Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance
matt.might.net
matt.might.net
You want strength, you do high weight, low rep sets of compound barbell lifts.
Dumbbells are a body-building tool, not a strength building one.
Press machines are horrid horrid horrid. At best they don't target the important stabilizing muscles that compound lifts are supposed to. At worst they can pull your movements into unnatural ranges of motion, causing lasting damage to your joints.
If you have no one to spot you, buy a power rack. It'll work out cheaper, and you'll be better off.
Honestly though, the best way to get in shape is not to MAKE yourself exercise, it's to find something that you ENJOY and do that. Judo, BJJ, boxing, squash, tennis, football, badminton... join a sports club, have fun, and you won't even notice yourself getting fitter.
Sure a high chance of meeting women (which is nice if you don't want to be Forever Alone), but other than the ability to strech a little more what is the gain?
I've gained strength, flexibility, and feel fantastic every time I leave a session. I also believe I'm less stressed and can focus better.
The classes I attend present the physical aspects as a gateway into meditation and relaxation.
A good gym will have a light weight 35lb starting bar. That will be 35lb spread across two arms and your back.
You begin with that empty, no weights on it. Start out until you can lift heavier and heavier.
For people who cannot even lift that, then yes, special measures may be called for.
As others have mentioned though, the big problem with common dumbbell exercises is that there are entire muscle groups they just don't exercise, (to be fair I have read the same about some common barbell exercises), mostly involving stabilizer muscles in the back that are unglamorous but are the muscles that will help improve posture, prevent back injury, and provide support when living heavier weights.
I can still do compound movements with them, I can still train particular parts of my body, and I can train my body as a whole. I also add body weight training, I can't yet do squats with weight, push-ups, crunches, sit-ups, all those fun exercises. Dumbbells are just one of the many tools to help me get a good work-out in.
Can you explain further? Clearly, barbells are easier to lift (see e.g. Effects of body position and loading modality on muscle activity and strength in shoulder presses), probably because they activate less muscles, but you seem to suggest that there's evidence that lifting barbells will also make you gain strength faster than when lifting dumbbells?
My guess would be that replacing dumbbells with barbells is bad for the same reason that you say using press machines is bad.
I would guess that stability muscles like the rotator cuff will be unable to get stronger at a rate fast enough to tax larger muscles.
The key observation here is that your average person doesn't need a particularly sophisticated routine to get "average in shape" (if that makes sense). I think the conventional wisdom that you need to be eating health food all the time and running an hour a day makes people feel like it's just not worth the effort. If you're like most people and not even getting 7-8 hours of sleep, an hour a day of working out isn't in the cards. But: "eat lots of protein and work out 3x30 minutes a week" is so much more approachable.
Starting Strength is a little harder to get into because it is based off of a paid book instead of a free pdf. But it is a better program in my opinion. Stronglifts is basically a ripoff of it but with better search engine optimization, hence its popularity.
Differences:
-Stronglifts starts with minimal weight. Starting Strength starts with weight that is hard. I think it is advantageous to do lower weight if you need to figure out form, but if you can get proper instruction there is no reason to start so low, you are just wasting time.
-Starting strength does 3x5 instead of 5x5. 5x5 is too many if the weight is truly difficult (Stronglift agrees and goes down to 3x5 when you get failures)
-Stronglifts has a bunch of instructions and rules to follow, but there really is no explanation as to why, for form or the program. Starting Strength's book is extremely thorough (almost too verbose).
-Starting Strength does power cleans instead of barbell row. Power cleans are essential because they develop speed, while all other exercises in both programs only develop strength. Work the lats with Chin-ups.
-The author of Starting Strength seems more credible since the programs are so similar yet his came earlier, he has been around a long time coaching, and has lift much higher weights than the author of Stronglifts).
Both programs will be a million times better than nothing, but I think if you are serious about getting strong Starting Strength will serve you better.
Start with stronglifts. I get the point of having a free pdf. After you've added 20-25lbs to the bar, go buy SS. It's worth it.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/1brg0z/im_back_ama_...
