Teutonic
New member
When I started this lifestyle I had no idea that my lifting would go on for my whole life. Like most of us I just wanted to get bigger to land more girls in my 69 Chevelle and not be intimidated ( or maybe it was to intimidate ??) by the big athletes in high school.
Being raised in Germany in the 70 s I was a soccer player, a snow ski junky and I ran track; 440 relay and low hurdles. I was pretty good at these too. When I hit American schools in junior high in Montana in 77 I played soccer and was really good. Then I moved to the darkest, dumbest fattest state in America. Noone had really heard of playing soccer and I could not play American sports so I went to work instead....literally washing dishes at 15.
I was red necked on by the big guys and a transfer surfer from California and I became good friends and his mother managed a gym. I saw some guys in there that were fkn huge at the time in my mind. Igot my own place my senior year as my folks went back to the FATHERLAND so all bets were off. A big dude gave me a bottle of d bol and I gained and lost 15 pounds in 3 months but the hook was set.
Back in the day we would train for hours, do 21-27 sets of a big body part and max bench 3 times a week. We would take Shaklee products and train every darn day and except for horrible gas........got ripped but never really bigger. Over the years a series of like minded guys and I roomed through college and then as a cop and grad school. That is when, over the years of reading and watching the big guys train I learned a lot about training eating resting and yes of course...gear. When I won Mr. Ole Miss in 91 I was more of a powerlifter than bodybuilder. I learned that overtraining and undereating were my biggest problem in amassing muscle.
I have never weighed 220. My peak was a water logged 218. I dieted for 1 month, took a diuretic and won the show. I weighed in at a smooth 202, Then I was hungry for a week and competed in the 198 s and did really well.
I am not much to see at compared to a lot of you I know but my point is...are you overtraining ? Due to injuries that resulted from being a federal school crossing guard for 14 years I am limited in what I can do but as a rule do
12 sets for big party parts and about 8-10 for smaller ones.
Examples are------------
Chest 4 -6 sets incline bench
3-4 sets dumbbell flyes or pec dec
dips or push up s to wrap up.
Back 4-5 sets of a wide lat or row movement
3-4 of another lat movement
2-3 sets dbell pullovers or 1 arm rows
Bodyweight pull ups to failure 2-4 times.
Bi s 4-5 sets curl machine
3-4 sets of a dumbbell curl...hammer curls whatever
Shoulders 4 sets military
3 sets side delt raises
Shrugs
etc etc etc
Age has taught me the importance of properly warming up. All sets listed above are working sets. It will take me 3-4 sets to o get to "working weights"...I do 185 on incline for 12 and go up till I can only do 6-8. I NEVER EVER do anything I cannot do properly at least 5 times. Why bother at my age ?
So why did you choose weight lifting as a hobby or lifestyle ? It has been a choice of mine that served me well in my past and jobs; federal school crossing guard, commercial diver, bouncer, security guard, body guard and securityconsultant. Nothing looks worse than a man whose a slob in uniform; a v shaped MAN looks good in a uniform, wet suit or BDU s.
Tell me why, how and when ustarted and your lifting style. I did not address gear in this thread as it is a small piece of the puzzle I m o.
Being raised in Germany in the 70 s I was a soccer player, a snow ski junky and I ran track; 440 relay and low hurdles. I was pretty good at these too. When I hit American schools in junior high in Montana in 77 I played soccer and was really good. Then I moved to the darkest, dumbest fattest state in America. Noone had really heard of playing soccer and I could not play American sports so I went to work instead....literally washing dishes at 15.
I was red necked on by the big guys and a transfer surfer from California and I became good friends and his mother managed a gym. I saw some guys in there that were fkn huge at the time in my mind. Igot my own place my senior year as my folks went back to the FATHERLAND so all bets were off. A big dude gave me a bottle of d bol and I gained and lost 15 pounds in 3 months but the hook was set.
Back in the day we would train for hours, do 21-27 sets of a big body part and max bench 3 times a week. We would take Shaklee products and train every darn day and except for horrible gas........got ripped but never really bigger. Over the years a series of like minded guys and I roomed through college and then as a cop and grad school. That is when, over the years of reading and watching the big guys train I learned a lot about training eating resting and yes of course...gear. When I won Mr. Ole Miss in 91 I was more of a powerlifter than bodybuilder. I learned that overtraining and undereating were my biggest problem in amassing muscle.
I have never weighed 220. My peak was a water logged 218. I dieted for 1 month, took a diuretic and won the show. I weighed in at a smooth 202, Then I was hungry for a week and competed in the 198 s and did really well.
I am not much to see at compared to a lot of you I know but my point is...are you overtraining ? Due to injuries that resulted from being a federal school crossing guard for 14 years I am limited in what I can do but as a rule do
12 sets for big party parts and about 8-10 for smaller ones.
Examples are------------
Chest 4 -6 sets incline bench
3-4 sets dumbbell flyes or pec dec
dips or push up s to wrap up.
Back 4-5 sets of a wide lat or row movement
3-4 of another lat movement
2-3 sets dbell pullovers or 1 arm rows
Bodyweight pull ups to failure 2-4 times.
Bi s 4-5 sets curl machine
3-4 sets of a dumbbell curl...hammer curls whatever
Shoulders 4 sets military
3 sets side delt raises
Shrugs
etc etc etc
Age has taught me the importance of properly warming up. All sets listed above are working sets. It will take me 3-4 sets to o get to "working weights"...I do 185 on incline for 12 and go up till I can only do 6-8. I NEVER EVER do anything I cannot do properly at least 5 times. Why bother at my age ?
So why did you choose weight lifting as a hobby or lifestyle ? It has been a choice of mine that served me well in my past and jobs; federal school crossing guard, commercial diver, bouncer, security guard, body guard and securityconsultant. Nothing looks worse than a man whose a slob in uniform; a v shaped MAN looks good in a uniform, wet suit or BDU s.
Tell me why, how and when ustarted and your lifting style. I did not address gear in this thread as it is a small piece of the puzzle I m o.