"Stop Asking Your Friends What to Text Her"

Your buddy Dave has been single for three years and thinks "hey u up" is a valid strategy. Your other buddy Mike just got dumped and told you to "just be yourself."

You showed them her text. You asked them to decode the emoji. You drafted four responses and sent the screenshot to the group chat for a vote.

She's been waiting forty minutes.

Put the phone down. Stop crowdsourcing your love life. Type something that sounds like you. Hit send. Then go do literally anything else with your evening.

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How much do you bench press?

mrRuckus

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Originally Posted by Mintyfresh
Personally I've been benching every other day for the past 2 years. I'm naturally pretty bulky and muscular and around 180 lbs. Yet despite all this I'm still only putting up 3 sets of 155 @ 10 reps before muscle failure.
Warboss Alex said:
okay, who's gonna get to this first.. Throttle, EFFORT, Espi, mrRuckus?

*takes bets*
If you worked me out every other day i'd probably crawl off your arms and down Alex's throat so as a muscle i could at least be put to use instead of being beaten into the ground like a slave. Alex at least allows me breaks and feeds me. And looks at me in the mirror and kisses me.
 

"She Laughed All Night. Then She Ghosted You. Here's Why."

Dinner ran three hours. She laughed at everything. You walked her to her car thinking this one's locked in.

Then: nothing. Two texts. No reply. What happened?

You did what most men do on a great date. You filled every silence, answered every question, and left her with nothing to wonder about. No mystery. Nothing to sit with when she got home.

Rule 3 of the "22 Rules" changes the ending: tell her a little, hold back the rest, and let her imagination do the chasing. The ghosting stops too.

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speed dawg

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5'10", 200 lbs. Heed the following warning:

Back in my heyday about 2 years ago, I was weighing around 190 lbs., I could put up 270 2 or 3 times with good form. Then, my ego went thru the roof. The form went out the window, I wanted poundages. I started doing VERY low reps only with huge weight. Long story short, I developed a bigger left side of my chest and a torn right rotator cuff, when has handicapped my upper body development for over a year.

Now, I'm just now starting to get healed completely. I'm 26, and now have to use dumbbells and can't bring them down all the way.

Your body won't last forever. I say forget the heavy weight and stretch like crazy every workout, especially if you're just workout to stay in shape. Injuries suck, and are prevalent among bench pressers.
 

Pakwah

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I dunno. i am about 145 and 5' 11"i usually can do 140x12
thats what my first rep is, than i usually will lower it to 120 or so and do 2 reps of 8-10. dunno where i stack.....
 

synergy1

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most of you guys are skinnier than me ( 5' 10" - 180 lb) , and most of the guys at my gym, and most of you bench considerably more than they and I do.
 

THE_ADDMAN

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5'6 165 lbs.

205x5 or so on incline bench. flat? not sure.
 

"The Coffee Shop Girl You Never Spoke To"

You've replayed it a hundred times. She stood three feet away, scrolling her phone. You had an opening. You composed the perfect line — after she was gone.

For all you know, she's married now. To some guy who said something. Anything.

Openers are cheap. Almost any sentence works when it's delivered within three seconds. The expensive part is the standing there, drafting and deleting, while the window quietly closes.

The "22 Rules" stripped out my hesitation. What to open with, how to keep it alive, and the one habit that costs guys more women than anything else: waiting for perfect.

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Skilla_Staz

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5'9 150lbs

PR: 190x3
Currently: 170x5

Working on form...
 

TheNewGuy

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I weigh around 140 and bench 150x5, squat 185x5 and deadlift around 195x5.
 

Quiksilver

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5'9 at 160lbs

I only do DB bench(incline, flat).

Up to 70s on both sides


incline is at 70lbsx7rx2s...

same thing for flat

doing dips with 195lbs(bw + 35) now :)
 

blinkwatt

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blinkwatt said:
Barbell;

-in three sets, 185x10,205x8,225x5(trying for 8),for some reason when I go barbell I only want to go heavy.
For some reason today I did 4 sets benching on the barbell,probably because this thread made me realize that I don't do 4 sets on the barbell often.

185x12,195x10,195x9(trying for 10),205x7(tyring for 8)
 

"So, What Do You Do for Fun?"

She asks it casually, mid-sip. And you feel the floor open up, because the honest answer is work, gym, and a couple shows you're half-watching.

Women rarely say this out loud, but a man with a life is attractive before he says a word. The guy who spent Saturday deep-sea fishing and came back with photos and a story — he walks in already interesting.

The "22 Rules" pushed me to build a life worth talking about. Turns out the fastest way to be interesting to women is to be interested in your own life first.

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danielzxc

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shaunuk said:
What the hell, 240lbs on the bench press ain't that much, and all it takes to reach 9% body fat is gentle dieting and cardio (9% is very lean but not out of this world). What's the problem with Salvatore's claim, I believe him...

-shaun
Dkkhead, it's that he reckons he's 215 at 9%. It's no big deal to be 215. But to be it at 9% -- at HIS height -- is one HELL of an achievement. One that few naturals in history have ever achieved -- and even those I would be skeptical of.
 

danielzxc

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speed dawg said:
5'10", 200 lbs. Heed the following warning:

Back in my heyday about 2 years ago, I was weighing around 190 lbs., I could put up 270 2 or 3 times with good form. Then, my ego went thru the roof. The form went out the window, I wanted poundages. I started doing VERY low reps only with huge weight. Long story short, I developed a bigger left side of my chest and a torn right rotator cuff, when has handicapped my upper body development for over a year.

Now, I'm just now starting to get healed completely. I'm 26, and now have to use dumbbells and can't bring them down all the way.

