here! It's great to see, I'll definitely have to start asking for more advice in future!

Knees are definitely the weak point for me, as I'm sure it is with most people.

When you guys do shoulders do you use the bench as a back support or do you do the shoulders unsupported? I find sitting on those exercise balls and using the rack makes it very important to keep the core strong but also means having to keep the weight a lot lower than having your back supported.

Richard - progress is progress, doesn't matter if the weights are smaller than a lot of people's here, you're into double figures now and doubled your ability - you should be proud.

On lighter weeks I might push the reps up, but I've always been advised than anything over 12 is a waste... Still not sure on that.

 

[Bakedgoods]

I am a beginner at the gym but have improved from shoulder pressing 8kg dumbells (i know its really weedy) to pressing 15 kg dumbells in 7 weeks of gyming. Really happy with that improvement. I have also achieved gains in bench press and my arms.

Thats really good wardie, i only weigh 9 stone but can only just bench 50kg!

Well by the sounds of it you're on the right track, there's no reason you wont be doing the same as me or more when you get to my weight. Are you vertically challenged like myself?

Thanks for the complement

 

[semi-pro waster]

I might as well join in with my feeble attempts. I'm currently 6'4" and about 11 stones so fairly slightly built. I've recently (this week) started doing squats and next week I intend to start deadlifts as well so the rest of my current lifts are as follows (all 3 sets of 8 leading up to that weight unless stated):

Flat bench - 55kg or about 65-70kg on a machine
Shoulder press - 6x15kg dumbells or 25kg on the machine
Leg press - 132.5kg
Leg curl and extension - 65-75kg for both
Squats - 50kg + whatever the bar on a Smith machine weighs (I'll try to work it out tonight)
Calf raises - 60kg + whatever the bar on a Smith machine weights
Chest press - 75kg but only on a machine, not sure about dumbell weights currently
Pull ups (narrow grip with palm facing me) - 3x8
Chins (wide grip, palms away) - 2x6
Lat pulldowns - 65kg
Bicep curls - 15kg

 

[richard104]

Well by the sounds of it you're on the right track, there's no reason you wont be doing the same as me or more when you get to my weight. Are you vertically challenged like myself?

Thanks for the complement

I am about 5'10 so not that short but rather quite lanky

Thanks for the support guys, i train 3 times a week so i can recover in between. The whey protein helps a lot even though i havent been taking it recently as my shaker broke .

Rich

 

[Freefaller]

Once you've got the technique right SPW try and move away from machines and use free weights - you'll get so much more out of it. And don't worry about "feeble" attempts, it's all about improving and being proud of what you've achieved. Some of the guys here have been going at it for years so it's clear that others will be at a different level.

I mean for myself, at 6'1" being around 14 1/2 stone I think is quite a good build to be at, but I'd ideally like to be closer to 15 stone, and maintain that and refine/define more once i get there. I'd love to get really strong (without looking like an ogre), but you don't have to be a huge mofo to do that. Look at killa ken he's around my weight but his maxes are a a fair bit more than mine though we tend to have similar weight four our day-to-day workouts.

 

[Chong Warrior]

These are the weights I hit on my last heavy phase. Starting a new one on Monday and hoping to beat them all (except Squats)

Deadlifts - 1x185kg, 3x180kg
Squats - 5x150kg - No interest in going higher without knee-straps, more volume only.
Bench Press - 1x132.5kg
Incline Dumbell Press - 2x60's
Clean & Press - 2x85kg - Favourite exercise, only been doing a couple months, hoping for big gains in coming months.
Bent-Over Barbell Row - 5x140kg
Chins - 4reps +20kg @ 16st bodyweight (102kg)
Dips - 5reps +43kg @ 16st bodyweight
Standing Calf Raise - 21x230kg @16st bodyweight
Seated arnold Press - 5x40's
SLDL's - 10x110kg

Some of my lifts are out of balance due to the injuries I've picked up this year. Also got hit by car last autumn that tore my leg muscle and knackered my lower back putting me out for action for months.
Pulled my hamstring at football 3x times this year which has severely hampered my deadlifting. Though I'm content with 150kg squats for now, as I'm worried about having such huge weights on my shoulders as I lift raw, no knee straps. Just going to stay at that weight and try and push the reps up for a while.

Well happy with my incline DB bench which I think is my best lift, especially considering I train alone and have to get those badboys into position solo

 

[Clipsey]

Didn't realise there were so many strong guys on here!

It's always good to know people are really pushing themselves.
It's such a shame because my local gym shut down a couple months back. It was real 'Rocky style' from the 80's and the guys that went there were pure bodybuilders or power lifters (always arguing - 'alright fatty', 'yeah not bad weakling'). The place was stacked with trophies and awards. There was nearly always 3 or 4 ppl standing around a bench egging one another on. Lifting with chains was a knew thing to me (mega chains to trick the muscles) but jeez some of the lifts they could do were insane. All nice blokes though. But now it's shut down
Gym now is cool and $16 a month and has fit women there instead .

I've been reading a good book lately about food more so than anything called 'Abs Diet' it's by the Editor in Chief of Mens Health magazine. It's only $9 and well worth a read to give you a real insight into food. Has been inspiring me a lot more recently to keep doing healthy shops.
Keep it up fella's

 

[Clipsey]

I train alone and have to get those badboys into position solo

I have that same trouble and is holding me back on my Chest. I can really max out on my back for instance but not my Chest. Small price to pay I guess to be able to listen to Russell Brand/Ricky Gervais whilst working out.

