Any gym rats here?
#1
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I've been back to the gym for about 3 months now after a 3 year hiatus. I had to stop going when my son was born. I have no interest in joining a body building forum so I was hoping someone here could help. I'm just curious to see what work out routines you do, what kind of supplements you take, how and what you eat. My goal is to put on size, I'm currently 5'8" 190 lbs. Id guess about 15% body fat. I want to decrease body fat and pack on muscle. Now I don't want to be huge cause I think I'm to short for that. Any help/info would be appreciated.
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#2
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I have been back at the gym myself, but probably not a good person to give advice. But if I may, I would say that consistancy is the key. If you can do 3 days a week for a few months, you are going to see some gains. Work hard at it. Excersise is like anything else in life. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it.
And by the way I am about the same height as you, but 138 lbs of super massive power.
........No really 138lbs. Joy.
And by the way I am about the same height as you, but 138 lbs of super massive power.
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#3
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Let me give you some wonderfull advice:
cut and bulk in seperate stages, don't mix the two. Lift like a body-builder and stop when you hit your goal, then cut. Eat food, don't waste money on snake-oil. Track your workouts or you'll like like a ------ for the rest of your life.
cut and bulk in seperate stages, don't mix the two. Lift like a body-builder and stop when you hit your goal, then cut. Eat food, don't waste money on snake-oil. Track your workouts or you'll like like a ------ for the rest of your life.
#4
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I've made some adjustments to compensate for two kids and age. Now 44, the focus is more on cardio and burning calories than mass. An older friend who used to be a power lifter convinced me to remove all the resting from my weight lifting. No chit chat between sets. And complete an entire body workout every time I hit the weights. The benefit to that is you don't have to figure out what body part you're skipping when you miss a workout and where to pick up.
I'm spending about an hour a week lifting weights and swear I'm getting nearly the same benefit I had when I was in there weight training 3 hours per week. I've been on the current weight program for over three years now and my strength is unchanged. You'd need to adjust accordingly for building mass- which may mean another visit, more sets... either way more time. But the key is giving your muscle time to rebuild and grow between your workouts, not repeatedly beating them down without a chance to recover.
So here's what it looks like now:
Two days per week: Weights- 30 minutes, entire body, no rest between sets, push to failure. Two sets per body part (not including warm up), with minimum reps of 7 and max of 15. More than 15 and you need more weight. First weights of the week I start with legs first (always squats- then calves), then shoulders, arms, chest, back and abs. I swap it around for the second weights starting with chest, back and so on.
After weights comes Cardio - 30 minutes on some kind of machine- mix it up. Following the weights with the cardio is a good *** kicker. You should have a ramped up heart rate from the weights and it allows you to jump right on the machine and go.
Two days per week: Cardio only. I run- just getting back into it after some major foot injuries so I'm planning to get up to three days per week. This divides up the weight/cardio days. 30 minute run. ~4 miles per run, lots of hills. Focus on the heart rate. As you know it's only worth what you put into it.
I'm spending about an hour a week lifting weights and swear I'm getting nearly the same benefit I had when I was in there weight training 3 hours per week. I've been on the current weight program for over three years now and my strength is unchanged. You'd need to adjust accordingly for building mass- which may mean another visit, more sets... either way more time. But the key is giving your muscle time to rebuild and grow between your workouts, not repeatedly beating them down without a chance to recover.
So here's what it looks like now:
Two days per week: Weights- 30 minutes, entire body, no rest between sets, push to failure. Two sets per body part (not including warm up), with minimum reps of 7 and max of 15. More than 15 and you need more weight. First weights of the week I start with legs first (always squats- then calves), then shoulders, arms, chest, back and abs. I swap it around for the second weights starting with chest, back and so on.
After weights comes Cardio - 30 minutes on some kind of machine- mix it up. Following the weights with the cardio is a good *** kicker. You should have a ramped up heart rate from the weights and it allows you to jump right on the machine and go.
Two days per week: Cardio only. I run- just getting back into it after some major foot injuries so I'm planning to get up to three days per week. This divides up the weight/cardio days. 30 minute run. ~4 miles per run, lots of hills. Focus on the heart rate. As you know it's only worth what you put into it.
#7
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yeah, lift and eat. You can eat 5000 cals per day and you will gain weight. I was 5'11", 138lb when I started lifting. Quit acting like a ------ and you might gain weight. Aside from protein powder, supplements don't do a god damned thing.
