Weight Lifting Help Thread

[Floydy]

Originally Posted by Moss

I would be interested in hearing a routine from someone who knows what they are doing. I tend to be that guy that just kind of wanders around doing "3 sets of 10" of whatever excercise I can think of. I do Chest/Tri one day, Back and Bi another. Then mix in shoulder work on either day and legs as well. I need more structure.

No problem mate. I'll just post today's chest+triceps session for starters.....

Saturday 15/11/14. Chest+Tri's:
It's basically 6 different exercises. 6 sets apiece with the final one a failure set.

1. Smith press, 15deg. incline:
5x10x50kg
1x6x65kg - fail
1x30x25kg high reps
* Loving the Smith these days. Very little difficulty with my shoulder today and the high reps at the end of this really made me work. Add 5kg next time.

2. Bench press:
5x10x55kg
1x11x60kg - fail
* Again, feeling fine with this. Add 5kg also to these.

3. Chest press, stack machine:
5x10x65kg
1x7x90kg - fail
* A sudden jump I know to 90 on the fail set but I was pushing this last week on the 'strength' session so I figured it wouldn't be a great problem. It was Add 5kg to the normal sets next time.

4. Cable pulldowns, freemotion machine, alt:
5x10x34kg - standard grip
5x10x34kg - reverse grip
1x20x45kg - standard grip (full stack)
1x20x45kg - reverse grip (full stack)
* I just kept adding weight to these no problem at all. The full stack equates to 100lbs and I was pushing the lot for 20 reps each arm with little difficulty. Another week on this machine and the following week I'll have to move to the stack version for the extra poundage. :lift2:

5. Triceps pulldown, stack machine (back against pad, pulling in front from chin to waist):
5x10x35kg
1x6x45kg - fail
1x20x25kg high reps
* Increase to 40kgs next week. Triceps by now were feeling the strain but really pumped.

6. Single DB raise, flat bench:
1x20x50kg
1x15x50kg
1x12x50kg
1x24x32kg high reps to fail
* Worked and beasted the tri's to the absolute limit. left that gym today feeling solid.

Time taken: 1hr. 10mins.

A thoroughly enjoyable but knackering session made worse by feeling hungry all the time. Tomorrow: Legs (pt.1)

Please forgive me reprinting this. It's from a bodybuilding site that I'm on here in the UK




Thanks for reading and enjoy your evening guys

[Moss]

Cool, I'll cut all the weights by 2/3 and give it a shot!

What's the purpose of mixing in the low weight high rep stuff? Meaning what is that supposed to do for you?

[DwnWthVwls]

Low weight, high reps builds muscle endurance.
High weight, low reps builds power.

By doing both you develop slow/fast twitch muscle fibers for a "well rounded" muscle. Different styles of lifting also make your physique different which is partly why bodybuilders and powerlifters have such different bodies.

It's also beneficial to change your workouts to combat muscle memory.