You probably won't like this... When I was gaining strength, I liked to warm up with 10,8,6,4 and then stay at 2 reps for five sets, and then back to 4, then 6, and then use the stripping method and just drop plates and keep doing 4 reps until I couldn't."
I'd highly recommend watching a bunch of videos on correct form (ie., Starting Strength has a decent dvd and YouTube has some decent tutorials). But even better would be to get a very good personal trainer to teach you these lifts.
I'm just really hesitant suggesting a beginner to go out to the gym and try these moves on their own. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
My other criticism of StrongLifts and Starting Strength is because of the complexity of the movements, the higher in weight you go the more you really should have a spotter and that just makes working out that much more complicated (need to arrange a time to meet someone, etc). If you don't use a spotter and you've progressed to some really heavy weights then it can be dangerous. There's quite of few deaths from the bench press every year.
Personally, rather than pushing myself alone a barbell squat what I'll do is I'll pre-exhaust myself with a few sets of barbell squats (moderate weight) and then go to exhaustion on the leg extension, leg press and leg curl machines. This to me is a much safer route then trying to max out on a barbell squat.
For deadlift, I do a modified stiff-leg deadlift (I learned this by watching Dorian Yates) where I start from a standing position and don't go down all the way. I also use moderate weights for this.
For bench press, I had to learn correct form (after hurting my shoulder a bit thinking I knew how to bench). I go max weight on this but I use one of those assisted power racks for safety.
To me the lifts that Starting Strength and Stronglifts promote are too important to ignore but I just don't agree with their program for everyone. For beginners working out by themselves in the gym and wanting to do the deadlift, squat and bench press... I suggest:
1. Learn proper form on these advanced movements from an expert.
2. Go moderate weight on deadlift and barbell squats if you're working out by yourself.
3. Don't be stupid on the bench press by lifting your max without a spotter. I read that more deaths happen because of the bench press than any other exercise in the gym.
For beginners, I would probably not suggest not StartingStrength/StrongLifts. But rather, I'd suggest working out 2-3 times a week (average 20-30 minutes per workout) using High Intensity Training principles and techniques. The basic principles is doing one set to muscular failure per exercise.
If you're really just starting out, read Body By Science (Little and McGuff) and follow their Big Five exercise program. It's the top 5 exercises (machines) that you do once a week. Just one set each to failure and it only takes 20 minutes/week. The key is going to failure.
If you're wanting more, check out The New High Intensity Training (Darden). He summarizes the basics of H.I.T and gives some decent workouts. He suggests 3 times a week for beginners and the workouts take less than 30 minutes each. Again the key is going to failure with each exercise.
If I had to workout at home (I don't because my gym is just 5 minutes away and currently I'm doing a very-efficient workout just once every 3 days for under 30 minutes), then I would probably get some decent equipment. I'd might go with a good power rack, bench, and barbell/dumbbell set. Here's the workout I probably would do:
1. Leg #1 - I would do mostly squats with the power rack and have the safety bar set up. I would do 4-5 sets with moderately heavy weights to tire my legs out but wouldn't go to total failure with the heavy weights. I might go to failure with a final set with light weight (for safety) or do a final set of air squats (or with dumbbell) to tire my legs out completely.
2. Leg/Lower Back #2 - I would do a modified stiff-leg deadlift (see Dorian Yates do this on YouTube). This would exercise my hamstrings and lower back. I personally don't really like doing full deadlifts. I just feel unsafe with them (just personally). With the stiff-leg deadlift I'd do probably 3 sets with moderate-heavy weight and wouldn't go to total failure (to be safe).
3. Leg #3 - I'd work out my calves by holding a heavy barbell and doing calf raises (standing on toes and back down). I'd do heavy and failure, probably just one set.
Now, the legs are done. I wish I could do leg extensions but that's tough with just a power rack. If you have space or in the future want to expand your equipment, that might be a good piece to have. Also, leg press is a great machine too but would probably take up a lot of room (but squats could perform a lot of the similar function).
