Disproportionate upper body strength??

gnolan

I am not sure if this is the case or not, I know some muscles are bigger than others and therefore can lift more, but does anyone know if these discrepencies below are normal or accepted.

Bench Press 57.5kg
Shoulder Press 35kg
Fly 40kg
Lat Pulldown 57.5kg
Seated Row 57.5kg
Biceps 35kg (as in 17.5 per arm)
Triceps 35kg (as in 17.5 per arm)

The bicep and tricep ones are the worst, i just about to manage to squeeze out 3x8. And the shoulder press is one of the tougher ones for me, so perhaps some obvious weaknesses there. All are 3x8 sets.

brianthebard

Do you mean you think there are potentially dangerous differences between your arms and body,your front versus your back,or your upper body compared to your lower?Fwiw i don't see anything wrong with those numbers,but if you squat and deadlift that might give a fuller picture?

gnolan

I don't mean dangerous, I'd be more more worried with maybe ending up with a big back and chest and weedy little arms! I don't do squats or deadlifts but do other leg exercises.

Quads 61kgs
Hams 61kgs
Calfs 105kgs

#Smokey#

Your stats seem grand nothing to be worried about but a picture would really help.Then we could advise where you should work at more/less.

gnolan

Good to know. To be honest its hard to tell where the works is needed right now. I've got myself on a weight loss programme and at the moment i need to lose about another two stone. In the last 10 weeks i've lost 17lbs and i'm gonna try keep up about 2lbs a week.

The weight tends to gather around the midriff so i'm gonna keep up the cardio and weights and hope that the two come together at some point and i look like the most ripped mo'****er you're ever likely to see!

And out of curiosity, the most pressups i can squeeze out would be five (very max with proper form), I'm 6'2" and weigh 211lbs, would that suggest weakness in the arms?? Kinda of annoying as this can be a useful exercise when on holidays or when I've no access to the gym.

rubadub

Start doing deadlifts & squats for the legs (and upperbody). If you are overweight you will already have a lot of muscle there, so you do not want to lose it since it keeps your metabolism up, and no point losing fat only to reveal chicken legs! Also squats & deadlifts will make you strong all over, boosts hormone levels amongst other benefits.

Check out www.exrx.net and www.stronglifts.com

Keep up the pressups, do not worry about numbers! or weight amounts, it is not a pissing contest, just do what you can, if you are pushing yourself then YOU know you are doing your best. Try doing pushups against a wall, inclined so your reps are up to 8-12, though 5 is good for developing strength and you will quickly increase, esp. with weight loss. When I started at around 13stone I could do feck all pushups, not even 5, but flew up quickly, now could do 60-70 easy. I also did pushups on the stairs so I had various levels to hold onto. I got push up stands which raise you up a little, also let you go deep and ease your wrists.

Your weight loss will decrease so do not get disheartened, this is normal, at the start you lose water and fluids, then it is fat at a slower weight. Also you are doing weights which I HIGHLY recommend for FAT loss, but if you were just starving yourself and running then you would lose muscle too, so your weight could drop faster, BUT who wants to lose muscle and fat, you want to lose just fat. I lost at a steady rate of about 0.5lb per week, slower the better IMO, more likely to stay off and not mess your metabolism. I then remained a constant weight for ages, losing fat and gaining muscle at the same rate.

gnolan

If I incorporate deadlifts and squats can I leave out those other leg exercises, tbh i don't have the time or maybe the patience to add more exercises to my programme.

There may be some problems with incorporating these though, I'd only be doing them for one session a week (maybe not enough?), and I won't have any spotter. I suppose from that point of view the other leg exercise are useful.

rubadub

If you are stuck for time and limited to only 2 exercises it would be squats and deadlifts. I saw a pro strongman interviewed who only did those 2 exercises, and practised events.

Think of what work is, load x distance, there are no other exercises that allow you to shift so much weight on a bar over such a distance as those 2. With shrugs you can lift a lot, but only a few inches.

Once a week is good enough, they are quite taxing on the body and you need rest in between them. Stick to a low weight at first and keep within your rep range, if you have no spotter simply do not try going to failure, though with deadlifts it is not a real issue (unless at home with floor boards!)

But do get someone to check your form is OK. You could even take a video and post it here for comments.
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-squat-with-proper-technique-fix-common-problems/
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-deadlift-with-proper-technique/

I would ditch the other leg exercises in favour of these, you could add lunges in too, which are safer with no spotter, and better than the other leg work.

I would do dips and chinups if you can manage any too. If you can do none you can practise negatives, that is standing on a box to the top chinning position and lowering yourself down slowly, you can do negative dips the same way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opr72q6NKTc