Training techniques

funkey_monkey

Hi,
I've been going to gym for a few years now doing weights. PRogress has been modest to say the least.

My stats are:
Weight: 63.5kg
Bench: 70kg (2 reps)
Squat: 87.5kg (2 reps)
DL: 115kg (3 reps)

My problem is that with my bench I never feel any DOM's or burn in my pecs. I get it all in my shoulders. I've tried lowering the weight across nipple line of chest, holding elbows in different positions to no avail.

How do I start pushing this on - I've been labouring around 70kg mark for about 3/4 year now and want to push on, but I feel it is my technique that is the limiting factor.

Also, in regards to squatting, what is the best way to train back of legs. I get severe DOM's on quads, but hamstrings and calves never feel trained.

I want to push on and get a better body - how are these guys doing it:

http://paulmcilroy.com/personaltrainer/index.php/Testimonials.html


I can't afford one of his £1500 so I'm hoping I can manage something similar myself.

Cheers.

TommyKnocker

Hi There

I think the best thing to do to start off with is give a outline of both your training routine and your diet. Give as much detail as possible ( for training, give sets, reps, weight lifted. For food/liquid intake give time, meal, foods/liquids taken, include junk food & alcohol consumption if appropriate) and I am sure some of the more knowledgeable folks on here can point you in the right direction.

Best Regards,

M

RealistSpy

I will also advise you to read other peoples logs to get an Idea of workouts and stuff. Don't worry you will bench higher in no time.

GL

Transform

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Hi,
I've been going to gym for a few years now doing weights. PRogress has been modest to say the least.

My stats are:
Weight: 63.5kg
Bench: 70kg (2 reps)
Squat: 87.5kg (2 reps)
DL: 115kg (3 reps)

My problem is that with my bench I never feel any DOM's or burn in my pecs. I get it all in my shoulders. I've tried lowering the weight across nipple line of chest, holding elbows in different positions to no avail.

How do I start pushing this on - I've been labouring around 70kg mark for about 3/4 year now and want to push on, but I feel it is my technique that is the limiting factor.

Also, in regards to squatting, what is the best way to train back of legs. I get severe DOM's on quads, but hamstrings and calves never feel trained.

I want to push on and get a better body - how are these guys doing it:

http://paulmcilroy.com/personaltrainer/index.php/Testimonials.html


I can't afford one of his £1500 so I'm hoping I can manage something similar myself.

Cheers.

whats your height?

funkey_monkey

Height: 5'6

RealistSpy

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Height: 5'6

:O same hight and similar weight as me.
I am 5ft 6 and 66 - 68Kg

funkey_monkey

B-Builder wrote: »

Hi There

I think the best thing to do to start off with is give a outline of both your training routine and your diet. Give as much detail as possible ( for training, give sets, reps, weight lifted. For food/liquid intake give time, meal, foods/liquids taken, include junk food & alcohol consumption if appropriate) and I am sure some of the more knowledgeable folks on here can point you in the right direction.

Best Regards,

M

Training Routine:
Day 1:
Flat bench
60x8x1
70x3x4
65x3x2
60x8x1
Incline
50x8x5
Flyes
15x8x4
Bicep curl bar superset with dumbbell concentration curls
30(+bar)x8x5 / 15x8x5

Day 2:
Pull ups
Body weight x 8 x 5
Deadlift
60x8x1
90x8x1
100x5x2
105x5x2
90x6x1
Bent over dumbbell row
35x8x5
Seated row
60x8x5
Skullcrushers
30(+bar)x8x5

Day 3:
Squat
60x8x1
70x5x1
75x5x1
80x5x2
85x5x1
60x8x1
Front Squat
50x8x4
SLDL
70x8x4
Calf Raises
80x15x5
Ham curls
55x8x5

Tabata style boxing 16min (20s on/10s off) twice per week.