4. Chest - I'd do bench press (or incline/decline bench press) with moderately heavy weights, probably 2-3 sets (not to failure). I'd do a final set to total failure with lighter dumbbells (for safety because a barbell if let loose could really do serious damage on your face/throat), pushups, or dips.
5. Shoulder #1 - I'd probably use dumbbells and do shoulder press for one set to failure (warm-up sets ok, but final set should be heavy and to failure).
6. Shoulder #2 - I'd choose one of the following and mix them up: front lat raise, side lat raise, bending over lat raise, shoulder shrugs. One set to failure.
7. Back - You can do a good back workout with pulls-ups and chin-ups using the power rack (if the power rack supports your weight). If it's difficult to do pull-ups/chin-ups, then try using a chair and doing negatives (just the down motion very slowly to build strength). You can also get a power rack with a lat pull down (I don't know how good it is but here's the link, http://www.amazon.com/Valor-Athletics-Inc-BD-Power/dp/B002EJ...). If you have this, then do one set of wide-grip lat pull downs to failure with heavy weight and then immediately follow it with close-grip (palms facing in) lat pulldowns (this combo will work your back like crazy).
8. Triceps - I'd do some tricep extensions (standing or lying down) for one set to failure. (Close-grip bench press is also good. Dips are great as well, especially immediately follow tricep extensions.)
9. Biceps - I'd do barbell curls or isolated dumbbell curls. One set to failure. (Chin-ups immediately following are great to work biceps more.)
10. Abs - I'd mix it up with ab exercises and choose from crunches, reverse crunches, hanging knee raises. Just one set very slow to failure.
My strategy in working out would be to do full-body workouts (that last no longer than 30 minutes) every 3 days. For safety reasons, I wouldn't go to failure using heavy weights on squats, deadlift or bench press (that's why I'd do more than one set and use moderately heavy weight to tire muscles out and with legs/chest I would go to failure using another easier exercise like air squats w/dumbbell or push-ups). For all other exercises the basic concept would be to lift heavy, do just one set, but do that one set to failure. You can do warmup sets (lighter weights for a few to several reps) to warm up the muscles as needed. I would suggest doing rotator cuff warmups/exercises to prevent rotator cuff injury (the most common bodybuilding injury).
Also, for all movements I suggest doing them slowly. This will remove momentum, help prevent injury, and also increase how much your muscles are working out. It's most important when you first start a movement not to to start fast, be jerky and use momentum. This could result in injury. Start slow and controlled.
I also suggest learning proper form for all exercises, but especially the squat, bench press and modified stiff-leg deadlift. There's a good youtube series called So You Think You Can Squat and another called So You Think You Can Bench. For squats remember weight back on your heels, knees out and back arched. For bench press remember back arched and shoulder blades toward each other, and your elbows tucked in a bit. Starting Strength has a decent DVD where Rippetoe teaches several students the squat and bench press (and other movements). For stiff-leg deadlift I suggest watching Dorian Yates do his modified version of the stiff-leg deadlift (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtevN0SWp-o). He doesn't go all the way down to the floor (just below knees). This is my personal preference for safety reasons.
For equipment, I'd recommend a decent power rack (see Amazon), a good bench (Amazon again), and a good barbell/dumbbell set. For the barbell/dumbbell set, I'd recommend some olympic plates (something like http://www.amazon.com/Body-Solid-ORST255-Rubber-Olympic/dp/B...) with one barbell bar and two dumbbell bars.
If you actually follow through with this, I'd love to help you get started and see your progress. I can also suggest more resources along the way. You can get in touch with me at heydave at gmail.com.
Update: Here's a video demo of some of the exercises you can do with a power rack, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3I_HCum1Zg .
Research (I'm not finding the studies, sorry) has indeed shown that protein intake is minimally correlated to muscle growth. He was on the mark by mentioning that only certain amounts of protein can be used in one setting, while the rest is wasted by the body. It's not one hard and fast number; individuals bodies vary greatly according to metabolic rates, capacity to grow, and ability to gain strength.
After going from zero resistance training to 90 minutes a week, as was his case, anybody is obviously going to get much stronger. In the strength community these are just referred to as beginner gains.
