Thread: working out alone..

Do you work out at a gym or at home ? If it's at a gym i find ppl at the gym usually have no problem spotting you for a few quick sets , good way to meet new ppl too . If it's at home you need to be very careful benching by yourself .

I can understand "maxing out" once in awhile, but you definitely do not need to max out every work-out to improve your bench press.

If u have to max out yourself and can’t get it up, use your body weight and kind of drop the weights to your side, yeah is going to make a lot of noise but is better than letting it drop on your chest. Or if u still have some strength left u cud work it slowly to your leg, don’t just drop if to your body use your hand and try to maintain as much weight off your body as possible, when u get it to ur leg just sit down from there on is almost like a dead lift and lay the weight on ur bench. I tell you this saved me a lot of times when I used to work at home by myself, but I have never done this with more than 205 lbs so be careful man. Be save

Originally posted by hurtyhair4u
Do you work out at a gym or at home ? If it's at a gym i find ppl at the gym usually have no problem spotting you for a few quick sets , good way to meet new ppl too . If it's at home you need to be very careful benching by yourself .

im working out at home... i only max out at 170 so i guess it should be ok to try what KataMaStEr said when im gonna go for 175-180.. im trying to get to 200 before football season starts.. (august 7th). what kindof workout would u suggest to achieve this.. i only have a cheap olympic weightbenh with the 300 pound set from sports authority.. no dumbells or curlbar to work on triceps or nything but i plan on gettin those asap... any suggestions?

Originally posted by Prince
I can understand "maxing out" once in awhile, but you definitely do not need to max out every work-out to improve your bench press.

If his coach is like my coach he is going to require maxing out every two or three weeks usually in bench press, squat, power clean and dead lift. Is not going to be much of his choice.

If you're worried about safety, use a Smith Machine. It's not ideal because the bar doesn't follow the natural arc but it's better than nothing.

Originally posted by ponyboy
If you're worried about safety, use a Smith Machine. It's not ideal because the bar doesn't follow the natural arc but it's better than nothing.

Ummm, read his earlier post, he works out at home..........

I wouldn't worry about 1rm at home, work on what your can lift for at least 4 reps or more, if you know your not going to get another rep then don't try.
Once you've been lifting for some time you'll get to know your limits, I've been working out alone for over a year now and I don't bother asking for a spot, I know when I'm done.

My workout routine sucks becuase I have no workout partner. I lift alone. I will say I have met some great people at the gym and they help if I need it, but I try not to bother them too much.

I too have been working out alone for some time now and just make sure that I lift enough for the amount of desired reps, though there is always a feeling that 'I can lift more if I had a spotter'.. but then are u really lifting it or is it ur spotter who is!!!