Well, I moved back to Nevada and I decided to take the weights class. The thing is, the teacher has some pretty stupid workout routines(Atleast in my eyes). He put me with his “veteran group” and he told me they had been in his class for 3-4 years.
The thing is, most of them had squat 1 rep max at 240 and they had been in his class for 3-4 years. One of the guys had a max of around 300. I had been working out for 4 months and I had a squat max of at least 220 before I went on vacation. I was not impressed at all at their numbers. None of them had anything like protein shake, a couple had Gatorade.
They were also doing barbell lunges I think at 75% of 1rep max. They were using about 65lb. 2 months ago, I was doing walking dumbbell lunges with good form at 47lb each.(That was about 85% of my 1 rep max. )
He was even having them do sit-ups. Yes, sit-ups. The school weight room is actually quite nice, but I just don’t like his routines and I really do doubt that he would let me solo. Do you have any advice? Should I drop this class? The thing is I only need a semester more of P.E.(half a credit). Should I look into doing outside P.E. of thai kickboxing and weights( I can get half a credit from doing that, and I would prefer it and I would also get a period off)?
My, my…do we have a sudden influx of know-it-all noobs on this board or what?
Judging someone’s knowledge of lifting by whether or not they use protein powder is ridiculous. Get that in your thick head right now.
Yeah, those guys have shitty squats. So do you.
What’s wrong with doing lunges?
What’s wrong with doing situps?
The answer to the question you ask is damn simple. If you feel you know more than the coach, drop his class. Ultimately, one semester of weight training isn’t going to ruin what should be a long lifting career. Hell, you might even find some cool shit to do as assistance exercises.
But then again, you know everything. So, drop the class.[/quote]
I don’t know if I would’ve been so harsh but sometimes ya gotta tell it like it is.
I never meant to sound like a know it all newb, because I don’t. May I ask how you know I have shitty form? I would say I have better form then many people, but many more have better form then me.
Maybe you should re-read my post. I never said anything was wrong with lunges. I simply said I don’t believe his training methods have worked very well. What I was trying to convey was that I would rather follow a workout that was constructed by one of the T-Nation Articles writers than a P.E. teacher who never went to college. If his students he’s had for 3-4 years were really strong or big, then I wouldn’t doubt his training methods. But were they? No.
But I think I will follow your advice, and I will keep with the class for a while, maybe it will work well. Heck, I may even learn something cool.
[quote]SeanT wrote:
‘The sit-up places considerable stress on the lower back vertebrae, so individuals who experience lower back pain should perform the crunch instead.’
Alright, I am still debating, but here this one out.
What do you think stimulates more muscle growth/strength. 3 sets of 10 at 50-65% 1 rep max? or 10 sets of 3 at 80% 1 rep max?
Oh well, now it is just me trying to convince myself the class will not be worth it. I will check it out for a couple more days and see how I like it. If things improve, I will stay, if they do not, I will be going to a gym on my own time. I will be sure to post pictures to supplement my results.
[quote]SeanT wrote:
Alright, I am still debating, but here this one out.
What do you think stimulates more muscle growth/strength. 3 sets of 10 at 50-65% 1 rep max? or 10 sets of 3 at 80% 1 rep max?
Oh well, now it is just me trying to convince myself the class will not be worth it. I will check it out for a couple more days and see how I like it. If things improve, I will stay, if they do not, I will be going to a gym on my own time. I will be sure to post pictures to supplement my results.[/quote]
You will not die from a few months of situps. Your abs might actually get stronger! Yeah, it’s not ideal, but your body is fine with the whole moving around thing. Also, many older lifters would kill to have lifting be one of their obligations.
You sound like you know what you’re doing, so you should be OK. Just be aware of doing something outside of your comfort zone for a while will probably be beneficial.
Yea, I looked at the workout plan today and that made me decided to keep with it. It was mainly lower reps with higher load then it was on Monday. I asked the teacher about it and he told me every other Monday they do lighter front squats. He also explained their workout routine and it sounded reasonable so I will be sticking with the class.