The YouTube celebrity Furious Pete ( Peter Czerwinski ) had the world's heaviest dumbbell made for his channel.It's looks very well constructed.A massive silver monster.Tightly fitted,and engraved with with 'Furious Pete' on the ends.It weighed 425 pounds on the shop scale.He's calling it 420.
He got it back into his warehouse gym.He could only deadlift it off the ground.
I wonder if anyone could ever get that overhead? I doubt it.
The usual approach for a strongman lift is to get it up to the shoulder with two hands,then press it up overhead with one hand.
There's a man from New York who had a 413 pound dumbbell made.
He was trying to row it.But I wouldn't say that qualifies as a row.He's deadlifting it,and jerking it up a little.But he can tell people he has it.( with his creepy deep voice )
There's a very weird guy ( also with a creepy deep voice ) who costumes himself like a Mexican wrestler who semi rows a 375 lb db.I'll skip putting up his video.He has a serial killer vibe.Just no.
Then there's a video of Rich Piana with his crew from 2015 visiting a gym with a 375lb db.It seems to be a super extended dumbbell.Very long,and awkward.One of his guys did manage to row it.He was jerking,and bouncing,but I think it still looks like a row.
Now what about a legit overhead press?
Officially that would be Dimitar Savatinov of Russia.He pressed a 143kg / 315lb dumbbell overhead
in competition at a World's Strongest Man contest in 2017.
Astounding to see someone lift that massive awkward weight.He has to handle the size,and press it overhead!
Some people would call this a jerk instead of a proper press.I'll leave that judgement to the experts.
Pete has himself a very impressive gym decoration anyway.
Recently there was a news story about a young man who died in a bench pressing accident.Kyle Thompson,age 22 of Ankeny, Iowa died in the gym bench pressing 315lbs with a spotter.He wanted to get in great shape,and join the police force to be a K9 handler.
These kinds of accidents are very rare.The article states;
A 2010 study by the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
found deaths from weightlifting are rare. The center reported that from
1990 to 2007, almost 1 million Americans were treated in emergency
rooms for weight-training injuries. Less than 2% resulted in long-term
hospitalization. Researchers estimated there were 114 deaths caused by
weight-training injuries nationwide during that 18-year period.
But you sure don't want to become one of those statistics.I imagine someone's mom in the kitchen making potato salad,and there's a knock at the door.It's the police come to tell her her kid just got rushed to the hospital after dropping a barbell on their chest.
I doubt this poor hapless young man's family will ever fully recover from losing their son like this.
The fact is it is dangerous to have a weight over your throat,and chest.There's only so much impact the human skeleton can take.Hundreds of pounds falling in a split second is going to crush you.
There's a video on YouTube of a Russian power lifter attempting a bench press when his grip slipped,and he dropped the weight.His chest was horribly impacted.He died later.
He had spotters.They didn't help.
( I'm not going to include the video in this post.Look it up if you want.But be warned.it's grim.There were three spotters.One at the head stepped away.Right side stepped back.Left stayed.I can't tell for certain if he was using a full grip.It looks like he was.I think his left wrist gave out.)
There are three main issues to bench press safety.
1.The weight you can lift - Don't get arrogant,and stupid.Even if you don't die,or break a bone, you
could rip a pectoralis.You'll end up with a hideous bruise,and a gap in your chest.
Use common sense.Increase your weights responsibly.
2.Your Grip - DON'T use a suicide grip! They call it that for a damn good reason.You need a full
grip with thumbs wrapped around the bar.(This grip is also called a thumbless grip,or a false grip.)
3.A safety rack - This is the big one.If you think humans can catch a bar falling on you;you have
more faith in human infallibility than I do.Don't bet your life on it!
All heavy barbell bench presses should be done in a power rack.The safety bars will stop
the barbell.
If you can't lift it,lower it.Guarantied safe if used correctly.
There are also bench press benches that have safety supports.
