A milestone in the gym yesterday

[Gearloose]

A couple of weeks ago I switched my chest press from the Cybex seated press cable machine to a Flex leverage chest press. I was stuck on the Cybex at 175 lb and wasn't progressing. Well, yesterday I used 200 pounds for the first time ever on the Flex leverage chest press!

I did three sets: 200 x8, x5, x4. Then, to finish off, I did another first for me at the gym. I walked over to a free weight bench press and did three sets with 135 lb! 135 lb x 6, x6, x4. IT FELT GOOD! (A little shaky on the third set, but good. )

The free weight bench is now a permanent part of my workout. I've been using a Cybex pec fly machine, but am quitting it because of the pain it causes in my left shoulder joint. Reducing the weight 25 lb from 150 to 125 doesn't help. Dropping the weight to 100 lb eliminates the pain, but it also eliminates any feeling of effort.

Any suggestions for other chest exercises? Apparently, I have something injured or weak in my left shoulder, so want to avoid any rotator movements like pec deck or dumbell flys that might aggravate the problem.

[threenorns]

you might wanna incorporate rotator work into your workout - a session on a cardio day where you just use light weights to rehab and build up those muscles.

(i'd say congrats, but i already did, lol! you'll see: the weights'll start flying up now)

[Shamrock]

Congrats buddy. Good to see the bench as a staple in your routine.
Cuban rotations, prone lying arm raises will strengthen your rotator cuff, I do them on my Delt day.

Any bench goals we can hold you too? Aiming to join the 200 club?

[Gearloose]

Originally Posted by threenorns

you might wanna incorporate rotator work into your workout - a session on a cardio day where you just use light weights to rehab and build up those muscles.

(i'd say congrats, but i already did, lol! you'll see: the weights'll start flying up now)

Yeah, but I'm afraid it's in the joint and not the muscle. My Dr. has already told me some of my aches and pains are the beginnings of arthritis. He suspected that was part of my problem with my neck a couple of weeks ago. I'm lucky I'm not like my older half-brother. He's been in a wheelchair with advanced arthritis for the last 20 years or so, and suffered badly with it for 10-15 years before that.

[Gearloose]

Originally Posted by Shamrock

Congrats buddy. Good to see the bench as a staple in your routine.
Cuban rotations, prone lying arm raises will strengthen your rotator cuff, I do them on my Delt day.

Any bench goals we can hold you too? Aiming to join the 200 club?

Oh Yeah! I'm aiming to bench my own bodyweight. (That would be 210 lb) I started weight training on Dec 6, 2004. I don't know if Dec 6, 2005 is too soon to set as a goal, but I'm going to try for it.

[Shamrock]

135 to 210 in 5 monthes? I would say thats a reasonable goal, not too easily achievable but not impossible by any stretch.

Have you set a one rep max yet? If you're performing 3-4 sets of 135 I would bet 150-160 is possible for a 1RM.

[Gearloose]

Originally Posted by Shamrock

135 to 210 in 5 monthes? I would say thats a reasonable goal, not too easily achievable but not impossible by any stretch.

Have you set a one rep max yet? If you're performing 3-4 sets of 135 I would bet 150-160 is possible for a 1RM.

I've already done three sets of 200 on the seated Leverage chest press, so the adaptation to free weights should be fairly rapid--at least I think it should be. Also, I did the 135 lb free weight sets immediately after doing three sets of 200 lb on the leverage machine.

I did a one rep max of 175 on my weight bench at home a few weeks ago.

[gcs118]

Gear, do you take glucosamine for your joints and such? If not, I hear it takes a long time to kick in (up to a couple months) but it's supposed to do you well. Also, like three said, some light rotator work never hurts.

[Gearloose]

Originally Posted by gcs118

Gear, do you take glucosamine for your joints and such? If not, I hear it takes a long time to kick in (up to a couple months) but it's supposed to do you well. Also, like three said, some light rotator work never hurts.

I'm taking 2000mg Glucosamine and 2000MSM a day. I started because of problems with my finger joints and wrists. The Glucosamine alone didn't seem to be helping, but I added the MSM and started using straps at the same time and it's really helped the problem. Dunno if it was the MSM or the straps that did the most good.

[threenorns]

i've been thinking a lot about it, and i can't help but think that the stronger your muscles are, the more support and *less* wear and tear on your joints there'll be.

[Pelon]

Originally Posted by Gearloose

Any suggestions for other chest exercises? Apparently, I have something injured or weak in my left shoulder, so want to avoid any rotator movements like pec deck or dumbell flys that might aggravate the problem.

I've had bad shoulders for a number of years now. It has always prevented me from developing any measurable upper body strength. I can train consistently for about 6 weeks or so, but then the pain sets in. It gets to the point where I can't bench 100 lbs. without pain and weakness in one or both shoulders.

I went to a new doctor about 3 months ago, and he suggested that I eliminate any overhead movements that require pushing. Since then, I've switched to decline presses and flys to work the chest and triceps. It seems to be working so far. I do experience occaisional shoulder pain, but nothing like I had before. I'm finally developing decent upper body strength for the first time in my adult life. Your injury might be completely different than mine, but you might want to experiment with using a decline bench.

[Vas85]

Congrats Gearloose! its a great feeling hitting past a sticking point! Keep at it and you'll be benching another 50lbs ontop before you know it! :

[Gearloose]

Originally Posted by Pelon

I've had bad shoulders for a number of years now. It has always prevented me from developing any measurable upper body strength. I can train consistently for about 6 weeks or so, but then the pain sets in. It gets to the point where I can't bench 100 lbs. without pain and weakness in one or both shoulders.

I went to a new doctor about 3 months ago, and he suggested that I eliminate any overhead movements that require pushing. Since then, I've switched to decline presses and flys to work the chest and triceps. It seems to be working so far. I do experience occaisional shoulder pain, but nothing like I had before. I'm finally developing decent upper body strength for the first time in my adult life. Your injury might be completely different than mine, but you might want to experiment with using a decline bench.

I'm only experiencing pain on heavy rotational movements like pec flys. So far, I've not experienced any shoulder pain with presses.

[pseudonym]

great work mate :

free weight bench is the schizzit and I rekon if you can push 200 on the lever machine thing it'll only be a matter of getting your technique sorted and a bit of stabiliser strength befor your freeweight bench busts through as well.

see ya in the 200 club sir .