When you've been lifting for a few years, 90 minutes of strenuous resistance training a week is only going to help you maintain your current body, at best, even at maximal resistance levels and training until failure. This is why it's so common to see guys who go to the same gym for years and never look any different. Over time, your body acclimates and it takes more resistance AND more volume to continue growing. Genetics and the aforementioned variability between individuals does play a large difference, but for nearly anyone, doing three 30 minute workouts a week (at maximum intensity) for more than a couple years won't result in any noticeable difference.
If you're focusing time efficiency, go for it, else there are far more reputable sources for how to gain strength and muscle mass than one guy's anecdote of how he did half a year of strength training.
Please keep your incredibly-incorrect-opinions to yourself.
The main takeaway from the whole article is to minimize the difficulty in getting your workout done. Easy equipment to setup, adjust, and maintain in a convenient environment are critical factors.
I set up a DVR with some news/interest shows that record for me every day. I used to sit on my butt in the evenings and watch them. At some point, I figured... why am I not lifting weights while I watch these shows? A few trips to the sporting goods store later, and I was rocking and rolling.
My favorite pieces of equipment:
1. A good, versatile bench. 2. A bar for pullups (with some extra weights that I hook my feet under for extra resistance) 3. My dumbells 4. A multi-angle-grip curl bar.
With minimal equipment and an entertaining setup, working out can be easy to accomplish without feeling like you have to drag your ass to the gym for interminable hours every week.
I look forward to going to the gym and getting a work-out in when I get home from work. I used to absolutely hate it, because people told me that I should do cardio to lose weight ... now most of what I do is lifting. A little cardio and the inches keep coming off, and I keep getting stronger.
Find something you enjoy doing (I love swimming) and find pleasure in doing that, even if it is for a short period of time per day. Running clearly isn't for you, and it isn't for me...
This article is terrible. If you want to get fit/strong/whatever your goal, just do it properly. Go to a gym, go and run, whatever. This is an awful article. The general theme is good, and there is some good info in there, but I wouldn't expect much result or progress from it.
- Links to over $500 dollars worth of equipment on Amazon, and over $1000 overall (I guess the Marcy device isn't sold on Amazon?) but no links to any sites with good information about lifting weights.
- Recommendation of specific supplements and lifting program (including suggested numbers of reps and sets) but only a haphazard list of random exercises and no information about how to perform them.
- No discussion of how his suggested total time and set count imply very short rest periods, which isn't necessarily wrong but deserves some comment, especially for beginners who might wonder "WTF is going on?" when they try to do five sets to failure in ten minutes (that's 15-20 sets split into three sessions totaling thirty minutes per day.)
- Come to think of it, very little discussion of how beginners should work their way up to such an effort, especially since they should be much more slow and careful until they're comfortable with good form. Beginners working to failure? You'd better be very specific about what exercises you're talking about before you suggest that.
- Recommendation to use creatine with no discussion of what it does. Creatine does not in itself make you stronger, but it makes it possible for you to sustain a harder pace for a longer time in your workouts. Even if you're experienced in the gym, you have to be careful about overuse injuries when you start using creatine, because the sudden ability to work harder, longer, allows you to put more strain on your connective tissue than you're used to.
- The section on safety includes nothing about safety, except, in the last sentence, a weak suggestion that a single session with a personal trainer might be helpful. No warning that many personal trainers know little about weights. No tips on how to find one who does. NO OTHER SAFETY INFORMATION. And, again, no links to better sources of information.
- Bizarre recommendation of a belt for safety, despite suggesting dumbbell exercises only and suggesting that no instruction is needed beyond a single "fix-up" session with a trainer. What the heck is a person with no instruction and a bunch of dumbbells going to do that makes a belt a good idea?
- Recommendation of working out in the morning with no mention of the possible danger of working your back within one hour of getting out of bed.
- Many links to his own articles but no links to external sources of information about weightlifting (of which there are many) except for a calorie calculator.
- Come to think of it, no acknowledgment of the people or information sources who helped him get started and influenced his choices.
