Building Strength

Thepoet85

Hey folks,

Have a quick question. I've been doing some weights for about a month now and I feel that my arms are holding me back, especially when it comes to a bench press. I'm 6ft and about 13st. My issue is that my arms are a little thin and I'm not sure the best way to approach building mass/muscle on them.

Would heavier weights and lower reps be better than lighter weights and more reps?

Thanks in advance for any replies

Thepoet85

Anyone?

turbot

Thepoet85 wrote: »

Anyone?

Watch this. Do exactly what he says - he knows what he is talking about:

http://youtu.be/gVd5--f2tNE

Also, you should aim to consume approx 1g protein per lb of bodyweight every day, ideally in 30g portions every 2 1/2 hours. Ideally, hire a really good trainer (like Vinny) to teach you how to train.

Thepoet85

Cheers Yea I'm doing those types of exercises, I thought they were negative reps. Taking a protein shake after a workout and eating plenty of peanut butter too. I guess it just takes time but ill keep it up, we're a few nice tips on there thanks

MightyMandarin

Thepoet85 wrote: »

Hey folks,

Have a quick question. I've been doing some weights for about a month now and I feel that my arms are holding me back, especially when it comes to a bench press. I'm 6ft and about 13st. My issue is that my arms are a little thin and I'm not sure the best way to approach building mass/muscle on them.

Would heavier weights and lower reps be better than lighter weights and more reps?

Thanks in advance for any replies

If you're 6ft and 13st, my guess is you have a skinny body, not just skinny arms.

The best way to build mass is to lift heavy and eat more. Start doing mostly compound exercises, so bench, squats, deadlifts, pullups, OHP etc. Start eating more food, focusing on stuff like eggs, chicken, steaks and other good sources of protein.

Find a decent program like Starting Strength and just go from there.

Thepoet85

MightyMandarin wrote:

If you're 6ft and 13st, my guess is you have a skinny body, not just skinny arms.

MightyMandarin wrote:

The best way to build mass is to lift heavy and eat more. Start doing mostly compound exercises, so bench, squats, deadlifts, pullups, OHP etc. Start eating more food, focusing on stuff like eggs, chicken, steaks and other good sources of protein.

MightyMandarin wrote:

Find a decent program like Starting Strength and just go from there.

Yea I'd be thin but have a bit of extra in the belly area and small moobs which always annoy me. I know I have a good shape as far as potential development is concerned. I'll take all this on board lads thanks

Alf Veedersane

MightyMandarin wrote: »

If you're 6ft and 13st, my guess is you have a skinny body, not just skinny arms.

MightyMandarin

Thepoet85 wrote: »

Yea I'd be thin but have a bit of extra in the belly area and small moobs which always annoy me. I know I have a good shape as far as potential development is concerned. I'll take all this on board lads thanks

You should ideally do some sort of a bulk. Having a bit of fat to start off with is grand, and if you bulk cleanly for a year or so, you'll find it a lot easier to lose fat.

If you're 13st, there's no reason for you to lose weight, as you'll look terrible if you get lighter.

Up the calories, clean up your diet, eat more protein and lift heavy weights. Do this for a year and you'll look a hell of a lot better.

HamsterFace

MightyMandarin wrote: »

If you're 6ft and 13st, my guess is you have a skinny body, not just skinny arms.

The best way to build mass is to lift heavy and eat more. Start doing mostly compound exercises, so bench, squats, deadlifts, pullups, OHP etc. Start eating more food, focusing on stuff like eggs, chicken, steaks and other good sources of protein.

Find a decent program like Starting Strength and just go from there.

Skinny at 13St and 6ft ?

Sounds like an ideal weight to me

MightyMandarin

HamsterFace wrote: »

Skinny at 13St and 6ft ?

Sounds like an ideal weight to me

At a low bf% it'd be a decent size, but the way the OP phrased it, I doubt he'd have a low bf% as you'd need a decent bit of muscle mass and training to achieve those stats.

It's also quite relative. I used to think if I got to 70kg 10%bf (at 5'7), I'd be big. I'm now 75kg at 12% and think I'm a skinny f*ck. :pac:

Thepoet85

Thanks for the feedback folks

Will take all advice on board!!

Mellor

Thepoet85 wrote: »

Cheers Yea I'm doing those types of exercises, I thought they were negative reps.

Negatives are eccentric only reps.

He's talking about time under tension. It's not the be all and end all.
Slow tempo bench press with 5kg dumbells didn't help him put on that muscle.
Anybody that says "keep your body guessing" gets a :rolleyes: from me tbh.

