flying solo

Looks like I'm gonna focus on strength training for a while, but I wont have a partner. Any suggestions on how I can add "the bulk" without relying on a partner?

I really want to focus on my arms. My legs and chest kinda develop naturally. I have never had much success with my arms, without a spot to help me work past the point of muscle failure.

Any ideas what I can do on my own? I'll have access to a full array of equipment...

Why would you need a partner at all? For spotting?

In my opinion it's more or less only bench and squats where a spotter could be usefull. If you have a power rack squatting without a spotter isn't a problem. Benching can be replaced by dumbbell presses, or you can avoid going to failure, and if you get stuck you can just tip the bar and let the plates slide off, if you dont lock them in place that is.

And if you haven't trained much before, I'm not sure focusing on arms is really a good idea, if you instead focus on heavy compound exercises like benching, dips and barbell row and eat properly your arms will grow as you gain overall mass.

i agree with everything bronco just said

i would add that a little leg work might be worth doing otherwise someway down the line you will be kicking yourself for not doing it (i didnt train legs for over a year when i started, they still havent quite caught up). a good way to approach legs when you dont have a spotter is doing front squats. use a power clean to get the weight up (great back exercise) and work from there.

if you have a power cage, you can bench entirely on your own if you set the pins just high enough that you can slide under the bar. then, you press this bar from the bottom position. its a really really good exercise and normal benching will be super easy after this!

good luck with getting strong, and your avatar is cool

jonathan

Any ideas what I can do on my own? I'll have access to a full array of equipment...

Pullups, chinups, and dips!