Got a question about some of the weights I read here
What I'm asking is that when you are reporting your lifts in your journals, or in a general thread here on the boards, how are you calculating the lifts?
For some it's pretty straight forward..machine lifts are simply the number and weight of the plates. But how about for barbell lifts? When you say you are lifting..160 lb bench press, or 60lb military press, or whatever, are you including the weight of the bar in what you are reporting, or is it strickly the weight of the plates?
I know I shouldn't gauge myself against anyone else, but one can't help it. It would be helpful to understand how some of you are reporting what you lift.
I know the olympic size bar is about 45lbs itself, and a good ez curl bar can be half that. That weight makes a significant difference in whats reported.
For myself, in my personal journal, I only record the plates, since that's the only weight I can be certain of. I'm wondering if when reading here, I should add 45lbs/25lbs whatever, to get an accurate reading of what your lifting.
Well, time to leave work and head to the gym. Looking forward to your answers.
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07-28-2005, 02:01 PM #1
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Question about lift weight..re barbells
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07-28-2005, 02:08 PM #2
LOL. This can be a hot topic. I never knew until recently that some people feel very strongly about it. I had always assumed that people counted the bar. I mean you're lifting the weight after all, why not count it?
There are those here that don't count the bar. So when you're comparing what someone else lifts you need to know how they are counting it. Jag and I both count the bar, and GDD doesn't (worse, half his numbers are in Kilograms to boot).
I agree that we shouldn't worry about gaguing ourselves against someone else, but I too find it entertaining if nothing else.
*R*Dumb Animal
Imrpoving my Power to Weight Ratio
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07-28-2005, 02:12 PM #3
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07-28-2005, 02:13 PM #4Originally Posted by ShadowRydr
I tend to write the weight without the bar in the journal I take to the gym, because I know that I used a bar and how much it weighs. And I do other weird things, like only record one dumbbell when I do db weights (i.e., I'll write 25# when I mean that I had a 25 in each hand). This works just fine since I'm the only one reading it and I understand my own quirks.
But if I were writing in a public journal here, I would probably include the full weight, so that other people could understand what I was doing. This seems like a lot of work and could explain why I don't have a journal here!
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07-28-2005, 02:19 PM #5
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The Topic From The Black Lagoon
Wow, this is the topic that wouldn't die.
My blanket response is that when I know the weight of the bar, I count it. For example, as you say the Olympic bar weighs 45 lbs so when I do exercises using the Olympic bar I add the 45 lbs, so I would list a flat bench press at 225 rather than 180 for example.
I am not certain of the weight of the EZ bar or some of the shorter Olympic bars so I don't add those weights in - I note those in my joutnal as "weight only."
Same with certain machines like Hammer Strength machines - I guess the machine weighs something but I don't know how much so I don't list it.
Dumbbells are pretty self explanatory.
To each his or her own however. I have great respect for the members of this forum and if you want to list the weight of the bar - great. If not - great.
Just my $0.02
GSCThere is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.
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07-28-2005, 02:23 PM #6
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07-28-2005, 02:25 PM #7
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07-28-2005, 02:27 PM #8
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Originally Posted by WallyWhitecrossThere is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.
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07-28-2005, 03:14 PM #9
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07-28-2005, 03:36 PM #10
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07-28-2005, 03:38 PM #11
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07-28-2005, 03:41 PM #12
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07-28-2005, 05:17 PM #13
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07-28-2005, 05:25 PM #14
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dbflgirl sumed it up nicely. As long as you know what you mean....that is all that counts. And like her, when I list dumb bells, I only list 1 of them for some reason.....like 80lbs. Means 80 in each hand. As long as you understand it, who cares?
The Socialist Party candidate for President of the US, Norman Thomas, said this in a 1944 speech: "The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of "liberalism," they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."
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07-28-2005, 06:01 PM #15
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Oooo...Did I open up a can of worm..COOL!
Guess I haven't been keeping up with all the journals and missed where this was being discusse..my bad. Honestly though, I usually just peruse the guys journals. I am usually more interested in the womens journals..and the women. So sue me.
Thanks for the answers, and the entertainment as always.
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07-28-2005, 07:20 PM #16
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On my threads I include all of the weight so the reader knows what I did. I use a notation like 1 x 135 x 8 sets/weight/reps if it is BB exercise. If it is DBs, as in flies, I use 2 x 55s x 6 sets/db weight each/reps. When I read some journals, my eyes glaze over. I have no clue as to what they are doing and how it relates to what I am doing. But that is ok, to each his own.
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aA.FreeRadical aJun. 2004
Neck 16.5" Shoulders 49" Biceps 14.5" Chest 42" Waist 37" Hips 39" Thighs 21"....5' 9" tall 184 lbs bf 18%
July 2007
Neck 17" Shoulders 50" Biceps 16" Chest 44" Waist 34" Hips 38" Thighs 23"..... 5' 9" tall 189 lbs 19% bf
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07-29-2005, 12:35 AM #17
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