245 club!

[Pooter]

Finally hit a small goal of getting 245 up, went for 5 clean. Going to shoot for 255 in the next few days. Feels good to finally feel like you're making progress!
Just need a spotter to see what a true max is, lol

[Unicorn Jeff]

Nice! Keep it up dude! And don't worry about trying to see what your Max is. You can seriously hurt yourself trying to do that.

[BradM]

You don't need a spotter, just set up a camera.

[Pooter]

Nice! Keep it up dude! And don't worry about trying to see what your Max is. You can seriously hurt yourself trying to do that.

Thanks! That's kind of the only reason I didn't go for more but there's easily another 10-20lbs left on the table Just keep telling myself its only another 10/20lbs each time I add weight.

You don't need a spotter, just set up a camera.

LOL! My Youtube video will be:How to crack your sternum!!

[Big A]

Git 'er done!

I've never "maxed," as in one rep max weight, in almost 20 years of lifting. I repped 405lbs for 3 reps a few years back just to know that I could put up 4 plates, but went right back to my 5, 8, and 12 rep work sets, and haven't looked back.

You'll get alot more out of regular work sets, 1RM is all about ego, like dyno queens putting down big numbers. You open yourself up to injury, and get nothing out of it, other than bragging rights.

[White_lightning]

Git 'er done!

I've never "maxed," as in one rep max weight, in almost 20 years of lifting. I repped 405lbs for 3 reps a few years back just to know that I could put up 4 plates, but went right back to my 5, 8, and 12 rep work sets, and haven't looked back.

You'll get alot more out of regular work sets, 1RM is all about ego, like dyno queens putting down big numbers. You open yourself up to injury, and get nothing out of it, other than bragging rights.

Agreed.. I orm once when i was newish to lifting.. After that i preffered a min of 3-5 reps on a fail set.. But rather 5+ on heavy sets.

[SS Junk]

Contrary to some, the bench press charts are not very far off (at least for me). 245 for five is flirting with a 300lb max.

[Pooter]

Git 'er done!

I've never "maxed," as in one rep max weight, in almost 20 years of lifting. I repped 405lbs for 3 reps a few years back just to know that I could put up 4 plates, but went right back to my 5, 8, and 12 rep work sets, and haven't looked back.

You'll get alot more out of regular work sets, 1RM is all about ego, like dyno queens putting down big numbers. You open yourself up to injury, and get nothing out of it, other than bragging rights.

Thanks! I agree on the dyno comment LOL, finally got my normal set weight at 205, do sets of 10-12, try to get at least 3 sets each time on chest day. Going to try to keep bumping up to where I can still get a full set of 10, twice. Seeing the progress is addicting

Contrary to some, the bench press charts are not very far off (at least for me). 245 for five is flirting with a 300lb max.

Dang, that wouldnt be too shabby, lol.

Next goal will be 285x5 by the summer, if not before then.

[Big A]

Thanks! I agree on the dyno comment LOL, finally got my normal set weight at 205, do sets of 10-12, try to get at least 3 sets each time on chest day. Going to try to keep bumping up to where I can still get a full set of 10, twice. Seeing the progress is addicting

Keep after it man, you're lifting exactly what I am at the moment. Never thought I'd see the day again, when 225lbs was so monumental, yet I'm scared to get under it yet, because I don't think my ego could handle not getting it up. lol Gains absolutely are addictive, it's been my pimary motivation since day 1.

Muscle confusion is a great way to keep plateus at bay, and to keep things interesting, and not get too focused on a particular weight. I'd suggest 2-week cycles at 10-12 reps, 8-10 reps, 5-7, and then back to 10-12 reps. Switch up the specific lifts that you do for a particular muscle group as well, every cycle being best, but at least every couple months.

I used to focus on 8-10 reps of the same exercises for months at a time, to be able to do that week to week direct comparison, and it would get so frustrating once the gains leveled off. It's like a dieter getting on the scale every day, progress seems sooo much slower when you watch it that closely.

[Pooter]

Keep after it man, you're lifting exactly what I am at the moment. Never thought I'd see the day again, when 225lbs was so monumental, yet I'm scared to get under it yet, because I don't think my ego could handle not getting it up. lol Gains absolutely are addictive, it's been my pimary motivation since day 1.

Muscle confusion is a great way to keep plateus at bay, and to keep things interesting, and not get too focused on a particular weight. I'd suggest 2-week cycles at 10-12 reps, 8-10 reps, 5-7, and then back to 10-12 reps. Switch up the specific lifts that you do for a particular muscle group as well, every cycle being best, but at least every couple months.

I used to focus on 8-10 reps of the same exercises for months at a time, to be able to do that week to week direct comparison, and it would get so frustrating once the gains leveled off. It's like a dieter getting on the scale every day, progress seems sooo much slower when you watch it that closely.

Thanks for the advice! I'll try varying it up more so I don't get stuck on those plateaus and just keep it moving up. I had that same thing in the past when I wasn't pushing myself enough, you'd get to that certain weight and just feel stuck, lol.

