5’11"
174
23 yrs old
Bench: 215 one rep max
I was significantly stronger 8 months ago! I don’t know what happened. I’ve taken days off, I’ve switched my routine. What routines have worked for you guys? I am SICK of this $hit!
5’11"
174
23 yrs old
Bench: 215 one rep max
I was significantly stronger 8 months ago! I don’t know what happened. I’ve taken days off, I’ve switched my routine. What routines have worked for you guys? I am SICK of this $hit!
It’s tough to give you specific advice without a little more insight into your previous programs / routine. Info such as what kind of routine you were using, what routine you switched to, how much time you take off, what your goals are, etc… will help narrow it down.
First off that’s not that bad a bench considering your weight. However, what’s your other major lifts look like? You know squat, deads, chins, cleans. How’s your diet? Where does your bench fail? Off the chest, at the lockout? This is an excellent place for help but you need to do more of your own leg work. Find the answer to the questions I mentioned and you should be back on the road to a bigger bench. BTW I can only assume that your main interest is strength?
[quote]focused1 wrote:
5’11"
174
23 yrs old
Bench: 215 one rep max
I was significantly stronger 8 months ago! I don’t know what happened. I’ve taken days off, I’ve switched my routine. What routines have worked for you guys? I am SICK of this $hit! [/quote]
Are you gaining weight or losing it? 174lbs isn’t very big for someone who is 5’11".
Do you Squat and Deadlift?
When these numbers go up, usually your Bench will too.
My other lifts have increased however. Squats: The most I do is 275x8…I haven’t maxed. My back has gotten stronger also. I don’t do deads or cleans. Do you suggest I ad this?My diet is good, however I should add more calories. I usually get 160 grams of protein a day, but I think this need to go up. My bench usually fails mid-range or a little closer to my chest. Here is a sample of my current routine: Please criticize:
Monday: Legs
Light Jog
Squats- warm up, 225x10, 225x10, 275 x 8, 275 x 8
Extensions: 12,10,10,8
Calves
ABS
Tuesday (This is where I need HELP!!!)
Chest- Bench, Warm-Up, 175 x 8, 185 x 5, 185 x 5, 185 x 5
Incline, 135x10, 155x8, 165x 6, 165x6
Decline, 4 sets of 5
Incline Flies
Triceps- Skull Crushers 4x10
Pull Downs 4x10
Kick Backs 4x10
Sprints
Wednesday: Back and Bi?s
Back Pull Ups 4x10
Lats 10,10,8,8
Rows 10,8,8,8
Bi?s Straight Bar 10,8,8,6
Preacher Curl 10,8,8,6
Seated DB Curl 4x8
Reverse Curl 10,10,8
Sprints
Thursday: OFF
Friday: Shoulders
Barbell Military 10,8,6,6
DB Military 10,10,8,8
Shrugs 4x10
Raises 12,12,10,10
ABS
Saturday: Light Chest
DB Bench 3x10
DB Incline 10,8,8
Flies 12,10,10
I don’t understand how I can be weaker when I weigh more…
I’ll do whatever it takes
Thanks
Hey Focused1,
Yes! Your protein needs to go up.
Check of your total calorie intake is enough too.
First off you don’t start low enough for warm-up weight.
Second…way too many sets of presses/ chest work. Seriously! You do more sets for chest than legs, biceps than legs, tri’s than legs and shoulders than legs. Cut this way back. You overtrain your chest, shoulders and tri’s! Find a system/style and follow it or at least balance your sets and percentages better You need to approach your max smartly to get stronger.
There are plenty of articles here for you to read and programs already made up try following them for awhile and study them.
Peace,
T-Ren
If you weigh over 170lbs, why only 160gr of protein? How much “more” do you weigh? How much weight have you gained in the past month?
Definately add some deads. Ian King just recently named it his number 1 exercsie. Also, i agree you are overtraining. I would cut back your workout days to 4 days a week. I also would switch up a few things. Generally, arms recover much faster than chest,back and legs because they are smaller muscles. So, with that said, a better split might be
Monday:Chest/back
Tuesday: legs
Weds: off
Thursday: arms
Friday: off
Saturday: shoulders
Sunday off:
That way you sorta get 1 and a half arm workout a week cuz the bis and tris get hit on chest and back day, and this way you are training antagonist muscle groups, which recruits more motor units. This is just a general split.
I’ve went from 165 to 174 in 8 months.
I started to cheat more on my diet so I am sure that this weight is not all good weight…I used to be 9% BF, but now it probably went up a little. You say that I have been overtraining? Too many sets/reps?
What is a good routine I should follow instead? I hear so many different things. In the past month, I haven’t gained much, but I also don’t bench that much AT ALL for my weight.
Professor X is that you in the pic? What routine do you follow?
I gotta get my chest bigger…It’s been too damn long with it being this size.
Any suggestions I will definetely try.
I take my training very seriously so I am open to anything.
