cw1 had an important point - balance your program. Part of having a good push is having an equally good pull so the shoulder joint doesn’t get out of whack. Balance is particularly important for us older lifters, since our injuries typically don’t heal as quickly. And if there isn’t balance you will get injured.
Rows of any sort in about the same quality and quantity as you bench will give you a good pushing platform (lat strength and size) and so help your bench numbers go up.
Yesterday I got 2x4x215 and 3x3x215. I’m still making progress.
Here is my M-F routine:
Machine Crunches 4x10
Flat Bench 5x5
Machine Fly 3x10
Leg Press 4x10
Calf Raise 4x15
Machine Lat Pulldown 4x5
Seated Row 3x10
Machine Lower Back 4x10
Military Press 4x5
Front DB Lift 4x10
Side DB lift 4x10
EZ-Curl 4x5
DB Curl 4x10
Dips 4x10
Machine Tri Pushdown 4x10
My Wednesday Routine:
Machine Crunches 4x10
Machine Torso Twist 4x10
Close Grip Bench Press 5x10
Leg Press 4x10
Calf Raise 4x15
Wide Grip Pullups 4x10
Bent Over DB Row 4x10
Chin Ups 4x10
Curl Machine 4x10
Tri Extension Machine 4x10
No direct shoulder work on Wednesday. They get hit pretty hard on M-F
Am I “out of balance”?
Your weight tells you if your out of balance, not necessarily your routine.
Ratio of row to bench, there are a number of articles on what it should be.
but saying you do 10 reps of bench and 10 reps of rows, says nothing about muscle balance. If you list the weight you do, cw might better be able to tell you if your are out of balance.
Seems you are making progress. Well done. As an ‘over 35’ lifter I wouul find your program far too complicated. Keep it simple, functional and compound (assuming you have no injuries etc).
What are machine flyes gonna add to you bench? I wont get into it but check out some of the threads on program deisgn. Keep it up
OK, with numbers:
Here is my M-F routine:
Machine Crunches 4x10x180
Flat Bench 5x5x215
Machine Fly 3x10x212
Leg Press 4x10x250
Calf Raise 4x15x120
Machine Lat Pulldown 4x5x250
Seated Row 3x10x144
Machine Lower Back 4x10x270
Military Press 4x5x230
Front DB Lift 4x10x30
Side DB lift 4x10x20
EZ-Curl 4x5x70 (+ bar)
DB Curl 4x10x40
Dips 4x10xbody weight
Machine Tri Pushdown 4x10x72
My Wednesday Routine:
Machine Crunches 4x10x180
Machine Torso Twist 4x10x100
Close Grip Bench Press 5x10x135
Leg Press 4x10x250
Calf Raise 4x15x120
Wide Grip Pullups 4x10xbody weight
Bent Over DB Row 4x10x50
Chin Ups 4x10xbofy weight
Curl Machine 4x10x90
Tri Extension Machine 4x10x72
In answer to the other question…When I do the flys, I can feel it in my pecs and my (front) deltoids. I just assume that that would help my bench. Am I wrong?
Not wrong at all… you said you needed help wi bench and you have increased it . QED what your doing is working.
I find that the older I get the more I need to take care of my recovery (= progress). Ive been training for 20 years, Now after reading the great advice here and researching elsewhere I find that (for me) I have made greater gains when I use 4 exercises per workout as i can focus on quality and intensity. sets/reps/intensity/rest changes regulary.
It’s been a busy couple weeks. Work was nust and we had the grandkids for a week. So my gym time qwas not regular.
Yesterday I was able to do
5 x 215
4 x 215
3 x 215 (3 sets)
Making progress. I substituted close grip bench presses for the flys. Man. what a burn!
Still on schedule to be doing sets with 225 by end of April.
Yesterday I did 2 sets of 5 x 215, 2 sets of 4 x 215 and 1 set of 3 x 215. I think that on Monday I will try 2 sets at 225. Goal is in sight.
I do have another issue, though. When I do heaving curls (EZ Curl bar with 45 on each side) or heavy Military Presses (Magnum machine with 235), if I put myself in just the right posture I get a shooting pain that runs from the right center iof my groin to my right testicle.
If I drop the weight a bit, it goes away, or in the case of the MP, if I adjust my posture to be not quite so upright, it goes away.
Am I on the verge of a hernia? I only seem to experience the problem with those two exercises.
Great job on the progress, but the pain you mentioned does sound strange.
That is a busy area down there, where a whole lot of muscles connect and intersect. It could be some hip flexor issue, rectus abs, or as you said a possible hernia.
You may want to get that one checked by an sport M.D.
I did pretty good yesterday…
2 sets of 3x225
1 set of 5x215
1 set of 4 x215
1 set of 3 x215
It felt good.
Tomorrow I will be doing 3 sets of 225 and 2 sets of 215.
I found by adjusting my “stance” I could do the heavy military presses without the testicular pain. However, it was still there for the EZ Curls. I’m afraid to go any heavier with those, although my arms tell me I can.
well done…not a bad period of progess since your first message.
I will quit this thread when I complete 5x5x225. Right now it is providing me with motivation. Fortunately I havene’t had any negative attacks about it.
GOOD DAY!! I crossed a psychological barrier. I did:
1x3x225
1x2x225
1x1x225
Not many reps, but all at 225! Now my mind knows what my body does…I can do 225 (in 5 sets) and not have a problem.
This stems from an incident 20 years ago. I was alone in the gym and decided to “go for it” with 225 (I was 170lbs at the time). I couldn’t complete the lift. The bar came to rest on my throat. Fortunately, I had the forsight to not have a collar on the bar. I was able to tilt it and lose the weights. Noisy, but I was alone.
Now, I have buried that demon! It’s all good.
well done–now next??–225 x 10 by end of year.
I was thinking more like 5x5x250
1 set of 3x225
4 sets of 2x225
all progress is incremental…
2x3x225
3x2x225
gettin’ there