My opinion is a proper rack is superior.But most of the bench press benches are probably
well made
This is a Power Rack.It is your friend.
Barbell Bench Press in a rack.Your chest can't be crushed.
These are also called Squat Racks.Any respectable weightlifting gym will have several.I'm sure there can be traffic jams in gyms to use the racks.That's a real issue.
But if you are going to do heavy benching you deserve a safe way to do it.
You don't want grief counselors in a gym.
If you have a home gym, a power rack should be the cornerstone of your set-up.I have a power rack with a pulley system made by BodySolid.I bought it from Fitness Factory many years ago.Good as the day I got it except for a few dings to the paint job.With the adjustable bench,I'm set for all lifts.Squats are safe.Benches are safe.
There are techniques for dealing with a failed bench without safety supports.A few common sense tips if you are lifting on a regular bench.
1.Don't lift more than you can lift for a few reps,and don't let it down if you aren't confident of
another rep.
2.Don't collar your bars.-You can dump the plates off one side,then the other if needed.
3.Keep your elbows tight,and lower the bar to your sternum.Don't lower to the upper chest,or throat.
4.If you can't finish another rep,lock your elbows in and get the bar onto your hips.You
can then roll it down,and sit up.( you could still suffer serious injury )
There are a number of good videos on YouTube showing a lot of these issues.It always helps to actually see things in action to get a grasp of the movements.
Here's weightlifter,and gym owner Mark Rippetoe laying down the law for you.
Omar Isuf on how to bench heavy without a spotter.
Johnny Candito showing the roll,and plate dump saves.
Power Lifter Bryce Lewis on his father's accident.He dropped the weight on his throat while using a false grip,and survived.
Mark Rippetoe again with advice on spotters,and safety in lifting technique.
Part two.
The Bench Press is a great fundamental exercise if used correctly.Take care,and you will live to be an old creaky weightlifter like Mark.
( Yes I did once fail a lift on a bench when I was younger.I locked my elbows in,and lowed it to my hips.I lived.Just scared.I never told my mother I failed a lift either! )
Happy benching.
Recently I came across news about two older people and what had been going on in their lives.
I'm not at their age yet.But I'm far enough past youth to respect the challenges they're facing.
The first article was by athletic trainer Charles Staley called "How I got in my best shape at age 55."
The second piece of information I saw was about Dr Harriet Hall.She had suffered a serious fall.
Charles Staley is a long time athlete who has participated in martial arts,track events,and weight lifting.He admits he was never a gifted athlete.He felt like he came up short compared to many others.He also admitted that he could have worked harder,and smarter.
But the exciting part about his story is that he never gave up on his love for improving himself,and decided to increase his commitment.He was eating a lousy diet,and said he didn't look the part of a fitness trainer.Basically a flabby old guy who people listened to because they respected his reputation as an intelligent coach.He could have coasted along and settled for things as they were.
He decided to make the effort to improve his diet,and lost 23 pounds.He also managed to break weightlifting personal records.
That's a person who's not giving up on what he can do.He can't stop the years passing.But he doesn't have to slip dearly near senility.
Harriet Hall is known as the SkepDoc.She's a Medical Doctor,and a retired United States Air Force Colonel.She's dedicated to exposing quackery,and nonsense in the medical field.
This is a very intelligent,and well informed individual.
I've read her work for years,and respected her insight on skeptical issues regarding medicine.
She's a regular contributor to the website Science Based Medicine.
I stopped by the site,and found that she had suffered an accident while on vacation in Australia with her husband.Here's what she posted about a month ago.
That's a hell of a scary fall for a 71 year old woman.It's the kind of accident that can have life changing consequences.It could have been the nasty end of a meaningful life.It could have killed her.
It's accidents like this that people fear for their parents,or someday,themselves.
It reminded me of the accident tennis writer Bud Collins suffered in 2012.