Hey man, I agree with T-Ren, if you are maxing out at 215, i think 175 warm-up is quite high. I’m not expert but I warm up at a slow 135.
just for comparison, i’m 5’10, 160ish and maxed out at 275 (albeit not recently)
I’d suggest 4 things:
drop the kickbacks, add dips. 'Nuff said
Screw around with your reps a little. Everything for tris is 4x10, 4x10.
Alternate DB days with barbell days, again, just for variety.
(IMO the most important) Add some SPEED work. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, if the phrase “Westside” makes you think of 2Pac, read Dave Tate’s “Eight Keys” article here and go to elitefts’ website.
[quote]focused1 wrote:
I’ve went from 165 to 174 in 8 months.
I started to cheat more on my diet so I am sure that this weight is not all good weight…I used to be 9% BF, but now it probably went up a little. You say that I have been overtraining? Too many sets/reps?
What is a good routine I should follow instead? I hear so many different things. In the past month, I haven’t gained much, but I also don’t bench that much AT ALL for my weight.
Professor X is that you in the pic? What routine do you follow?
I gotta get my chest bigger…It’s been too damn long with it being this size.
Any suggestions I will definetely try.
I take my training very seriously so I am open to anything. [/quote]
Yes, that is me in the pic…and it really doesn’t make sense for someone under 200lbs to claim they are “cheating” when they are in the process of gaining weight. I had a double Whopper on the way home from work today, but then, I don’t overanalyze every microgram of food that goes in my mouth or turn the simple act of going to the gym into a scientific study worthy of printing in JAMA. It took you 8 months to gain about 9lbs which is a very slow gain in weight. If you are a beginner, there is no doubt that you robbed yourself of some gains by being a little too strict with your diet. Most beginners should shoot for around 3-5lbs in a month as far as weight gain. It is understood from the get-go that not all is going to lean body mass. You can’t honestly expect for your body to increase muscle mass at the fastest rate it can naturally while holding it back due to restricted caloric intake. The goal is to gain more muscle than body fat and not become a fat ass, not to lose sleep and form an ulcer because out of 5lbs of lean body mass, 1.5lbs of fat came with it. As far as my routine, I train differently now than I did when I first started training. Back then, I did at least 2 muscle groups in each training session, usually training 3 days on/one off. Now, I train one body part a day and listen to my body as far as rest days. If I need one, I take one. I started training weighing about 150lbs. I admit that there are some big people in my family and all of the guys played football, but it isn’t like I accidentally put weight on. I didn’t gain weight until college, which is also about the time that I started eating with the football team and realizing just how much food they were eating to justify the training we did. I trained hard for any size I gained, I just didn’t make this more complicated than it has to be. You base your intake on the results you see from your training. If I were to make a schedule, it would look more like:
First, I would rest for about a week because we have no clue how much damamge you may have done…then,
Day1
Shoulders
Day 2
legs
Day 3
Chest/Triceps
Day 4
rest
Day 5
Back/biceps
Day 6
rest
Day 7
Chest/Triceps
Keep it simple. I would do three exercises per body part for now except for back which can often take 4 or more depending on your stage of training. You also have to understand that with such a slow gain in body weight, and no body fat testing, we have no idea if you are even gaining much muscle. If you are overtraining, you could have lost some which would explain any strength lost. Bottom line, for a great improvement in strength, you have got to gain more lean body weight to justify it. Being overly restrictive will hold back progress. Food intake can often be more important than any time you spend in the gym as far as results.
Hey Focused1,
How are you over training? If you go back and look at some of the already made programs here, you probably won’t find flat bench, incline and decline in the same workout…certainly not at the number of sets you do.That’s just for chest volume.
When you go from one bench to the next do you vary the width of your grip?
I definitely agree with KBCThird Drop the kickbacks, and add speed work.
For shoulders you again do press work, in and of itself not bad but you do a barbell shoulder press and a dumbbell shoulder press in the same workout(like KBC said alternate DB and BB workouts). You are essentially doing double the work for the exact same muscles. Also couple this press volume with the chest day press volume and you probably haven’t recovered enough in your tris and shoulders to be productive.
Your leg day I would sub a Hamstring exercise for the extensions. Like TFlex28 says add deads. I would also add posterior chain work to your back day.
As for warm-ups in bench my max was 265 I started (115X8, 135X8, 155X6,185X6,) warm-up, then working sets.
Hope all this helps.
Peace,
T-Ren
Hey focus one, I usually never reply to these threads but in your case. I can relate. I to way around 170lbs w/8%bodyfat and was and always looking to add more size and strengh. At the weight I am now my current 1rpm on the bench is 355lbs thats down from 425lbs because of a shoulder injury. Everyone who has replied is right inthere own regards. You are doing way to many sets for chest, you fatigue your muscles before you even get to the point of pushing big weights. Drop sets, drop reps and add weight even if you only get 3to4 reps every rep you do and every pound you addwill tax your muscles more fully. Two I would most def increase protein(200-250 grms) along with over all calories. Three good routines come to mind the anti-bodybulding hypertrophy(t-mag244) the bulk bulding workout(t-mag227) and the classic growth surge project pt2(t-mag183) good luck…tzu out.