Bench Press PRS before Covid Gym Shut downs? And Bench Press Max Now? Also Any other Boxers/MMA fighters who play?

[PoisonArrows]

I live in America, and we have had our Gyms Close 3 times since covid began.

Stats: 6 Foot 2, 185 pounds, Bench Press 315. Leg Press 938, Tricep Pulldown 90, Dumb Bell Curl 75, farmers carry 100 in each hand.

Stats After 1st shut down when they re-opened. Bench 285, Leg press Still maxed on machine, Tricep Pulldown 80, Dumb Bell Curl 65, Farmers Carry 85s in each hand.

Stats After 2nd Shut down, 265 Bench, Leg Press Still Maxed at 938, Tricep Pulldown 70, Dumb Bell Curl 55s, Farmers Carry 80s in each hand. DAMN!!!


I mean if i follow my strength program i should be able to return to my previous glory in about 2-3 months, but it will take 4-5 months before i start seeing strength increases past my original 315 on Bench! So what are you guys doing to maintain strength?? I am just doing a ton of Prison Work outs and push ups and crap. But I'm all ears to learn what works better.

Strangely i have noticed my hand speed has gotten faster. I think this might be due to the heavy ass weights slowing down muscle recovery and stiffening limbs, making boxing training/mma training harder. I have heard from other people that is the case, but i have fast twitch muscle fibers and it never really affected me. But maybe it did more then i thought.

 

[Kameyo]

Everyone benches 315 right on the dot. Lol just having some fun with you. But if you want to improve faster work the triceps hard for lock out strength and rear delts to move the weight off your chest.

I don't max anymore because shoulder health is to important I do max reps at a weight I would like to see in the 6 to 8 range. And get some of your own equipment lock downs most likely will return.

Edit: and what the heck is a Tricep Pulldown do skull crushers.

 

[finegamingconnoisseur]

I do something similar to crossfit but at home without any equipment (using bodyweight) four times a week.

Various battle and military-themed music and movie clips that I sometimes watch during workout:

 

[PoisonArrows]

Everyone benches 315 right on the dot. Lol just having some fun with you. But if you want to improve faster work the triceps hard for lock out strength and rear delts to move the weight off your chest.

I don't max anymore because shoulder health is to important I do max reps at a weight I would like to see in the 6 to 8 range. And get some of your own equipment lock downs most likely will return.

Edit: and what the heck is a Tricep Pulldown do skull crushers.

I'm in the same boat lol i have my left shoulder dislocated from doing Mma. It took 2 years before I could go back to maxing, anytime I attempted it I'd feel a stiffness and be injured for like several weeks. So certain movements stiff my shoulder and prevent certain movement. So Skull Crushers are off the table for me unfortunately. The Tricep Pulldown is a exercise where you have a rope attached to a pulley system and you take the pin of the system and choose a weight and then you pull the rope down and split the ends to the left and right and it works the triceps. And it's really good for people like us with messed up shoulders lol because i never feel my shoulders being worked.

 

[PoisonArrows]

I do something similar to crossfit but at home without any equipment (using bodyweight) four times a week.

Various battle and military-themed music and movie clips that I sometimes watch during workout:

How well does crossfit transfer to strength gains or speed gains? I generally avoid it but i know it can make you nimble and bend in odd directions and stuff. Like if you went to the gym today after doing Crossfit for a year do you think your strength would increase or would it have decreased from your time away from the gym.

 

[finegamingconnoisseur]

How well does crossfit transfer to strength gains or speed gains? I generally avoid it but i know it can make you nimble and bend in odd directions and stuff. Like if you went to the gym today after doing Crossfit for a year do you think your strength would increase or would it have decreased from your time away from the gym.

From my experience it targets all the muscle groups and combines explosive cardio with strength training. It won't bulk you up like you would if you did pure weight training like Arnold Schwarzenegger but it will keep you in great shape and reasonably tanky, speaking for myself at least.

 

[PoisonArrows]

From my experience it targets all the muscle groups and combines explosive cardio with strength training. It won't bulk you up like you would if you did pure weight training like Arnold Schwarzenegger but it will keep you in great shape and reasonably tanky, speaking for myself at least.

Hmm interesting I might be a different type of animal then, I have tried Body Weight Exercises and the like and I notice a Cardio/Endurance effect from them but if I stay out of the gym and only focus on Bodyweight/Crossfit I tend to lose overall strength. (Might be because I am really well conditioned) For the Gym usually I got to beat myself up pretty bad lifting as heavy as I can 4-5 sets and then I noticed if I lower the weight and finish off with some high reps and then rest 3minutes and increase the weight back to my max for a few reps it becomes hard as fuck but my strength goes through the roof for the next week. Also Farmers Carry for Cardio is amazing it's one of my favorite exercises and it increases your grip strength to insane levels. I have good Grip Strength for take downs in BJJ MMA and my training partners ask me all the time how I have such good grip strength, because once I got them they can't escape hahaha.


On a side note: I expected strength gains to return at 5 pounds a week on all my lifts, but I actually retained enough muscle memory to go up 40 pounds this week. So it might only take a few months to return to 315 Bench despite a Year of continual Covid Set backs.

 

[Hayasa]

Weight lifting is lame.

Only do sport specific weights, otherwise, you going to the gym to look jacked just to get KOed in a fight RL by some fat guy who can fight

 

[Jackdstripper]

Weight lifting is lame.

