tropo Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 (edited) Im doing both wide and narrow grip. As for benchpress i dont get people asking me. But its the exercise that i always did so its a good gauge of where i stand strength wise at a point in time. Will show if i might have lost muscle through diet. So it has its uses for me. Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect App I didn't mean that as a personal dig, but in general. At some time people will ask you. I can't count how many times I've been asked over the years. Never been asked how much I can squat or dead lift though... That's one of the advantages of training at home. It's impossible to get the ego involved rather than at a public gym where everyone watches you. The bigger you are the more interested they are in seeing how much you're bench pressing. It doesn't bother me anymore. I'm quite happy to load up with light weights no matter who's watching, but having trained at public gyms for over 30 years I can say I've been self-conscious about how much I'm lifting in the past. It can definitely influence your workouts. There is a certain advantage to training on public display though. Whenever I see a guy in great shape it motivates me to train harder. Just the fact that many are watching makes me want to attain the best possible conditioning I can. Edited December 29, 2012 by tropo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Tropo, i know you long enough to know its not a personal dig. But you are right people would ask about it more then all the other lifts. I was indeed more self conscious when i was in a public gym. But at home, i really don't care about my lifts though i do see them as a measure of progress. Because in general with strength comes mass (unless you train for strength . I have been feeling a little small at times lately because of the weight loss, but then when i look in the mirror at how lean i am its ok. But boy, different lights different mirrors what changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I've certainly lost a lot of strength along with all the extra weight, but I now focus on body aesthetics rather than strength. Strength will always be there when you're pushing the weights. It's not like I'm weak now, just weaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 I've certainly lost a lot of strength along with all the extra weight, but I now focus on body aesthetics rather than strength. Strength will always be there when you're pushing the weights. It's not like I'm weak now, just weaker. Just look in the mirror and be happy, i mean when we last met you looked lean. I really prefer lean over bulky any day even if it means loosing a bit of strength and some cm here and there. But lean guys look bigger some way (unless in a t shirt of course) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolley Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 (edited) I have always wondered why the bench press is considered so important. I think the back and legs are more important for day to day activities. I see quite a few guys around with huge chests and chicken legs. What are they thinking? Edited December 29, 2012 by Tolley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have always wondered why the bench press is considered so important. I think the back and legs are more important for day to day activities. I agree, but benchpress is just what people think is important. I rather do a lot more with deadlifts. But i havent been as faithful with deadlifts as with bench press, same goes for squat. So for me bench press is important as i have always kept it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have always wondered why the bench press is considered so important. I think the back and legs are more important for day to day activities. I see quite a few guys around with huge chests and chicken legs. What are they thinking? For upper body strength, pressing strength is the most impressive to me and in particular the standing military press. Also the shoulders are far more important to a great physique then pecs, which often look like tits if the guy is carrying too much fat and hasn't got a well balanced upper chest area. Bench pressing strength should be balanced with the rest of the upper body. Most people do far too much for chest compared to back...and the shoulders lag because they are burnt out from all the flat bench pressing...or incapable of hard work because bench pressing has caused RC weakness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolley Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have always wondered why the bench press is considered so important. I think the back and legs are more important for day to day activities. I see quite a few guys around with huge chests and chicken legs. What are they thinking? For upper body strength, pressing strength is the most impressive to me and in particular the standing military press. Also the shoulders are far more important to a great physique then pecs, which often look like tits if the guy is carrying too much fat and hasn't got a well balanced upper chest area. Bench pressing strength should be balanced with the rest of the upper body. Most people do far too much for chest compared to back...and the shoulders lag because they are burnt out from all the flat bench pressing...or incapable of hard work because bench pressing has caused RC weakness. What sort of weight would you consider strong for a guy around 85kgs for chest presses/ bench/incline etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Id say at least your own body weight a few times for bench. Incline and presses less of course as bench press as they are harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolley Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Id say at least your own body weight a few times for bench. Incline and presses less of course as bench press as they are harder. That's quite a lot. Are you talking sets of reps or just a few lifts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Actually i train with more as my body weight for bench press and a bit under body weight for incline. Before i went on a holliday i trained with around 20 kg more as my body for bench. But like i said bench is one of the exercises i have always done.. shoulder press is lower as i never focused on it that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolley Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Actually i train with more as my body weight for bench press and a bit under body weight for incline. Before i went on a holliday i trained with around 20 kg more as my body for bench. But like i said bench is one of the exercises i have always