First time Bench Press - intimidated

[TopDawg24]

Hey ya'll I'm a 21 year old senior in college and I have decided to start weight lifting

the problem is the bench press is sort of intimidating

I am 6'0 and like 230

but I feel I'm weak as hell...do you guys think I could do the bar? I'll have a spotter but am afraid to embarass or even worse hurt myself

anyways I did do bench for a while a year or two back but it was on a smith machine and it was like only 135 max I could do and that was a year ago im sure ive lost that strength even

what do you guys think? I just want to get this overwith so I can come over my intimidaiton of weights and do it regularly?

what do you guys think I can do first time? at least the bar right?

what was your first time?

 

[PhilMoneyMargonis]

fuck you'll 100% be able to lift the bar

just start low and build up until you get more confident. i didnt know what iwas doing when i first started hittin the gym. so just start small and do the excercises propoerly and get the technique down. initially thats more important than weight

 

[TopDawg24]

cool thanks

just wana look good for spring break and my vegas trip! lol

 

[TopDawg24]

oh and any advice on any other excercises? reason i never did weights before was because I had a herniated disk at 16 (wierd i know)...so doc told me to stay off any lifting or bending

I'm gonna be staying away from squats and deadlifts FOR NOW...but are there any other good excercises ...I'm mainly gonna do bench, latteral pull down, some shoulders, but I still donno what to do for back

do you think a rowing machine is good?

thanks.

 

[Syklone]

Hit a machine first to guage your strength. This will give you an idea of just how much you can safely lift.

 

[BillsHooligan]

Top

For the back do pull ups, hands spread wide can give you the 'triangle effect'

as for bench any 20 yr old guy without major health complications can do the bar, only 45lbs, 22.5 lbs per arm. If you can do a push up at 230 you will have no issue with the bar, even if you cant the bar still will not be a problem

Use the bar to do warm up reps to get comfortable, when i first started i went to high too fast and got tendonitus in my elbow and couldnt lift for a month, so take it easy at first

if your lifting with experienced guys have them show you proper form and practice with just the bar until your comfortable with the motion and the base, if they show you anything that involves having your feet on the bench or not stably planted on the floor then have someone else show you

and the best thing you can do to improve your bench is to improve your squats, base is everything in bench press. If you dont want to do squats do lunges

one of the bigest mistake that people make is to concentrate fully or nearly fully on upper body, which not only makes them dis proportional but also hurts their upper body potential

good luck bro

stay commited, the bitches love it

 

[Samhain]

The Bench press will increase your strength while dumbell presses will define your Pecs.

Last winter I was 238lbs. I'm 6'-2". I'm down right now, but will get that wieght up aginm over the winter.

I've lifting for nearly 25 years now.

Try keeping a journal of your workouts. Sets, Reps, weight, exercises, etc.

 

[TopDawg24]

yeah sorry didnt reply to this thread earlier

i went with my roommate and did it and i can do 85 lbs easy but just trying to stay on 85 to get the form

the weight doesn't seem as hard as trying to balance the damn thing

I guess itll take some getting used to

I'm trying to stay away from squats/dedlifhts right now but I do the cable row machihne or whatever and shoulder press and then legs also

ill try to incorporate squats/deadlifts etc later on..right now my focus is cutting

thanks guys and one last question about the "grip"

do you guys grip your hands, including ur thump around teh bar

or do you grip such that ur thumb is at the bottom of the bar pushing up

 

[Darwinian]

do pushups

 

[Jack Herer]

thanks guys and one last question about the "grip"

do you guys grip your hands, including ur thump around teh bar

or do you grip such that ur thumb is at the bottom of the bar pushing up

I would love to hear other people's opinion on the grip. I've always wondered about this too.

I use straps similar to these (my wrists are tiny, so it helps a lot) and grip the same way shown in the pic. I've seen people grip it with the thumb on the other side of the bar. I don't know if its better that way, but the way I grip it I believe I have more balance and control over the bar in case I have to push it back to the bar rest. And hopefully its less likely to drop it on my chest.