Rate my progress

[rudygee2]

Hey all, Ive been lifting for almost 2 years, but I was only serious for teh first 4ish months, then I was lazy for like a whole year where I still lifted, but was pretty stagnant, then ive been really serious this last 4 months. Unfortunately, I am placed in situations where I am without weights for like 3 months during the year (1 for winter break, 1 for beginning of summer, and 1 at end of summer), so I take hits in my training during those periods. I usually dont lose too much in terms of weight (i gain alittle fat and lose alittle muscles I guess, because I really dont lose weight). But anyways, please rate my progress. Im still a skinny bastard Im 5'8 at 140 lbs.

Here are my lifts:
Big 3 first
Deadlifts (sumo) - 225
Squats - 205
Bench - 135

My bench is pretty pathetic, because I switched from dumbells about 2 months ago (55 lbs) and I had to start low and work my way up for like a month.

I do a bunch more exercises, but some are isolations, so Ill leave those out. I guess there are my other compound movents.
Should press - 50 lb dbs
Incline BP - 105
Bent over DB rows - 75 lb DBs
Skullcrushers - 65 lbs

Are my lifts pretty proportional? Or is there anything thats really lagging? I guess any general reactions would be appreciated. Thanks alot.

P.S.I cant wait for next school year, Im gonna go hardcore and try and get up to 150-155ish. Do you think 155 lbs for someone who is 5'8 would be a good goal?

 

[reyalp]

seems pretty proportional to me, after reviewing my last workout.

as far as your goal, just monitor your progress in the mirror and switch to maintenance when you like what you see.

 

[semag]

Looks pretty proportional to me, although your bench will come up a bit in time... when your bench comes up I think your dead and squat should rise just a little bit too, and you'll be good.

As far as weight??

my workout buddy is 5'8" @180 and about 10% bodyfat and not that big...

 

[paraguayandj]

how about eat more, increase weight, and lift more often? Those stats are actually terrible for someone lifting for 2 years

 

[rudygee2]

Thanks for the responses guys.

reyalp - Cool, good to know im not laggin in any one area. As for the maintanence, Im no where near that yet, so I dont have to worry about that anytime soon, haha.

semag - Thanks too for your input. Thats crazy, 5'8 and 180 lbs and not big?! I cant even imagine myself at 180!

paraguayandj - Im sad to say it, but I completely agree with you...my lifts are pretty terrible for someone who has been working out for almsot 2 years. I was proud of my progress of my first 4 months lifting, and Im proud of the last 4 months of lifting, but everything in between was pretty pathetic. But now I have to live with about a year wasted where I basically had no progress, and thats the price I pay for being lazy. Unfortnuately, in the next 4 months, Im not expecting too much progress, because in about 2 weeks, I wont have access to a gym for a month. Then the 2 months after that I will, but I wont have access to much food. Then the 4th month, I wont have access to a gym again.

But once the school year starts again, I will definitely take your advice, and eat more, increase weight and lift more. If I go hardcore for 8 months, where do you think my lifts should be at?

 

[EFFORT]

They'll be up a lot after 8months if you train and diet correctly. You also need to look into getting some kind of gym membership maybe a temporary one in the summer when your back home. This is a long term thing and it'll kill your progress to have these big bouts where u just stop training.

 

[rudygee2]

They'll be up a lot after 8months if you train and diet correctly. You also need to look into getting some kind of gym membership maybe a temporary one in the summer when your back home. This is a long term thing and it'll kill your progress to have these big bouts where u just stop training.

Are there temporary gym memberships for like 1 month? I am only without a gym for one month periods, but unfortuantely this happens 3 times a year. Itd be easier if it were 3 consecutive months, but thats not the case.

Or I was thinking of just buying a chin up/dip bar thing, and i could make a crazy workout doing pull ups/chin ups/ dips/ leg raises. How do you think that would work out? Im obviously missing something for my legs though.

 

[A-Unit]

Re:

Set goals, but committ to the long-term.

Committ to the big lifts.

If you feel fatigued, eat more and rest between your workouts.
Get up early, get the muscles flow.

REGARDLESS of age, just committ to getting your body in shape. Committ to it for life. That way, even if you fall off the cart slightly and binge a little, you're not WAAAAY OFF. People/girls I know that stay in the best shape overall, still workout regardless, they do something, no matter if they've binged a little during the holidays, or drank a few too many nights, like alot of people. At least you know it's not very far to go to get back on the cart. Capice?

--------------------

The biggest mistake a new lifter mistakes is desiring easy, automatic results. They want X muscle in such a short-time and some people feed these ideas, without the person REALLY being educated. As far as I see it, people have 2 choices, Become Educated as it relates to your body. OR, find a good personal trainer, even if he/she is a friend, that also gives credence to your differing genetic structure. The funny part is, if a fat guy/girl went to a Personal Trainer, they'd go slower with more limited expectations THAN what a skinny guy might have for him/herself. Over a long-enough time period, you can master AND outlast ANYONE.



A-Unit

 

[organizedconfusion]

i personaly find that i make tremendous gains in bench pressing when i focus on a specialized military press routine with a high volume approach..
here is what i did for a while-

once a week, i alternate in intensity and weight.leaving two reps in reserve per set and not going to total complete failure.

w#1-
military press-
160x 2-3 rps for 10 sets
weighted pull ups-
(25 lbs. around waist with belt)
2-3 rps x 10 sets

w#2-
military press-
140x 8-10 rps for 10 sets
weighted pull ups-
(25 lbs. around waist with belt)
2-3 rps x 10 sets

i figure it's because my pushing power translates itself into benching strength and because it builds up power in my tris/arms and shoulders- it helps tremendously when i bench - the weighted pull ups help build the foundation for a strong back to help me also with benching.
Personaly i think that the standing military press is the 'squat' for upper body power because it works all of the muscles to some degree.

also , this may sound unproductive- but a friend of mine told me that when he was in prison for a few years, a trick inmates would do to get ripped is to do push ups every single morning ..they'd have a deck of cards,flip over a card..it say 9 of hearts do 9 and so on..kings,queens,aces and anything else counted as 10 and there are no breaks in between cards,if you start a card you must finish it- say you do 5 only but the card says 8..you have to start that card over,and keep on starting that card over til you complete it.this routine will shredd up your upper body in no time i gaurentee it..because i still use this very technique and i am shredded...