DarkXacreD
Dec-27-06, 10:55 PM
Okay guys, check this out:
I've been living with my cousins' family for the holidays, and they have this kinda ghetto workout setup that has a multi-purpose weights machine, a barbell with benchpress rack, and two dumbells.
I've been in Toronto since August. I don't drive, I don't really have friends, I can't drink because I don't even have an ID to begin with, let alone fake.
So what do I do? Lift weights.
Since the beginning of the holidays (Dec. 16th) I've been using the three things for a number of exercises. Here are the exercises and the weight I'm at for each of them at the moment; I've increased each by either 10 or 5 lbs for most of them since the beginning of the holidays.
Benchpress 100 lbs -
Pretty much the only thing I can do with the barbell cuz I can't get it off the rack or whatever. 80 lbs not including the barbell itself...it looks pretty skinny and my cousin says it's about 20 lbs, and something about how because it's so short it's not properly balanced so it feels even more heavy or whatever...I don't know about this stuff.
Wide grip lat pulldowns 160 lbs -
The only thing worth doing on the multipurpose machine, because the wirework is screwed up for the press and flyes parts, and the leg extention I just replaced with dumbell squats. 160 lbs
Dumbell shoulder press 25 lbs -
Annoying as hell to change the weights on these dumbells. Just so you get an idea: You need pliers. 25 lbs on each hand
Dumbell squats and deadlifts 50 lbs -
Yes, without changing the weights. 25 lbs on each hand. I know it's pathetic but...fuck it that's not what I even want to work on right now and I can't get the barbell off the damn rack
Sets and reps -
I've just been doing sets of between 3 and 5 for all of them just throughout the day. Inbetween sets I'd just mess around and like shadow box or just prance around aimlessly till I'm ready for another set or when I get tired. It's stupid, but it's almost cardio...right? Anyway, whenever I get bored (and believe me, this happens way more often than it should) I'd do 1 or 2 sets of each exercise. If my cousins are ever down there I might get up to like 3 sets at once. But even on a more lazy day I'll still get up to about 5 sets, except the 3 Xmas days where I was sick off my mind and was too busy shivering to do any weights.
Other stats -
Age: 18
Height: 5'7''
Weight: about 143 lbs
Body type: Athletic? Apparently I'm a mesomorph; I'm just lazy. Oh and my legs are kinda bigger than they should be compared to my upper body...if that makes any difference.
More info available upon request cuz I can't think of anything else to put.
-------------------------------
First problem:
Has anyone noticed that my benchpress kinda sucks?
That might actually be part of the answer I'm looking for here.
On the shoulder press I went from 20 lbs to 25 lbs
On the benchpress I went from 70 lbs to 80 lbs, and 90 lbs is no problem after a warmup. This is not counting the barbell. With the barbell it would be 90, 100, and 110 respectively, assuming the barbell itself weighs 20 lbs.
On the lat pulldown I went from 140 lbs to 160 lbs
Right now, it feels as though the benchpress keeps getting easier as I keep up with my sets, but the shoulder press and the pulldown is still as hard as when I changed the weights.
What's the deal with that? Is it because my benchpress sucked so bad before that my body's making it catch up? Why does it feel like I could put even more weight on the benchpress and still be okay, but I'm struggling like crazy on the shoulder press and pull downs?
----------------------------------------------
Second problem:
I've been just doing my sets in a circuit training fashion; 3 reps of one exercise, 3 reps of the next, 3 reps of the next, rest, start over, etc.
Is it better to get the sets done for one exercise before moving on to the next? How come?
I've been living with my cousins' family for the holidays, and they have this kinda ghetto workout setup that has a multi-purpose weights machine, a barbell with benchpress rack, and two dumbells.
I've been in Toronto since August. I don't drive, I don't really have friends, I can't drink because I don't even have an ID to begin with, let alone fake.
So what do I do? Lift weights.
Since the beginning of the holidays (Dec. 16th) I've been using the three things for a number of exercises. Here are the exercises and the weight I'm at for each of them at the moment; I've increased each by either 10 or 5 lbs for most of them since the beginning of the holidays.
Benchpress 100 lbs -
Pretty much the only thing I can do with the barbell cuz I can't get it off the rack or whatever. 80 lbs not including the barbell itself...it looks pretty skinny and my cousin says it's about 20 lbs, and something about how because it's so short it's not properly balanced so it feels even more heavy or whatever...I don't know about this stuff.
Wide grip lat pulldowns 160 lbs -
The only thing worth doing on the multipurpose machine, because the wirework is screwed up for the press and flyes parts, and the leg extention I just replaced with dumbell squats. 160 lbs
Dumbell shoulder press 25 lbs -
Annoying as hell to change the weights on these dumbells. Just so you get an idea: You need pliers. 25 lbs on each hand
Dumbell squats and deadlifts 50 lbs -
Yes, without changing the weights. 25 lbs on each hand. I know it's pathetic but...fuck it that's not what I even want to work on right now and I can't get the barbell off the damn rack
Sets and reps -
I've just been doing sets of between 3 and 5 for all of them just throughout the day. Inbetween sets I'd just mess around and like shadow box or just prance around aimlessly till I'm ready for another set or when I get tired. It's stupid, but it's almost cardio...right? Anyway, whenever I get bored (and believe me, this happens way more often than it should) I'd do 1 or 2 sets of each exercise. If my cousins are ever down there I might get up to like 3 sets at once. But even on a more lazy day I'll still get up to about 5 sets, except the 3 Xmas days where I was sick off my mind and was too busy shivering to do any weights.
Other stats -
Age: 18
Height: 5'7''
Weight: about 143 lbs
Body type: Athletic? Apparently I'm a mesomorph; I'm just lazy. Oh and my legs are kinda bigger than they should be compared to my upper body...if that makes any difference.
More info available upon request cuz I can't think of anything else to put.
-------------------------------
First problem:
Has anyone noticed that my benchpress kinda sucks?
That might actually be part of the answer I'm looking for here.
On the shoulder press I went from 20 lbs to 25 lbs
On the benchpress I went from 70 lbs to 80 lbs, and 90 lbs is no problem after a warmup. This is not counting the barbell. With the barbell it would be 90, 100, and 110 respectively, assuming the barbell itself weighs 20 lbs.
On the lat pulldown I went from 140 lbs to 160 lbs
Right now, it feels as though the benchpress keeps getting easier as I keep up with my sets, but the shoulder press and the pulldown is still as hard as when I changed the weights.
What's the deal with that? Is it because my benchpress sucked so bad before that my body's making it catch up? Why does it feel like I could put even more weight on the benchpress and still be okay, but I'm struggling like crazy on the shoulder press and pull downs?
----------------------------------------------
Second problem:
I've been just doing my sets in a circuit training fashion; 3 reps of one exercise, 3 reps of the next, 3 reps of the next, rest, start over, etc.
Is it better to get the sets done for one exercise before moving on to the next? How come?