Weight Lifting questions...?

Question

OK, I'm 5'11", 210, kind of stocky. My squat is great, my dead-lift is fine, my agility/speed is a little above average, and most of my upper body lifts are good. Except for one lift, my bench. Now I've been lifting for the past 3 years (pretty intensely and pretty consistently). And most of the time, I bench. Now, for a kid my size, I should be able to put up like 225-230 pounds no problem. But I'm only benching 170, at the moment. And I started out (3 years ago) at 115. So that means, in 3 years, my bench has only gone up 55 pounds. But I've been taking whey protein and lifting consistently. So I've come to the conclusion, that benching doesn't work for me. So, I've decided to create an awesome push-up program. I do it every-other-day. I've been doing it for about a week now. And what you do is start off at a certain # (I started at 20) and you do three sets. Each set you go up one rep. So the first day, my total # of reps per 3 sets was 20-21-22. And every day you do it, start off at one rep higher than the day before. So, lets say, day one, I did 20-21-22. That means that day 2, I start off at 21, and do 2 more sets, each set having one more rep than the set before. So day 2's workout will look like this, 21-22-23. If I keep up with normal upper body workouts (arms, shoulders, back, core, etc.) and do this push-up workout, and still take whey protein, do you guys think this will work? Or will it not work? So far it's working, but it may do the same thing as my bench workout, it'll plateau quickly and surely.

Answer 1

Bottom line, your muscle WILL NOT grow without stimulation from lifting heavier weights. Now this does not mean to max out every workout BUT it does mean you need to EAT....TRAIN...And sleep!!! If you need help on your workouts find a NASM certified fit pro at your local gym! It will save you a bunch of time and frustration. As far as a whey product, make sure you are investing in a high quality chemical free whey protein minus the fillers and additives. Good luck man!!!!

Answer 2

Hi Alex,



You will get stronger and firmer muscles over time using your push up workout, but to be honest, if you want my advice, get back on the bench press, however change your technique slightly.



Now I will warn you now, do not be disheartened if you have to actually DROP your weight slightly here, because I guarantee you, your strength gain will increase alot faster than it has ever done before.



On the bench press, your goal is to perform 8-10 reps, using a weight where on the 8-10th rep you are really struggling. Struggling to the point that every time you do the exercise, you need a spotter to help you with the last rep, or be there as you push yourself to failure. You MUST push yourself to failure.



Now here is the key. You must work your muscles working time under tension (TUT). The way you are going to work out is using a ratio of 2:2:2. In other words, from the start position, with your arms straight, lower the bar making the movement last a full 2 seconds, then hold just above your chest for a full 2 seconds (I bet you weren’t holding before), then push up making the upward phase last a full 2 seconds, then go straight into the next repetition. Like I say, do not be put off if you have to lower the weight slightly.



If you want to train for hypertrophy (building muscle), make the release phase - that’s the downward motion - last 4 seconds instead of 2 seconds.



A slightly better option thou than the bench press would be to do the Dumbell Chest Press. This allows you to work each side of your chest individually, so both sides of your body have to do the same workload. With the barbell, the weight is spread across the bar, so one side may be doing slightly more work than the other side. Also the Dumbell Chest Press is safer too. You can push yourself to failure without the essential need for a spotter. If you run into trouble, you can just drop the weights down either side of you. Run into trouble with the barbell, and your pinned to the bench, which can be very dangerous (not to mention rather embarrassing).



So, bottom line, time under tension. Try it, and just feel the difference in your workout straight away.



Good luck, and let me know if you need any help.



Ben :)

Answer 3

first off if your trying to gain mass or strength then you dont need to be working out everyday,your muscles need atleast 48 hours to grow if not more,and the 20 rep range aint gana work for you,for some people it might just depends on the person really so forget i said that,and whenever you work your chest you want to do different exercises not the same one,cuz its those different exercises that target different parts of your chest therefore making your chest grow right and also grow faster,will also make it look better and just more healthy.what you should do for example if i was you first off id take about a 2 weeks break on your chest its probably tired of you working it everyday for so long and wants a break,after that start off doing 4 sets...1 set bench press,1 set butterfly with the free weights,1 set push ups,and 1 set of something else.work each muscle group no more than twice a week to give plenty of time for them to grow,get on a diet (if your not already on one) and make sure you do no cardio and gradually increase your number of sets you do over time and change your exercises,its really just all about changing your routine,think of your muscles as a person,you dont wana just stick to the same exercises and the same number of sets and the same everything for to long..because your muscles get used to it and therefore see no reason to grow..know what im sayin? theres alot of science behind building muscle and some people work out for years or even a life time and never realize it,well good luck

Answer 4

You need to change up your workout and do different chest exercises every day. What's happening is that your muscles are bored from he same motions and that's why they've plateaued. Try doing bench and flies with free weights. And make sure you're working all your muscles equally, if you're not working your back like you are your chest that'll lead to serious problems.

Answer 5

Yeah I think it would work. You should maybe do more sets of press ups each day though.

Good luck