I highly doubt I could win lifting tournaments, I have a few friends that weight lift for sports teams more than I do, and one friend that power-lifts competitively, they hall have much more ridiculous numbers. I just like to stay healthy, I've never even worked out that hard, except for occasionally getting on distance-running kicks. I really hate going to the gym, I don't really enjoy lifting lol. I do almost exclusively body weight stuff with some free weights occasionally.
Goddamn I love you. Only question I have would be this - my chin up bar is a bit too narrow for me to get my elbows parallel during a pull up, so should I make due with bastardized pull-ups and chin-ups, or find some way/place to get proper form? EDIT: I don't have the necessary equipment for most of this, unfortunately. That certainly makes things a little more difficult, but until I'm definitely committed to something like this I don't want to go buy a gym membership. I hate to make you write up a whole long post again, because I wasn't expecting near what you gave me, but do you have any bodyweight recommendations? I can buy cheap equipment if necessary.
5'9" / 69 inches @ 230 lbs The best thing I could recommend is a playground. Find creative ways to pull and push yourself over the obstacles on the playground. You could get everything and more there but the only downside is it requires you to get creative and you need to go when its' not being used. You could go up a swing bar by climbing up the side pole, cross the main support pole like a vine, then back down the other side. A set of pullup bars add a lot of options as well. Here's some inspiration: Inspiration Well if you keep doing compound lifts such as Bench, Squat, and Cleans you'll develop a pretty solid core. These exercises will build a stronger core than plank or similar silly exercises. However it is good to work your abs (specifically lower abs) and lower back directly. Hit your abs with hanging leg raises and your lower back with deadlifts or hyper-extensions.
So for some reason, during bench press, my left arm is substantially weaker when I push... I think it might be because I broke my left wrist like three years ago. So yeah, how should I get them back to even strengths?
During soccer class three times a week at high school. It's pretty ****ing rigorous for a soccer class to be honest. Our weightlifting coach is intense. Usually we do two stations (squat, bench etc.) then we have to go run a quarter. We keep doing this until we're finished with every station. It sucks.
It's just a power rack that has the bar locked into a rail that only goes up and down. The bar cannot go forward/back or become uneven on one side. Only direction is up and down in place. It would be very beneficial to you for keeping the bar straight and I was going to suggest to you one-arm bench press with like 30% you normal bench weight. Everyone has a weaker arm, even Mr. Olympia himself. One side will always be stronger at some extent but obviously your case is distracting you b/c it is a problem. When it comes to bench, the only major muscles used here is your pecs, front delts, and triceps. If the the bar becomes uneven toward the top half of the press then you have a weaker tricep. If the bar becomes uneven at the start of the pressing movement and becomes even as you get close to locking out then it is your pec. Fixing an unbalanced tricep (most likely) is very easy. Here's you some exercises: Standing One-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension Exercise Guide and Video Tricep Dumbbell Kickback Exercise Guide and Video Triceps Pushdown Exercise Guide and Video (Do that last one with the one-hand grip attachement) Focus on these exercises by doing the same weight with both arms. What you basically have to do is train the stronger arm less until the weaker arm catches up. So even that the stronger arm can lift more poundage, don't. Until they become more balanced. You could also add in one-arm dumbbell bench press for the weaker arm.
if you can bench 250 and squat over 500 at 160 pounds without regularly doing those exercises or freeweights in general then you must be some sort of freak
Yeah something sound fishy about that to me as well. I'm 230 lbs, bench 365, Squat 455, and Deadlift 545 and been lifting for about 4 years now pretty hardcore. It is very hard to believe that someone that weighs 160 can out do me who never really worked out hard before or even seems to care. It is possible... but you'd have to be some kind of freak if you never really worked out hard before and being able to squat 500+ @ 160. Edit: Like I said before, that applies to all gym guru's, video footage or it never happened.
If it's a powerlifting style then I won't be that impressed because it is a very limited range of movement. However, if you do a standard parallel squat with knees outward at only a 35 degree angle and feet spaced out just past shoulder width I will be very impressed. Ohhhh, haha big differnce my friend. Edit: That's 4 45's and a 10 on each side BTW FYI.
Lol, yeah, one of my more awkward typos. 525 without dedicating time to lifting would just be freak-ish.
I started doing exercises at home in as an all out, no-rest type chunk of 30 minutes. It'd be about a 15-20 minute run around the village covering about 3km, and then spend between 15-20 minutes doing push-ups, sit-ups, reverse crunches, free squats, planking, tricep dips, and then bicep curls with free weights. I got pretty toned, but I was far too skinny, so I put on a couple of stone to beef up a bit. I've got a decent-ish build now, so whats the best way to turn the excess fat and weight into muscle without losing the weight I've put on over the last few months? I'll be joining a gym soon, and nutrition for me is basically bang chips in the oven with some chicken dippers. I can eat healthily on occasion, but after finishing work and exercise, I'd rather just whack something in the oven and chow-down.