• 🛑Hello, this board in now turned off and no new posting.
    Please REGISTER at Anabolic Steroid Forums, and become a member of our NEW community! 💪
  • 💪Muscle Gelz® 30% Off Easter Sale👉www.musclegelz.com Coupon code: EASTER30🐰

Just upgraded my Crossbow to a Weight Bench

tdockweiler

Registered User
Registered
Joined
Sep 29, 2003
Messages
22
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Age
44
Location
Kalamazoo
IML Gear Cream!
I've always used Bowflex type machines. When I was 90lbs overweight I had used the Bowflex and went from 287lbs to 197lbs. The Bowflex is a good machine. Anything is better than nothing. The thing is, is that obviously for me it's only really good for losing body fat. I didn't gain any very noticeable muscle, which is disappointing. When I first started working out that guy in the manual (Ellington Darden?) suggested a 1500 calorie diet. I didn't realized how bad that was until later on. People said I was too skinny looking, but I was still FAT! Not good. I don't want to be one of those skinny fat type guys. I'm sure you know what i'm talking about.

So recently I upgraded to the Crossbow and went on a higher calorie diet in order to gain muscle. I got a little stronger..at least I think. My weight was staying the same and my Body Fat level was getting lower. I really worked hard during my workouts, but the next day I would rarely be sore. This is even when I tried my hardest and even went to fatigue on sets. I'm sure some exercises on the Crossbow are just as effective as free weights, but i'm not quite sure. I doubt it. So anyway, all those machines are fine if your goal is losing body fat. Sure you can gain some muscle, but not a lot. There is no way anyone could gain the kind of muscle you see the guys have in the Bowflex commercial. You know, all those guys from the army that say they use just the Bowflex? Yeah, right. I tried to prove myself wrong that the bowflex couldn't allow you to gain lots of muscle, but I couldn't do it. The soreness factor alone tells me a little bit.

So now I feel like i'm finally on the right track. Picked up a Weider 235 Weight Bench for a little over $130. Bought some cheap weight set to get me by only to find out the bar is so short and cheap that it won't even fit on the bench. Then I realize you can't even buy a barbell without weights in this stupid city, so I had to go to a second hand store and get one.

The workouts seem a lot more effective. They're much harder it seems. During barbell curls I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head or something. Then I overdid myself on lunges starting out and almost fell over. The thing is, is that now I feel like pretty weak when using all these free weights. I honestly don't even know if I could bench 130 on a bar bell, but when on my Bowflex 175 isn't that difficult. It's the nicest feeling being really sore the next day. It's almost every single day now, which seems like a good thing. Although i'm pretty weak still i'll only get stronger.

Anyway, I was 196 but went up to about 226 at 22.6 BF over winter (it's a long story), which is pretty FAT. In probably 9-10 weeks after I started working out again I went from 226 to 221 but my BF% dropped to 17.5, which isn't horrible, but I have a long way to go. My goal is to stay around 220 (i'm 6'4") and get down to 10-12% BF. I've pretty much reached all my goals in the past, so maybe it'll get down even less than that.

The fat comes off slower now that I eat 6 meals a day, but that's fine by me. I want to keep that muscle and lose the fat. I'll never go back to a 1500 calorie diet. I don't think I could even do it.
 
Good luck with the weights, bud. Strength is all relative, so don't get to feeling down because you don't perceive yourself as strong. Work out right, and you'll get where you want to be :thumb:
 
Somewhere someone out there is benching 585 and thinks they are weak, so yes its relative.
 
Back
Top