All right! Dips are a very good thing to do. And holy crap you’re good at rows.
The thing is, these look like very high numbers for someone so new. I’m nowhere near 150-pound lat pulldowns, for instance. So maybe you’re blessed with natural strength (yay!) or maybe you need to take a look at form. I’ve found that it’s ALWAYS more instinctive and natural to “cheat” and it takes a lot of unlearning. Then again, maybe you’re naturally strong, in which case this is really great!
What on earth is a Bosu? Do I want to know? I can’t afford a trainer, so it’s a non-issue.
I’m fine with push ups, I do those fairly regularly. Push ups are, after all, the Poor Man’s Red Bull! I took a wrench with me to the gym, but the bench bolts are welded. I’ll stick with the machine; there’s no point in worrying about it any further.
[quote]AlisaV wrote:
All right! Dips are a very good thing to do. And holy crap you’re good at rows.
The thing is, these look like very high numbers for someone so new. I’m nowhere near 150-pound lat pulldowns, for instance. So maybe you’re blessed with natural strength (yay!) or maybe you need to take a look at form. I’ve found that it’s ALWAYS more instinctive and natural to “cheat” and it takes a lot of unlearning. Then again, maybe you’re naturally strong, in which case this is really great![/quote]
I’m not so sure about natural strength! I do have a bit of functional strength by virtue of being a laborer (one of the reasons I decided to start working out in an organized manner is that I’m getting older, and I know plenty of people who weaken or become injury prone to the detriment of such work if they don’t build extra strength). I looked in the mirror (like an idiot) while doing the exercises. As far as I can tell, I’m doing them correctly. It would be better if I could film myself and watch more objectively.
I’m confused. Lat pulldowns with 150 lb. and barbell rows with 115 lb. but you can’t bench the bar? Something’s wrong here.
[quote]kpsnap wrote:
I’m confused. Lat pulldowns with 150 lb. and barbell rows with 115 lb. but you can’t bench the bar? Something’s wrong here.[/quote]
I can bench the bar, and have never indicated I couldn’t. I can’t bench a weight that will make me stronger safely. That weight would be 100 pounds total or so, and I’m not willing to do that alone.
^Thats why you start out with just the bar and put some weight on it each week…even if its just 2.5lb plates on each side…
thats like saying, ‘I can’t squat, deadlift, Military Press a weight that will me make stronger…’
nobody starts out with huge numbers!! you start small and work your way up, so you CAN do it safely AND on your own…
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
^Thats why you start out with just the bar and put some weight on it each week…even if its just 2.5lb plates on each side…
thats like saying, ‘I can’t squat, deadlift, Military Press a weight that will me make stronger…’
nobody starts out with huge numbers!! you start small and work your way up, so you CAN do it safely AND on your own…
[/quote]
Again, I categorically refuse to perform an exercise during which I might become trapped under the weight without an exercise companion. I don’t see this as the same statement. Perhaps you do, and that’s fine. While I bow to the experience of others, I don’t do so to the exclusion of my own judgement.
I work out alone and benching is safe. I have failed lifts, and it’s not dangerous at these weights; 100 pounds is about the weight of a child, and it’s not that bad for a child to sit on your chest. But if you are concerned, work at a lower % of your max so you don’t risk failing, or get a random gym guy to spot you.
If you just can’t make yourself barbell bench, don’t. But I really don’t think it’s unsafe.
I will say, from your number it looks like you are indeed relatively strong and could really do some impressive lifting. I mean your lat pulldown is 150! That’s a lot.
Do you do pull ups? That’s a great exercise and requires only a bar and could feasibly act as main lift, in place of benching. And instead of doing the OHP machine, just do that with a bar and make that a separate main lift.
Keep trucking, but I think you should look to define some clearer lifting goals like - Squatting, DLing or OPHPing BW+, and then look to add accessories that support that endeavor.
At any rate - its looking good Cato. Keep it up!
[quote]AlisaV wrote:
I work out alone and benching is safe. I have failed lifts, and it’s not dangerous at these weights; 100 pounds is about the weight of a child, and it’s not that bad for a child to sit on your chest. But if you are concerned, work at a lower % of your max so you don’t risk failing, or get a random gym guy to spot you.
If you just can’t make yourself barbell bench, don’t. But I really don’t think it’s unsafe. [/quote]
I’m amused that this has become a matter of my personal resolve.
[quote]Mascherano wrote:
I will say, from your number it looks like you are indeed relatively strong and could really do some impressive lifting. I mean your lat pulldown is 150! That’s a lot.
Do you do pull ups? That’s a great exercise and requires only a bar and could feasibly act as main lift, in place of benching. And instead of doing the OHP machine, just do that with a bar and make that a separate main lift.
Keep trucking, but I think you should look to define some clearer lifting goals like - Squatting, DLing or OPHPing BW+, and then look to add accessories that support that endeavor.
At any rate - its looking good Cato. Keep it up![/quote]
I will certainly keep it up. Thank you for your advice!
A few more pointers on bench and then I’ll let it rest.
You can get stronger (to a degree) by adding reps at a weight you perceive to be safe. You can also bench in a cage if your gym has one. That way, you can set the safeties and just flatten out and leave the bar on them if you fail. Also, unless you’re wearing a bench shirt (in which case if you fail or get out of the “groove” it’s really dangerous!), the worst that will happen is that you’ll not be able to push the bar up and will have to lower it to your chest and roll it off yourself.
Done.
Another option that I’ve seen is not putting the collars on the bar when benching - that way, if you can’t get it up off your chest, you just lean one way, let the plates fall off one side, and then push the bar off you the other way. At 100ish pounds, that shouldn’t be unsafe, really.
Advice acknowledged and appreciated. I have no intention of endangering myself or my paycheck. The 100 pound mark is an arbitrary point to make that safety cutoff, granted, but there it is.
There’s no need to respond to the following; I’m reminding myself of information I wanted to look up:
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