Alright, Here is the deal. Basically I was a computer\theater nerd for the first 18 years of my life. After eating Jack in the Box and Pizza every day for the last 2 years of high school I finally decided to get off my ass and into the gym.
The first 2 years (i just turned 20) I basically had no idea what I was doing. I would go in like 3 days a week, do whatever seemed good and had no idea how much nutrition played a role in things.
Very recently I just started the Max-OT plan, which I have seen people get very good results on. If you dont know what it is, it is a 5 day split routine where you do sets of 4 - 6 reps to positive failure. Anyway… Here are my main numbers.
Squats - 3 sets of 5 at 170 pounds.
Bench - 3 sets of 5 at 130 pounds.
Curls - 3 sets of 6 at 60 - 70 pounds.
Anyway, These seem like really low number for a 20 year old guy doing “heavy” sets. Let me know where some of you are at so I have some sort of goal to reach to. Ultimately I just want to look good nekkid, so i suppose it doesnt really matter.
How much do you weigh? If you are relatively small you probably aren’t as weak as you think.
I’m 6’1" 285+. I’m currently doing SDS. I’m trying to increase my lifts every session and usually set a new PR on the wave scheme days.
I’ve only been training for the last 5 months after a 15 year hiatus.
Here are the numbers:
Squat 240
Deadlift 240
Incline db Bench 80ea
Incline db Curls 55ea
Chins 85 assist
Dips Body Weight
Leg Press Calf Raises 440
Standing db Press 55ea
Push yourself to add a little weight every session even if it’s only 5 lbs. Add the weight on your last set and you will be amazed at how the body adapts.
Yeah, that’s definitely beginner level. Well, at least you know where you’re at. Do some strength training. You can go with Westside as Xen said. There’s also Chris Thib’s Pendulum stuff and Chad Waterbury’s Strength Only Cycle. Just go into the blue section of the main page and click Authors.
Dude, your #s aren’t so hot but it’s not enough info.
I agree with the previous post that you should grab a good program & stick with it. Bust your ass in an organized fashion for at least six months before you start customizing too much.
But my point was/is: think of strength relative to bodyweight. Like, what do you weigh?
In my opinion–and according to my observation, if you can military press your body (100% or higher) and deadlift/squat 2x it (200% +), you’re ahead of 65% of gym goers. Not to mention the general public.
So I kinda think your #s should be some percentage of bodyweight rather than what just muscle boy X is doing.
So for your forward projections, please remember: the first and most important ass you have to kick is your own.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Alright, Here is the deal. Basically I was a computer\theater nerd for the first 18 years of my life. After eating Jack in the Box and Pizza every day.[/quote]
don’t enter a powerlifting contest anytime soon but you have to start somewhere
And despite what you say, the weights you lift do matter. You are not going to look good nekkid if you can barely lift your bodyweight. I highly recommend westside for skinny bastards.
You should be telling us what your Squat, Bench and DEADLIFT are. The curl is not a staple exercise.
I repeat, THE CURL IS NOT A STAPLE EXERCISE.
I realize you are a beginner, so start slow. Do exercises that involve more muscles than one, and work from there. There are a TON of great beginner programs on here.
[quote]RIT Jared wrote:
You should be telling us what your Squat, Bench and DEADLIFT are. The curl is not a staple exercise.
I repeat, THE CURL IS NOT A STAPLE EXERCISE.
[/quote]
hahahahaha, i hand’t laughed this hard in a while.
But yeah, do what all the others above said, and remember, you can’t go wrong with the big bar lifts. Bench, squat, deads, and the other less popular ones, cleans, rows etc…
this site and alot of willpower will take you a long way, glad to see you’ve found your way into a gym
I currently weight between 160 - 165 depending on the time of day and what I’ve eatin and yadda yadda. I have body calipers that measure me at around 7% body fat… but I know thats way too low. I would put myself at around 10 - 12.
I tried to submit a picture but it didnt load up. I’ll try again.
I basically posted this thread because EVERYONE I saw in the gym today was lifting more than me, and not just by 5 pounds. One the girls got on the squat rack after me and out lifted me.
Don’t get so worked up about what you lift. Just lift smart and make progress. You should only compare your lifts to your past lifts, not to other people’s. Everybody has to start somewhere.
I was 19 when I finally broke the 200 lb mark on the bench(I wasn’t even squatting then) and I thought I was weak. I stopped lifting for a while and struggled with 200 again.
I’ve been consistent for a while and started thinking I was getting strong. Well I’m not. Yeah, to the average person I may be, but who wants to compare themselves to the average person.
There’s always going to be people stronger than you. So freakin’ what. Lift, have fun, get stronger, and stay with it.
You got to start somewhere man! No one walks into the gym on their first day and benches 220lbs for reps and squats 400lbs. Hell, I’m 6’2", 180lbs and my 1RM on the bench is probably 210lbs, if that! But up untill about 4 months ago I lost 75lbs as an anorexic, and because of it I removed what muscle I did have to begin with and was a skinny-fat guy. That sucked. A lot.
Anyway, stick with it. Dial in your nutrition. Eat massive amounts of good food. Sleep a lot and damn near kill yourself in the gym and you will get bigger and stronger before you know it.
I wasn’t going in there to compare myself to everyone else, normally I couldnt care less. I was just noticing on the way out that EVERYONE was lifting more than the weight I normally put up and I was just wondering what some normal numbers were. I kinda figured I’d be fighting for a while to get up to par, because I litterly did NOTHING until a few months out of high school.
Yeah, normally I dont really care what everyone is lifting compared to me, i figured I was going to be pretty weak due to my total lack of activity during my growing years. I was just leaving the gym tonight and noticed EVERYONE lifting more than me (mainly the people my age that look to be about my build). I don’t really care what Jean Pierre Fux is lifting (he trains at my gym) because he is massive. But all of the guys my age seem to be A LOT stronger, so i was just wandering how i stacked up.
Also… I was curious to how important you think using supplements and protein powder is. I use it when i get it, but I don’t really make it a pint of having it. I always eat a lot of protein after my workout.
How important it is do you think? What protein/supplements have you noticed work for you?
[quote]malonetd wrote:
Lonnie123 wrote:
Alright, Here is the deal. Basically I was a computer\theater nerd for the first 18 years of my life. After eating Jack in the Box and Pizza every day.
Mmmm…
I miss Jack in the Box.[/quote]
I miss Junk food shopping at super-walmart at 2am…but it’s worth it