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[Petrie]

It's crazy to me how far ahead Petrie's OHP is compared to mine when my bench is not nearly as far behind and much easier to progress in. Those must be bowling ball sized delts.

Has more to do with a clavicle issue I was working through for a lot of the last year I'd bet, my bench is theoretically higher, but I've continued to take it slow and steady because of a recurring pain I had there.

When you add to that 10 years in bars/restaurants carrying heavy ass trays as well, and the pieces come together a bit more.

Mostly the clavicle though. On bench for my BBB I'm doing 145, well over the 50% of my 1RM I do for everything else.

 

[blackflag]

I'm on 175 for OHP this cycle too. Should be able to at least get 2 probably more.

 

[L0st Id3ntity]

Didn't mean to imply you were a dummy. I'm just kind of jaded from seeing so many bros try to jump from 135lb to 185lb on Bench, fail miserably and then complain they "have bad genetics" because they aren't making any gains.

There is a nice guy in my gym who casually jokes about my micro loading especially on the bench, he's always like "add on 12lbs I'll spot you brah". lol

Some people have no idea how to properly get stronger, less than a year ago I was one of them.

 

[goober]

I am curious, what is making you not be confident? all gyms have trainers that will teach you basic stuff, combine that with reading, watching, etc. If you have doubts about anything you read or see in the internet, you can come here and ask.

EDIT: oh, college gym, you have a coach or trainer there?

Yeah, no trainers there. You're basically on your own

 

[kylej]

if you have absolutely no idea how to perform any lift you will still probably use better form than a lot of the people you see in the gym.

I definitely get the confidence thing though. It is hard to walk into a gym for the first time. Hell that first step kept me out of the gym a lot longer than it should have.

 

[goober]

if you have absolutely no idea how to perform any lift you will still probably use better form than a lot of the people you see in the gym.

I definitely get the confidence thing though. It is hard to walk into a gym for the first time. Hell that first step kept me out of the gym a lot longer than it should have.

I'm also on break right now, so like I said, all I have are dumbbells.

Any suggestions for exercises for the 3 weeks I'm here?

 

[Davidion]

Yeah, no trainers there. You're basically on your own

You can do most of the major lifts with dumbbells, though you may need to adjust the technique.

Bench Press - actually harder with dumbbells since you don't have a central axle to stabilize yourself on.
Deadlifts - The range of motion and action has to change due to the size of the dumbbells and their physical difference from barbells. More specifically, you likely won't be picking them up from the ground. Look up how to do Romanian deadlifts for a variation that works a bit better on the dumbbells
Squats - You can hold them on your shoulders and do front squats if they're light, but as the weight increases you'll likely have to do the regular variant and hold them at your sides. Having started with this and switched to barbell squats, the two can barely be compared; holding a barbell on your shoulders drastically changes the muscles you activate. However, you make do with what you have.
Overhead Press - This is pretty straight forward, works similar in scope to the bench press

Look at the starting strength exercises and make what adjustments necessary; replace power cleans with overhead presses unless you can find someone to suggest a decent dumbbell alternative. Make what small adjustment you deem fit for your own schedule.

I got into a serious workout schedule the same way, with dumbbells only except in a company gym. It's not ideal, but you're not crippled by any means and can make some decent advancements, at least enough to pull yourself out of the "skinny-fat" hole and make you stronger than most of the average people out there. Come here or find other workout forums where you feel comfortable for support; you can't hope to exceed by looking to average people for approval.

 

[FallingEdge]

I do 165 for 1+ this week and it scares me!

Good luck!

You too buddy. Can't be afraid. No problem!

Are you a wizard?

175lb OHP for reps is no joke, that's for sure. It's fucking awesome.

Yeah, I am pretty excited. Can't wait to see what I can do.

I'm on 175 for OHP this cycle too. Should be able to at least get 2 probably more.

Nice man. You and I seem to be around the same weight for OHP and Bench. From what I remember, you are bigger than me and have great shoulder/trap development. One day, I will catch up to you!

GL sir.

YEAH BUDDY. LIGHTWEIGHT!

 

[Noema]

Some people have no idea how to properly get stronger, less than a year ago I was one of them.

My experience in gyms shows me that most people have no idea how to get stronger, and the people who, despite this do manage to get stronger, owe it to great genetics, not smart training. And ego gets in the way of progress for many. It's sad, really.

And speaking of the Overhead Press

YEAH BUDDY. LIGHTWEIGHT!

 

[kylej]

I'm also on break right now, so like I said, all I have are dumbbells.

