pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

I went the Gym today and met up with a power lifter who showed me what I needed to know and help me to lift as much as I could.

For anyone interested, I'm 5'11 and weight 11.4 stone.

I can bench 25kg per side plus the 20kg bar, 3 sets of 5 pushing for a face numbing 6th on my last set.

I can dead lift 90kg to a safe 3 sets of 6 but my god my back hurts now.

For my weight he said he was very impressed with my lifting, considering I'm basically self taught. My benching was very good, my military press was off form though.

He is only doing 4 or 5 work outs with me on heavy weights, my diet has to increase and hes set out the things I need to be eating.

He reckons I will be able to increase my weight and lifting easily and I'm to aim for 12 stone over the next few weeks in weight.

I also got some attention from the 18 yr old lady behind the counter who said I look really good and she thought I must be a regular !!

Yes yes she probably gets paid to say that but shut up

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Biggest mistake most people make is not eating enough protein, I'm currently benching 90kgs which is depressing considering I was benching a 100+ at the age of 21

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

what is protein?

Maz

iTrader: (34)

Reps are a little low. To be honest you have to be judge of what works for you, trial and error. Others can advise and form their opinions on what they have tried but we're all individuals. Try varying sets and reps, mixing exercises. Don't get too hung up about gaining weight quickly and eating too much. Chances are you'll only gain fat. Enjoy the training and eating, otherwise you'll get fed up and it'll all be a chore.

lem6

i prefer working out at home rather than the gym..purely because there's no distractions (ladies) complete workout then a protein shake,also currently using weight gainer to bulk as i'm a hard gainer, been using progain..worth trying.

Snazy

Agree with Einstein, reps are low. Usually 8-10 is a full set, with 5 being a minumum for maxing out for one set. (aka proper heavy set)

I thought all this had been gone through on a previous thread?

Also agree about the mixing the exercises up. Dont do the same movements too often. There are a wide range of movements for most muscle groups, so vary them, and dont over train one group.

Are you training to gain size, weight or definition. Again I think you originally said mass? To try and gain 0.6 stone of muscle in a few weeks is maybe setting the bar a little high.

With your back "hurting" be careful. If its just tired muscle then ok, but if your over cooking it, then ease up a little. I think most people who have trained have at some point woken up the next morning, not being able to move lol. But its something thats not particulary good for you.

Finally, I would seriously consider either buddying up with someone, or getting an instructor for a couple of weeks. Having someone training with you is a great way to imrove technique, become more motivated, drive you to train harder, enable you to train heavier/safer etc.

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

wooohhooo guys this isn't me asking for advice.. I've been here and done that and too many good opinions !

The guy that's training me is huge ! and hes trained the way he is teaching me so I'm gonna trust him on this ! Mixing and matching is all good but I have to learn how to lift first !!

Nice guy too !

Just wanted to post for the people that took time out to advise me ... for which I am still very grateful !

Fuzz

Good on ya Pimmo. Keep it up and don't bust a gut.

hrness

good on you pimmo, my first goal was to bench my body weight, which at the time was same as you 11 4, managed that then set my weight goal for 12 stone same as you have now achieved that as well,

dropped my heavy training, to toning now less weight more reps.

will see how i go before looking at more weight, me and bar.

i workout at home but good to see you have a trainer, would be nice to have a partner for inspiration/encouragement here.

and if you dont use it you will lose it.

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

thanks guys ... I've worked very hard to be able to bench as much as I can. I know compared to some its not much, but being able to bench your own wieght as you progress is my ideal !!

Once I'm at like 15 stone then I'll be happy !!

hrness

would like to up my weight, but am sure it will make climbing much harder for me, have problems hauling my backside up the training walls now, but let us know if you gain the weight as i would be interested for future reference, my climbing partner is a lot younger, so i need to work harder at maintaining what little strength i have.
bloody whippersnappers are killing me lol.

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

I was majorly into indoor climbing, have all the stuff ! I'm hoping my increase wont stop it in the future. I figure if I increase my stranght I should be ok !!

Snazy

lol oooooooooh like that is it.

I will shurrup now. Go you

Maz

iTrader: (34)

I know you weren't asking for advice but I found doing decline bench press helped increase flat benching.

finalzero

I've dropped a fair bit in my training, not as dedicated as I used to be. Benching about 135kg, deadlifiting 220kg, 500kg leg presses, 180kg squats etc.

Not just Protien but a good balanced diet of carbs helps, carb intake gives you the pump, protien gives you the muscle growth.

