Anyone else lift weights?

I have lifted on and off for a bit over 10 years now. I do take time off every so often, maybe a bit more than I should but I have stuck with it pretty well. I have noticed now entering my mid 30's that injuries take much more of a toll! Right now I have nagging elbow tendinitis (tricep attachment) so it's been slow going lately. What is your bench at now? Program you are using?

 

Wow man, if you took a long time off and still hitting 275 you're a strong dude! Bench has always been my struggling point. I remember starting out with 35lb dumbells and when I started adding flat bench 6 or 8 weeks later 185 was soooo hard! I remember looking at 225 with those 4 45's and thinking how cool it would be to get that! Hahaha.

Fast forward 5 or 6 years and I was doing 385 for sets of 5(ish) reps. Don't know what my true max was then since I didn't have a partner for a spot, would just ask a stranger at the gym and it's hard to trust random people for something like a 450 spot, lol. I have not been that strong again, every time I try some injury pops up. These days I am happy to maintain around 300-350 range. I am happy with that since it I was never very good at bench. Now I have this damn elbow problem that really limits just about every upper body lift.

I love heavy negatives, the best way I ever found to get really strong at a lift. It is just so hard on you and your body. You need a good partner too, but the gains I made with those back in the day were amazing. Ah the good old days, haha. I'm only 34 so I should focus on what is working now!

 

I have been lifting for about 27 years and have done many body building competitions and a few bench contests until they started letting competitors use the bench shirts.

 

Wow! We have a real bodybuilder reefer, nice. Help me fix my elbow and add 50lb to my standing overhead press, lol.

 

Sounds like there are some heavy lifters here. I lift five days a week - Monday is chest, Tuesday is back, Wednesday is shoulders, Thursday is legs, and Friday is arms. I do cardio at least four days a week for 45-60 minutes. I don't like cardio, but I'm still trying to drop a little weight. I played defensive tackle for years, so when I hung up the pads, I wanted to lose weight but maintain and/or improve lean muscle. I have a friend that runs a couple Complete Nutrition stores, so I take a pre workout supplement, post workout protein, and meal replacement protein. Good luck hitting your goal!

 

My last bodybuilding contest was in 2012 and all the contests were the natural ones like Mr . Iowa I did that show for quite a few years. I am 5'11" 240lbs. I stopped doing bench press competitions in 2003. As addvice on supplements that is pretty much all I took and did a lot of cardio when I was getting ready for a competition. As far as the elbow I am not a doctor how ever I did have an issue with my elbow one year and had a doc at the gym tell me to take 800 mg of ibuprofen 3 time a day for a week and after that I have not had any problems since and that was back in 1999.

 

Wow, nice job! I bet your strength has shot up fast. Just be careful your muscles don't exceed your tendon/ligament strength. I found that when I take a break I have to be careful or I end up getting an injury - like now, haha. It's fun to stack the weights on higher every workout but make sure everything else can handle it! I still have not learned that lesson well... someday!

I use Optimum Nutrition Hydrowhey from time to time and also used to use creatine, just the normal stuff. I used to look at google scholar for weightlifting studies and never saw any research that said anything else but pure monohydrate was any better. I did use creatine mixed with simple sugars - I forgot the specific product but I *think* I saw creatine is better absorbed with sugar, but don't quote me on that. Too much creatine gives me stomach ache, so I tried to maximize adsorption.

 

Back when I was much stronger finishing a 635lb deadlift. Yes... I needed straps that heavy...

 

I was but screwed up my back and haven't in about three months. Planning on getting back to gym soon but only going to do cardio for a while.

Bill

 

Keep us posted with your progress! I am curious how the KA works out too.


http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1550-2783-9-43.pdf


This study concluded it doesn't work better than regular monophosphate, but that is still pretty good. These studies are not always the best conducted so if you try it out let us know!





I will be a fragfest, not sure what day, but I will try and get there early because I am excited and can never wait for anything. /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

I almost forgot, the best training aid I have ever gotten, hands down, are fat grips. I have the 2" and 3" ironbull versions. I don't really buy the bigger arm claim, but they are amazing for grip. After a month or two you will be using your normal weight easy with the 2" and generally for the 3" too but your grip will be sooo much stronger. I tried for years to get better grip with training, and just using these with your normal workout was far more effective. I don't use them with pressing movements though.

 

I have always like optimum nutrition for protein powder, but I doubt it really matters all that much.

 

Any of you DSM guys lift at the YMCA Healthy Living Center in Clive? It's the one across the street from Mercy/Methodist West hospitals. I go every week day mid afternoon. Been lifting for about 3 months now. Looks like you guys are beasts!! I do 265 deadlifts for reps. Mind you, that's not TOO heavy, but I also am just getting back into lifting after 10 years away from it. My job kind of requires a good amount of strength and I was just getting too fat! lol, for supps, I have my preworkout and combine that with L-Carnitine. For post, I take glutamine, BCAAs, and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey. So far, I've been having some wicked gains. Considering my flat bench weight starting out was 95 pounds, deadlift was 115, and I was curled with 20 lb dumbells. Ha!