Bud Collins website entry
He had had serious health problems before.But this was the event that pushed him into a state that he never really recovered from.He spent so long in bed after the fall that it exacerbated his heart problems.
He died in 2016 at the age of 86.That's about ten years better than the average age of death for an American man.
He had been a tennis player himself.He remained active,and traveled into his later years.But if he could have avoided that fall,his final years would surely have been easier.
I really liked this wonderful funny old guy.It made me sad to see him go through this.
I don't blame Harriet Hall,or Bud Collins.I don't know if their accidents could have been avoided.
But I think it's possible that a stronger person could have avoided it.Maybe you'd have a chance to stop yourself from going ass over teakettle.I do believe having more muscle,especially in your legs,could make a difference.There's also the effect of training on the Central Nervous System,and reflexes.
The conclusion is simple.No matter how difficult,and intimidating it may seem to older people they should engage in resistance training.
Older people should be concerned about becoming feeble,and do the only thing that can actively prevent it.
It's the difference between an independent life,and a hospital bed,a rehabilitation facility,an old folks home.It's the difference between active life,and death.
I have to believe that weight training could only help.Even a few dumbbells sitting around.Dumbbell squats,presses,rows.Whatever can be done.So even if your Mom thinks it's crazy,give her some of those colorful dumbbells.
And if someone has enough guts;join a gym.Learn to lift.What do you have to lose but your weakness?
Take responsibility for yourself before it's too late,and out of your hands.
And don't trip over a dumbbell like a pathetic klutz,and smash into the rack.
Re-rack your weights meatheads!
Not having an adequate night's sleep is lousy for working out.You just feel sleepy,and slightly out of it.Maybe more than slightly.
It happens to people for different reasons.Some can't fall asleep,some can't stay asleep. Some fall asleep,wake up and thrash around for an hour then fall back asleep,and over sleep and feel like crap.
I almost always fall asleep fine.I wake up to pee,and can't fall back asleep sometimes.My brain just won't let me back down.Then my cat comes into the bedroom,and finishes the job by sitting on me.I don't blame my cat.I'm her servant.She needs things.Sigh.
That happened today.I was about two hours short of my usual eight hours.So I just got up,and got on with my day.
I was very sleepy,and was feeling the aches and pains.Two cups of coffee.
But I had a leg day scheduled,and was determined to do it.I watched a few videos on YouTube to put me in a better frame of mind.Warmed up my legs.Rubbed on a little Aspercreme,and hit the stationary bike.I did about five minutes of intense on and off sprints.Felt much better,and ready to go.
I did a strong leg workout.Deep squats.Good weights.Did some work on the hamstrings,and calves too.Not an overlong workout.About an hour and fifteen minutes.
I was sleepy when I started,and satisfied when I was through.
It's not about feeling like it.It's about doing it.
Doing it of course.But that's not all.
This is a question of what you are to yourself,and what you appear to be to others.Do you look like a weightlifter?And what does a weightlifter look like? Do you have to look like you lift to be the authentic article?
I think the stereotype is the bulky,lumbering oaf.Which is mostly exaggerated.Many people lift weights and don't look that abnormal.I think some Olympic Weightlifters who are great at what they do could walk down the street in regular clothes,and not stand out too much.A Power Lifter may be very strong looking,but would some people know by looking at them what they could do?
Some lift and look extraordinary.I wish I looked more like I lift than I do.I've done a lot of hard work with not enough awesome looking to show for it.I do train like a Bodybuilder.But I haven't always eaten like a Bodybuilder.I admit I feel cheated by that.But we don't all have the self discipline,or genetics,or the good fortune to be equally rewarded for our workouts.
I don't talk much about my lifting with others.I'm not involved in the gym culture even though I've spent time in gyms.I talk about it a little with my Doctor,a few friends,a few relatives.But I just don't have it in me to brag.Maybe if people looked at me and really noticed.I wonder what it must feel like to wear your work for all to see? That has to be one of the major reasons people work out in the first place.But I've rarely gotten that payoff.I'm inherently modest anyway.It might make me uncomfortable to get more attention.So maybe I'm not missing much.