#11
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I've been working out for several years now...FST-7 has worked great for me; many pro bodybuilders use it, as well as Mr. O (Jay C.) You can google FST-7 and find compete work outs. But it's basically adding on 7 sets to the end of your last set to stretch muscle fascia buy giving you big "pumps" from all the blood. Try and keep things simple when working out keep it at 3-4 sets at about 8 working reps, focus your workout around squats, bench, deadlifts.
I really eat anything and everything I get my hands on, so I really can't help you as far as dieting--eating clean, and cardio always helps. Supplements are pretty basic, BCAA's, Protein, Glutamine, and I use pre-workout called Jacked by USP Labs which is pretty decent, NOShotgun was better I think.
No homo I included a before and after picture...a little over a year progress, 30 pounds gained.
I really eat anything and everything I get my hands on, so I really can't help you as far as dieting--eating clean, and cardio always helps. Supplements are pretty basic, BCAA's, Protein, Glutamine, and I use pre-workout called Jacked by USP Labs which is pretty decent, NOShotgun was better I think.
No homo I included a before and after picture...a little over a year progress, 30 pounds gained.
#15
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THIS
I mix a scoop or whey protein and a banana in little blender every morning before hitting the gym...and eat a wholesome breakfast after.
There are no substitutes for hard work and proper diet.
And on the protein, don't worry about your weight, how much you're taking and all that. If you have a good diet you just need to throw a little bit more into the mix for recovery and growth unless you are really pushing it.
I've never gotten really big, but am 5'10'' and got up to 190lb of pure muscle before I got married.
Time of day makes a difference for some. I've worked out mornings, nights and midday during different periods. When I hit the gym midday (after school, before work) I had the best results...like 30lbs in 6 months, and pretty cut. This may have been due to sitting around all morning while munching and studying before gym, and then staying moving at work afterwards. YMMV
EDIT: I also mix in some pyramid sets in with my usual decaying sets like y8s describes below.
I mix a scoop or whey protein and a banana in little blender every morning before hitting the gym...and eat a wholesome breakfast after.
There are no substitutes for hard work and proper diet.
And on the protein, don't worry about your weight, how much you're taking and all that. If you have a good diet you just need to throw a little bit more into the mix for recovery and growth unless you are really pushing it.
I've never gotten really big, but am 5'10'' and got up to 190lb of pure muscle before I got married.
Time of day makes a difference for some. I've worked out mornings, nights and midday during different periods. When I hit the gym midday (after school, before work) I had the best results...like 30lbs in 6 months, and pretty cut. This may have been due to sitting around all morning while munching and studying before gym, and then staying moving at work afterwards. YMMV
EDIT: I also mix in some pyramid sets in with my usual decaying sets like y8s describes below.
Last edited by gospeed81; 12-17-2009 at 05:00 PM.
#16
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like rob said, the key is # of reps and lifting to failure. let the # of reps to failure determine the weight. I try to aim for 6-12 per set with a 30-45 second rest. if you find yourself doing 12 and 12 in the first couple sets, add weight so you can only do 6 in the last set. I try to use enough weight so I can do one or two less reps each set. 12-10-8 or something.
lots of protein within an hour or two of the workout and a high protein diet otherwise.
you really dont want to lift more than twice a week. your body takes time to heal--at least two full days without lifting and I would even not do cardio the day after a heavy lifting session.
lots of protein within an hour or two of the workout and a high protein diet otherwise.
you really dont want to lift more than twice a week. your body takes time to heal--at least two full days without lifting and I would even not do cardio the day after a heavy lifting session.
#18
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I have gained mass from other supplements than protein ;-)
But truth be told 60% of gains come from diet/supplementation and nothing beats the real thing...other than whey protein post work-out
EDIT: I will have to disagree about how often you lift, 2 times a week is not enough to make significant gains at all, however, your body does need time to rest you can do a split something like this: Monday: Chest/Tri Tuesday: Legs Wednesday: OFF Thursday: Shoulders/Bi Friday: OFF Saturday: Back Sunday: Lagging body part
You will need roughly 48 hours for each body part to repair the microscopic rips in your muscle tissue--depending on supplements used/diet
But truth be told 60% of gains come from diet/supplementation and nothing beats the real thing...other than whey protein post work-out
EDIT: I will have to disagree about how often you lift, 2 times a week is not enough to make significant gains at all, however, your body does need time to rest you can do a split something like this: Monday: Chest/Tri Tuesday: Legs Wednesday: OFF Thursday: Shoulders/Bi Friday: OFF Saturday: Back Sunday: Lagging body part
You will need roughly 48 hours for each body part to repair the microscopic rips in your muscle tissue--depending on supplements used/diet