Weight benches?

[gamarada717]

First, let me say that I am 14, and I've never really seen much of a reason to work on my upper body because I'm a soccer player. So I have rock hard calves and flabby arms. I look like two different people put together as one.

Ok, so I've tried going down to the highschool every morning and working out, but first of, it's morning, and that is my normal time to hang out with my friends, fall asleep on the floor, ect time. Also, the people down there are dip****s and I hurt my back doing power cleans, or whatever they're called because they told me how to do them wrong.
The gym here is very expensive, and since I don't get to go to any of my favorite camps this summer because a trip to Philmost interfers with it all, I have a lot of spare time. My mom won't drive me to the gym everyday, and since my neighborhood is small, mowing and doing yardwork for people only takes one day for the entire neighborhood.
This leaves me with the option of getting equipment to work out on at home. A friend of mine's dad bought a bowflex because of his back, and I tried it and hated it. I prefer free weights. I'm not really sure what kind of bench I would need. I need to be able to do that primary exercises to have a good upper body (not only strength, but I want to look good too), and I also want to have something that I can work on my legs with. I need something not huge, but not too small either. Small enough to fit in garage with a low ceiling. The cost probably needs to stay under 300, including weights. And remember, I'm 14 and don't want to hurt myself, so if there's a book that has information on these kinds of things, it would help. Hmmmm....if there's anything else that you need to know, just post it and I'll respond as soon as possible.

Remember, I'm looking for a bench and free weights, and that I have none of the equipment, so I need the whole shibang.

[Benfica4ever]

I am also 14 and i also play soccer.
I pretty much have the same situation as you.
I got my weights and bench for free so i cant really help you out but go here http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/index.php?s=

ask them its a big forum so you will get some quick answers.

[angelbeast24]

im varsity keeper for my school but i still work on upper body just as much as lower body

[cannedheat]

I reccomend you go to your local sporting goods store or sears. You can generally find an olymic style lifing bar with with wieghts adding up to 300lbs for around $100. They should have benches there too. If I were you though I would seriously look into buying a power rack. You can set the catch bars so you dont crush yourself if you dont have a spotter.

Dont just work out upperbody either. Squats and deadlifts are quite important also. for information check out http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/index.htm This is the best website for tecniques and routines that I have found.

[UltimatePaintballer]

benafica is 14?!? i thought you were 20+....word

[WicKeD_WaYz]

Just get a nice set of dumbells and a simple bench. You can do sooooo much with just dumbells and something to sit on or lay on. You dont need a bar to bench press, and its actually more athletic for you to bench with dumbells because you have to balance them. You can also curl while sitting on the bench although I prefer standing. Do your tri's by laying on your back and doin skullcrushers. Then sit on the bench and do a shoulder press with dumbells. An adjustable bench would help here by letting you adjust the seatback straight up, it would also help for incline press, but its ok if its not adjustable. Do your back with bentover fly's. You can do any part of your upper body simply with dumbells. Dont let them talk you into getting the dumbells that you have to unscrew and change the weight by adding or taking off little plates. Those are simply annoying. Get a nice set of like 15 pounds maybe through 50 pound dumbells to start with. As you get stronger, go buy heavier dumbells. A nice dumbell rack would also be a good investment.

If you wanna get bigger faster, try supplements. My favorite right now is NO2, but creatine is always good. Just take it how its directed, and dont let people scare you into thinking its harmful( not if taken correctly at least, with enough water). Protein shakes are always good for recovery too. Glutamine is a good pic too.

But basically if you know what your doing, you dont need nice stuff to get big. I go the the gym twice a day ( at school and late at night.) But I also keep a 45 pound weight plate in my room incase I missed a workout sesh or something. I really do love that plate. I have weights in my garage but I dont use em. I can get most all muscles with one plate.


O about the legs....those are harder to do in your garage unless you wanna buy more equipment. Try lunges though. Also hold dumbells and simply squat. Allllll the way down. One legged squats are good too. You should try that without weight at first, harder than you would think. Hamstrings are a tough muscle to get with only dumbells and a bench. I would recommend using your schools hamstring machine for that.

Ahhhh ok now im rambling. If you have any more questions let me know.

ryan

[Digits]

Your 14?? And you want to work out? When I was 14 my brother started working out (he was 14 too) and he got pretty buff.. But damn I tried it a few times.. And I got so lazy.. After about 3 days haha.. I'm still to lazy .. Oh well.. I'm happy scrawny

[Smegma]

when you get into the habit of working out, it become addicting. i love the feeling i get while im working out and especially after, i feel so content its amazing.

it's the time that it takes to begin to enjoy working out that's the most difficult.

