Lifter's Lounge

[scary_robot_music]

You need a form check and stronger obliques most likely. You shouldn't be hurting yourself doing these exercises.

Probably true, but I find that lifting near my one rep max isn't really worth it at this point. When straining to get in that last rep the increased risk of hurting myself if I'm lifting extremely heavy seems like something to avoid.

I'm natty and over fifty and unlikely to impress anyone, something I accept. I'm still far stronger than most guys, just nowhere near the level of a serious power lifter, which is fine. I have other priorities and lifting lighter weights around 8 or 10 reps a set keeps me strong and lean enough.

Another thing is that I work out at home without a spotter, so even if I had the equipment to do heavy barbell bench presses and squats, it would be a bad idea.

 

[tikkasakko]

Anyone have any experience/opinions on Mike Mentzer's training philosophy?

 

[FrancisK]

I'm going to ask an intrusive question, just a bit nosy :

How many reps of your own body weight can you guys bench?

Havent maxed out on anything since high school I don't think. Currently sitting a little under 230lbs, I rep with 275 usually 3x6 although that last set I sometimes have to cut short....no spotter I workout alone.

Why do you ask?

 

[FrancisK]

Probably true, but I find that lifting near my one rep max isn't really worth it at this point. When straining to get in that last rep the increased risk of hurting myself if I'm lifting extremely heavy seems like something to avoid.

I'm natty and over fifty and unlikely to impress anyone, something I accept. I'm still far stronger than most guys, just nowhere near the level of a serious power lifter, which is fine. I have other priorities and lifting lighter weights around 8 or 10 reps a set keeps me strong and lean enough.

Another thing is that I work out at home without a spotter, so even if I had the equipment to do heavy barbell bench presses and squats, it would be a bad idea.

Other than mental high school kid clout or if you're a competitor there is really no reason to "max out" on anything, no benefit.

 

[scary_robot_music]

Other than mental high school kid clout or if you're a competitor there is really no reason to "max out" on anything, no benefit.

I would be curious to see if I could do 225 at this point but yeah, even that is ego. Not worth the effort to actually go to the gym and probably not worth the risk to my aging shoulders.

 

[Get2choppaaa]

Anyone have any experience/opinions on Mike Mentzer's training philosophy?

Yes. HIIT works... But Mentzer got kinda nutty with it.

Basically a single set to absolute failure per exercise per body part after multiple warm up sets works.

For example for a push routine with chest routine if your max is 315:

Bench press, 3 warm up sets reps 135, 185, 225, then work set 275 x5 to failure
Dumbbell incline press: warm up 65x12, 75X12, 100x12 to failure
Chest fly : 55 lb dumbbells warm up 35sx12, 45x12, then work set of 55 x 16
Dips: max set to failure
Tricep rope press down: 1 set to failure.

Thats an example.

 

[FrancisK]

I would be curious to see if I could do 225 at this point but yeah, even that is ego. Not worth the effort to actually go to the gym and probably not worth the risk to my aging shoulders.

Well if it would make you feel good about yourself then give it a go why not, just warm up first and have a spotter. As long as you are using proper form it shouldn't be any further risk than just doing your basic reps, assuming you're actually pushing yourself in your day to day workouts and not just going through the motions.

 

[stadtaffe]

15 at 250 lbs.
I've done 22 at 225

Omg that's enormous you put me to shame!

Havent maxed out on anything since high school I don't think. Currently sitting a little under 230lbs, I rep with 275 usually 3x6 although that last set I sometimes have to cut short....no spotter I workout alone.

Why do you ask?

Okay @FrancisK so you do sets of 6 @ 120% of your body weight.

Well, I normally do 3 sets of 10 @ 88% of my body weight.

Today for my second set I thought I'd try almost my exact body weight. Actually 103% of it so very slightly more and managed 4 reps. If there had been a spotter I might have squeezed out a fifth but it really was not going to be more than that. Definitely nowhere near @Get2choppaaa 's 15!! or @FrancisK 6 @ 120% (x3)

Just got a bit worried. Yes when I was 18 I did significantly heavier weights, and at 1x body weight back then I think I could do about 8, so twice as many as now. I'm leaner now in fat percentage than then but unfortunately also have less muscle on me now than then.

