Weight Lifting techniques and tips | Page 3 | FerrariChat

Weight Lifting techniques and tips

Discussion in 'Health & Fitness' started by Skidkid, Nov 19, 2021.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. italiafan

    italiafan F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jul 19, 2006
    16,110
    Full Name:
    Stickbones Swagglesmith
    Skidkid and Maximus1973 like this.
  2. Maximus1973

    Maximus1973 Formula 3

    Oct 29, 2016
    1,358
    Here to help… pleasure.
     
  3. Skidkid

    Skidkid F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 25, 2005
    8,683
    Campbell, CA
    Full Name:
    John Zornes
    Well I guess I am off for a few days. Fell from a ladder and landed on my head on pavers; 9 staples on the top of my head. Fortunately, didn't lose consciousness, no blurry vision, no headache, etc. Just a large laceration and some whiplash. Could have been a LOT worse. Recover for a few days then ease back into it. I think the neck is the limiting factor right now.
     
  4. Sorry to hear, my friend.

    Rest up, and get well soon.
     
  5. TexasF355F1

    TexasF355F1 Six Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 2, 2004
    68,825
    Cloud-9
    Full Name:
    Jason
    Glad to hear you're alright. That's frightening.

    Wishes for a speedy recovery.
     
  6. Maximus1973

    Maximus1973 Formula 3

    Oct 29, 2016
    1,358
    oh crap! Could be worse, but still. speedy recovery and try to keep your diet in check to speed up recovery even more!
     
    Skidkid likes this.
  7. Skidkid

    Skidkid F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 25, 2005
    8,683
    Campbell, CA
    Full Name:
    John Zornes
    Last night was the first day back in the gym. It went pretty well. The neck is a tad more sore than yesterday morning but overall no big deal. Feels good to get back at it.
     
  8. Maximus1973

    Maximus1973 Formula 3

    Oct 29, 2016
    1,358
    Keep your loads on 65% from your 1 rep max and try to get a bit more blood (pump) in your muscles to speed up recovery.
    So stick with short rest breaks and keep reps at 12-15.
     
    Skidkid likes this.
  9. Gh21631

    Gh21631 F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2011
    8,325
    East
    Fortunately you are ok, just take it easy for a bit and ease your way back. Good luck in your recovery.
     
    Skidkid likes this.
  10. Skidkid

    Skidkid F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 25, 2005
    8,683
    Campbell, CA
    Full Name:
    John Zornes
    Agreed and thank you. It could have gone SOOOOO badly; I consider myself very lucky.
     
    wrs likes this.
  11. Thecadster

    Thecadster F1 Veteran
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 27, 2017
    6,705
    Indeed, you are lucky. My BIL lost his brother to a traumatic brain injury stemming from a ladder fall at his home. We also had a neighbor die the same way. Both of those fellas had wives and kids. Ladders scare the hell out of me. I do what I do best, and then pay for the rest.
     
    Skidkid likes this.
  12. italiafan

    italiafan F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jul 19, 2006
    16,110
    Full Name:
    Stickbones Swagglesmith
    Damn! I know someone who died from that. Count your blessings and take it slow.
     
    Thecadster and Skidkid like this.
  13. wrs

    wrs F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 11, 2015
    11,921
    Lakeway, Texas
    Full Name:
    William
    I am 65 and I work out 2 to 3 days per week with my own approach. I am interested in looking trim and fit with tone and definition. I am 6'3" and weigh 183 this morning. My goal was to get below 13% body fat. I was up around 18% and weighed about 195 a few years ago. I wanted to lose about 15 pounds and get down to athletic which is under 13%.

    I work out two to three times per week and like to allow two days for body rest between workouts which is why I don't always get 3 in per week. I work out chest on one day with abs mixed in along with some leg lifts from a seated position so my back isn't stressed. I do a pyramid with the bench press starting at 185 and working up to 205 in 5 lb increments doing 5 reps per set. I can't do 5 at 205 yet so I do two sets to get the complete number usually 3 and 2 or 4 and 3. I do 50 total reps on the pyramid with abs mixed in. On the bench/chest day I do situps on the decline bench in between bench press sets. I start with 30 reps and then do sets of 20 after the first one. After I get 60 reps on bench and 100-120 on situps I go do 10 minutes of yoga stretches. Then I go do two sets of 15 with the leg lifts. After that I will go back to the bench and do two sets of 15 with 165. Then I will do two sets of flys with maybe 40lbs or 35 followed by two sets of champagnes with 50 or 55 depending on fatigue. All of that with abs mixed in usually gets me to an hour and I am done with chest.

    On the alternate days I do several machines. I do a seated overhead press with 150lbs 10x, 30 reps ab crunches with 130lbs, 10 reps reverse flys with 100lbs and 10 seated push downs with 140lbs. I repeat that sequence 4 times which takes 5 minutes per round. Then I go and do bench with hand dumbells using 60 or 70 lbs to start and I will do 4 sets of 10 reps. That gets me to 30 minutes and then I do the 10 minute yoga, the leg lifts and then I do some overhead presses with the 80lb small fixed barbells (not on each hand, total). I also do several other of the lifts that focus on the deltoids.

