weak upper body need some help 31yr old male

mikejdeleon85

i am a 31 yr old male 260 lbs my highest weight was about 330 lost weight got down to 255 without exercise only changed my diet then gained it all back then this past dec i was 308 and now i am back down to 260 .

i do mainly cardio and and low carb diet and i am also a type 2 diabetic

i have no upper body strength its very discouraging i try to left a little but really nothing seems to help i workout with my 18yr old nephew and i cant do much last night i maxed out at like 80lbs on a bench press thats horrible i have not lifted much since high school and in high school i maxed out at about 180.

so any tips would be greatly appreciated things in advance

LazSommer

Starting strength.

jemhh

I'd suggest an established lifting routine, whether it's Starting Strength or something else (I just posted a list in this thread.)

Also, watch a few form videos as they can help a lot. There's one I like with a woman who holds a football and I can't find it. I think that @sijomial has posted it in the past (my apologies if that's wrong.)

If all else fails, I like Alan Thrall's videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYKScL2sgCs

Spliner1969

It's really hard to gain muscle while in a deficit. Not impossible though. The year I spent losing weight it felt like I was killing myself trying to gain strength and getting nowhere. I was in too severe of a deficit. I did gain some muscle, but very little. What helped the most was giving up the weights and focusing on body weight training for me. Try some progression for push ups and pull ups, if you can't do any now, then look it up on the web how to learn them. When I started a year ago I could barely do 1 push up, and could not do a chin up at all. Now I can easily do 20-25 push ups per set, and 10+ pull ups. I simply started with incline push ups, inverted rows, and progressed to real push ups and chin ups, and am now working toward doing better with pull ups (different than a chin up). Seriously though, if you're dieting it's going to be rough, but a good body weight progression program can help. It's all about training the right muscles.

Also increase your protein to 1g/lb of your goal weight or 1g/lb of your goal lean mass. So if you want to be 12% body fat and want to be 180 lbs, then you would take 180 * .88 to get 154.4 lbs lean body mass at 12% body fat and 180 pounds. So start trying to get 154g protein daily while working on strength. Be patient, it's going to take a serious amount of time. Once I hit maintenance calories gains doubled, although they are still somewhat slow (I am not in surplus, merely at maintenance for re-composition).

kathrynjean_

As others have said, you need to find an established lifting program and follow it. You will want to include full body, compound movements.

That being said, the only way you will get better at benching is by benching more. If your focus is purely strength and seeing your lifts increase, you don't necessarily have to be eating at surplus. This is very possible in a deficit.

sijomial

@jemhh

Pleased to be of service!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34XRmd3a8_0

OP - bench has always been my best lift (think I have gorilla DNA?) but following this tutorial I added a load of weight and more importantly stopped hurting myself.....

Do work both "push" and "pull" though (row/chest press, lat pull down/shoulder press etc). Concentrate on compound lifts to build functional strength rather than isolation lifts.

Dano74

First, congrats on your success so far, my man.

Second, maxing out at 80 isn't horrible, man. At all. You're currently "deconditioned"...and that's fine. It's where you're at. Use that 80 as your starting line and go up, within ability, from there: "Ok, got X reps at 80. Next I'll try for a new record at X. Sweet. Nailed it. I'll up my weight and go for X next time." Progressive overload is your pal and will build strength.... and strength is what you're after.

As per a program to help you get there... see above.

canadianlbs

wondering if your nephew has anything helpful to say. you're working out with him and he's right there . . . i'm a woman so inherently a little less set up for upper-body strength, and ime form is a Great Big Deal with these lifts.

starting strength was my first major go-to for form and i still refresh from it, but it gets very technical. tons of geometry and mechanical/physics type talk . rippetoe has some good tutorial footage on youtube that give you the same basic info in a more digestible kind of form though. i know i've seen one that he gave about bench press that was funny as well as informative.

benching exclusively isn't great for you in the long term, by the way. your development goes much better if you can be more 360-degree about it by working on your back as well. so other things to look into: overhead press, pendlay rows, chinups/pullups (i still can't do these, but you can do 'negatives' or 'eccentrics' where you start from the top and lower yourself under control). my trainer makes band pulls at shoulder height mandatory between all sets at benching and pressing, and that alone made him worth what i've been paying him.

i'll just mention too that being low-carb might make it a little more of a challenge for you. i'm not the expert on this kind of thing, but my own general understanding is: carbs fuel the actual work that your muscles do when you lift, and protein fuels the recovery/growth afterwards. fwiw my personal experience has been in line with this, so if diabetes makes it difficult or unsafe for you to change how you're eating, don't forget to cut yourself a little slack.