Your body won't last forever. I say forget the heavy weight and stretch like crazy every workout, especially if you're just workout to stay in shape. Injuries suck, and are prevalent among bench pressers.

Good advice, but few will listen.

Bench is one of the most injury prone exercises you can do. I'd love to have a big bench, but when I think of the risks, FKK IT. Let the fat azz powerlifters get their kicks loading up the plates. I stick to higher reps. So what if i'll never bench 300.

Advice: Any shoulder pain that feels like it is 'deep inside' the shoulder, for God's sakes, stop benching. Or stop going as low, and start taking a narrower grip.
 

simon

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So many people get injured benching because they don't know how to do it properly. A safe bench press involves you arching your back, pinching your shoulder blades together, squeezing your lats, using leg drive etc etc. It's a whole body exercise, but over the years it's been bastardised by bodybuilders so that it puts a lot more pressure on the shoulders than it was ever meant to. It's also prudent to ditch the flat bench and go for incline because it reduces the strain on the shoulders.

Of course, it's critical to maintain good, proper form and not be stupid with the amount of weight you use.
 

Flyer

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simon said:
So many people get injured benching because they don't know how to do it properly. A safe bench press involves you arching your back, pinching your shoulder blades together, squeezing your lats, using leg drive etc etc. It's a whole body exercise, but over the years it's been bastardised by bodybuilders so that it puts a lot more pressure on the shoulders than it was ever meant to. It's also prudent to ditch the flat bench and go for incline because it reduces the strain on the shoulders.

Of course, it's critical to maintain good, proper form and not be stupid with the amount of weight you use.
Got a question.
by logic, am i correct to say that incline bench and flat bench doesnt work the same area of the pecs does it?

i.e. you'd still need to do both types of benching.. am i correct?
 

Throttle

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the two different positions emphasize different parts of your pecs. the whole muscle gets worked either way. if you do both (as so many gym rats are inclined to do) you beat to hell the parts emphasized by both, which is counterproductive.
 

"The Coffee Shop Girl You Never Spoke To"

You've replayed it a hundred times. She stood three feet away, scrolling her phone. You had an opening. You composed the perfect line — after she was gone.

For all you know, she's married now. To some guy who said something. Anything.

Openers are cheap. Almost any sentence works when it's delivered within three seconds. The expensive part is the standing there, drafting and deleting, while the window quietly closes.

The "22 Rules" stripped out my hesitation. What to open with, how to keep it alive, and the one habit that costs guys more women than anything else: waiting for perfect.

Read more...

mrRuckus

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danielzxc said:
Dkkhead, it's that he reckons he's 215 at 9%. It's no big deal to be 215. But to be it at 9% -- at HIS height -- is one HELL of an achievement. One that few naturals in history have ever achieved -- and even those I would be skeptical of.
Um. What? It's pretty common.



the two different positions emphasize different parts of your pecs. the whole muscle gets worked either way. if you do both (as so many gym rats are inclined to do) you beat to hell the parts emphasized by both, which is counterproductive.
I don't really see why people have to do flat bench if it's dangerous. There's incline, decline (both bb and db) and dips and even varying degrees of incline and decline. There's plenty of alternative to doing something potentially unhealthy and still being able to build all aspects of a big, strong chest.

And I never believe anybody's bench weights because I rarely see people going very low when they bench. Or their curl numbers for that matter since nearly everyone OBVIOUSLY uses their back for it.
 

Flyer

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mrRuckus said:
Um. What? It's pretty common.





I don't really see why people have to do flat bench if it's dangerous. There's incline, decline (both bb and db) and dips and even varying degrees of incline and decline. There's plenty of alternative to doing something potentially unhealthy and still being able to build all aspects of a big, strong chest.

And I never believe anybody's bench weights because I rarely see people going very low when they bench. Or their curl numbers for that matter since nearly everyone OBVIOUSLY uses their back for it.
how low are you talking about?
till the bar hits your chest low or chin level low..?
 

lookyoung

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mrRuckus said:
Um. What? It's pretty common.
I don't really see why people have to do flat bench if it's dangerous. There's incline, decline (both bb and db) and dips and even varying degrees of incline and decline.
I disagree with this statement. I think incline and decline can be just as dangerous if not more dangerous than Flat bench.

And I never believe anybody's bench weights because I rarely see people going very low when they bench. Or their curl numbers for that matter since nearly everyone OBVIOUSLY uses their back for it.
How much do you bench? Do you workout? On the flatbench I see most people touching there chest.
 

shaunuk

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danielzxc said:
Dkkhead, it's that he reckons he's 215 at 9%. It's no big deal to be 215. But to be it at 9% -- at HIS height -- is one HELL of an achievement. One that few naturals in history have ever achieved -- and even those I would be skeptical of.
Mate, a muscular 215 is no big deal even for someone who is 5'8. And 9%, again, is nothing to shout about. However, they are decent numbers, and I bet Salvatore looks great.

-shaun
 

Skilla_Staz

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At 5'9, 215 w/ 9% bf, it's very respectable. Difficult? Eh, yeah. Unheard of? Absolutely not.
 

“The 22 Rules That Flip the Script With Women… And How You Can Use Them Tonight”

Most guys accidentally kill attraction before they even speak. They assume they need a bigger bank account, a better physique, or smoother lines. They miss the point.

Female desire operates on a specific set of psychological triggers.  Break them, and you're invisible. Follow them, and you become magnetic.

I learned this the hard way. Years of freezing up. Getting friend-zoned. Watching other guys walk away with the girl I wanted. Then I discovered a set of 22 simple rules that rewired my entire approach.

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