I think the average person who works out regularly would look much better if...

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I think the average person who works out regularly would look much better if... (Page 1 of 3)

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:31:04 AM EDT

They dropped the weights they are using each set by about 20-30%.

I just got back from the gym, and damn near every last fucking guy (male...females aren't as bad about this as men are) was lifting weight they should not be lifting. Sure, they can get their target # of reps, but between the bad form and using every other muscle to accomplish the set, beside the one they are supposedly trying to work, they just aren't doing themselves any real benefit.

Hell, even I am guilty of this. However, I have made a conscious effort as of late to swallow my pride, drop the weight, close my eyes, and strictly concentrate on the muscle I am trying to work to move the weight through space.

Try it sometime.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:35:56 AM EDT

[#1]

point taken.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:36:02 AM EDT

[#2]

So you spend your time at the gym checking out other dudes?

Interesting...

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:36:42 AM EDT

[#3]

y u mad thou?

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:37:56 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:

So you spend your time at the gym checking out other dudes?

Interesting...

Attention to detail makes one gay?

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:37:57 AM EDT

[#5]

Yeah this is true life.

I do a lot of high rep stuff. Less chance for injury, but I can still move heavy amounts of weight when I need to.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:38:16 AM EDT

[#6]

Have been getting way too many injuries lately, so I switched to much lighter weight and more aerobics. So far seems to be working.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:39:14 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:

y u mad thou?

Not mad - again, I have been guilty of this for years. It's only as of late that I have been fighting with myself and my ingrained bad habits to make a change,

Try it for 2 weeks, and then let me know if I totally suck.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:39:23 AM EDT

[#8]

What's wrong with using a lot of different muscles to lift a weight? That's a lot better, in my view. You're working more muscles and using the body as a whole.

Isolating ONE muscle seems like a less efficient and effective use of time and effort.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:40:11 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:

Quoted:
So you spend your time at the gym checking out other dudes?

Interesting...

Attention to detail makes one gay?

only when those details are weiners

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:40:50 AM EDT

[#10]

i hate the fuck sticks that drop the weights and a loud bang, scares the shit out of me sometimes.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:41:09 AM EDT

[#11]

I'm not even talking about doing this from the injury perspective. I am saying this from the hypertrophy perspective.

Sorry, but if you are trying to build your chest, why are you using your back, legs, and heavy shoulders while benching. Drop the fucking weight and make your chest, not everything else, do the majority of the work for you.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:44:02 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:

What's wrong with using a lot of different muscles to lift a weight? That's a lot better, in my view. You're working more muscles and using the body as a whole.

Isolating ONE muscle seems like a less efficient and effective use of time and effort.

Nothing wrong at all with complex/olympic lifts. They should be the main stay of your routine. However, if you are doing lifts with the intent of primarily working one muscle group, why are you cheating so much just to get it through space.

Take barbell curls for example. You should have your back straight, elbows into your sides, and use your biceps to actually move the weight. Now go to the gym, and you will see dudes using their backs, legs, traps, and shoulders to crank out a set. Does that sound like you are effectively working your arms?

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:44:03 AM EDT

[#13]

I agree with the op.

Nobody is impressed with how much you can bench while your legs are kicking and your back is arched.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:44:48 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
What's wrong with using a lot of different muscles to lift a weight? That's a lot better, in my view. You're working more muscles and using the body as a whole.

Isolating ONE muscle seems like a less efficient and effective use of time and effort.

Bro, do you even lift?!

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:45:02 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
I'm not even talking about doing this from the injury perspective. I am saying this from the hypertrophy perspective.

Sorry, but if you are trying to build your chest, why are you using your back, legs, and heavy shoulders while benching. Drop the fucking weight and make your chest, not everything else, do the majority of the work for you.

Bench press is not a chest isolation lift.

Try dumbbell flys if you want bigger pecs.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:46:11 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
i hate the fuck sticks that drop the weights and a loud bang, scares the shit out of me sometimes.

Why are you so jumpy and high strung, bro?

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:47:10 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:

Quoted:

I'm not even talking about doing this from the injury perspective. I am saying this from the hypertrophy perspective.

Sorry, but if you are trying to build your chest, why are you using your back, legs, and heavy shoulders while benching. Drop the fucking weight and make your chest, not everything else, do the majority of the work for you.

Bench press is not a chest isolation lift.

Try dumbbell flys if you want bigger pecs.

Yes, it is not an isolation movement the same way flys are, but that is the primary lift for building the pectorals. Hence, if that is what your intent is, why are you arching the shit out of your back, using grips that bring in more triceps, etc?

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:48:47 AM EDT

[#18]

Odd, I've been doing the reverse. I was doing moderate heavy lifting with higher reps trying to focus on form to the last few months focusing on 4-6 reps range and heavy lifting and I'm noticing more muscle size.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:49:52 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:

Quoted:
What's wrong with using a lot of different muscles to lift a weight? That's a lot better, in my view. You're working more muscles and using the body as a whole.

