About Brian Expertise I can help set up a weightlifting program, give suggestions on specific exercises and how to deal with injuries. We can discuss your goals and effective ways to work towards them. I compete at powerlifting, and have been weightlifting for over 15 years.
Experience 15 years weightlifting experience, including competitive powerlifting.
Question Age--29
Sex--Male
Race--Black
Lifting-- 5 years, but sporadically
6'4/ 220#
We've spoken before, Brian.
1. I'd like to know how much do you consider an "average" amount for a man to lift in a gym? How much is "impressive"? I have seen people lifting 375lbs. It is my goal to be able to lift 225 (two plates on each side). The thing is: It seems easy enough to go up 5lbs here and there, but I wonder what would happen if I made the dive from 195 (my current max at 5 reps) to 225.(This is with the idea in mind that a man should at least be able to bench press his own body weight.) I don't know if getting to a goal is something that is better done all at once (with a spotter, of course)-- or how it should be done at all for that matter. Or should I assume that I have just maxed out and leave it at that? Even the guys that I have seen in the gym lifting 375 have to have decided to stop *somewhere.*
2. I'm a big time runner. (In a typical week, I run at least 4 times, 6 miles per time.) This month I've lost something like 10lbs and am back down to 220lbs-- from an all time high of 260. Originally, the purpose of my lifting was to help me get my time down (as in, the lowest number of minutes per mile), but I have been trying to direct it toward having a nicer body. When I look at a lot of the olympic runners, I don't have any idea of what their lifting routine is like, except that they have really nice bodies. Can you hazard a guess as to what type of lifting they do?
3. Is this idea of trying to lift heavy weights misguided? I know that women like LEAN muscle instead of huge amounts of bulk. (And face it: 99% of the reason that men do this is vaginal opportunity/ access.) Is it a good direction to take to try to lift more and more?
Answer Hi Lemas. Nice to hear from you.
1. I think bench pressing your body weight is a good start, and for what it's worth, I'd say that is what separates serious athletes from wannabes. If you want to talk about "impressive," in that category I'd say you have to get pretty close to benching twice your bodyweight. Probably the thing holding you back the most is consistency--you said you've be lifting sporadically. Another factor you should consider is working on your triceps. The triceps are what will limit you the most in the bench press. Adding 30 lbs. to your bench press is quite a feat, and I would expect that to take a matter of months (at least 3-4 months). So chart it out...over that span of time, add a small amount of weight each week until you are there. Don't work bench and triceps more than once per week...it will become counter productive.
2. Well, first off the people who compete in the Olympics are exceptionally gifted, genetically. You may or may not be (the vast majority of us are not, needless to say!). I don't know specifically how they train, but it is obvious from looking that these runner spend a tremendous amount of effor working on their upper bodies--especially arms and shoulders. I suppose that offers some advantages being able to pump your arms quickly and effeciently while running. I would imagine they do a split routine, working each muscle group once per week, probably pretty heavy.
3. It's a common myth that there are different kinds of muscle (i.e., lean muscle, etc.). Muscle is muscle. How much you develop will depend on: how much work you put into it, genetics, nutrition in that order. Without lifting heavy weights, you will gain very little muscle. You may become more lean (less bodyfat), but actually addition of muscle mass would be minimal. Lifting heavy (by which I mean an amount of weight that doing sets of 6-8 is challenging, but not impossible) is the only way to stimulate muscular growth.