Any suggestions for exercises for the 3 weeks I'm here?

You can temporarily substitute dumbbells for barbells if that's all you have. Dumbbell bench, dumbbell shoulder press, 1 arm bent over rows, weighted lunges, curls, etc. You're not really going to be able to follow a progressive program though.

 

[Captain Knutsman]

I'm also on break right now, so like I said, all I have are dumbbells.

Any suggestions for exercises for the 3 weeks I'm here?

If you only have dumbbells, you can substitute regular squats with goblin squats

 

[Draft]

Goblin squats :lol

 

[parrotbeak]

I call them orc squats but they are the same thing.

I read that Ronnie Coleman pic in the song voice until the last panel, when it switched to Ronnie.

 

[kylej]

someone needs to make a 15 minute mp3 of Ronnie yelling shit so I can put it on my iPod and get hyped up in the gym. even better would be if you laid his voice over some hard hiphop

 

[FallingEdge]

thank you based ROCK

 

[L0st Id3ntity]

Where do you guys fit power cleans in? SS has them once a week with squats, I feel good doing them but can never do them with fresh legs, always after heavy squats. Progressing slowly.

 

[Eidan]

thank you based ROCK

Dwayne is making me feel like a skinny-fat loser.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

I just don't get how it's physically possible for your lower back to not round during ATG squats. Today I did a set of 145lbs (a new PR, don't laugh), and I had someone form-check me. He said everything was great, that I was going deep and I was driving with my legs/hips, so my back was nice and straight. And while I felt great (no pain anywhere, just jelly legs), I could feel my lower back round at the very bottom. I have the flexibility to go really deep on squats, and there's a distinct moment where I could feel my hips "drop" out of place cause my lower back rounds. Again, it doesn't cause me any pain and I get a terrific workout, but it still has me somewhat concerned since I hear that your lower back should never round.

 

[agrajag]

If you only have dumbbells, you can substitute regular squats with goblin squats

lmao goblins

 

[Noema]

I just don't get how it's physically possible for your lower back to not round during ATG squats. Today I did a set of 145lbs (a new PR, don't laugh), and I had someone form-check me. He said everything was great, that I was going deep and I was driving with my legs/hips, so my back was nice and straight. And while I felt great (no pain anywhere, just jelly legs), I could feel my lower back round at the very bottom. I have the flexibility to go really deep on squats, and there's a distinct moment where I could feel my hips "drop" out of place cause my lower back rounds. Again, it doesn't cause me any pain and I get a terrific workout, but it still has me somewhat concerned since I hear that your lower back should never round.

You need to improve your hip / ankle flexibility, and remember to keep your chest up.

Do this everyday.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

You need to improve your hip / ankle flexibility, and remember to keep your chest up.

Do this everyday.

I'll work on this, thanks.

 

[L0st Id3ntity]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUOARxaXm8w

Smash your genetics!

Why am I a subscriber.

 

[balddemon]

205 on bench 3x5. I feel strong for my weight (182) but I'm not very big at all

 

[Mr.City]

Where do you guys fit power cleans in? SS has them once a week with squats, I feel good doing them but can never do them with fresh legs, always after heavy squats. Progressing slowly.

Do you mean that you can't do them after squats?

 

[reilo]

Impressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGQ7ZrVg7L0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

At the same time, she's bending her back a little too much imo. Anyone else?

 

[rando14]

Impressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGQ7ZrVg7L0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

At the same time, she's bending her back a little too much imo. Anyone else?

There's more forgiveness for 1 rm powerlifting.

 

[blackflag]

Nice man. You and I seem to be around the same weight for OHP and Bench. From what I remember, you are bigger than me and have great shoulder/trap development. One day, I will catch up to you!

GL sir.

YEAH BUDDY. LIGHTWEIGHT!

Yeah we are about the same on several lifts. I don't have big traps I don't think but my deltas are probably by far my best part besides my dick lol.

I'm going on a hardcore cut starting today so we'll see how I hold up. Gonna eat like 2k and add in 30 min of light cardio. Gonna see how long I can hold up doing that. I'll bail if I lose too much strength but I'm trying to drop 25-30 before I start bulking seriously.

 

[blackflag]

Impressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGQ7ZrVg7L0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

At the same time, she's bending her back a little too much imo. Anyone else?

Yeah a bit but that definitely looked like a max effort 1rm. It'll happen a bit on those.

 

[Noema]

Impressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGQ7ZrVg7L0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

At the same time, she's bending her back a little too much imo. Anyone else?

