Post by seancoombes on Jan 5, 2006 12:39:19 GMT -5
Greetings! My name is Sean Coombes, and I am new to the forum. A little bit about myself: I am from Va, Age 35, 5'10", 285lbs and been out of serious strength training since 1990. I work in an Emergency Room as an ER Technologist and am one semester away from completing my RN.
I used to lift quite a bit in high school, back then in 1989 benching 395, squatting 650, though we really did not get all that low, so I am not sure what I could really have done, maybe 490-500?, and dead-lifting 600.
I am just getting back into strength training, though what I am doing now might not be considered true power lifting at all because I am very geographically isolated and use old used bench machine and leg press college gym machines picked up from American Fitness in Lynchburg Va [VERY good place BTW, all weights only .49 cents per lb] for safety reasons [no spotters]. Not all machines are created equal, and I chose the "hardest" machines I could find, that come the closest to the real thing.
For the rest of my lifts, I use dumb-bells and free weights, and have been easing back into lifting again for the past 2 months. After 2 months, my machine bench is back up to 290 for 6 reps on my last set, and I leg press 500 for 3 sets of 15.
I would like to ask a couple of questions. First, where can I find some decent basic and HONEST power-lifting tables and routines for sets and reps for each lift?
What we did back in the 1980s is probably quite out of date now, though because it is all I know it is what I use - 3 sets of 10-12 reps with progressive loading for each set, 3-5 min rest in between, once you can complete 10 reps on the last set, you move the poundage’s up on all sets until you can complete all reps for all sets etc etc. Chest twice a week, arms three times a week, legs three times a week, alternating upper and lower body each day, each muscle group has at least 24-48 hours rest between workouts, save that chest gets 48hours then 72 hours alternating.
Second, where can a fat guy get a good leather lifting belt? I want to start slowly working up my dead-lift again, and once I get into the heavier lifts, for safety, I'd like a 4" or so thick belt. My waist is 46" right now, and even in my HS heyday I was never thin, so finding a good belt is a little like looking for a needle in a haystack ;D
We never used wraps of any kind for knees or wrists, and aside from the belt and a neck pad on the squat bar, some chalk is the only other "tool" we used. We did have one guy that used ace wraps and a tennis ball behind each knee, but no one took his squat very seriously
When I started investigating power-lifting again after being out of strength training for so long, I was shocked an disgusted with all the assistive gear and shirts/suits that are being used these days.
For example, I wanted to see if anyone had overcome Ted Arcidi's 700lb bench from back in the day. From a Google search, I found a guy named Gene Rychlak claiming to have benched 1005. I thought "wow, lets see that!" What I saw made me almost fall out of my chair in laughter! The fellow looks like he has what amounts to a rubber-band across his chest and arms to his elbows with that open-backed bench shirt he wears, added to the yards of knee wraps on his wrists. What has happened since the days of Arcidi, Coan, and Kazmaier??? John Dolan's 600lb bench sounds very impressive! Any pics or footage of that available? Also, what is considered to be the true RAW bench press record right now? Has anyone beat Arcidi, or is what he did not considered RAW?
At any rate, thank you for offering a true honest strength and power alternative from the "bionic" shirt and suit lifters out there! Next thing I'll see is electro magnetic lift assisters in the gym ceiling.....
Lastly, I may never get to a true competitive strength level but I would really love to watch one of your meets. Where and when will the federation be hosting the next competition in Virginia?
I apologize in advance for my ignorance, and I enjoy reading through the posts on this forum
I used to lift quite a bit in high school, back then in 1989 benching 395, squatting 650, though we really did not get all that low, so I am not sure what I could really have done, maybe 490-500?, and dead-lifting 600.
I am just getting back into strength training, though what I am doing now might not be considered true power lifting at all because I am very geographically isolated and use old used bench machine and leg press college gym machines picked up from American Fitness in Lynchburg Va [VERY good place BTW, all weights only .49 cents per lb] for safety reasons [no spotters]. Not all machines are created equal, and I chose the "hardest" machines I could find, that come the closest to the real thing.
For the rest of my lifts, I use dumb-bells and free weights, and have been easing back into lifting again for the past 2 months. After 2 months, my machine bench is back up to 290 for 6 reps on my last set, and I leg press 500 for 3 sets of 15.
I would like to ask a couple of questions. First, where can I find some decent basic and HONEST power-lifting tables and routines for sets and reps for each lift?
What we did back in the 1980s is probably quite out of date now, though because it is all I know it is what I use - 3 sets of 10-12 reps with progressive loading for each set, 3-5 min rest in between, once you can complete 10 reps on the last set, you move the poundage’s up on all sets until you can complete all reps for all sets etc etc. Chest twice a week, arms three times a week, legs three times a week, alternating upper and lower body each day, each muscle group has at least 24-48 hours rest between workouts, save that chest gets 48hours then 72 hours alternating.
Second, where can a fat guy get a good leather lifting belt? I want to start slowly working up my dead-lift again, and once I get into the heavier lifts, for safety, I'd like a 4" or so thick belt. My waist is 46" right now, and even in my HS heyday I was never thin, so finding a good belt is a little like looking for a needle in a haystack ;D
We never used wraps of any kind for knees or wrists, and aside from the belt and a neck pad on the squat bar, some chalk is the only other "tool" we used. We did have one guy that used ace wraps and a tennis ball behind each knee, but no one took his squat very seriously
When I started investigating power-lifting again after being out of strength training for so long, I was shocked an disgusted with all the assistive gear and shirts/suits that are being used these days.
For example, I wanted to see if anyone had overcome Ted Arcidi's 700lb bench from back in the day. From a Google search, I found a guy named Gene Rychlak claiming to have benched 1005. I thought "wow, lets see that!" What I saw made me almost fall out of my chair in laughter! The fellow looks like he has what amounts to a rubber-band across his chest and arms to his elbows with that open-backed bench shirt he wears, added to the yards of knee wraps on his wrists. What has happened since the days of Arcidi, Coan, and Kazmaier??? John Dolan's 600lb bench sounds very impressive! Any pics or footage of that available? Also, what is considered to be the true RAW bench press record right now? Has anyone beat Arcidi, or is what he did not considered RAW?
At any rate, thank you for offering a true honest strength and power alternative from the "bionic" shirt and suit lifters out there! Next thing I'll see is electro magnetic lift assisters in the gym ceiling.....
Lastly, I may never get to a true competitive strength level but I would really love to watch one of your meets. Where and when will the federation be hosting the next competition in Virginia?
I apologize in advance for my ignorance, and I enjoy reading through the posts on this forum
