Lifting Stats

I just hit 185 on the bench, I'll be really excited when I hit 200. I'm hoping to be at 225 in the not too distant future.

 

I did the 12 oz curl 36 times one night in college. never "maxed out" again!

 

Why is this the most asked question when people find out you work out?

I rarely do regular bench.....mostly free weights.

 

My "max" has never been "amazing" because I also run a lot. So my stats are....

I was 160#, 5'10" and I benched 225x9 times. That day I was also able to run a 5:15 mile (really slow compared to when I used to run competitively).

 

My numbers are all over the place. I've never gone for a max on anything so I have no idea what those numbers are... The numbers posted below are what I was lifting this week (usually 3 sets of 8).

Deadlift: 315lb
Squat: 225lb (my legs are my weakest link - really small & disproportionate)
Flat bench DB press: 180lb (2 x 90lb.. only 10lbs away from having to find another gym hah)
Sup-grip BB row: 185lb
Pull-downs: 180lb
Dips: BW + 90lb

Missing a bunch of lifts, but my brain is fried after a long day's work...

 

Flat bench - 205 currently
Military shoulder press (front of neck) - 135 currently
Skull crushers - 60 lbs + weight of curl bar whatever that is
Dips - body weight 14-16 reps, 3 sets
Curls, 60 lb curl bar, 3 sets of "21s" these kill me

That's all I can think of.

RMX

 

Here is an amazing chart if you want to see your rough max without the risk. It's very, very close from what I've seen and heard. I've tried it on different lifts of mine and it's almost always +-10lb of your max.

http://www.criticalbench.com/chart.htm

 

I avoided the bench press for one year, a big chest is not ideal for punching (my goals). My max did not go down, probably because of the heavy compound exersises incorporated in my routine. The chest is the most over worked muscle group by gym folks bigger shoulders and back muscles serve more purpose and help your posture.

These numbers can be misleading, they are showing how strong your slow twitch muscle fibers(power group) are but not your stabilizers or fast twitch(speed-endurance) fibers.

 

Fpassion, Improper strength training can turn you into "a one trick pony" if you do it wrong. Most guys in the gym do it for looks, I do it for strength and for looks. That's why my stats also include my running times as I cross train a lot.

The good thing about the bench press is it's a "compound" movement so it helps with the HGH which will make you big all over. I agree that the shoulders and back muscles are very overlooked. I think it's the "out of sight, out of mind" concept. It's easy to forget how much the back makes up your overall frame. Then you see pics of Michael Phelps lol. He's all back and shoulders.

In fighting having big pecs has actually helped me. I can usually take much greater hits to the front then most of my opponents. With my neck/face properly blocked, I usually can take all the hits someone can dish out.

 

For your body type you can get away with big torso and taking abuse, but for someone with smaller bone structure its not ideal, so thats why everyone must work out according to their body type.

For 10 years my weekly chest routin was as follows.

1. Flat barbel press
2. Incline/decline barbel-dumbell press alternate
3. Dumbell pullovers
4. Dips

Now that I had achieved the strength and thickness goals for my upper torso I want to focus on more flexibility and speed for punching power on demand and promote less joint stress. The weights are now moderate and not extra heavy no real need for it unless your in powerlifting competitions. You can manipulate the chest press to focus other muscle groups such as with the close grip press one feet apart, as more shoulders and triceps are involved and I do this at times.

Based on my personal research three primary causes of shoulder injury are bad form, lack of warmup, and over training and I want to avoid by all means getting injured outside of a fight. An overworked chest will cause your shoulders to curve inward taxing your form and easily promoting shoulder injury. I am thinking years down what can I do to avoid arthritis over all and shoulder bursitis.

 

Fpassion, You are correct that you retain lots of the strength you obtain through training. I went 1yr with no wt lifting (3yr ago) because I was doing martial arts. I came back and my lifts were almost the same. I did notice a drop in the endurance though. I could do 1-2 reps less the fist set and almost zero reps the next set.