I think we're lifters because it suits us.We're human Dray Horses.Take the bit in our teeth and haul away.Work hard for the sake of it.Pull.Push.Struggle.Lift.
That's me.I recognized it when I saw it.I knew I should do that.Like a string vibrating in sympathy to another string.I saw my kind.
I don't need other people to give me credit for it.I know how much work I do.
I think that's the best attitude to have.Wear it on the inside,and be comfortable with it.The strength is always there.I don't need other people's eyes to affirm it.I'll keep lifting no matter what.
But yes,I'm trying to bring it all in line more now.That feels like being a proper weightlifter,and respecting the whole process.
So I lift weights,train,bodybuild for myself.I live it.
This is from the back of Muscle and Fitness magazine from the early 80's.
The big deluxe weight set from Weider.My parents ordered it for me when I was a teenager.
I think I had other weights before this.I'm sure I did.Some of those bulky maroon plastic concrete filled dumbbells second hand.Before that the metal bar from my closet.If you're a determined kid,you make due.
I'm not sure the set I got was precisely like this.I don't remember the head harness.Also I really don't think they sent that many plates.I think that was for the photo to show what could be done with it.Still that's it.The goofy metal barbell shoes which were hopelessly awkward to use.The stick,and string were for your forearms.I think the black handles were to make some kind of kettlebell.I did eventually get better collars.
Here's the crazy thing.I still have it,and use it.Most of it anyway.
There is very little 'Planned Obsolescence' in barbells.You have to appreciate that.I can't tell you much money I spent restringing my tennis rackets with expensive french gut.But the iron...it lasts.
There's an old joke; I just flew in from 'pick a city',and boy are my arms tired!
I keep remembering that when I think how long I've been lifting weights.I've been lifting weights since I was about 'a teenager',and boy are my arms tired.
They often are.I lifted for about 9hrs and 38min last week.I'm not young.This has been my on and off obsession for most of my life.I did take a lot of time off.I was also very interested in tennis,and played for a while.I really can't run around much on hard tennis courts anymore,so I'm seriously back to the gym.
My gym.People say 'Go hard,or go home'.I have a home gym.I can go home and go hard.
I'm also interested in Bodybuilding.I saw the movie 'Pumping Iron' on TV when I was probably twelve.It made a lasting impression on me.I also saw 'Pumping Iron 2 - The Women'.That made a bigger impression.
I always felt naturally fascinated by muscle,and strength.Seeing the male bodybuilders was exciting,and inspiring.But seeing the women was another matter.I'm female.I think I would have lifted anyway.But it was amazing to see that there were women interested in the devoted pursuit of muscularity.
I watched whatever I could on TV about bodybuilding.They actually had the major contests on TV back then.I also read the magazines,and bought books.It felt like the sport,and way of life,was really growing then.There was an explosion in interest.
The competitive sport has clearly faded.The open class Women's Bodybuilding is out of the IFBB.And the fact is,the men are not ever going to become mainstream.
Of course this is because of the extremity of the bodies on display.It's because of the high amount of drugs that the athletes are taking.
But that's a big issue.The fact is I still enjoy bodybuilding.I still get a lot of good out of it personally.
So I've been thinking about sharing a few ideas,and opinions about it.Probably because I work out at home,and feel separated from the big gym culture I feel like I can have a certain perspective.
A few points.I'm not an expert.I'm interested.It's not the same thing.
I will never be posting pictures of myself,or much personal information.It's easy for people to say "You're not impressive." I'm not.I know that too.To quote Jeff Everson "I've never done anything remotely impressive.".( he actually has )
But I'm smarter than the average gym denizen.I've been around longer anyway.I prefer a mature philosophical approach to over emotionalism.The world of Barbells could use a few more pounds of that.