Well good to know. If anyone else cares to share this metric - number of reps you can bench of your own body weight - I'd be interested to hear.

My shoulder press is a stronger exercise for me but I always used to care so much about bench.

These days though I find myself caring more about losing some remaining fat. I'm probably about 14% fat but really wish it were about 9%. It's a damn struggle to get rid of that last bit, I post about it in other threads here from time to time..

Until recently I was most obsessed about running a certain distance under a certain time, but have since moved on to other goals. Just tested how long I could keep that pace going on a treadmill and realised it would take weeks or months of very dedicated training to maybe reach that goal and I felt that other things are just more important, the focus should go elsewhere. Maybe if I'm back in an athletics club one day it will be easier, just with others on the track pushing you to go faster.

Maybe I should change my bench sets from 3 x 10 to 3 x 6 perhaps ten is not the magic number for this.

 

[FrancisK]

Omg that's enormous you put me to shame!

Okay @FrancisK so you do sets of 6 @ 120% of your body weight.

Well, I normally do 3 sets of 10 @ 88% of my body weight.

Today for my second set I thought I'd try almost my exact body weight. Actually 103% of it so very slightly more and managed 4 reps. If there had been a spotter I might have squeezed out a fifth but it really was not going to be more than that. Definitely nowhere near @Get2choppaaa 's 15!! or @FrancisK 6 @ 120% (x3)

Just got a bit worried. Yes when I was 18 I did significantly heavier weights, and at 1x body weight back then I think I could do about 8, so twice as many as now. I'm leaner now in fat percentage than then but unfortunately also have less muscle on me now than then.

Well good to know. If anyone else cares to share this metric - number of reps you can bench of your own body weight - I'd be interested to hear.

My shoulder press is a stronger exercise for me but I always used to care so much about bench.

These days though I find myself caring more about losing some remaining fat. I'm probably about 14% fat but really wish it were about 9%. It's a damn struggle to get rid of that last bit, I post about it in other threads here from time to time..

Until recently I was most obsessed about running a certain distance under a certain time, but have since moved on to other goals. Just tested how long I could keep that pace going on a treadmill and realised it would take weeks or months of very dedicated training to maybe reach that goal and I felt that other things are just more important, the focus should go elsewhere. Maybe if I'm back in an athletics club one day it will be easier, just with others on the track pushing you to go faster.

Maybe I should change my bench sets from 3 x 10 to 3 x 6 perhaps ten is not the magic number for this.

The weight doesn't mean anything unless you're a competitor, what matters is the workout you get. I'll tell you what I tell people at the gym when they comment on the weight I use. I wish I could use the weight they use and get the same workout that they get out of it. Does that make sense?

Keep in mind I don't do deadlifts anymore because I'm afraid of another hernia and I do squats with the same weight I bench with because I don't want to destroy my knees. If I had shoulder or pec issues I would use much lower weight to bench with....also I rarely do flat bench it's normally incline also to avoid injury.

Again the weight means nothing unless you're training for something....

Also remember that 95% of the people on the planet don't go to the gym, instead they're laying on the couch. You automatically have a leg up on all of them, keep it going don't get caught up in numbers.

 

[scary_robot_music]

The weight doesn't mean anything unless you're a competitor, what matters is the workout you get. I'll tell you what I tell people at the gym when they comment on the weight I use. I wish I could use the weight they use and get the same workout that they get out of it. Does that make sense?

Keep in mind I don't do deadlifts anymore because I'm afraid of another hernia and I do squats with the same weight I bench with because I don't want to destroy my knees. If I had shoulder or pec issues I would use much lower weight to bench with....also I rarely do flat bench it's normally incline also to avoid injury.

Again the weight means nothing unless you're training for something....