Yep. Her back is completely round during the lift. Women usually have the opposite problem (hyper-extension), but then again, it's a 1RM.

Still, that's pretty awesome. That's probably like a 3x bodyweight deadlift, or close to it.

 

[TheDarkStark]

So I changed gyms because I moved, and today was the first day at the new gym. It's the same chain, different location

Decent place especially for the money ($10 a month) . There was one guy though who was probably in the neighborhood 6'1 260 lbs bench pressing and fucking dropping the weight on the rack and shit and grunting insanely loud..... To make matters worse, this guy is wearing a shirt with the company's name on it which leads me to believe he works there.... and he wasn't putting up shit for weight at his size either. I mean the guy did 5 x 225 and 1 x 275....

If I'm 175lbs and I'm on the bench right next to you doing the same amount of weight without slamming and grunting.... How do you not feel like a fucking idiot?

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

So I changed gyms because I moved, and today was the first day at the new gym. It's the same chain, different location

Decent place especially for the money ($10 a month) . There was one guy though who was probably in the neighborhood 6'1 260 lbs bench pressing and fucking dropping the weight on the rack and shit and grunting insanely loud..... To make matters worse, this guy is wearing a shirt with the company's name on it which leads me to believe he works there.... and he wasn't putting up shit for weight at his size either. I mean the guy did 5 x 225 and 1 x 275....

If I'm 175lbs and I'm on the bench right next to you doing the same amount of weight without slamming and grunting.... How do you not feel like a fucking idiot?

If you're gonna do shit like this you're gonna be a bad trainer.

You don't know where he is in his training, how long he's been training, the kind of day he's had or anything about him other than his shirt; yet here you are judging the weight he's putting up.

Take a step back and really look at what you're doing.

 

[TheDarkStark]

If you're gonna do shit like this you're gonna be a bad trainer.

You don't know where he is in his training, how long he's been training, the kind of day he's had or anything about him other than his shirt; yet here you are judging the weight he's putting up.

Take a step back and really look at what you're doing.

I don't care about what weight he's putting up. I realize everyone starts somewhere and that big =/= strong. But people who intentionally slam weights down are dickheads. It's one thing if you're in a powerlifting type gym and are dropping the bumper weights on padded floors to save your strength for the next power clean, this is something else entirely.

And he was absolutely doing it intentionally, you can tell when somebody is just struggling and when they're intentionally slamming it down for attention or whatever. It's not hard to rack the bar on the bench press, I've never in my life come across a person who could get the bar up high enough to rack it but didn't have the strength to set it down easy.

 

[Spiritreaver]

So I'm back home and have to workout at the YMCA here. Apparently a new fad has started here, Smith benching. I saw 5 guys do it today. Only me and one other guy were using the benches. So weird.

Even saw a guy supersetting Smith flat bench with Smith shrugs. Using both Smith machines to do it. Then some guys after that did Smith seated shoulder presses.

Why haven't these machines fallen apart yet?

I'm not judging them for using it, but, Jesus. I've never seen a Smith receive that much attention in any gym.

Also I got some new shoes and the gym's floor make for a terrible combination. I lost my footing while trying to get into position during incline bench. WTF? Thank god I had someone lifting me off.

 

[HisshouBuraiKen]

Why haven't these machines fallen apart yet?

They're frictionless! The bar doesn't actually weigh anything it's just an illusion. Frees up more benches/racks for you anyways right?

I work out at the Y too (free membership through work) and the crowd there is actually pretty decent, most people are friendly and have good gym etiquette. Not looking forward to the new year's tsunami though, I think they tend to hit an all-inclusive family place like a YMCA twice as hard.

 

[parrotbeak]

This year will be my second January at the Y, and last year it wasn't bad at all because the weight room is separate from the machines and cardio. Parking was bad though. But all in all, it was useable, unlike my previous gym where sometimes I would walk in and turn right around and go run hills instead.

 

[L0st Id3ntity]

Do you mean that you can't do them after squats?

I can and always do, but I don't feel powerful enough, I manage but it's not very pretty, unless I drop the weight to more than 3reps territory.

 

[FallingEdge]

I can and always do, but I don't feel powerful enough, I manage but it's not very pretty, unless I drop the weight to more than 3reps territory.

I know that feel. For me, I have to make power cleans either my first lift or my main lift. After I am done with my set/reps, I am exhausted. If I choose to do them after deads/squats, they are at a lower weight. I've heard people using them as a way to get things started and as a warmup. Really get that CNS going.