Long term is the name of the game. I'm a runner and I want to run till I'm old and dead. So I have to make sure my knee's hold out. So I avoid heavy squats etc for the same reasons as you avoid the bench. What's your opinion on pushups? I used to do 60+ everyday before I went running. I started noticing my Bench started getting "weaker". I was thinking that the endurance was taking away from the power... So I've switched to 1 arm pushups (or at least trying) as I heard those build explosive power.

 

I like the seated leg press or I alternate with one leg lungs with barbel on my shoulder usually no more than 150lbs that way I am not stressing my knees. You can also use one arm dumbells and do lunges, the smith machine is also great to reduce stress on your stabilizer muscles on your lower black and inner coastel muscle. Running hills and stairs can sometimes be less stressfull than heavy squats. At times walking lungs with no weights for long periods gives a nice burn.

For pushups close grip is fantastic, it not only develops your shoulders but your important wrist so when you punch you have more cusion and stability. When I get bored of this I do two finger pushups not always but for fun.

 

Bench press - 160 lbs
Squats - 200 lbs
deadlift - 220 lbs
military press - 80 lbs
barbell curl - 55 lbs
clean and press - 90 lbs

 

I'm 50 yo with 30+ years of weight training experience. So, started back when it wasn't "cool" to hit the weights. Entered a bench contest(not my strongest exercise) singled 365# @ 204# body weight 6' even w/o a benching shirt a couple years back. As a physician, I've been able to weed thru most all the BS that floods the masses from supplements,diet,training methods to the latest gizmos. Bowflex commercials crack me up.
The concept that someone is afraid they'll get "musclebound" from weight training is more likely a greater fear or unwillingness to work hard and be disciplined.

 

Here are some of my current stats.
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 175lb
Bench Press: 325lb x 6 reps
Squat: 365lb x 6 reps
Barbell Curl: 155lb x 6 reps
Seated Shoulder Press: 225 lb x 4 reps
I have been working out for about 5 years, and have recently gotten into some fitness/fashion modeling this past year. I eat fairly healthy I guess you could say. I am working on launching a fitness site dedicated to ordinary people looking to get into shape and live healthier as well as high school and collegiate athletes. The URL is www.theifitness.com. For now it only has a subscription page, but it should be ready for launch by the end of August.

 

Not a lot of sleep last night. I hit 205 today again on bench for 8 reps...I was hoping for 225. Oh well next week give it a try.

There are some guys in my gym that bench some serious weight, but they all have big beer guts and no definition whatsoever. I don't see the point.

RMX

 

I do basic compound movements in my house so I can't really go for a max with regular routines. The last time I was in a gym, I did 2.5 reps D) of 50lb dumbbells in each hand. I think it's good considering I'm only 5'10" and just shy of 170lbs. I usually do 42.5lb curls (7 reps) with those olympic dumbbells (the bar is 2.5lbs so I add 40lbs in 1" plates). Other than that, I just do stuff like bent-over rows, standing military press, shoulder shrugs, pushups, situps, etc. Nothing crazy.

 

That's quite impressive! Keep up the good work.

 

I am 5'10 and weigh 170lb. Bench press 260 , 50 lb dumbell curls , 140 lb curl with olympic bar, 225 incline bench press, 30 pull ups(not chin ups),700lbs leg press.

 

You've obviously never seen the strongman comp with the Polish phenom Pudinowski (?sp). That guys 320# and looks to be ~ 5% body fat or less. He could compete in any international bodybuilding venue with less than a month of prep. Most strength comp's have weight classes or the amount you lift is calculated in comparison to your weight as a percentage. So, some 300#er won't be competeing against a 150#er directly. Either in a seperate class or by % of their lift/body wt. My training partner competes in the masters cat in bodybuilding. Is always at or below 5%BF and he recently singled a bench w/o a benching shirt of 490# weighing 198#. INSANE strength & physique...

 

Last night benched 285# three times. No gloves, no shirt. Don't usually max but trying to get to 315 by end of year, and consistant 245 10 rep circuits.

Edit: I'm 6'0" 193lb. I'm lean but my torso is built naturally like a farm animal. lol

 

What's the no shirt have to do with it?