Looking for advice re: lifting

[GraniteCityDon]

Hi everyone,

Im normally a pretty private person so i dont discuss alot about me on the board. Heres the thing, about 6 years ago i had a bad accident which means my legs, back and shoulders are pretty screwed up. I got severely depressed, ballooned and generally gave up on everything.

About a month ago i figured i'd give lifting another crack to see how my body would cope so i started doing pushups, dips etc at home and then last week i joined a gym. I love it, felt really good but at the same time it is incredibly humbling seeing juiced up monsters shoulder pressing 4 plates like nothing on machines.

My primary problem seems to be endurance, the weights im using are light to me but after 3 -4 reps i just seem to run out of steam - is this normal (lactic acid etc)? Im hoping it'll go away in time once im back in the swing of things but its really concerning me. My legs are still pretty strong but upperbody is a wreck. Worked shoulders for the first time today and was in agony using 15lbs for side laterals, would it be better if i just left shoulders altogether? I felt humiliated sitting there pressing 35lbs when most people were 100+.

Thanks in advance, any advice would be greatly welcome.

[Montague]

Hi everyone,

Im normally a pretty private person so i dont discuss alot about me on the board. Heres the thing, about 3 years ago i had a bad accident which means my legs, back and shoulders are pretty screwed up. I got severely depressed, ballooned and generally gave up on everything.

About a month ago i figured i'd give lifting another crack to see how my body would cope so i started doing pushups, dips etc at home and then last week i joined a gym. I love it, felt really good but at the same time it is incredibly humbling seeing juiced up monsters shoulder pressing 4 plates like nothing on machines.

My primary problem seems to be endurance, the weights im using are light to me but after 3 -4 reps i just seem to run out of steam - is this normal (lactic acid etc)? Im hoping it'll go away in time once im back in the swing of things but its really concerning me. My legs are still pretty strong but upperbody is a wreck. Worked shoulders for the first time today and was in agony using 15lbs for side laterals, would it be better if i just left shoulders altogether? I felt humiliated sitting there pressing 35lbs when most people were 100+.

Thanks in advance, any advice would be greatly welcome.

It may be a matter of devoting more work to your Type I slow twitch muscle fibers, which are the endurance fibers. These fibers are used more for reps while Type II fast twitch are used for heavy singles/doubles/triples.

Some literature uses the analogy of marathon runners to sprinters, but the underlying premise is that slow twitch=longer duration activity, while fast twitch=short, explosive activity.

Most people have a fairly even ratio of Type I:Type II, but some have a dominant fiber type; meaning they have more of one type than the other. Regardless, many trainers fall into the trap of training only one fiber type and neglect the other. If your endurance fibers are underdeveloped, it may behoove you to focus on them more for a while.

[GraniteCityDon]

It may be a matter of devoting more work to your Type I slow twitch muscle fibers, which are the endurance fibers. These fibers are used more for reps while Type II fast twitch are used for heavy singles/doubles/triples.

Some literature uses the analogy of marathon runners to sprinters, but the underlying premise is that slow twitch=longer duration activity, while fast twitch=short, explosive activity.

Most people have a fairly even ratio of Type I:Type II, but some have a dominant fiber type; meaning they have more of one type than the other. Regardless, many trainers fall into the trap of training only one fiber type and neglect the other. If your endurance fibers are underdeveloped, it may behoove you to focus on them more for a while.

Would explain alot, for example i did 3 easy reps with 240KG on leg press, and yet really struggled to get 10 with 120KG. I dont know what my 1RM would be for anything so its all trial and error right now. It seems as though your knowledge extends out of the wrestling board, thank you my friend.

[Montague]

Would explain alot, for example i did 3 easy reps with 240KG on leg press, and yet really struggled to get 10 with 120KG. I dont know what my 1RM would be for anything so its all trial and error right now. It seems as though your knowledge extends out of the wrestling board, thank you my friend.

Sure!

Forget about poundage, and forget about who may be watching you and what they may think; chances are they're assholes anyway, so it's irrelevant what they think.

I made pretty decent gains during my last heavy training cycle by beginning with a heavy compound lift, working up in weight to 2-3 reps on my last set. I then performed some ancillary movements in the 8-12 rep range, finishing with another compound lift for several sets of 20-25 reps, which were extremely difficult after all of the other stuff I'd just done. The only drawback is that I developed some soreness with this protocol.

Afterwards, I switched to German Volume Training for only about a month before reverting to more conventional training, but in the higher-rep range. After all of that, I've noticed I'm now using more weight for more reps than I ever have...and that's at 34 years old!

[Montague]

You may find this article interesting. It's not exactly the same as what I did over the summer, but it follows along similar lines: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/power-muscle-burn-5-day-powerbuilding-split.html?SOCIAL

[Donny]

Sure!

Forget about poundage, and forget about who may be watching you and what they may think; chances are they're assholes anyway, so it's irrelevant what they think.

I made pretty decent gains during my last heavy training cycle by beginning with a heavy compound lift, working up in weight to 2-3 reps on my last set. I then performed some ancillary movements in the 8-12 rep range, finishing with another compound lift for several sets of 20-25 reps, which were extremely difficult after all of the other stuff I'd just done. The only drawback is that I developed some soreness with this protocol.

Afterwards, I switched to German Volume Training for only about a month before reverting to more conventional training, but in the higher-rep range. After all of that, I've noticed I'm now using more weight for more reps than I ever have...and that's at 34 years old!

34...my God !!    Good Advice

[Butterbean]

Forget about poundage, and forget about who may be watching you and what they may think;

And 99% of women don't care re: weight men use.

[Donny]

nothing wrong either with bodyweight exercises if you use less rest between sets and use your head. I Train bodyweight Dips and push ups then flys. works great for me. See guys struggling with heavy BB Benches every Day. Train SMART 

[GraniteCityDon]

Thanks guys, Monty i think ill give that a pretty good crack. its not that women dont care, i guess im just self conscious because i see everyone warming up with my max sets and think im out of my depth and dont belong there.