Breakfast
Branflakes, coffee
Mid morning
Fruit, amino acid drink
Lunch
Wholemeal pitta, salad, fruit, yoghurt, green tea (crisps 2-3 times per week)
Mid afternoon
Wholemeal bread, coffee, amino acid drink
Pre exercise
Kre Alklyn
BCAA
Post exercise
Amino acid
Dinner
Pasta&veg/potatoes&veg/stir fry veg & wholemeal rice

Total daily protein/amino acid intake: ~135g

Alcohol intake: negligible

RealistSpy

For the Hamstrings what works for me would be Romanian Deadlifts a lot of them. Can you get someone to spot you with the bench Press?

funkey_monkey

RealistSpy wrote: »

For the Hamstrings what works for me would be Romanian Deadlifts a lot of them. Can you get someone to spot you with the bench Press?

I bench in a squat rack so I can load up without needing someone to spot.

Transform

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Training Routine:
Day 1:
Flat bench
60x8x1
70x3x4
65x3x2
60x8x1
Incline
50x8x5
Flyes
15x8x4
Bicep curl bar superset with dumbbell concentration curls
30(+bar)x8x5 / 15x8x5

Day 2:
Pull ups
Body weight x 8 x 5
Deadlift
60x8x1
90x8x1
100x5x2
105x5x2
90x6x1
Bent over dumbbell row
35x8x5
Seated row
60x8x5
Skullcrushers
30(+bar)x8x5

Day 3:
Squat
60x8x1
70x5x1
75x5x1
80x5x2
85x5x1
60x8x1
Front Squat
50x8x4
SLDL
70x8x4
Calf Raises
80x15x5
Ham curls
55x8x5

Tabata style boxing 16min (20s on/10s off) twice per week.



Breakfast
Branflakes, coffee
Mid morning
Fruit, amino acid drink
Lunch
Wholemeal pitta, salad, fruit, yoghurt, green tea (crisps 2-3 times per week)
Mid afternoon
Wholemeal bread, coffee, amino acid drink
Pre exercise
Kre Alklyn
BCAA
Post exercise
Amino acid
Dinner
Pasta&veg/potatoes&veg/stir fry veg & wholemeal rice

Total daily protein/amino acid intake: ~135g

Alcohol intake: negligible

Drop the flys and incline bench for a month and see the changes on bench (change the rep range from week to week on it also i.e. week one 5x5, Wk 2 - 6sets of 4, week 3 - 4 sets of 6-7reps and week 4 - 6-7sets of 1rep).

Overall, you are benching more than body weight so you cant complain and you are deadlifting close to double body weight - to be honest you are plenty strong as an average gym going guy and pound for pound are possibly stronger than all the other guys that are benching 90-100kg + (and for some thats all they do well - benching).

Transform

Transform wrote: »

Drop the flys and incline bench for a month and see the changes on bench (change the rep range from week to week on it also i.e. week one 5x5, Wk 2 - 6sets of 4, week 3 - 4 sets of 6-7reps and week 4 - 6-7sets of 1rep).

Overall, you are benching more than body weight so you cant complain and you are deadlifting close to double body weight - to be honest you are plenty strong as an average gym going guy and pound for pound are possibly stronger than all the other guys that are benching 90-100kg + (and for some thats all they do well - benching).

Oh and GHR for hamstrings without question - well lots of single leg work which i am a massive fan of.

Add weight to your pull ups also and do 5 sets of 5reps - nothing better to build a better benching base - oh and way more scap work

funkey_monkey

GHR?

Scap work?

Do I have to buy a belt for weighted pull ups? I bought a normal weight lifting belt and I personally think it is crap - can't get used to it.

Transform

come on man cant do all the work for you and no just put a 5kg dumbbell between your knees/thighs and work from there.



Glute ham raise -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GijkEO5kEJM

sacp work - look in my injury/rehab section in my blog - http://thetransformationcatalyst.wordpress.com/category/injury-pre-and-rehab/

all the scap work help with your benching as they are the weak link for many people

rubadub

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Do I have to buy a belt for weighted pull ups?

