View Full Version : Confused about benching
Younglifter
01-08-07, 7:22 pm
Yeah i'm just confused. I was putting up 230 as my 1 rep max when i worked out with my own bench at home. Over Christmas break i got a 6-month membership to California Family Fitness and i can barely do 210 for 1 rep. Could it just be that i need to get used to the benches at cal fit? They seem to be a lot different than mine. Anybody have something like this happen to them before?
Big Jawn
01-08-07, 7:34 pm
Sometimes its hard to adapt to change. At my gym here in Alberta, we have special bars, calibrated KG plates...5lb collars etc...so going home for Xmas and working at my old gym everything felt heavier. It could very well be the equipment and likely has alot less to do with any small loss of strength from anytime off. Give it a week or two and get back to us.
bake.silverback
01-09-07, 2:33 pm
Weigh your bar at home than weigh (if you can) the bar at the gym. I am guessing that it will be alot less than the bar at the gym. This could explain the weight difference.
I wouldn't sweat it, differences in equipment can throw you off a bit, kinda happened to me when I got home for break as well.
Happens to me every time I come home for summer or winter break. There's so much little shit that can throw you off at first. Plates and bar weights can be off, bench might be a different height, the new environment can make it hard to focus. Usually takes me a workout or two to get back to my previous PRs.
yeah iv had this happen at the school gym compared to the gym im a member at i can put up 235 at school and only 200 at the gym
jatta palu
01-10-07, 6:08 pm
I agree with silverback..there could be a difference in weight with just the bar. Also, are you lifting at the same time? Eating the same fuel? Listening to the same motivating music? Is the gym your type....i.e. are you a pit rat going to a fitness club? All of this is a factor.
Is your bar at home a standard olympic barbell? A difference of 20lbs sounds like you're probably using a 25lb barbell at home and counting it as 45lbs..
ryan o'neal
01-11-07, 2:41 pm
Yeah i'm just confused. I was putting up 230 as my 1 rep max when i worked out with my own bench at home. Over Christmas break i got a 6-month membership to California Family Fitness and i can barely do 210 for 1 rep. Could it just be that i need to get used to the benches at cal fit? They seem to be a lot different than mine. Anybody have something like this happen to them before?
you might want to measure the actual pad that your back rests on
your bench vs Cal Fit.
Yea this happened to me too. I lost 20-30lbs on my bench when i went to college for the first time.
Younglifter
01-15-07, 2:12 pm
You know what...i think its the height of the benches at cal fit. I have an olympic bar (45lbs) so thats not the problem. Could also be the size of the bench. The width is much smaller than mine at home and its hard for me to balance.
Ya it can be a pain in the nuts, at my gym we have acouple bars that actutally weigh 35lbs instead of 45lb, same length just the 35lb bar is thiner.
GrizzlyLB
01-16-07, 9:14 am
Could be many things like everyone has said already, bar... bench... mentality. I know when I went from my HS gym to my college gym I wasn't as intense because it didn't have that "feel" to it. It was mostly mental because I was so used to my surroundings back home. After about a month or so I was back in business and increasing the weight again. It sucks to basically lose a week getting back to your old weight, but you just have to get used to a new mind set/weight room.
Yea its probably, like most said the bar may have a difference in weight and then again switchin gyms to train can also screw with your head so test it out for a bit and see if you get used to it there. Then maybe your bench might go back up to what it was to begin with.. and even if it doesnt just keep pushin and you will be there again before you know it..