So I have been taking this bodybuilding/weight training class for over 5 weeks now. I used to lift moderate to heavy weights on an inconsistent basis when I was in high school and college. I understand that when you are a beginner or a person who has come back to hypertrophy or heavy strength training after stopping for about a year more or less, that you will first gain neurological strength more so than muscle mass.
However, I don’t think that I am making significant progress in my strength gains. I have this class on mon.-thurs of each week. Every day our coach first has us do conditioning exercises outside on the track and field stadium before we go to the weight room.
Mondays and Wednesdays I do the following upper body exercises exercises within this order:
- Flat barbell bench press.
4 sets of 12 reps @ 65 lbs. - Incline bench with dumbbells:
4 sets of 12 reps with 20 pound dumbbells on each arm - Cable row machine:
4 sets of 12 reps @ 65 lbs. - Finally, Lat pulldown machine:
4 sets of 12 reps @ 80 1bs.
I take 75 sec. of rest between each set for all these exercises.
Tues. and Thurs. I do the following upper body exercises exercises within this order:
- Deep barbell free-weight squats in a rack cage with support bar:
4 sets of 12 reps @ 95 lbs. - Leg extension cam lever machine and alternating between legs:
4 sets of 12 reps @ 27.5 lbs on each leg. - 4-5 sets of 12-15 reps on either lying leg curls and alternating between legs:
4 sets of 12 reps @ 30 lbs. on each leg
Once we do all those lower body exercises, then we have a choice of either going home or continue to do any other exercises that we want. I do 4 sets of 12 reps on back 45 degree sloped back extension bench with a 25 pound weight plate held to my chest.
I take 75 sec. of rest between each set for all these exercises.
These are the weights that I work with for each exercise:
Bench press
During the first week of class we didn’t actually get the chance to start on any of these exercises, since it was an intro. week and the students including myself were just learning some new weightlifting techniques. Also, it was the week of the fourth of July. So the coach decided to go easy on us during that week. Anyways, I am very conscientious of utilizing good form in all my exercises too.
In addition, I am 5’9" 148 lbs. with about 12% bodyfat. I have always been skinny and healthy, with usually a healthy diet ever since I was a little kid. Ever since, I was 16 I became even more conscientious about my diet. Moreover, I am still 24 years old which means I am still young with peak testosterone levels. While, I do have long arms and long legs I have broad shoulders and very good muscle tone. So far these are still the weights that I currently working with; although, I have been able to increase the reps by 2 on each set for pretty all of these exercises. One more thing, is that I do each rep slow (2 sec. concentric; 2 sec. eccentric).