    I started out in 2016 with a trainer who showed me some of these exercises and we worked together for about two years two times per week. After that I went on my own. Here is where I am now. My wife bought this Arboleaf scale in September which measures body fat. Prior to that I had to use ones the trainer had. I cab bench 225 once but I want to be able to do it 5x eventually so that is my current goal.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
    Thecadster likes this.
  14. Thecadster

    Thecadster F1 Veteran
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 27, 2017
    6,705
    That’s impressive. Well done.
     
    wrs likes this.
  15. wrs

    wrs F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 11, 2015
    11,921
    Lakeway, Texas
    Full Name:
    William
    You look less than 10% body fat, that's outstanding.
     
  16. wrs

    wrs F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 11, 2015
    11,921
    Lakeway, Texas
    Full Name:
    William
    Eating right is important and if you add a tablespoon of raw flaxseed oil in that quark you will help fight cancer and inflammation according to Dr. Budwig.
     
  17. Maximus1973

    Maximus1973 Formula 3

    Oct 29, 2016
    1,358
    Very nice stats; especially for your age.

    Few quick pointers….
    Scales are horrible to determine bodyfat. 12,4% means your abs are clearly visible.

    I hope you do start your lifer, you mention bench press here, with at least 2-3 warm up sets; especially as your first exercise on a body part.
    If you start chest with bench preses and you aim to do a few reps with 220lbs than start out like this:
    15 reps x 50 lbs
    10 reps x 100lbs
    6 reps x 150lbs
    4 reps x 190lbs

    And then you start your ‘work sets’ .
    If you want to top out at 220lbs than skip the constant and slow 5lbs add ons/. They will drain your strength. Shoot for 15lbs increments.

    Also keep in mind that strength training and muscle building require different training styles.
    If you have a weak point for example in your bench press, identify it and focus on it. For most lifters it’s a few inches off your chest, for a minority it’s the lock out part. The first is explosive chest muscle fibers; you can train them with doing pause reps. The later is heavy lock out of close grips presses.

    Good luck!
     
    AtomicPunk88, Skidkid and wrs like this.
  18. wrs

    wrs F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 11, 2015
    11,921
    Lakeway, Texas
    Full Name:
    William
    Definitely have visible abs and I know that body fat measurement is not precise. I had one of the laser scans done back in the fall of 2019 and I was at 15% weighing 187. When I was 31 I had a friend who worked in the athletic department at UT and he got me a measurement in the bathtub they have for football players. It said 7% at 178 but I was much younger.

    Thanks for the pointers, that is very helpful and will provide some good variation for my muscles.
     
  19. Maximus1973

    Maximus1973 Formula 3

    Oct 29, 2016
    1,358
    Glad to help, but please don’t skip on the warm up protocol. As we get older it becomes more important.
     
    wrs likes this.
  20. Skidkid

    Skidkid F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 25, 2005
    8,683
    Campbell, CA
    Full Name:
    John Zornes
    Had a 2 week vacation in Belize. Got back last night and headed to the gym at 5:00 to get back at it. Excited to hit it hard again.
     
    Maximus1973 likes this.
  21. Skidkid

    Skidkid F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 25, 2005
    8,683
    Campbell, CA
    Full Name:
    John Zornes
  22. Maximus1973

    Maximus1973 Formula 3

    Oct 29, 2016
    1,358
    Few pointers, try to focus a lot more on the stretch part of the triceps aka the part behind your head is the most important part.
    The top part is what your focussing on is the strongest part, but it's also the least important part. I could actually care less if you even make it to full contraction. Most 'older' lifters generally have issues with going full contraction on this exercise.
    You want to focus on 'stretching' the muscle aka making it longer. That's where the 'money' is.
    The best way to do so is the drop that bar way behind your head AND focus on shifting your elbows more to your shoulders. When going full contraction, your arm should actually be in a decent position so there is constant tension on the triceps. Your form looks good, but mechanically you can wring so much more out of tghis exercise.
    Simply decrease the weight and you will feel a much, much better contraction and mind muscle connection. Going for max weight on this exercise is a guarantee for injury... trust me!
    Also please do this exercise later in your program and never ever frist. You want your elbows nice and greased and warmed up.
    Skullcrushers is actually the incorrect name; these should be called elbow crushers! Treat them with respect.
     
    Thecadster likes this.
  23. Skidkid

    Skidkid F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Aug 25, 2005
    8,683
    Campbell, CA
    Full Name:
    John Zornes
    This was very near the end of my program; because yes, I take a long time to warm up well. I suspect my flexibility is far more than you are used to seeing. I can reach over a shoulder with one hand, up from behind with the other, and lock my fingers behind my back. I am 6'6" so I have a very long lean build and I have always been super flexible. In this exercise the bar is several inches below my face; any lower is shoulder rotation not tricep stretch. We often drop set this into a standing version with dumbbells. That can give a lot more stretch to the tricep, is low weight (maybe 20lb dumbbells), and really drives a huge pump.
     
  24. Maximus1973

    Maximus1973 Formula 3

    Oct 29, 2016
    1,358
    You’d be surprised to hear that based on EMG’s the shoulder involvement with this exercise is negligible. You should be able to comfortable drop the bar well below your head. That’s when the actual stretch on the triceps starts. Try it once, drop the weight and you’ll feel the difference right away. Beter pump and safer that way.
    Whatch my buddy John perform this with kettlebells and see how far he tries to stretch and how he focuses on that:
     
  25. Maximus1973

    Maximus1973 Formula 3

    Oct 29, 2016
    1,358
    Found this gem too. Have a look at 1:50 as that’s where the magic starts and follow big mike; he understands movement patterns like few people do:

     

Share This Page