- Finally, seriously, given the choice between creating all those links to equipment and supplements on Amazon and creating a decent list of suggested exercises with links to instruction on how to do them, we got the Amazon links. Odd priorities, there. Very odd.
If it's supposed to be taken that way, it should be written that way. Instead, someone with a little bit of personal experience about a subject wrote a soup-to-nuts guide for beginners that strikes an authoritative tone, acknowledges no other authorities, implies a great deal of expertise (even implying that the information he presents is derived from scientific studies,) gives advice that is extremely incomplete and in places off the wall, and refers entirely to his own work with NO suggestion that readers should seek out any other source of information. That's not normal. It's bizarre. Our jaws should be dropping at the inappropriateness of it. If it feels normal to people, I can only surmise that it is due to a distortion of culture where pumping yourself up as an expert (and "monetizing your blog") is not something that can be accurate or inaccurate, or honest or dishonest, but is simply assumed as the socially normal way to communicate.
That is literally flat out wrong/bullshit.
I just got into the whole exercising thing a few months ago. The entire culture/industry around weight lifting is so hard to figure out. Everyone has different opinions -- usually really strong ones too -- but few actually defend their assertions on factual grounds. So, it's purely out of self interest when I ask "Why is it bullshit"
I just want to know about these things! Hell, I still don't even know if I should be holding my breath or breathing out while squatting... The pool of information about weight lifting is that muddled.
For breathing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver
[If it matters, I'm a not very competitive powerlifter who has been lifting for nearly two years]
- Bodybuilding.com workout planning, which addresses your points 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11
- The fitness subreddit, and its FAQ, which addresses most your points
- Examine.com, which addresses your point about the actual effects of creatine and other supplements
Matt shared his experience and gave out the references that helped him get started, does everything have to be a batteries-included exhaustive guide to everything these days?
does everything have to be a batteries-included exhaustive guide to everything these days?
No, and that's my point. Things get written that way when they really shouldn't.
If HNers want to build strength they need to look at their surroundings, their patterns and see whats achievable in their day. Buying machines won't help you get fitter or stronger, doing the right routine that fits in with your life will. Until I fell ill I was doing bodyweight-based calisthenics, which worked well for me as it was less than 15 minutes a day and could mostly be done anywhere. I'm hoping to go back after a bit of a longer break.
But I clicked the "my son" link in the post, and might.net has a free pass forever on making me accidentally spend ten seconds scanning something irrelevant to my current interests. Fascinating story, and I hope the tenacity they showed in getting a brand-new diagnosis pays off with effective treatment: http://matt.might.net/articles/my-sons-killer/
>Habit First
Absolutely agree, especially when you're trying to get out of morbid out-of-shapeness. I personally find that mixing it into a pre-existing daily routine works well. I personally do core work and pullups/chinups before my morning and evening showers, and stretch exercises while I'm in the shower.
>Diet
IMO the Diet section is way too detailed as a first step. For someone who is trying to improve from very poor nutrition, I would advise the following:
1. Get rid of all processed sugar products from your house: candy, juice, soda, cookies, etc. (imo all processed items are bad, but again it's about keeping the barrier low)
2. Only walk around the outside lanes of a Grocery store (where the meats, dairy, and vegetables are). Don't go into the middle aisles where they have all the sugary, salty, processed goodies. Keeping bad food out of the house is the easiest, lowest friction way to keep a healthy diet.
> Dumbbells first
Totally disagree with this one. Compound lifts using Barbells are vastly superior to isolation lifts using dumbbells, particularly for beginners. And for beginners, Starting Strength has proven time and time again to be the most effective program. [1]
If you're "starting out", then bodyweight exercises like pullups, chinups, bodyweight squats, planks, pushups, situps, are going to be low barrier to entry, good-habit inducing work that can be leveraged to take the person to the next level when they're comfortable. Once they're at this stage, they can buy whatever barbell setup they're comfortable with (I personally really want an Olympic Lifting platform in my garage...), which is going to be much much cheaper than that complicated Nautilus weight thing anyway.
>Safety
>Even with dummbells, I was able to put loads on my back that felt uncomfortable within about three months.