Isolating ONE muscle seems like a less efficient and effective use of time and effort.

Nothing wrong at all with complex/olympic lifts. They should be the main stay of your routine. However, if you are doing lifts with the intent of primarily working one muscle group, why are you cheating so much just to get it through space.

Take barbell curls for example. You should have your back straight, elbows into your sides, and use your biceps to actually move the weight. Now go to the gym, and you will see dudes using their backs, legs, traps, and shoulders to crank out a set. Does that sound like you are effectively working your arms?

I see it all the time when i go to the gym, and i agree with what your saying. I think they do it because they are too worried about what other people think of them.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:50:14 AM EDT

[#20]

Meat gazer!

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:50:59 AM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:

Quoted:
y u mad thou?

Not mad - again, I have been guilty of this for years. It's only as of late that I have been fighting with myself and my ingrained bad habits to make a change,

Try it for 2 weeks, and then let me know if I totally suck.

I've been doing that.

Medium weight x longer reps = more endurance/stamina if I recall correctly which is what I'm going for.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:51:23 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:

What's wrong with using a lot of different muscles to lift a weight? That's a lot better, in my view. You're working more muscles and using the body as a whole.

Isolating ONE muscle seems like a less efficient and effective use of time and effort.

Depends whether you're talking compound lifts or accessory work. True for the former, false for the latter.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:51:24 AM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:

Odd, I've been doing the reverse. I was doing moderate heavy lifting with higher reps trying to focus on form to the last few months focusing on 4-6 reps range and heavy lifting and I'm noticing more muscle size.

Again, I'm not saying you should be doing 15-20 reps. I still do sets with 4-6 reps, but I drastically dropped the weight and pay close attention to what muscles are actually pushing the weight. If you do that, trust me, it will still be difficult for you.

For instance, sure I could put 405 on the squat rack, drop my ass 2-3 inches, and go back up...but would that really be doing me any favors?

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:54:35 AM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:

What's wrong with using a lot of different muscles to lift a weight? That's a lot better, in my view. You're working more muscles and using the body as a whole.

Isolating ONE muscle seems like a less efficient and effective use of time and effort.

Because that isn't what they are doing. They are using inertia to move the weight. And aside from the wieder's cheating principle, you should not do it.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:54:37 AM EDT

[#25]

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:56:06 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt298/twitch1706/image.jpg

Never once.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:56:47 AM EDT

[#27]

I have been on the medium weight, high reps stuff for a while..

The whole "I can bench 300 for 1"........sweet dude, you can lift 300 pounds.................once...............awesome...

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:58:27 AM EDT

[#28]

Yep every work out I see people with too much weight,

Example, a person doing dumb bell bench press with an 80 lb dumb bell in each hand and using a two inch movement,

I mean the press movement is two inches, If they would drop their ego and the amount of weight they are lifting they would show some improvement. Also these same people look the same as the first day I saw them. They have not made any improvement in their physique.

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:59:13 AM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:

Quoted:

i hate the fuck sticks that drop the weights and a loud bang, scares the shit out of me sometimes.

Why are you so jumpy and high strung, bro?

Posted: 11/22/2012 10:59:25 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:

Quoted:

What's wrong with using a lot of different muscles to lift a weight? That's a lot better, in my view. You're working more muscles and using the body as a whole.

Isolating ONE muscle seems like a less efficient and effective use of time and effort.

Depends whether you're talking compound lifts or accessory work. True for the former, false for the latter.

I was talking about compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, etc

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:00:52 AM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:

Quoted:
So you spend your time at the gym checking out other dudes?

Interesting...

Attention to detail makes one gay?

No, but many gay guys I know do enjoy:
1) looking at other men
2) paying attention to detail

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:08:39 AM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:

Quoted:
So you spend your time at the gym checking out other dudes?

Interesting...

Attention to detail makes one gay?

Even more so.

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:09:24 AM EDT

[#33]

It probably shouldn't but this bothers me too. I notice this one guy at the gym who is literally always there when I am. I go at different times to. I don't have a set schedule. So he just must be there all the time. Anyway, he grabs like 60lb dumbbells and tries to curl them. All he does is move is elbow back so he's really just using his back to do the exercise. Then he walks around with his chest all puffed out because he thinks he's strong. He's short and fat and nobody would ever guess he lifts. He'll bench with an obscene amount of weight and move the bar 1-2".

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:10:34 AM EDT

[#34]

When you look up stuff about exercise there is a lot of emphasis on using the heaviest weight you can and doing reps to the point of failure. My experience is I put on a lot more muscle swimming than I ever did lifting weight. Low resistance and high reps - probably easier on your body, too.

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:10:47 AM EDT

[#35]

i dont give a flying fuck how good i look I just wanna lift heavy shit arrrggghghghghghgh

arrrrghghghghghhgh

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:11:13 AM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:
They dropped the weights they are using each set by about 20-30%.