 

[Noema]

I can and always do, but I don't feel powerful enough, I manage but it's not very pretty, unless I drop the weight to more than 3reps territory.

Well, Rippetoe recommends doing 5 sets of 3 on Power cleans instead of the usual 3 sets of 5 precisely for this reason. Specially if you don't have bumper plates and you have to lower the bar instead of dropping it.

 

[Spiritreaver]

thank you based ROCK

Man, my legs wouldn't look too bad next to the Rock's. I was happy last week to see that I have some crazy striations popping out of my quads, especially my right.

They pop a bit more now than when I took this, but you can kinda see. Sorry for the instagram shit. I imagine if I cut down more I'd pretty much be nearly contest ready.

Also me yesterday:

 

[FallingEdge]

I don't think I have ever had definition in my legs like that. Always just been big tree trunks.

 

[despire]

Interested to see what happens tomorrow. I've now been cutting week with excess calories on training days (LG ofc). Would be awesome if I can manage more reps tomorrow with squats than last week. But let's see.

Also RPT gives me pretty bad DOMS even though it's so low volume

 

[BlueScrote]

I don't care about what weight he's putting up. I realize everyone starts somewhere and that big =/= strong. But people who intentionally slam weights down are dickheads. It's one thing if you're in a powerlifting type gym and are dropping the bumper weights on padded floors to save your strength for the next power clean, this is something else entirely.

And he was absolutely doing it intentionally, you can tell when somebody is just struggling and when they're intentionally slamming it down for attention or whatever. It's not hard to rack the bar on the bench press, I've never in my life come across a person who could get the bar up high enough to rack it but didn't have the strength to set it down easy.

How do you slam plates on bench press? I guess I just don't see there being much movement between where the finished motion places the bar and where the racked resting place is.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

You need to improve your hip / ankle flexibility, and remember to keep your chest up.

Do this everyday.

I guess I'm not as flexible as I thought because this exercise fucking hurt. Goddamn. It especially strained my quads.

 

[HisshouBuraiKen]

I don't think I have ever had definition in my legs like that. Always just been big tree trunks.

You and me both man...there's not even that much fat on mine (relatively speaking). I have a double hourglass shape going...lats go out, waist goes in, love handles go out, hips go in, quads go out...

140 x 4.5 today on OHP 5/3/1...sad I couldn't quite hit 5 but like always, the fact that I'm doing them without destroying, tweaking, or otherwise negatively impacting my neck at all is a point of pride.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Man, my legs wouldn't look too bad next to the Rock's. I was happy last week to see that I have some crazy striations popping out of my quads, especially my right.

They pop a bit more now than when I took this, but you can kinda see. Sorry for the instagram shit. I imagine if I cut down more I'd pretty much be nearly contest ready.

Also me yesterday:

U ain't even dat mad doe.

 

[TheDarkStark]

How do you slam plates on bench press? I guess I just don't see there being much movement between where the finished motion places the bar and where the racked resting place is.

Exactly. He was like literally getting the bar as high above the rack as he could and just dropping it.... WTF?

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0YjR4xpujjQ#!

Get humbled.

 

[balddemon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0YjR4xpujjQ#!

Get humbled.

sheesh. he looked like he could have done all those for reps with ease.

i'm jelly of that squat.

 

[Dash27]

FitnessGaF: What if anything do you do to get yourself ready to lift a challenging weight?

I'm not one to grunt or groan for instance, and neither is anyone I lift with. We had one person join us who liked to do it though, and he said it's what he was used to.

I do tend to grab the bar and violently shake it once or twice in the rack before I get under it though on heavy squats. It's not particularly loud, just one of my ways of getting ready.

I also have a little ritual where I put a hoodie up or a hat on down close to my eyes almost like blinders to block everything out. I walk down to a picture on a wall at my gym and fist bump the image of a fist there, then walk back and do my lift. Usually only near PR weight, not everyday.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

FitnessGaF: What if anything do you do to get yourself ready to lift a challenging weight?

I'm not one to grunt or groan for instance, and neither is anyone I lift with. We had one person join us who liked to do it though, and he said it's what he was used to.

I do tend to grab the bar and violently shake it once or twice in the rack before I get under it though on heavy squats. It's not particularly loud, just one of my ways of getting ready.

I also have a little ritual where I put a hoodie up or a hat on down close to my eyes almost like blinders to block everything out. I walk down to a picture on a wall at my gym and fist bump the image of a fist there, then walk back and do my lift. Usually only near PR weight, not everyday.

Nothing. I get under the weight and lift it like a boss, because I am a boss.