That' because dumbell lifts don't engage the stabilizer muscles. As a result, those support muscles are going to be underdeveloped and you won't have developed the coordination to engage them when you need them.
> Padded lifting gloves with wrist support helped keep my wrists in a stable, safe position and alleviated wrist pain.
IMO using outside assistance like this promotes bad form and bad habits.
>Str training machines
Ugh these machines are terrible. They (a) don't engage your auxiliary muscles well, and (b) move weights in an unnatural path relative to your body and tend to cause more injuries than just plan barbell work. A great example is squatting on a smith machine, which puts you into very dangerous positions. (yet every single small'ish gym believes that they are somehow safer than regular squat racks)
---
I find it odd that the article started out with the premise of helping very novice people get into a healthier routine wrt both diet and exercise, yet evolved into a fairly intermediate article. IMO most people don't need to optimize strength training to this extent. Just getting in any kind of routine and eating well will go a lonnggggg ways.
[1] http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/The_Starting_Strength...
Or just look at the turkish get up. That's all stabilizer.
Of course, there is no substitute for squats and deadlifts. The closest is pistol squats which are great for advanced athletes, but pistol squats are very hard to do if you haven't done a lot of barbell squats first.
I did dumbbell bench exclusively for close to a year, and got to the point that I could get 5 reps with the 120 pound dumbbells. However, when I moved over to barbell bench, there was surprisingly litte transfer - no real difference from where my barbell bench was before I started doing dumbbell.
Absolutely agree on squats and deadlifts. Squats should be the cornerstone of a strength program.
They are certainly different and have a different emphasis and limitations, but for a lot of training goals they can do the job very well. And even the mini-gyms found in hotels and apartments tend to have some dumbbells, while the same access isn't there with barbells.
Untrue. Dumbbells offer a completely free range of motion, which is what activates the stabilizer muscles.
(source: google for "stabilizer muscles dumbbells" and you'll find a ton of information on the subject.)
The exercise also makes a big difference. Doing chest flys with dumbbells may feel like you are using a lot of stabilizers but actually you are no where near using as many as a free standing squat.
And of course you're using bigger muscles when doing more compound exercises so correspondingly the weight have to be bigger. I believe that's why in general most people would say barbells > dumbbells.
According to "starting strength", at some point you can't hold the dumbbells due to limitations in grip strength.
They're worried about a different kind of injury than you are.
The problem with Smith Machines is that the movements are all linear, e.g. perfectly straight. NOTHING in your body moves in a perfectly straight line, there is an arc to almost everything you do.
Frequently people do squats with smith machines which will eventually hurt their backs from bad form.
(Indeed, I wince in pain sometimes watching people do horrible things to their backs in smith machines, holy crap!)
Now you CAN do things wrong with barbells of course, but many of the things done with a smith machine cannot be right at all!
> (if I had the money...),
My small local gym costs $200 a year.
Find a small local neighborhood gym (even if it isn't in your neighborhood!), they are always affordable!
And hey, body weight exercise programs are free. :)
Bodyweight exercises can be extremely frustrating when you are really just starting out. When I first started, I couldn't do more than 5 pullups or about 20 pushups, which made it unnecessarily hard to progress. I switched to weights so that I could lower the load and do 3 sets, and immediately made much better progress.
Pullups I don't know how to adjust.
Also nice to essentially do a pull-up strip set. (Get a few extra pull-ups in when your muscles are fatigued and can no longer lift your whole weight.)
And this is the point where I see the problem with 'diet advice' given online (and not online, too, but a lot of it is online): It's overbroad and not broad enough, because it focuses on the wrong things. Bread is processed, but saying bread is bad is idiotic on its face. Meats are largely unprocessed, but a diet that's all meat is not a weight loss plan unless you live in the high Arctic and/or are doing an immense amount of exercise.
No food is bad in and of itself. It might be unhelpful in achieving a certain goal, but it is not bad. Trying to pigeonhole foods into 'good' and 'bad runs into the basic fact all foods are made of the same components and every component has its use. Yes, even fats. Yes, even carbohydrates.
