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Rodney · 07-30-2005, 06:30 AM

I use dumbbells for every free weight exercise except bench and shoulder press. I do like to "go for it" with heavy bars on both exercises. Fortunately, the bench press benches at the gym have racks that include safety arms you can set at various heights to "catch" the bar for you should you not be to loft it again. I do my shoulder presses standing in a squat cag with a similar type of safety apparatus, for the same reason. In a well-equipped gym, you should be able to safety accomplish most heavy free-weight exercises without a partner. The key word is "well-equipped:" many gyms tout themselves as well-equipped because they have many machines, but do not have the better sort of bars, racks, and safety equipment needed to make solo free weight workouts both practical and safe for the person who wants to go heavy.

Some other thoughts: although I'm no master, I've been lifting for over 20 years -- I'm almost 50 now, and I'm lifting heavy. The only reason I can still do it is because I protected my joints. As you get older, 35+, joint injuries become harder to avoid and most people drop out of weight training. What helped me was an early injury from overtraining that helped me train my ways. After fooling around for years and listening to different people, this is what I came up with:

1. On pressing exercises of any kind -- bench, shoulder, leg -- don't go to full contraction with heavy weights. Stop the bar three inches above of your chest, a couple of inches above your shoulder; on squats, don't bend your legs the full 45 degrees. Going "all the way down" and then pressing up explosively to get the damn thing back up in the air puts a great deal of mechanical strain on the joints. Eventually, it'll catch up with you.

2. Do a slow negative movement. I do a six-second negative. It reduces the amount of weight I can use, but it seems to build strength pretty well -- better than heavier weights with a fast negative.

I'm not exactly lean anymore, but I can still bench 245 with a six-second negative movement, for seven reps. Yes, I'm stopping three inches short of my chest, but the long, slow negative more than makes up for it, and my joints continue injury-free. There are only 4-5 guys my age or older at the gym who do that kind of weight, and they're doing slow negs, partial reps, or both; or they're big guys who were born with super-heavy-duty frames.

07-30-2005, 06:30 AM	#11 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	I use dumbbells for every free weight exercise except bench and shoulder press. I do like to "go for it" with heavy bars on both exercises. Fortunately, the bench press benches at the gym have racks that include safety arms you can set at various heights to "catch" the bar for you should you not be to loft it again. I do my shoulder presses standing in a squat cag with a similar type of safety apparatus, for the same reason. In a well-equipped gym, you should be able to safety accomplish most heavy free-weight exercises without a partner. The key word is "well-equipped:" many gyms tout themselves as well-equipped because they have many machines, but do not have the better sort of bars, racks, and safety equipment needed to make solo free weight workouts both practical and safe for the person who wants to go heavy. Some other thoughts: although I'm no master, I've been lifting for over 20 years -- I'm almost 50 now, and I'm lifting heavy. The only reason I can still do it is because I protected my joints. As you get older, 35+, joint injuries become harder to avoid and most people drop out of weight training. What helped me was an early injury from overtraining that helped me train my ways. After fooling around for years and listening to different people, this is what I came up with: 1. On pressing exercises of any kind -- bench, shoulder, leg -- don't go to full contraction with heavy weights. Stop the bar three inches above of your chest, a couple of inches above your shoulder; on squats, don't bend your legs the full 45 degrees. Going "all the way down" and then pressing up explosively to get the damn thing back up in the air puts a great deal of mechanical strain on the joints. Eventually, it'll catch up with you. 2. Do a slow negative movement. I do a six-second negative. It reduces the amount of weight I can use, but it seems to build strength pretty well -- better than heavier weights with a fast negative. I'm not exactly lean anymore, but I can still bench 245 with a six-second negative movement, for seven reps. Yes, I'm stopping three inches short of my chest, but the long, slow negative more than makes up for it, and my joints continue injury-free. There are only 4-5 guys my age or older at the gym who do that kind of weight, and they're doing slow negs, partial reps, or both; or they're big guys who were born with super-heavy-duty frames.