Methods for gaining muscle and losing fat

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I'm not sure If I posted this before but the dumbbells I use in my home gym are PowerBlocks, just in case anybody is looking to set up a workout environment at home.
 
Didn't read through this thread so if it was already stated just ignore

One of the best workouts I found is doing yoga poses. They not only build strength but usually also work on balance and flexibility.

Try holding crane pose for 60 seconds...

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Quote from achilles28:

Thanks. I'm going back to incline barbell bench, for now. Pulled or tore a delt. Dumbbells are tricky. Push off too hard with the legs and they fly way back and the rotater cuff gets screwed. Don't push hard enough and the shoulders come in way too much and a delt rips. Factor in different weight and exhaustion levels for each set, and fuck, I don't know how hard to kick off!! I could push 80's if I could get them off my knees. I did three sets of 70's for 8-9 reps but couldn't get the 75's off my knees. Frustrating. I'll take a break on my shoulders, do barbell, and get a trainer. Hats off to Baron and the rest that can do 90's or whatever. That's phucked. What shoulder exercises should I do to prepare for dumbbell incline?
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If you are hurting your shoulders that bad with the 80's it sounds to me like you might wanna focus on your shoulder strength. Hit up seated shoulder press. That will pack some serious strength and size onto your delts (front mainly). Don't do it behind the head or anything that is just extra strain. Idk how tall you are but warm up well then put your hands somewhere near the rings on the bar. I am tall but I do either ring finger on the ring or pinky.

Get a spot if you have never done them, but slowly lower the bar down to about your nose/chin then go back up stopping just before lock out (preserve those elbows!). Start off light till you get the motion and form down well and then you can start packing some weight on. That is one of my strongest exercises and I absolutely love it lol.

If you know how to do them well ignore my explanation. You should do band work also to strengthen your shoulders up. I went from 3 years of not missing more than a week of working out EVER to just occasionally once a week or two because between work school and family I didn't have time. I lost a lot of strength and size and I had stopped maintaining my shoulders well with bands and general workouts. Sure enough I caused some major issues benching one day. It put me out of commission for about 3+ months.


If I was you I would hit up the band work and shoulder press and raises. 80's shouldn't hurt you near that bad if you can handle that kind of weight normally
 
Quote from Baron:

The reason why I like dumbbells so much is because it allows a me to control the path of motion based on my own body's geometry. So for me, benching with dumbbells just feels so much better than using a straight bar because I feel nothing but the front of my shoulders getting worked out when benching with a straight bar.

The problem is that most guys are too focused on putting up big numbers on the bench. Working with dumbbells strips all of that ego away because you will always use way less total weight with dumbbells since they are much harder to lift and control than using a straight bar.

There is nothing in the world wrong with benching 40 or 50lb dumbbells.
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I agree with everything you wrote. For me, barbell bench activates more shoulders than chest, which is why I prefer dumbbells. It's kicking them off that's my problem. How do you put up 90's on incline? I might try flat bench dumbbells this week. Might be easier to put up?
 
Quote from achilles28:

I agree with everything you wrote. For me, barbell bench activates more shoulders than chest, which is why I prefer dumbbells. It's kicking them off that's my problem. How do you put up 90's on incline? I might try flat bench dumbbells this week. Might be easier to put up?
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I kick up 90's in the same way I would any other weight, but that's not a weight I use all the time. I much prefer to back down to 60's or 70's and just do an extra set or increase the reps to compensate.
 
Quote from atticus:

I am limited when going heavy to drops or working with a partner. I have a 1/2" rubber mat, but sold my DB racks. I think they're necessary, but I've gone to compound lifts with a bar to simplify.

I have some Ironmaster DBs with the add-on, but rarely use them.

Achilles -- just do some warm ups with overheads.
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Overheads?

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Quote from Baron:

I kick up 90's in the same way I would any other weight, but that's not a weight I use all the time. I much prefer to back down to 60's or 70's and just do an extra set or increase the reps to compensate.
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Ur chest is huge tho, man. Is it possible to gain that kinda size only using 60's or 70's?
 
Quote from FCXoptions:

If you are hurting your shoulders that bad with the 80's it sounds to me like you might wanna focus on your shoulder strength. Hit up seated shoulder press. That will pack some serious strength and size onto your delts (front mainly). Don't do it behind the head or anything that is just extra strain. Idk how tall you are but warm up well then put your hands somewhere near the rings on the bar. I am tall but I do either ring finger on the ring or pinky.

Get a spot if you have never done them, but slowly lower the bar down to about your nose/chin then go back up stopping just before lock out (preserve those elbows!). Start off light till you get the motion and form down well and then you can start packing some weight on. That is one of my strongest exercises and I absolutely love it lol.

If you know how to do them well ignore my explanation. You should do band work also to strengthen your shoulders up. I went from 3 years of not missing more than a week of working out EVER to just occasionally once a week or two because between work school and family I didn't have time. I lost a lot of strength and size and I had stopped maintaining my shoulders well with bands and general workouts. Sure enough I caused some major issues benching one day. It put me out of commission for about 3+ months.


If I was you I would hit up the band work and shoulder press and raises. 80's shouldn't hurt you near that bad if you can handle that kind of weight normally
More...

Okay. Thank you for taking the time to explain that to me. Funny, I do zero shoulder work. So this makes sense. My shoulders and arms kick in a lot during barbell bench so I figured if I didn't work shoulders, I'd activate more chest? But I can see that was a mistake. You and atticus are in agreement so i'll start presses and raises this week, maybe lay off dumbbells for a bit and strengthen my shoulders.
 
Quote from achilles28:

Ur chest is huge tho, man. Is it possible to gain that kinda size only using 60's or 70's?
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Yes. I don't believe you have to lift really heavy weight to increase muscle size. You can easily compensate with more reps and/or more sets. The only thing that truly matters is consistency of training over time. That's why you don't see 21 year old men winning the Mr. Olympia.
 
Quote from Baron:

Yes. I don't believe you have to lift really heavy weight to increase muscle size. You can easily compensate with more reps and/or more sets. The only thing that truly matters is consistency of training over time. That's why you don't see 21 year old men winning the Mr. Olympia.
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Hmmmm. I didn't know that. I'll take your word for it !

Mind if I post a progress shot?
 
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