 

[Killa_ken]

Killa_ken - I can't believe we weigh the same and you're doing such impressive weights!! That's awesome it really is, certainly from the progress you've done. I guess if I had started off in the gym as slight as you were maybe my progress would have been higher? I'm still able to increase the weight and still getting better/stronger but I'm moving a little more slowly now - but I'm happy nonetheless.

Aye, Im not the biggest lad on the team by far, I play strong safety so I don't have to be quite that big, just sodding quick. I believe I made a lengthy post a while back about how I'd progressed and what I'd done, I'm not someone who was built to be big, and initially a lot of what I packed on was fat. I started cutting a few months back by running stadium stairs, this mixed with football practice was shifting the pounds a lot more then I liked, I ended up adopting an old method called squats and milk, It gets you back to basics and just involves nice volume lifts and drinking lots of milk (skimmed.) Now I put on some size but as you said, for the lifts I do I'm not anywhere near big enough but as said, I'm not a big guy naturally so I can only assume I have peculiarly strong muscle fibers.

The best thing I can advice you is to ALWAYS move up 2.5lbs every workout on each excersize, it has worked wonders for me and it constantly pushes you, even if you cant do the extra 2.5lbs just tell you self you can and get a spotter to help you get the last few reps.

As was once said - "Everyone wants to be a bodybuilder, but no one wants to lift no huge weights!"

 

[Killa_ken]

These are the weights I hit on my last heavy phase. Starting a new one on Monday and hoping to beat them all (except Squats)

Deadlifts - 1x185kg, 3x180kg
Squats - 5x150kg - No interest in going higher without knee-straps, more volume only.
Bench Press - 1x132.5kg
Incline Dumbell Press - 2x60's
Clean & Press - 2x85kg - Favourite exercise, only been doing a couple months, hoping for big gains in coming months.
Bent-Over Barbell Row - 5x140kg
Chins - 4reps +20kg @ 16st bodyweight (102kg)
Dips - 5reps +43kg @ 16st bodyweight
Standing Calf Raise - 21x230kg @16st bodyweight
Seated arnold Press - 5x40's
SLDL's - 10x110kg

Some of my lifts are out of balance due to the injuries I've picked up this year. Also got hit by car last autumn that tore my leg muscle and knackered my lower back putting me out for action for months.
Pulled my hamstring at football 3x times this year which has severely hampered my deadlifting. Though I'm content with 150kg squats for now, as I'm worried about having such huge weights on my shoulders as I lift raw, no knee straps. Just going to stay at that weight and try and push the reps up for a while.

Well happy with my incline DB bench which I think is my best lift, especially considering I train alone and have to get those badboys into position solo

Morba, Is that your once rep max for your bench? Your lift some big weights but the bench seems out of place

You must have some meaty calves by the way

 

[Morba]

not me sir :]

my max's would be nowhere near any of those at the moment.

 

[b1uepower]

This is my gym plan

Hammer Press 60kg
Incline Press 56kg
Pec Deck 56kg
Barbell Curls 30kg
Hammer Curls 25kg
Seated Leg Press 178kg
Calf Raises 178kg
Seated Leg Curls 63kg
Shoulder press 45kg
Front & Lat Raises 10kg
Lat Pull down 56kg
Wide Grip seated row 63g
Pull-ups 45kg
Dips 30kg
Cable Push Downs 56kg

I do 4 sets of 10 on everything there and i split it over 3 days and 1 day cardio.
Also with my new diet and Reflex shakes i can see i big improvement and a nice weight loss

 

[Killa_ken]

not me sir :]

my max's would be nowhere near any of those at the moment.

doh

 

[SK07]

Achievements I'd say is I've dropped in weight by quite a lot (2-3 stone in 4 months) dropped in body fat by about 8% (18.9% now) aiming for 15% over the next couple of months hopefully, might be less due to me upping my cardio but only time will tell. Diet is clean and I drink water religiously.

Another achievement I'd say is being able to run at a fast pace (bout 12-13 on the treadmill) for around 30 minutes without getting a stitch or other related problems and it's actually enjoyable whereas before I hated the treadmill due to the fact I couldn't run 5 minutes without getting a stitch. Over the past 4 months fitness has greatly improved, alough naturally strong my lifts have increased a lot, put on some muscle but my main goal currently is to keep dropping the fat off but im trying to maintain at 200lbs by weight training heavy and hard to preserve what I can, so put it this way if I got down to 10% and didn't go below 190 I'd be pretty chuffed.

As far as lifts are concerned:

Bench = 100KG x 5
Squat = 165KGx5
Incline DB Flys = 35KGx5
Bar Curl = 50KGx5
Lat Raise = 142KGx5

not all the exercises but just a few, pretty happy at progress, even though I'd say im naturally strong I'd say it's going well.

 

[PAz]

My PB's (last summer when I was going at it hard)

Deadlift 215kg x1
Power Clean 100kg x5
Bench 115kg x1
Squat 140kg x2

At the moment for reps (after some lackluster training)

Squats 100kg
Bench 80kg
Power Clean 80kg

 

[bam0]

Incline Dumbell Press - 2x60's

Nice numbers, but specifically you're lucky to have the above, dumbells top out at my place at 40KG
I can do 8x36/38/40 now, which was my xmas goal, shame I have to head back to a bar to get heavier. (And pushing bars is very different).

 

[Shicky]

Wardie did anything inparticular help you with form for squats and SLDL's? Think i've got squats nailed but deads just arent right