A good suplement to take is L-Glutamine, take it before going to sleep and after training, it's like a magic growth formula, works wonders

hrness

not wanting to hijack this thread but what does l glutamine do, have seen it, dont know about ,it maybe helpfull to us both.
thanks and sorry pimmo

Maz

iTrader: (34)

Aids recovery, helps protein assimilation and aids digestion.

Glutamine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

no, no not at all !!

I'm just eating whats on my plate at the moment.. so to speak

finalzero

Yep, it's like a body builders Shell V-Power

Once your into the swing of your training, make sure to alternate your training cycles e.g do your regular routine for 3 or 4 weeks and then on the following week drastically change your training routine for that week i.e reduce the sets, increase the weights and really push yourself on each day your there.

Then increase your carb intake for a week with protien to supplement the drain your body took from the heavy training. If you want to gain mass you want to balance your protien and carb intake for the next few weeks, even increasing your carb intake (clean carbs).

Then you reduce your carbs and increase your protien intake, to the point where your barely taking in carbs, increase your training regiment so your adding in several extra reps and sets, sustaining medium to heavy weight.

This will help your body burn off the excess fat and increase your muscle growth and density.

Then gradually introduce your carbs again back to your regular routine. Your want to be consistent but every now and then give your body a jolt otherwise the brain will find the path of least resistance meaning you will stop getting any gains or benefit from training - in fact the reverse will happen and you will lose any gains you made.

Also on the other hand, you don't want to change your routine too often, too drastically otherwise your body will not settle into a comfortable and consistent routine.

It really is down to eating, get your diet right, eat well (food that is good for you, health and more importantly makes you feel good) and last but not least make sure you get adequate sleep consistently otherwise you will have a negative effect on your training.

I found I made some of my best and most powerful gains when I got my diet right (went for pressing 350kg on legs to 500kg+ etc) - it's all about the food you eat.

Forgot to add, you should take creatine at some point during your training, the best is the MaxiMuscle brand however it's expensive at £45 a tub but worth every penny. Once you have finished Creatine do not take it for at least 2 months otherwise you can overload your body.

During that time you want to switch to something like NoExplode which is a mix of nitro oxide and creatine, gives amazing pumps during training and retains muscle volumne for longer (helping to feed your muscles and remove the dreaded lactic acid build up).

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

wow ... thanks !

SideShowBob

Just read you're not after advice, just be sure the guy training you knows about your back pain though, can lead to real painful long term problems otherwise.

HPLovecraft

I've never read such a bunch of phooey and popular myth touted as fact

As well as being bad advice some of these remarks are just ridiculous

'carbs give you the pump' etc

geez

try doing some research eg

Bodybuilding Myths - 30 Bodybuilding Myths Exposed - Bill Phillips Fitness

for a start.

The guy down the gym who is truly huge - wouldn't surprise me if he hasn't got some chemical help.

(runs for cover).

finalzero

You've probably never done any excercise in your life.

I started bodybuilding because I had a serious car accident, it helped me through a rough period.

As I got stronger, I got smarter as I wanted to do my training properly, without external supliments unless they were over the counter and safe. After training for nearly 10 years I think I have some right to speak about what works and what doesn't - I made gains and I also lost them.

Equally I lead quite a healthy life, I don't drink alchohol, I don't eat **** food all the time and I feel better for it. Sure I treat myself now and then with a bit of junk food or a pint at a special occasion but 99% of the time I am focusing on my work, my family and my training.

In the long run I am sure it will prolong my life. There are a lot of myths out there, when people speak of bodybuilding everyone pictures a disproportionate physique heavily pumped up on hormone drugs but it's not the case.

A lot of the people I have trained with in the past have been regular looking people who are into bodybuilding as part of their routine (i.e they do running, swimming etc as well). I do a lot of martial arts, at twice a week and suppliment it with my bodybuilding with the added bonus that over the years I have gained muscle mass and overall size.

Some of those myths do work but I agree that what you read is usually wrong as it usually only applies to the person wrote it. My advice is more generalised, I had people asking me all the time at my gym (or friends and family) so I worked out what I found effective and passed that information on.

The OP asked a question so people who have had experience replied.

Myles

iTrader: (40)

Deadlifts are my favourite. I am currently on 120kg 4x8 reps. Expect your lower back to be totally fatigued after a good session. You will know the difference between DOMS and a bad back, just take it easy
! I am abysmal at benching so I am on a few months of incline/decline dumbbell press to up my weights. I enjoy this lark, but I find it difficult to put size on, even though my strength is going up nicely. Oh well, keep on plugging away.