HamsterFace wrote: »

Skinny at 13St and 6ft ?

Sounds like an ideal weight to me

Ideal weight is such a useless concept.
The above stats could represent any sort of body condition. The fact the OP mentions a bit of a belly and moobs woudl suggest he isn't close to his ideal yet.

Transform

what are you currently benching?

How many calories exactly are you taking in per day?

How many days are you training?

Please tell me you squat and deadlift

Alf Veedersane

Thepoet85 wrote: »

I've been doing some weights for about a month now

What program are you doing?

If you just go in and do whatever you could go a lot longer without seeing any real results.

You'll need structure and consistency to give yourself a chance.

Thepoet85

Transform wrote:

Please tell me you squat and deadlift

Transform wrote:

How many days are you training?

Transform wrote:

How many calories exactly are you taking in per day?

Transform wrote:

what are you currently benching?

At the min I only bench 10kg for 3 sets of 10 reps.

Train 5-6 days a week. Gym Monday Wednesday Friday and Boot camp Tuesday Thursday. Might do a 5k on a Saturday if I feel up to it.

I'm squatting but not deadlifting ill start tho.

I'm not sure how many cals I take in each day

Transform

Thepoet85 wrote: »

At the min I only bench 10kg for 3 sets of 10 reps.

Train 5-6 days a week. Gym Monday Wednesday Friday and Boot camp Tuesday Thursday. Might do a 5k on a Saturday if I feel up to it.

I'm squatting but not deadlifting ill start tho.

I'm not sure how many cals I take in each day

so what do you think you need to change?

Thepoet85

Transform wrote:

so what do you think you need to change?

Well I want to be able to bench more but I just don't think my arms could take it. I want to develop them sufficiently so thay I can bench more. The next step up from benching 10kg in my gym is 20kg so it seems like too much for now

Transform

Thepoet85 wrote: »

Well I want to be able to bench more but I just don't think my arms could take it. I want to develop them sufficiently so thay I can bench more. The next step up from benching 10kg in my gym is 20kg so it seems like too much for now

What about checking how many calories you actually need by using a calc like this (guess your body fat if not sure) - http://www.calculatorpro.com/calculator/katch-mcardle-bmr-calculator/

then use myfitnesspal to check how many you're actually taking in. I'd be 100% certain you're not eating enough

Plus you have zero business bench pressing (IMO) if you cant comfortably bang out sets of 10 chest to floor press ups (none of that half rep sh1te, where chest does not touch the floor) and 5-8 chin or pull ups with arms fully extended on every rep.

Squat and deadlift also.

Stop looking for answers in something specific when you havent covered the basics first

Thepoet85

Thanks for the advice transform. I just wasn't sure about how to approach it and was probably getting ahead of myself without covering the basics. I'll take everything on board and report back on a weekly basis.

Mellor

Thepoet85 wrote: »

Well I want to be able to bench more but I just don't think my arms could take it. I want to develop them sufficiently so thay I can bench more. The next step up from benching 10kg in my gym is 20kg so it seems like too much for now

Benching doesn't use just your arms. Your chest does most of the work.
Have you actually tried and failed to lift 20kg? I'd be surprised if you couldn't tbh. It's very light. Is there no way of trying 15kg, just to work up to it?

MagicMarker

I'm assuming the OP isn't including the bar weight.

Thepoet85

I've never tried 20kg but will be at the gym tomorrow and will give it a shot.

No I'm not including the bar weight which is pretty heavy ill need to find out what that is and add it also

MagicMarker

Generally an Olympic bar would be 20kg. Though it may vary between makes.

So you're actually benching 30kg

Mr_Muffin

For some anyone new to lifting who wants to build muscle, get stronger etc the best thing they can do is educate themselves. Read up on nutrition, the different muscle groups, various lifts etc and after a while the entire process will becoming a lot clearer.

Brian?

I have no idea why so many people us the bench press as the measure of strength so often. Not on here obviously but it's the most common reference I come across in real life.

OP, stop focusing on bench pressing for now. What do you want achieve in the gym? Go you want to get bigger, stronger, leaner, faster etc?

Pick a well balanced program that will achieve the above. Ear enough to fuel that.

Thepoet85

Brian? wrote:

I have no idea why so many people us the bench press as the measure of strength so often. Not on here obviously but it's the most common reference I come across in real life.

Brian? wrote:

OP, stop focusing on bench pressing for now. What do you want achieve in the gym? Go you want to get bigger, stronger, leaner, faster etc?