I just got back from the gym, and damn near every last fucking guy (male...females aren't as bad about this as men are) was lifting weight they should not be lifting. Sure, they can get their target # of reps, but between the bad form and using every other muscle to accomplish the set, beside the one they are supposedly trying to work, they just aren't doing themselves any real benefit.

Hell, even I am guilty of this. However, I have made a conscious effort as of late to swallow my pride, drop the weight, close my eyes, and strictly concentrate on the muscle I am trying to work to move the weight through space.

Try it sometime.

I'll take the opposing viewpoint. They should be doing deads, squats and bench with as much weight as possible with some weighted dips and pullups thrown in.

compound exercises with heavy weights and low reps FTW.

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:11:39 AM EDT

[#37]

Quoted:
They dropped the weights they are using each set by about 20-30%.

I just got back from the gym, and damn near every last fucking guy (male...females aren't as bad about this as men are) was lifting weight they should not be lifting. Sure, they can get their target # of reps, but between the bad form and using every other muscle to accomplish the set, beside the one they are supposedly trying to work, they just aren't doing themselves any real benefit.

Hell, even I am guilty of this. However, I have made a conscious effort as of late to swallow my pride, drop the weight, close my eyes, and strictly concentrate on the muscle I am trying to work to move the weight through space.

Try it sometime.

Ahhh more words of wisdom from the clueless one....find anymore poor people to hate?

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:12:53 AM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:

Quoted:
What's wrong with using a lot of different muscles to lift a weight? That's a lot better, in my view. You're working more muscles and using the body as a whole.

Isolating ONE muscle seems like a less efficient and effective use of time and effort.

Nothing wrong at all with complex/olympic lifts. They should be the main stay of your routine. However, if you are doing lifts with the intent of primarily working one muscle group, why are you cheating so much just to get it through space.

Take barbell curls for example. You should have your back straight, elbows into your sides, and use your biceps to actually move the weight. Now go to the gym, and you will see dudes using their backs, legs, traps, and shoulders to crank out a set. Does that sound like you are effectively working your arms?

Thats too funny, I was next to a guy this morning doing exactly that with the long curl bar and a plate on each side. His elbows were locked in a perfect 90degree for the whole movement, all hips ,back and shoulders. Of course the guy was twice my size so who am i to say?

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:13:09 AM EDT

[#39]

Quoted:
Sorry, but if you are trying to build your chest, why are you using your back, legs, and heavy shoulders while benching. Drop the fucking weight and make your chest, not everything else, do the majority of the work for you.

Why are you trying to build your chest on the bench? The purpose of benching is to get stronger at benching.

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:14:37 AM EDT

[#40]

Most people who work out have 1 of 2 goals:
1. Building strength
2. Weight loss.

I find it much easier to build muscle than lose weight.

I do bench 300, 3-4x because sometime in this next few years I'd like to do 405.

I'm 220.

I do not consider weight loss needed nor do I find benching my bodyweight 10x any more fulfilling.

I do get enjoyment out of pushing 275 6x as there are some days I can meet that goal.

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:15:01 AM EDT

[#41]

Quoted:

Take barbell curls for example.
[/div]

bro curls

You work your arms with bench, dips, pull ups and deads. I wish i had every minute of my life i wasted doing curls before i knew better back.

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:17:30 AM EDT

[#42]

Obama thinks less is more too...!!!

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:17:37 AM EDT

[#43]

I don't get the fat bodies who are doing ab weight machines, or even massive amounts of crunches, sit-ups, etc. Thing is they already have a six-pack. They need a ton of cardio and some diet changes to melt that away first.

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:23:10 AM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Sorry, but if you are trying to build your chest, why are you using your back, legs, and heavy shoulders while benching. Drop the fucking weight and make your chest, not everything else, do the majority of the work for you.

Why are you trying to build your chest on the bench? The purpose of benching is to get stronger at benching.

Shhhh! You are going to ruin the show!

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:37:35 AM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:

Quoted:
So you spend your time at the gym checking out other dudes?

Interesting...

Attention to detail makes one gay?

I'm so using this next time I get caught checking out another girl.

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:48:54 AM EDT

[#46]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Take barbell curls for example.
[/div]

bro curls

You work your arms with bench, dips, pull ups and deads. I wish i had every minute of my life i wasted doing curls before i knew better back.

So this guy was wasting his time?!

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:49:00 AM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:

Quoted:
So you spend your time at the gym checking out other dudes?

Interesting...

Attention to detail makes one gay?

I'm so using this next time I get caught checking out another girl.

This thread is worthless without pics.

Need them from BES and poink.

Posted: 11/22/2012 11:49:16 AM EDT

[#48]

It entirely depends on your goals. If you're strength training some of the most common and most effective programs use series of 2-3 reps as a % of one rep max to build strength. If you're training to improve over all conditioning you'll have a completely different program that involves compound movements, higher reps, lower weight, and a focus on intensity of effort. Body builders will choose to do lifts that focus on building size and strength of specific muscle groups and often do lifts that isolate muscle groups. Who gives a fuck what others are choosing to do. Pick your own goals, do your own shit, and help others if they ask you.