It's possible to lose weight eating Twinkies in massive amounts. It even improved cholesterol levels.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/...
He just got all his carbs from twinkies, and used willpower to force himself to not eat when he was hungry. His "massive amounts" are the same that many people eat, plus they eat MORE other foods.
A bad food is something that doesn't satiate you as it gives you calories and fat, so you need to do other work to force yourself to not overeat. Example: twinkies
OK, this is a reasonable first step. My point, really, is that even 'bad' foods can be part of a healthy diet, because health is determined by the overall diet.
Demonizing food leads to unhealthy psychological results in the form of the sin-guilt-redemption cycle, when what you really need to lose weight is a clear-headed appraisal of your current state and what you're capable of doing to reach your goal.
You don't need much equipment to get a good workout at home. Most of the machines at the gym are for isolation exercises. They serve three purposes: they help sell memberships, they're useful if you're injured, and they're useful for serious bodybuilders. This is, I think, common knowledge.
But I think it bears repeating that if you have an injury, free weights might not be for you.
As a side note, Schwarzenegger did an AMA over on /r/fitness yesterday. He was a powerlifter before he was a bodybuilder, and his advice is simple.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/1brg0z/im_back_ama_...
I do own one 15 lb sandbell, which is basically just a more versatile medicine ball. I can do enough exercises with it to avoid not being able to move for three days after a game of ultimate. Anything more would be much too inconvenient.
Ironmasters are the best dumbbells you can quickly adjust, followed by Powerblocks. They get shorter with less weight. Quick adjustment is not very important once your weights get above 50 lbs because you're taking long enough breaks to switch weights and get bored.
Here are the key principles to gaining muscle with the least resistance (in my opinion):
1. Lift heavy as possible - you'll have a difficult time stimulating lots of muscle growth with light weights which I've personally tried.
2. Use proper form - tons of people get injured on heavy resistance exercises because of improper form or lifting too much without a spotter.
3. Go to muscular failure - the final rep where you can't lift the weight no more is the most important. It contributes the most to kick starting your muscle growth mechanism.
4. Don't overtrain - you need to give your body ample rest and recovery for your muscles to grow the most. (Personally I'm training once every 3 days and currently this is working well for me).
5. Train the full body - building stronger/bigger legs will help build mass everywhere in your body. Don't think you're get strong just doing push-ups. You need to work all the major muscles in some way - quads, hamstring, glutes, calves, pecs, lats, delts, triceps, biceps, etc.
6. You only need to spend 25 minutes 2-3 times a week. Tip: look into High Intensity Training principles from Arthur Jones, Mentzer, Darden and others. They promoted short, intense workouts (usually one set to failure per exercise) that stimulated arguably more muscle growth than longer workouts.
The recommended reading list at the end of that article is extremely valuable.
For the record, any lifter should know how to either dump the weight on a barbell or roll it down the chest. It isn't particularly dangerous to bench without a spotter if you're not going to failure
While "hacking your body" sounds appealing to CS people (work smarter not harder!), the reality is there is no shortcut. You'll have to lift a lot of iron regularly, for a lot of time, while eating correctly, for anything serious to happen.
Following advice like in this post, will most likely end you up with a lighter wallet and a garage full of unused Flexotronic Bulkmaster 2000 machines and expired supplements. In worst case with a serious injury, you'll carry around for a long time.
Today everybody's an expert on everything, but do consider taking CS advice from a CS prof, and strength advice from a strength trainer.
If there's any "hacking" left to be done in this space, it's probably diet-related (nutrient timing techniques like intermittent fasting, carb back-loading, etc) and not workout-related.
I call BS unless he's tinkering with terminology. 50 lbs max bench press to 180 lbs max in 5 months is impossible.
If your goal is optimality, the question is: is your training program the most effective use of your time?
On the other hand, not everybody cares about optimality, but more whether they can actually show up regularly. It takes a certain craziness to follow linear progressions, especially since it can take a mental toll (fuzzy headed all day) if you push too hard, which is sub-optimal in this field.