Brian? wrote:

Pick a well balanced program that will achieve the above. Ear enough to fuel that.

I'm just focusing on benching as I have a bit of extra fat around my chest and want to tone it up. I'm doing other dumbell exercises also but just struggle with the bench. I guess I'm doing 30kg not 10.

Alf Veedersane

Thepoet85 wrote: »

I'm just focusing on benching as I have a bit of extra fat around my chest and want to tone it up. I'm doing other dumbell exercises also but just struggle with the bench. I guess I'm doing 30kg not 10.

Benching won't address the fat on your chest per se. That's down to your diet. Your body decides where the fat comes off and when and it has very little to do with what areas of your body an exercise works.

In the same way that crunches don't reduce belly fat

Thepoet85

Alf Veedersane wrote:

Benching won't address the fat on your chest per se. That's down to your diet. Your body decides where the fat comes off and when and it has very little to do with what areas of your body an exercise works.

Alf Veedersane wrote:

In the same way that crunches don't reduce belly fat

Yea I know. I just thought it would encourage muscular hypertrophy in my chest therefore making it a but firmer. I'm doing an all over body routine tho

Brian?

Thepoet85 wrote: »

Yea I know. I just thought it would encourage muscular hypertrophy in my chest therefore making it a but firmer. I'm doing an all over body routine tho

What's your entire program?

Edit: just to be clear, a break down of your weight training days.

Alf Veedersane

Thepoet85 wrote: »

Yea I know. I just thought it would encourage muscular hypertrophy in my chest therefore making it a but firmer. I'm doing an all over body routine tho

The muscle would still be covered by fat though.

But if you've a proper programme, that's better...its read as if your workouts are a bit ad hoc and concentrated around bench press, that's all.

Thepoet85

Brian? wrote:

Edit: just to be clear, a break down of your weight training days.

Brian? wrote:

What's your entire program?

Brian? wrote:

What's your entire program?

Brian? wrote:

Edit: just to be clear, a break down of your weight training days.

I do arms and chest on a Monday, back and core on a Wednesday and legs on a Friday.

Thepoet85

Alf Veedersane wrote:

But if you've a proper programme, that's better...its read as if your workouts are a bit ad hoc and concentrated around bench press, that's all.

Alf Veedersane wrote:

The muscle would still be covered by fat though.

Sorry if it came across that way. Nah I have a program written by a pt but just couldn't understand why I struggles on the bench.

Alf Veedersane

Sets, reps?

Week on week progression?


Oh...and how come your quoting is all split up?

Thepoet85

Sorry I was using my phone don't know what was going on there.

For each exercise I'm doing 3 sets of 10 reps.

And for each exercise I calculated my 1 max rpm and I then started the above at 40% and gradually increasing it every week.

Brian?

Thepoet85 wrote: »

Sorry I was using my phone don't know what was going on there.

For each exercise I'm doing 3 sets of 10 reps.

And for each exercise I calculated my 1 max rpm and I then started the above at 40% and gradually increasing it every week.

40% is way too low. Where'd you get the program?

Mellor

Thepoet85 wrote: »

And for each exercise I calculated my 1 max rpm and I then started the above at 40% and gradually increasing it every week.

For bench press did you calculate your 1RM as 75kg, and then start at 30kg (40% of 75kg)
Or did you calculate it as Bar+25kg, and start it at Bar+10kg (40% of 25kg)

Thepoet85

Mellor wrote:

For bench press did you calculate your 1RM as 75kg, and then start at 30kg (40% of 75kg) Or did you calculate it as Bar+25kg, and start it at Bar+10kg (40% of 25kg)

The bench wasn't part of the program. I started benching of my own accord in addition to the rest of my chest exercises.

I think I'll take the advice of you folks and focus more on the basics and forget about the bench for now.

What would be an acceptable % of my max 1rpm to start at?

Thanks again for all the feedback folks

Thepoet85

Brian? wrote:

40% is way too low. Where'd you get the program?

It's one that a trainee pt I know did for me. Probably a bit out dated

Alf Veedersane

Did he/she ask you what you wanted from the program before putting it together?

The blanket programming of 3x10...

Transform

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Did he/she ask you what you wanted from the program before putting it together?

The blanket programming of 3x10...

which is the same blanket program most people seem to follow from what i see posted on boards.ie

chest day, legs day, arms day etc - thats not a program thats just a list of exercises that might have zero relevance if there is no consideration of mobility limitations, nutrition, lifestyle factors (sleep, stress) etc

many trainers are such lazy feckers IMO