done.. shoulder press is lower as i never focused on it that much. That's pretty good. I am not so strong in chest I do my sets at 60kg. I am not sure what i can do if just a few lifts. I dont like to strain too much so usually lift a bit within myself. Shoulder press is around the same about 60kg so I really should be able to do more on the chest but never have been able to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 I need to focus more on shoulders and back now, not really on chest. I made a topic on power hooks and these are great for my shoulder dumbel presses and such, also great for incline so im not doing to many barbell incline anymore just dumbel ones. For me size and leanness is more important right now, also the rowing will be important as i want to increase my stamina even more. I loved the freediving that i did and stamina helps with that so i like to increase that for when i go next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 (edited) That's pretty good. I am not so strong in chest I do my sets at 60kg. I am not sure what i can do if just a few lifts. I dont like to strain too much so usually lift a bit within myself. Shoulder press is around the same about 60kg so I really should be able to do more on the chest but never have been able to. Are you doing barbell standing presses with 60kg? If so, either you've got a very strong press or a very week bench press because standing (military) pressing the same as bench pressing would be quite rare unless an injury is preventing you from bench pressing efficiently. Edited December 29, 2012 by tropo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 standing press with 60 kg is impressive for sure especially if you compare it with your bench press. But we are not training here for strenght, we are training for health and how we look. So its irrelevant (i still like it though) Anyway i was consistently 84 kg, but as soon as i started training.. and no change in food i went up to 85. Shows that the muscles hold water to repair the damage done. Actually good that means im heavier when i get where i want to be I am now getting between 10-11% on my omron hand held body-fat meter (i know its not accurate) skin caliper says im lower but i think im around this percentage. So that would mean 2-3 kg is more then enough to be really ripped.I think increasing the size of my lower abs would help too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poanoi Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I'm praying it will be an injury free year that will culminate with me having no back ace, or even fear of suffering. (and arms large enough to hide my body ! ) Party is over anyway so only thing left to do is give it another try to be strong again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 I'm praying it will be an injury free year that will culminate with me having no back ace, or even fear of suffering. (and arms large enough to hide my body ! ) Party is over anyway so only thing left to do is give it another try to be strong again. Just look back at this and try to go for your goals. The longer you keep on training the more chance you have not to stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 (edited) I am now getting between 10-11% on my omron hand held body-fat meter (i know its not accurate) skin caliper says im lower but i think im around this percentage. So that would mean 2-3 kg is more then enough to be really ripped.I think increasing the size of my lower abs would help too. I just put some batteries in my Omron hand held meter (you lose all your programmed data) and gave it another go. It read 6%. It always reads around 6%. My true bodyfat is probably about 10%. Useless device! I'm off to do my very last workout of the year. It will be kind of sad saying goodbye to 2012. It was a good training year. The only real negative was the closure of California Wow. I really wish I could hop on a Cybex Arc Trainer again.... ironically there is a new one only 50m from my doorstep at the Royal Cliff gym, but they want 35K to join for a year. Next workout - January 1!!!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!! I'm not really superstitious, but this will be my first 13 year ever.... Edited December 30, 2012 by tropo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 I know the device is useless, still combined with my skin caliper and pics i think im around 10%, but it could be a bit higher. Anyway not much more to loose. Then i can start to gain again. I already had 3 workouts today i did a row of 10k but it was a lot worse then my last one but that was to be expected after a month of not rowing. Tomorrow an other row and then done for the year. For me this was a year with amazing progress and i hope to continue with a solid workout year next year. If so im sure i can gain some muscle while staying real lean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I'm praying it will be an injury free year that will culminate with me having no back ace, or even fear of suffering. I wouldn't rely on just praying. You need to seriously analyse your problem and find a way around it in the gym. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I already had 3 workouts today Take it easy cowboy! Why not ease back into it slowly rather than trying to make up for lost time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolley Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 (edited) I know the device is useless, still combined with my skin caliper and pics i think im around 10%, but it could be a bit higher. Anyway not much more to loose. Then i can start to gain again. I already had 3 workouts today i did a row of 10k but it was a lot worse then my last one but that was to be expected after a month of not rowing. Tomorrow an other row and then done for the year. For me this was a year with amazing progress and i hope to continue with a solid workout year next year. If so im sure i can gain some muscle while staying real lean. That is a lot. Maybe too much! I have a cardio session tomorrow and that is it for 2012. Cardio is back to really good after only a month training. Morning resting pulse low 40's. Now just two things to do for the new year get the bench press up a bit and lose the 4cm around the waist so I can get down to around 15 percent body fat. One more i forgot raise the T levels through change of diet hopefully and if i lose a bit of fat that should help T levels as well perhaps. Edited December 30, 2012 by Tolley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I have a cardio session tomorrow and that is it for 2012. Cardio is back to really good after only a month training. Morning resting pulse low 40's. How do you judge if your cardio is good or not? Do you do time trials of whatever exercise you do to determine where you are? I've never really worried about my level of cardio fitness - it is what it is, but after hearing about your super low resting pulse rate it made me want to do a little research. I found this table: http://www.topendsports.com/testing/heart-rate-resting-chart.htm No matter how much cardio I do, my pulse rate will never go below the 55 - 60 bpm zone. According to the table that's bordering between the athlete and excellent zones for my age. Your rate of low 40's is way below the athlete rating for 18 - 25 years olds. What's going on here? Is it something genetic, or do we have an elite athlete in our midst? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 I already had 3 workouts today Take it easy cowboy! Why not ease back into it slowly rather than trying to make up for lost time? I mean 3 workouts not on 1 day.. my mistake. I mean 2 with weights and 1 rowing in the past 3 days. Im enjoying myself, im sore all over, not going full speed just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolley Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 (edited) I have a cardio session tomorrow and that is it for 2012. Cardio is back to really good after only a month training. Morning resting pulse low 40's. How do you judge if your cardio is good or not? Do you do time trials of whatever exercise you do to determine where you are? I've never really worried about my level of cardio fitness - it is what it is, but after hearing about your super low resting pulse rate it made me want to do a little research. I found this table: http://www.topendspo...sting-chart.htm No matter how much cardio I do, my pulse rate will never go below the 55 - 60 bpm zone. According to the table that's bordering between the athlete and excellent zones for my age. Your rate of low 40's is way below the athlete rating for 18 - 25 years olds. What's going on here? Is it something genetic, or do we have an elite athlete in our midst? Nope it has been low for years when I am cardio fit. Remember the morning rate is the lowest it is ever going to get but I have been consistently low 40s for many years in the morning. Had a check up at Bangkok Pattaya during the day three years back and they were surprised that my resting pusle was 56. They indicated that it could be a problem and later they said I have a slightly enlarged heart. I think the heart is large because of a lot of exercise as the heart is a muscle after all. Plenty of people that I played squash with had similar resting heart beats in the morning as well so not that special. The lowest i have heard of was one of the Olympic swimmers who was 28 resting pulse. I ususally check how quickly my pulse drops once I push it up into the 150s on the bike. I usually do intervals so that i go extreme then slow down then extreme etc Edited December 30, 2012 by Tolley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolley Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Here is an article on RHR from a squash magazine. The second link is a forum where quite a few squash players have resting rates first thing in the morning around 40 so it is not that unusual. http://blog.matthewdthornton.com/2012/01/heart-rate-barometer-of-health.html http://www.squashgame.info/squashforum/2167 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poanoi Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I know the device is useless, still combined with my skin caliper and pics i think im around 10%, but it could be a bit higher. Anyway not much more to loose. Then i can start to gain again. I already had 3 workouts today i did a row of 10k but it was a lot worse then my last one but that was to be expected after a month of not rowing. Tomorrow an other row and then done for the year. For me this was a year with amazing progress and i hope to continue with a solid workout year next year. If so im sure i can gain some muscle while staying real lean. That is a lot. Maybe too much! I have a cardio session tomorrow and that is it for 2012. Cardio is back to really good after only a month training. Morning resting pulse low 40's. Now just two things to do for the new year get the bench press up a bit and lose the 4cm around the waist so I can get down to around 15 percent body fat. One more i forgot raise the T levels through change of diet hopefully and if i lose a bit of fat that should help T levels as well perhaps. While reading up on DNP i came across pome grenade apples as a way of increasing testosterone levels, among a lot of other things. What other stuff increase testosterone, short of injecting synthetic ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 Compound exercises are said to raise T levels, http://www.nowloss.com/ways-to-increase-testosterone-levels-naturally-without-using-steroids.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolley Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I know the device is useless, still combined with my skin caliper and pics i think im around 10%, but it could be a bit higher. Anyway not much more to loose. Then i can start to gain again. I already had 3 workouts today i did a row of 10k but it was a lot worse then my last one but that was to be expected after a month of not rowing. Tomorrow an other row and then done for the year. For me this was a year with amazing progress and i hope to continue with a solid workout year next year. If so im sure i can gain some muscle while staying real lean. That is a lot. Maybe too much! I have a cardio session tomorrow and that is it for 2012. Cardio is back to really good after only a month training. Morning resting pulse low 40's. Now just two things to do for the new year get the bench press up a bit and lose the 4cm around the waist so I can get down to around 15 percent body fat. One more i forgot raise the T levels through change of diet hopefully and if i lose a bit of fat that should help T levels as well perhaps. While reading up on DNP i came across pome grenade apples as a way of increasing testosterone levels, among a lot of other things. What other stuff increase testosterone, short of injecting synthetic ? Eating beef and probably oysters because they have zinc. I think you need to consider also what gets rid of estrogen in the body and eat broccoli, cabbage cauliflower so it is also important to avoid things that increase estrogen eg alcohol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poanoi Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Thanks, i think i break every principal there is at the moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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