Yeah, I think that’s exactly it and I wager most people who get fat in here have the same issue, but I often hear “you gotta eat more” but is that good advice if you can’t witness the intensity?
In terms of intensity though, I was failing after 5 reps on my third set of 120 lbs bench (after two sets of 7). If I’m going to failure isn’t that intense enough?
That’s 3 sets of work. I would not call that an intense workout, unless you were using beyond failure techniques ala HIT.
Dawg, you were 150lbs and only benching 85-120lbs. You’re not eating enough AND you’re not lifting heavy enough for a proper training stimulus.
This was 100% my thoughts, I’m glad strong people have agreed.
In fairness to the OP, I imagine it’s pretty hard to train with real intensity when you bench 120lbs.
If 120lbs is the most you bench, I’m sure that’s the highest his intensity can go.
But that being said, I don’t foresee any disciplined structure in his diet or training based on what Chris summarized.
And what did you do the next session? Going to failure on one set is not a tremendous impetus for growth. 3 work sets on a single compound exercise is not going to get you where you want to go either.
And what was the rest of the session like? And how long between them?
I can’t even remember what we’re supposed to tell slender dudes anymore.
Is he a hard gainer who isn’t training hard enough?
Or an easy gainer who’s training too hard?
I think 4 sets to failure with a weight I could barely get 6 full reps with would be the Perfect Storm of a shitty workout. Too much heaviness to recover from, like I’d burn out in 2 weeks. And too low volume to get any muscles from. Yuck!
The New Body 28 (TNB-28) Workout
That’s my program. The first workout is the one with bench press 4x7
Often I find the issue of the latter is training too MUCH rather than too hard, typically in an effort to ACHIEVE hard training but failing to do so.
I feel like Stuart McRobert and John McCallum both had a similar prescription: hard training, done less frequently (so you can recover) with lots of food. And defining hard training as “take your 10rm squat and squat it for 20 reps” helped avoid ambiguity.
Here was my planned workout that day, but did bench first:
A. Barbell rows, 4 sets X 4-7 reps 120-150 sec rest
B. Chin ups * 3 sets X 8-12 reps 90-120 sec rest
C. Barbell bench press 4 sets X 4-7 reps, 120-150 sec rest
D. Incline dumbbell press 3 X 8-12 reps, 90-120 sec rest
F. Barbell shoulder press 3 sets X 6-10 reps 90-120 sec rest
E. Dumbbell lateral raise, seated 3 sets X 8-12 reps, 60-90 sec rest
I felt discouraged by the end of it and skipped lateral raises…I was also past 1 hour point and had to get back to work.
Apparently my 1 rep max on bench is 144 lbs…so about 10 lbs over my body weight.
Top one is from today, April 14. Bottom one is from January 14. So three months dropped 15 lbs.
Wanted to get emaciated lean just to see if I could do it.
Still got fat on the bod…so wouldn’t mind dropping it a bit more.
Just be aware that this goes against your stated goal of increasing your bench press. Its not impossible to do both, but be aware they are pulling in opposite directions.
This is gold. I genuinely believe that if you’ve never done it before, a quick 6ish week spell with a “challenge” program can set you up for a lifetime of hard training. Think Supersquats or Mass Made Simple. Something that makes you dread every workout from the minute you drag your ass off the floor from finishing the last one.
I can’t squat. I just don’t have the mobility so that limits me a lot. I’d love a non-squat program. I’m fine with deadlifts, lunges, single leg squats, etc.
I’m sure I’m a big pussy compared to a lot of you guys when it comes to the gym but I don’t seem to know how to make the body handle intensity, etc. I mean, I was struggling with 120 past that second set. What am I suppose to do about that?
I sometimes wonder if I just lack the mental fortitude or something and therefore will never achieve anything good at the gym.
I just feel like maybe I’m not cut out for body building, but I still want to get fit, etc. I just wonder is there another approach? Like crossfit, etc? This forum tends to be geared towards highly advanced/elite lifters. I would love to just reach the threshold between intermediate/advanced.
I think if you really want to get in shape, you might need to address some body image issues. 150 is not “fat” but when you gain rapidly from 135-150 with no reasoning or intelligent diet, of course you’ll look skinny fat - but going from skinny fat to “emaciated lean” isn’t much of an upgrade. And you’re not going to break the intermediate threshold yo-yoing between these bodyweights.
Sure, you can do CrossFit, but that’s not necessarily an easier option and proper training and diet still applies. Plenty of dudes have great physiques in CrossFit boxes and are strong as hell.
I think you are stuck between not wanting to get fat, and wanting to get muscle. Many lifters get stuck here.
IMO, a coach could help. I think you have an issue with consistency, and doing things that are ineffective. We can tell you all day what to do, but you are most likely going to abandon ship when you get a bit more body fat. I think you could use improvement in your programming as well (a good coach should be able to help you there, and keep you on track).