HPLovecraft

Do you really think I would have the audacity to make such a post if I didn't have any experience/knowledge ?

It just gets to me that after 20 years I still see what is essentially urban myth and pseudo-science passed on to people seeking advice by those whose knowledge stems from reading glossly muscle mags or simply because so-and-so down the gym told them.

I researched the subject extensively myself in both peer-reviewed scientific journals and less formal articles written by exercise scientists eg. Arthur Jones.

What did all this research tell me ? It told me this:

That maximum muscular growth response in a muscle can be achieved with as little as one set of an exercise IF that set is performed with high enough intensity. This intensity may be achieved by taking the set to the point of momentary muscular failure or periodically slightly beyond (eg. by the use of pre-exhaustion or drop down sets) or by the use of even more demanding techniques such as negative-only sets or super-slow (which should be used in moderation so as to avoid over-training).

Multiple sets of the same exercise are not neccessary, you can get all the growth stimulation you need from one set of an exercise if performed properly.
Maximum growth is stimulated by using a weight that represents around 80% of your one-rep max (lower than this and the exercise begins to stray into aerobic rarther than anaerobic for the muscle/s in question). This is termed as making a '20% inroad'. In fact the number of repetitions that someone can perform before hitting momentary failure with 80% of their one-rep max varies hugley between individuals (from 4 to around 34 from a particular experiment I remember performed by Arthur Jones). Thus 8-12 reps isn't the ideal rep range for everyone, its merely the middle in a bell curve distribution.

So 3 x bench press, then 3 x peck deck, then 3 x dips for your chest is a waste of time and effort when one set of each would suffice to stimulate growth in your pectorals (and also to a great degree the triceps and anterior/lateral deltoid from the bench press and dips).

Training in such a high intensity fashion is extremely taxing and as such the total number of sets for any session should be limited to around 20-25 for the entire body. You should rest (only engage in low intensity activities) for at leat 48 hrs between sessions to allow your CNS to recover as well as the muscles you have exercised, growth will not occur until full recovery has taken place.

I could go on and on about diet etc but there is no point - see no evil, speak no evil...

My results speak for themselves

9.5 stone to 13 stone of lean muscle mass by training 3 days a week, performing only 20 sets in total for the entire body, plenty of rest, and an amazing increase in strength, after 18 months or so of training. I then hit the limit set by my genetics, and theres no going through that plateau without chemical help. So train hard to maintain what you have built and prevent atrophy.

And this is from someone who is in the main an ectomorph (cue the jokes!).

jimmyv

*in typical playground chanting fashion* fight fight fight.
lol only kidding, very interesting topic and will hopefully help when i get back into the swing of things.
Not wanting to hi-jack the thread but what website (if any) would people recommend for general info, techinques and workouts, im trying to avoid mens health style stuff.
muchos gracias.

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

What he says ^^

The Chief

CNP is a good site with Kerry Kayes who was a national champion bodybuilder and nutrition expert and is Ricky Hattons nutrition coach btw.

The Chief

You make some valid points but also some flawed ones as well.

Agreed if you are drug free i would advise on doing only 3 days a week max with each bodypart being trained only once per week as it is so easy to overtrain and to get stronger (and bigger) your body needs adequate protein, nutrition and sufficient rest to grow lean muscle.

However the stronger you become the more likelyhood of injury rears its ugly head and you must do a few warm up sets first

Say i do bench press, i do at least 3 warm up sets rising up in weight each time where i do 2 sets of really heavy weights.

If i just blasted into heavy reps i would possibly end up with a pec tear (which is nasty) so i have to do a few warm up sets to avoid this although as you state too many and you fatigue the body to the point that is not beneficial - what i will say is this....

When for instance i do 5 sets on the Bench i.e. 3 warm up and 2 heavy when i proceed to inclines i can pretty much go heavy as my pectorals have already been warmed up.

BTW take no bloody notice of these so called scientists and doctors, most and i repeat the word most know bugger all when it comes to heavy training.


What really did it for me is when i changed my diet, i've lost over 3 stone yet gained an inch on my arms which are about 18 inches and i am completely drug free.

in a nutshell....

Do a full body workout over 2-3 days spread out over a week.

Warm up adequately but go as heavy as possible, aim for between 4-6 reps on your heaviest set.

Eat 5-6 small meals a day spread out as your mtabolism will be stimulated
(your body cannot cope with massive meals in one go and normally get put on as fat)

Plenty of rest.

And trust me you will grow.