How long have you been off steady lifting? It does suck seeing how much progress you've lost when its been a while. I finally started a steady routine every day about 6months ago.

[Big A]

Thanks for the advice! I'll try varying it up more so I don't get stuck on those plateaus and just keep it moving up. I had that same thing in the past when I wasn't pushing myself enough, you'd get to that certain weight and just feel stuck, lol.

How long have you been off steady lifting? It does suck seeing how much progress you've lost when its been a while. I finally started a steady routine every day about 6months ago.

Variety is the spice of life. It's actually kind of nice to not be so concerned with maintaing the heavy lifts, and minimal gains where you're at or near your genetic limit. At one point I was so concerned with backsliding, that I was scared to change it up, including cutting calories to get the fat off. When I finally committed to lifting like outlined above, workouts got enjoyable again, and I was able to relax mentally about hitting certain numbers, as long as I was lifting to failure. You know when you've had a good workout, just trust that you're giving 110%, and you'll build a much more well-rounded and athletic physique. WHen you think about it, flat bench really has no practical application in the real world, unless you're swapping a tranny withour a jack.

I tore up my leg pretty bad back on 9/11/08 in a bike wreck, was bed-ridden for a month, and stuck to a recliner for the next 3. It's been an uphill battle ever since. I made a decent go at a comback in 2010, but it was still touch and go, and drinking/work eventually took over. Burnout had alot to do with it admittedly, I had placed way to much focus and self-worth on being the biggest/strongest I could be for way too long, and life in general wasn't much fun anymore.

It's a totally different experience now, being in there because I want to be in decent shape and healthy, and I couldn't give a shit about the monsters in there putting up big weight. It's impressive and all because I know what it takes, but I don't care to put forth that much effort anymore. It'd be cool to bench double my bodyweight again, but no sweat if I never get there. I don't freak out if I miss a workout anymore.

[Pooter]

Variety is the spice of life. It's actually kind of nice to not be so concerned with maintaing the heavy lifts, and minimal gains where you're at or near your genetic limit. At one point I was so concerned with backsliding, that I was scared to change it up, including cutting calories to get the fat off. When I finally committed to lifting like outlined above, workouts got enjoyable again, and I was able to relax mentally about hitting certain numbers, as long as I was lifting to failure. You know when you've had a good workout, just trust that you're giving 110%, and you'll build a much more well-rounded and athletic physique. WHen you think about it, flat bench really has no practical application in the real world, unless you're swapping a tranny withour a jack.

I tore up my leg pretty bad back on 9/11/08 in a bike wreck, was bed-ridden for a month, and stuck to a recliner for the next 3. It's been an uphill battle ever since. I made a decent go at a comback in 2010, but it was still touch and go, and drinking/work eventually took over. Burnout had alot to do with it admittedly, I had placed way to much focus and self-worth on being the biggest/strongest I could be for way too long, and life in general wasn't much fun anymore.

It's a totally different experience now, being in there because I want to be in decent shape and healthy, and I couldn't give a shit about the monsters in there putting up big weight. It's impressive and all because I know what it takes, but I don't care to put forth that much effort anymore. It'd be cool to bench double my bodyweight again, but no sweat if I never get there. I don't freak out if I miss a workout anymore.

That sucks, I did remember your thread about the bike wreck, didn't know it had been that long ago. At least you're back at it now, and like you said, no one to prove it to but yourself. I'd like to do the same, don't want to be the biggest and the baddest, just the strongest I can be with hard work. No more sitting there and getting fat like the rest of the folks in my office, lol.
Good luck Aaron! post up some progress when you get back into the rhythm, reading some of the other folks posts in here helps stay motivated.

[stangin4lyfe]

I'm glad there are good people on here to help motivate others.
Keep up the good work Pooter!

[Pooter]

I'm glad there are good people on here to help motivate others.
Keep up the good work Pooter!

Thank you sir!

[Big A]

That sucks, I did remember your thread about the bike wreck, didn't know it had been that long ago. At least you're back at it now, and like you said, no one to prove it to but yourself. I'd like to do the same, don't want to be the biggest and the baddest, just the strongest I can be with hard work. No more sitting there and getting fat like the rest of the folks in my office, lol.
Good luck Aaron! post up some progress when you get back into the rhythm, reading some of the other folks posts in here helps stay motivated.

Sorry to muddle your thread a little, I didn't think a "comeback" thread was post-worthy in and of itself, but I figured that I'd share my perspective to give you a little motivation and guidance. Focus on progress, not perfection, because you'll never get there if you do. When you hit a plateau, change it up, it sounds like you're off to a great start.

Here's a little progress report for you, my first day back 2 months ago I couldn't bench 135lbs for 12 reps, and man did my body ache afterwards. A total mind-fuck at the time, considering that used to be my warm-up. In that 2 months I've dropped about an inch off my waist, and am satisified with the 205 for 12. My god it would have been awesome to have that kind of progress in the beginning. I've intentionally not taken measurements or got on a scale this go 'round, nor do I have an end goal, it doesn't matter to me enough at this point, just progress in general.