Erik8484

Pick a strength program and follow it. You'll be able to lift heavier within a very short period of time. Then you just keep going.

curlsintherack

it doesn't so much matter what plan you pick starting strength and stronglifts are both good choices. Benching is also my weakness. I could make a ton of excuses about a bad shoulder and a really long set of arms but I'm not using either of those excuses. Frankly I suck at the bench so I used to avoid it. Now I still suck at the bench but I suck less since I started a program that forces me to the bench a couple times a week. If you are left to your own programing you'll just do the things your really good at and avoid the stuff you aren't.

JoRocka

Pick a plan. And do the plan
It sounds like you're still new to this so don't be discouraged. It takes way more time than people think to truly get strong.
Patience and consistency will be your friends.

mgalovic01

For your diet switch from enriched wheat flour to whole grains. Cut back on sugar, processed foods, fried and greasy foods. Switch from vegetable oil to extra virgin olive oil. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Prepare your meals. Look what professional bodybuilders on youtube eat. Find recipes on pinterest. The staples are oatmeal, brown rice, baked or pan seared chicken or fish. Remove the skin. Use some BBQ sauce. Do what you gotta do. Cooked vegetables. Non- fat dairy like yogurts. Fruits.
As far as getting stronger goes, the key is consistency. Keep a journal to track your progress. Work-out one muscle group a day (like chest, back and legs, you can add shoulders and core work if you want), 3 to 5 days a week. Just think were you'll be a year from now.
Use your mind to increase the weight on the bar without adding more weight to it. What I mean is flex the muscles you are using with your mind while doing your reps, like you would when showing off your bicep. This will activate it more and reduce the risk of injury associated with lifting too heavy. Don't round out your back. Keep good posture to avoid set back causing injuries, and just one year from now you'll be happy with your development.

JoRocka

God so much nope.

First of all
why would you eat non fat dairy "like yogurt"
1.) 10% milk fat yogurt. best thing ever
2.) fat is an essential macro nutrient- and this kid needs more of it- not less.

Secondly
working 1 muscle group a day is relevant for bodybuilders- if you aren't trying to be a body builder- then it's largely a waste of time.

meritage4

Do burpees!

Anvil_Head

mgalovic01 wrote: »

For your diet switch from enriched wheat flour to whole grains. Cut back on sugar, processed foods, fried and greasy foods. Switch from vegetable oil to extra virgin olive oil. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Prepare your meals. Look what professional bodybuilders on youtube eat. Find recipes on pinterest. The staples are oatmeal, brown rice, baked or pan seared chicken or fish. Remove the skin. Use some BBQ sauce. Do what you gotta do. Cooked vegetables. Non- fat dairy like yogurts. Fruits.
As far as getting stronger goes, the key is consistency. Keep a journal to track your progress. Work-out one muscle group a day (like chest, back and legs, you can add shoulders and core work if you want), 3 to 5 days a week. Just think were you'll be a year from now.
Use your mind to increase the weight on the bar without adding more weight to it. What I mean is flex the muscles you are using with your mind while doing your reps, like you would when showing off your bicep. This will activate it more and reduce the risk of injury associated with lifting too heavy. Don't round out your back. Keep good posture to avoid set back causing injuries, and just one year from now you'll be happy with your development.

Well, at least the part about keeping good posture to avoid injuries was good. The rest of that post can be disregarded.

OP - get on a good, established strength training program and stick with it. Strength gains will come quickly at first through neuromuscular adaptation and "newbie gains". The one muscle group per day programs mentioned in the quoted post above are often referred to as "bro splits", and are sub-optimal for pretty much anybody but advanced (and often steroid-using) bodybuilders who are lifting very heavy at very high volumes. Just get on a solid beginner program and put in the work. Don't sweat the little details, majoring in the minors is far more work than it's worth.

MoonKat7

I'm a fitness professional yet I wouldn't advice you of any exercise without knowing more about your injuries, your posture, do you have internal shoulder rotation, and much more so what you really need is a personal trainer that you can afford which is very knowledgeable to answer your questions related to type 2 diabetic, nutrition, supplements and exercises.

Can you afford paying $10 US a month? Tom Venuto's book and website has lots of into and you can ask Tom any question you have.
www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/

The other website you should check is www.bodybuilding.com lots of info, exercises data with videos, bodybuilding ready programs with meal plans, low carb cheat meals and so much more and it's for free.

I would just say, don't focus on bench press for now, bench press needs strong core, strong triceps, strong shoulders, strong back, the right breathing technique, breathing is very important breathe out when pushing up the weights, you can easily get injured doing bench press, don't make my mistake
focus on getting strong even if it was body weight exercises, don't underestimate body weight exercise.

Hope these info help, all the best!