File :-(, x, )
Total weakling here Anonymous
OK /fit/, here's my deal. I'm 5'11, 195 pounds, 25 years old. It was only just over a year ago that I actually started exercising and working out, and I've tried all kinds of workout regimens but I'm still in a rut. I've dropped 30 pounds in that time yet my muscle strength isn't that great. Here are my sorry stats:

-Max bench press weight: 130 lbs (barbell), 50 lbs (dumbbells)
-Max curl weight: 60 lbs (curl bar), 25 lbs (dumbbells)
-Max seated shoulder press: 30 lbs (dumbbells)

What has me so frustrated is that these have been my maxes for nearly half a year. I just can't get any more muscle, especially on my arms. I've started doing less reps with more weight, with my last set being negatives.

I'm also completely hooked on PB&J sandwiches. Some people have said these are good (bread and jelly for carbs, peanut butter for protein) while others say I should avoid them (too fattening).

Any help /fit/ can give would be appreciated.
>> Anonymous
peanut butter is also a shit source of protein, a serving has 7 grams of protein. A piece of chicken has 23 grams of protein, a glass of milk has 12, a scoop of protein powder has about 20. work out your fucking back and lower body and learn something about food. use google ffs
>> Anonymous
holy crap.
im 5'10
~178lbs
max bench a semester ago was 175, leg press 675, work out at 55 on the curl bar, 3 sets, 6 reps 170 pounds on the shoulder iso machine.

honestly, youre max bench should be your body weight, max leg press should be twice that.

to build strength, the default, and most useful is 3 sets of X reps, for strength X should be less than 10 reps, on your last set you should barely be able to complete it. also, eat protein, whey protein, chicken, cheese milk peanut butter. usually about Xgrams whereas X is your bodyweight.

also, i hear doing pushups help quite a bit with bench press.
>> Anonymous
If you want to bulk up, you have to accept that you'll need to adjust your diet to something lifter-friendly. If you keep on a steady cardio/lifting regimen and bottleneck your calorie intake at 2200-2400, you're going to end up wearing your body down to a nub. A typical serious lifter's diet will hover around 3k calories. Cut back on the cardio(but don't completely stop, maybe a two mile jog three times a week) and focus on the weights more.
>> Anonymous
>>10151

OP here. I never said I didn't work my lower body. I'm just concerned mainly with my upper body.
>> Anonymous
as for my workout (>>10157) on mondays, wednesdays, and thursdays, i ride my bike to the store and back, about 7 miles. on tuesdays i have a fitness and conditioning class, right now we are doing interval runs on tuesdays, and lifting on thursdays, on friday i have my martial arts class. and dont workout on the weekends. isnt really for muscle gain, mostly for cardio and overall fitness and weight loss.
>> Anonymous
>>10157
675? the gym at my (shitty?) college has a leg press but it only goes up to 300. Ive never even seen 675 on a machine. hope you arent offended if i call bullshit; i dont have much to back it up with; its a plausable weight for someone in good shape but i just dont know how you would measure it.
>> Anonymous
how often are you working out? you may not be doing it enough to pump up your max. you may also be doing reps wrong, or eating wrong.

3 sets of 3 baby, 3 sets of 3. take day or two to recover from the use of the heavy weights (and find a spotter who will make you really push and make sure you go dead on them). just remember, you need protein and lots of it to build muscle mass. you also need to increase food intake.
>> Anonymous
>>10804
Depends on what kind of leg press.

At my old community centre gym, we had both the horizontal leg press (i.e., the one that uses pulleys) that read up to 400 (I could max the machine -8x3- back when I worked out, but now I think I'm probably back down to 300 or so), and the normal free-weight leg press.

The 675 is prob on the free-weight leg press... I saw a guy who put over 700 lbs on it and went 10x3 (45lbs x 2/side x 8) with ease.. I think he used every 45 plate in the room ahah.. but I could never get over 500 lbs or so tbh.
>> Anonymous
Leg Presses are not a lift. They're working a machine.

Do something real like a <parallel squat or a deadlift - those are real lifts
>> Anonymous
>>10804
in our gym we have a legpress that goes to 320kg (~700 pounds)

to OP get ripetoes starting strength and follow the program in the book (with follow i mean do every thing exactly as it says - don't do squats on a machine or shit like that) and eat a lot of food
>> Anonymous
>>10834
Typically I've been working out like this

MWF - Upper body workout (chest, biceps, triceps, shoulders, upper back)
TTh - Lower body workout (quads, hams, calves, lower back)

Everyday I'd work my abs, and I started each routine with a 20-minute bike ride. I think it's fairly plausible that three whole upper body workouts a week may be a big factor due to overworking, but I never though to do otherwise. I plan to change my routine to either do entire upper body MTh, lower body TF, and have W be a day just for one big bike ride rather than doing 5 shorter ones during the week.

Then again, I've also read that some lifters prefer to work their upper body one part per day (chest on Monday, shoulders on Tuesday, etc) and do just one leg workout per week. Which would be recommended?

Finally, I'm considering getting protein shake mix. Is it worth it if I keep doing my new workout routine (more weight/less reps, negatives)?
>> Anonymous
first off OP you need to know if you want strength or muscle tone and being cut....before you can even take any of these instructions given above
>> Anonymous
>>11066
Right off the bat, I'd say you are overtraining, which is usually the problem when someone hits a plateau (especially if they are inexperienced).

If you are seriously trying to gain mass/strength, I would make the following suggestions:

1 - only work each major muscle group ONCE per week (ex: Mon: Legs, Wed: Chest, Fri: Back)
2 - work unrelated minor muscle groups in between (Tues: traps & abs, Thurs: calves, Sat or Sun: shoulders)
3 - Make sure you are getting plenty of protein in your diet, supplement with protein powder if you need to. You should be getting between .5 to 1 gram per 1 lb of bodyweight per day for gain.
4 - REST - your muscles only grow during the rest period in between workouts, if you don't give them enough time, they don't grow. The workout itself is only the stimulus to get the muscles to grow. Short, heavy workouts with plenty of rest in between will help you find the right balance of stimulus and rest.

The reason for the offset in major/minor is that you are still working the minor when you work the major, and you need to give them more than 1 day of rest before working them again. Major muscle groups require several days rest if you are really working for mass & strength.

For reference, I have about 20 years of experience in the gym, started as a powerlifter in high school, went to bodybuilding in college, then back to powerlifting. I haven't been active lately, but at my last peak I was 240 lbs with a bench of 425, squat of 660 and deadlift of 565.

hope this helps
>> Anonymous
>>11066

I'm no expert, but I think you're doing too much MWF. You're going to exhaust your muscles if you're doing THAT much 3 days a week. It's a lot for your body to handle. I workout 2 days back to back, 1 day off. By the end of the second day, I feel exhausted but great.

Try and break it down so that you're performing Chest/Triceps on one day, Back/Biceps another (lower and upper back), and dedicate a day to lower body, and repeat the routine. Some people do shoulders with back/biceps, some do it with lower body. I personally do it with lower body.

Also, abs every day? You aren't working the hard enough if you're doing them every day. Only one or two hard ab work out a week should suffice. Try adding some weight resistance to your crunches if you aren't already.