You could put a plate or 2 in a backpack, though I prefer a dip belt but it really only becomes necessary at higher weights. Some here have used karate belts. I have used adjustable webbing straps which have loads of other uses too I got mine here
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Handy-Straps_Med-Duty-tie-down-Straps_W0QQ_fsubZ13455392QQ_sidZ123266481QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322

Transform mentioned a dumbbell between the legs, I sometimes squeeze the plates even though they are on my dip belt, I find it makes you engage your core and can give you more strength.

funkey_monkey

We have a GHR machine at the gym - people use it for doing sit ups - I've never seen GHR's being done in them!
I'll go up and see if it is still working and give it a go

Transform

rubadub wrote: »

You could put a plate or 2 in a backpack, though I prefer a dip belt but it really only becomes necessary at higher weights. Some here have used karate belts. I have used adjustable webbing straps which have loads of other uses too I got mine here
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Handy-Straps_Med-Duty-tie-down-Straps_W0QQ_fsubZ13455392QQ_sidZ123266481QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322

Transform mentioned a dumbbell between the legs, I sometimes squeeze the plates even though they are on my dip belt, I find it makes you engage your core and can give you more strength.

agreed that is something i do also with the plates

AntiVirus

Just a quick question on the chin ups, I seem to have stalled on my max chin ups at the moment would using a weight with a lower number of chin ups help me increase my max chin ups? I can just about do 20 now but I haven't move on for ages? Thanks

Armedocr

AntiVirus wrote: »

Just a quick question on the chin ups, I seem to have stalled on my max chin ups at the moment would using a weight with a lower number of chin ups help me increase my max chin ups? I can just about do 20 now but I haven't move on for ages? Thanks

Start doing 2/3 sets of 5 weighted. Progress on those for a few months and your BW chins should increase as well.

AntiVirus

Armedocr wrote: »

Start doing 2/3 sets of 5 weighted. Progress on those for a few months and your BW chins should increase as well.

I give it a go and see how I get on, thanks.

Coileach dearg

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Breakfast
Branflakes, coffeeGet some protein in here, porridge and eggs or toast and poached eggs
Mid morning
Fruit, amino acid drink Get a handful of almonds, good fats
Lunch
Wholemeal pitta, salad, fruit, yoghurt, green tea (crisps 2-3 times per week)You probably dont need to be told to cut out the crisps. Get some protein in here as well, a tuna sandwich or chicken salad
Mid afternoon
Wholemeal bread, coffee, amino acid drinkI'm assuming that you have the bread on its own? Why not have a protein shake with a bit of milk here.
Pre exercise
Kre Alklyn
BCAA Have a banana here
Post exercise
Amino acid
Dinner
Pasta&veg/potatoes&veg/stir fry veg & wholemeal riceGet some lean meat with the dinner, a nice steak or chicken breast or fish

Total daily protein/amino acid intake: ~135gI don't see where you get all this protein from the above?

Alcohol intake: negligible

I can't believe nobody commented on what the man eats!! It needs to be brushed up.
By the way I'm the same height as you and weigh 70kg. Was stuck on 65KG on bench press for a good while before I started alternating 5X5 and 4X10.
Like this:
week 1: Bench press 10X4 67.5KG
week 2: Bench press 5X5 70KG
week 3: Bench press 10X4 70KG
week 4: Bench press 5X5 72.5KG
and so on

By the way I've started doing heavy deadlifts now and can see all my other lifts increase greatly.

funkey_monkey

Coileach dearg - I'm on a low protein diet for medical reasons - the additional protein comes from the supplements - amino acid drinks which I take throughout the day. Not ideal, but thats life.

RealistSpy

Sorry to hijack

Is it me or is it really hard to progress on bench press? Especially after you start benching more than your body weight?

Armedocr

With such a low protein diet I can't see you making massive gains. Also your volume of work seems pretty high. I'd stick to a well thought out strength routine for a while.

Transform

Armedocr wrote: »

With such a low protein diet I can't see you making massive gains. Also your volume of work seems pretty high. I'd stick to a well thought out strength routine for a while.

total calorie intake will dictate the weight gain progress not just protein intake.

Agreed on the less volume and more strength focused

funkey_monkey

Transform - what do you make of the body transofmrations outlined in the link in my initial post?

Transform

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Transform - what do you make of the body transofmrations outlined in the link in my initial post?

they are body transformations - great examples of clients following what the trainer told them to do. Nothing more.

There are no 'special' techniques or 'secret' training methods. Those people are just consistent with diet and training.

Simple really

Armedocr

Transform wrote: »

total calorie intake will dictate the weight gain progress not just protein intake.

Agreed on the less volume and more strength focused

Aw but what type of weight gained is the question

funkey_monkey

Okay I'm lost now. I think I better look up a PT.