Only do sport specific weights, otherwise, you going to the gym to look jacked just to get KOed in a fight RL by some fat guy who can fight

body builders lift weights as a sport, just like swimmers swim or gymnasts do flips. They do it because they like it. also you get to look good for the ladies. Fighting isn't really what most body builders are into, or they would be training for that too.

having said that, having a ripped body does make the average guy think twice about starting a fight with you. So it does help avoid fights.

 

[Hayasa]

body builders lift weights as a sport, just like swimmers swim or gymnasts do flips. They do it because they like it. also you get to look good for the ladies. Fighting isn't really what most body builders are into, or they would be training for that too.

having said that, having a ripped body does make the average guy think twice about starting a fight with you. So it does help avoid fights.

Having a ripped body you are more likely to get into a fight lol cuz now it’s all alpha barking at alphas, and then the Fat man KOs you like Roy “Big Country” Nelson. All the fights I have witnessed have been meat heads fighting outside the clubs.

Also, if you read his post he was talking about how his max weight lifting has decreased, but his speed in his striking has increased. This is why I said “sport specific” the OP does Martial Arts.

Im personally getting my fat ass back to 200 lbs, and when the Vax Pass BS is lifted and my freedoms restored, then I’ll fight Muay Thai at 180. The only weights I do are Kettle Bells, mainly cuz I don’t feel like leaving my house to go to a gym for weights, and the Kettle Bell workouts I do are specific to improving striking.

 

[PoisonArrows]

Weight lifting is lame.

Only do sport specific weights, otherwise, you going to the gym to look jacked just to get KOed in a fight RL by some fat guy who can fight

I think that depends on the person, I fight with Fat people, Skinny people, Buff jacked people everyday at the boxing gym and mma gym for training practice. I don't think i'd lose to a random Fat guy on the street they gas out after their first run and dash punch attack. xD

 

[PoisonArrows]

body builders lift weights as a sport, just like swimmers swim or gymnasts do flips. They do it because they like it. also you get to look good for the ladies. Fighting isn't really what most body builders are into, or they would be training for that too.

having said that, having a ripped body does make the average guy think twice about starting a fight with you. So it does help avoid fights.

lol that's true, however whenever I go train mma or boxing if I see a super skinny guy with Abs I just think when I hit them they are going to drop like a fly. It depends on how developed the 6 pack is. If it's like a Skinny guy 6 pack and not a buff guy 6 pack then usually they can't take the hits.

 

[Hayasa]

lol that's true, however whenever I go train mma or boxing if I see a super skinny guy with Abs I just think when I hit them they are going to drop like a fly. It depends on how developed the 6 pack is. If it's like a Skinny guy 6 pack and not a buff guy 6 pack then usually they can't take the hits.

I find it funny how when I went back to the sparring classes, the people who hit too hard are one of two things. New, or Idiots. Unless you are doing a fight camp, Hard Sparring shouldn’t Be a thing. Maybe cuz I only do Muay Thai and like the Thai style of training and sparring, I get annoyed at the people who hit me hard. I do prefer a more technical sparring match over a hard match. Being 6’2” also, height pays a huge advantage against the average training partner, typically we’ll taller, and everyone loves to hit the taller person hard, and then they can regret it after if they don’t chill.

 

[PoisonArrows]

I find it funny how when I went back to the sparring classes, the people who hit too hard are one of two things. New, or Idiots. Unless you are doing a fight camp, Hard Sparring shouldn’t Be a thing. Maybe cuz I only do Muay Thai and like the Thai style of training and sparring, I get annoyed at the people who hit me hard. I do prefer a more technical sparring match over a hard match. Being 6’2” also, height pays a huge advantage against the average training partner, typically we’ll taller, and everyone loves to hit the taller person hard, and then they can regret it after if they don’t chill.

I'm the same height as you but I don't feel like I am terribly Taller then the rest of my team mates. We got one guy who is 6 Foot 7 and he has real good reach but he's so easy to take down with the double leg that it hardly matters. He always has some sort of Leg Injury every time he comes in because those tall guys their legs get broken so easily. That's why in WWE they don't let the tall guys jump off the top ropes it's a known tall guy problem that their legs break easy. There's a video somewhere of Sycho Sid breaking his leg jumping off the ropes. At my Gym we have a saying "To Give a Hit you gotta learn to Take a Hit" So we line up everyday and purposely hit each other 10 times anywhere on the body. Body conditioning is really good to do, after doing this so long all of us can take a ton of punishment. We got another guy in my team that is like a 5 foot 6 mexican guy, but he just body builds and strength trains so his height to weight ratio gives him a huge advantage. Sort of like Paulo Costa how his body type gave him so many easier wins because his strength just won the day.

 

[Exiledkhallisi]

Profession: Nurse
Former: Assistant Director of Fitness LA Fitness
Have my own gym at home but heres a related story...


Contracted covid early 2020

Sick for 3 weeks

Fully recovered 2 months.

6'2

284lb pre covid
266lb 2 mo after full recovery

2x Pfizer vaccine

Pre covid max bench
475lb 1rep max
405lb warmup sets to 10x 5x 3x

Current post covid
405lb 1 rep max
315lb warmup sets to 10x 5x 3x

Massive strength loss ;( struggling to boost up max to pre covid level byt not breaking the wall. I feel like something in me has changed. Bloodwork looks good.a Am at a loss. Btw, i ran Winnies/Anavar in my early 20's. Have been 100% natural since. Now in mid late 30's

 

[Emdash]

Whatever happened to Poison?