[tony3]

My brother bought a bowflex and we also have a tredmill. I have tried to do that to stay in shape since I didn't play basketball this year. I just found it so boring. I really want to stay in good shape but found working out boring and I couldn't get myself modivated to do it. Anyone got any suggestions for me? I just overall need a whole body workout.

[Benfica4ever]

Originally posted by UltimatePaintballer
benafica is 14?!? i thought you were 20+....word

Why am I no longer cool?

Or was i ever?!

[cannedheat]

WicKeD_WaYz, why do you work out twice a day? Seems like a bit of overtraining.

If you work out with enough intensity you should only do each body part once a week. Dumbells wont cover what your legs need for that.

I woulnd't start with suplements right off the bat. Try and get your diet in check, high protien, low fat, moderate carbs. Try and eat a good 5 meals a day.

[WicKeD_WaYz]

Originally posted by cannedheat
WicKeD_WaYz, why do you work out twice a day? Seems like a bit of overtraining.

If you work out with enough intensity you should only do each body part once a week. Dumbells wont cover what your legs need for that.

I woulnd't start with suplements right off the bat. Try and get your diet in check, high protien, low fat, moderate carbs. Try and eat a good 5 meals a day.

Because I hit it hard at school with my bench, squat, powercleans, the rest of my legs, shoulder press, incline and other things where I need a spot.

When I go to the gym at night I do all the other muscles in my shoulders, bi's tri's, back, abs...etc things that I dont need a spot on.

Ive found that its better to lift say twice a day for like 45 minutes a session...and keep your heartrate up for the whole time, then rest for a few hours and do it again. Different muscles of course though.

People say you can overwork your muscles, but I never really run into that because I switch muscle groups. It works for me so ill stick to it. And I believe in working each muscle hard every 2 days, 3 at the most. Then take enough glutamine and protein right after you lift for a quicker recovery. Its just what works for me and what my body is used to.

About being motivated....umm when I first started lifting I had to have music and friends to lift with me. Now I can just go lift in a quiet room all by myself and be happy. Music helps though, and I still prefer to lift with my friends. I suggest making yourself go to the gym even when you dont want to. Just do it anyway, after a while you will feel kind of wrong if you dont workout. If I was to not workout for more than a couple days in a row I think I would have withdrawels..because thats what my body is used to. After a while it becomes kind of like eating, where you'll find yourself in your room doing pushups during the commercials lol or maybe Im just wierd.

I started rambling again...in conclusion, People are creatures of habit. Get into the habit of working out and your life will be better.

[Digits]

i'm too lazy to get in a habbit like that though.. I prefer watching tv, browsing AO, or playing games on my puter.. The only work out I really get is from Gym in school which isn't much of one.. And paintball.. I really should start running though.. Just so I can get to my back standup faster, hehe.

[Konigballer]

i do mostly powerlifitng so I only work out each muscle group once a week. The only people I know who can work out twice a day and still get results without overtraining their muscles are guys who have heavily modified their recovery system with steroids and many GNC products to enable them to keep up that kind of a work load.

If your going to get a bench and be working out by yourself, I would use a word of caution. You cant really push yourself to make gains if your doing bench by yourself, it can get very dangerous.

Theirs no training partner there to help you get the dumbels off your chest when you first begin, so you cant get the feel of a heavier weight and push yourself. So your really limited to what weight you can get off your chest by yourself. Plus, when your chest finally gives out or your concentration lapses midway through a set, those dumbels will come crashing down mighty quick! If you dont have good control over them in the desent and they fly out to your sides or behind your head, you could pull or tear a muscle and suffer a serious injury.

If you get a regular barbell set the same rules apply, when your by yourself and you take the bar of the rack to begin, you may found out it is MUCH heavier than you thought it would be and you can get it off! Once again, you could definetly injure yourself, just be carefull

[gamarada717]

Yeah, I was thinking about the safety factor of working out alone with rack and stuff. If there's a chance of me injuring my self like you were talking about, she won't let me buy it. I think that the adjustable bench with a set of dumbells would work well though. I don't want to take supplements or anything, maybe protein, but probably nothing else. I still need a way to work my legs though. Is there an adustable bench that has a leg extension on it also?