Click Here to Sign Up for Your Free Anabolic Insider Bodybuilding Magazine Subscription

Continuous strength gains

Opinion: Continuous improvement, over the long run, is impossible...

---

[Post Followup ] [ Anabolic Forum Board ]

---

Posted by Bob

Ok! I'm going to set myself up as a target. Qualifications: Lifting since age 18. Present age 64...Chest 12" larger than waist..best recent bench press at 173 bwt = 225.

Opinion: Continuous improvement, over the long run, is impossible...if you need that to keep you going, you won't last long.

You have to love the workouts themselves, which, for "normal" folks, rules out the "push till you puke" routines. Consider the periodicity routines...the ones I have seen involve 4 cycles a year, each promising a 10 lb increase in the big muscle moves, like bench press. Consider an average 18 year old...after a period of introducing his body to weights, he can do a 150 bench press, and now begins the period training. At 20, he should be doing a 230 bp...no problem...most will do that or better...*but*, by age 25, he should be doing 430, and that, for the vast majority, is pure fantasy.

Years of watching folks train has convinced me that most males, sans chemicals, and living a normal social and working life, will peak in the bench press at between 225 and 275 lbs...and will reach that level in 3-5 years. Beyond that , "improvement" can be *faked*...by changing lifts, rep patterns, etc, but it is not real improvement. That being the case, IMHO, anyone who trains in a manner which makes them dread facing the weights, is in for big trouble as far as long-term fitness is concerned. Fire away!

---

[Post Followup ] [ Anabolic Forum Board ]

---

Click Here to Sign Up for Your Free Anabolic Insider Bodybuilding Magazine Subscription