Also remember that 95% of the people on the planet don't go to the gym, instead they're laying on the couch. You automatically have a leg up on all of them, keep it going don't get caught up in numbers.

I only do front squats for barbell squats. This is partially because I work out at home and don't have a squat rack, so I have to clean the barbell off the floor. But I find it's also much easier to keep good form with front squats because you can't round your back like you can with regular squats. I know you said you're concerned about your knees rather than your lower back but I feel like front squats might be easier on your knees too. If anything, you do less weight on front squats, so that might help.

I also do Bulgarian split squats. No need for heavy weight with those. You can even do them with no weight and really feel it in your quads, especially if you put your hands up in a "touchdown" signal and pause for a long two count at the bottom of each rep.

Also remember that 95% of the people on the planet don't go to the gym

Yes. Nothing wrong with being a power lifter if that's your thing, but it's not necessary to be healthy. If you just lift efficiently or even do good body weight workouts consistently it's not too hard to be far stronger than most other men. For example, according to Brave AI "it appears that the percentage of men who can bench press their bodyweight is likely to be relatively low, around 1-10%."

 

[stadtaffe]

also I rarely do flat bench it's normally incline also to avoid injury.

Again the weight means nothing unless you're training for something....

Also remember that 95% of the people on the planet don't go to the gym, instead they're laying on the couch. You automatically have a leg up on all of them, keep it going don't get caught up in numbers.

Thanks for the kind words. I am lucky compared with some of the posters in this thread in that I am very resistant to sports injury, whether from running, racquet sports or weights. Still I only attempted things like deadlift and squat in my late 30s out of fear of back injury. Now it seems that the fear was not so founded but I still get more of a kick out of the original ones I used to do, everything upper body that does not involve the legs or back.

But yes, I have glimpsed the potential for a nasty injury for shoulder press, should the weight tip backwards.

Maybe something bad would happen if I flew backwards off the treadmill at high speed, but I take care. Probably the worst would be if you ended up with your skin on the rapidly moving belt lying on the ground.

I think I once saw an ambulance outside a gym I used to go to and someone told me that someone dropped the bench press on themself.

Luckily I've had a reasonable amount of success and enjoyment in sports other than lifting, so am not so obsessed with "the numbers". Fat % is the number I'm concerned about as well as body weight - getting it below a certain level, about 4kg lighter than what I am now.

Was having a thought just before that if one day something changed and I somehow truly got truly obsessed with the amount I was lifting, I'd probably have a small dabble in steroids. Can't see that happening however.

For example, according to Brave AI "it appears that the percentage of men who can bench press their bodyweight is likely to be relatively low, around 1-10%."

Good to know.

If :

@FrancisK so you do sets of 6 @ 120% of your body weight.

...he can probably do 12 at least @100% of his body weight.

@Get2choppaaa can do 15

I can do 4, maybe 5 with a spotter.

And 90% of men possibly can't do 1

This is all a bit silly but good to get some clarity on it, anyone else welcome to post your stats for this.

 

[scary_robot_music]

Was having a thought just before that if one day something changed and I somehow truly got truly obsessed with the amount I was lifting, I'd probably have a small dabble in steroids. Can't see that happening however.

Not worth it, at all. One funny thing about Clownworld is the contradiction between aesthetic standards for women and men. Women can for the most part realistically achieve an ideal figure and level of fitness naturally. Just eat healthy and lift weights consistently, maybe with some core work or yoga thrown in the mix. It's just that there are very, very few women willing to do this. It's oppression or the patriarchy or something to suggest women should have a little discipline for the sake of their health or even to, God forbid, look nice for men.

With men on the other hand, the ideal is more being built like the guys who play Captain America or Thor in the movies and being able to bench twice your bodyweight. Stuff that's unachievable without drugs for the vast majority of men. It's very foolish to allow yourself to be deceived into a lifelong dependency on drugs to chase an unnatural physique and totally unnecessary level of strength out of vanity, yet a lot of guys fall for it.

Better to be happy with what you can achieve without TRT or other drugs, and if you need to move something that weighs more than you? Get a dolly.