More weight and lower repetition are better for muscle building. A few builders I know go to the point of doing 1 rep sets with their absolute max weight.
I remember being discouraged against this sort of thing because it hampers your ability to do heavier weight reps. If you're able to control the weight for a total of 40 seconds a rep, it's too light. Explosive lifting with heavy weights is better for muscle growth.
Yeah both fast and slow twitch muscles need to be trained as near to equaly as possible. Always change from low weight high reps to high weight low reps throughout the week. What I did once was for a period bulk up with the high weights low reps for 4-5 consecutive workouts, then switch to 4-5 workouts to high reps low weights to tone up the bulk I aquired. Bodybuilders go through bulking stages for long periods of time then tone it all off afterwards, but I think its best to tone it up as you go along and work on your core strength making sure all bodyparts can support the muscle/mass gains without effort in working out just using your own bodyweight. Many bodybuilders lose tons of agility and flexibility because they force the body to grow too quickly without all other bodyparts being accustom to the new shape and weight. Im not a huge fan of too much isolated workouts, they are good in moderation. peace#
Do you have a Smith Machine at your gym? Also, if you've been doing the same workout for X years, you might think about getting a new routine. I read somewhere that your muscles optimize for certain ranges of motion. This means they build in a way that makes them efficient at doing whatever it is they're doing. So you should change up things often. I'm no expert in this, but I have read a few books and talked to a few people.
If you're not already doing them, do squats and deadlifts. They're the most important exercises you can do. They'll get your entire body and improve your general ability to build muscle and strength. If you're not doing squats and deadlifts then you're likely not nearly as strong as you can be. I noticed drastic improvements when I started doing them. The first thing I noticed is that my torso became more manly looking--I had a better V, less fat, and more overall tone. After a good while of continuing with that, I noticed large increases in my other exercises, especially concentration curls. Before I learned about these two exercises, I could at most do five or six reps of 50 lb dumbell concentration curls per set. After a few months of deadlifts and squats, I could do between 8-10 reps per set with 60 lb dumbells. So they make a huge difference--mind you, I don't half ass my workouts. There are lots of reasons why they have this huge impact, but really, the important thing to know is to do them.
For triceps you could try any push motion with a different grip than you normally use(as long as you keep your elbows close) or super high rep tricep curls. I don't really do a lot of isolated workouts, and I definitely wouldn't do any for useless biceps, so I'm not able to help you very much. Actually 1-5 reps of high weights cause more neurological than physical change, and is better for building strength without a lot of muscle gain. 6-10 is best for hypertrophy(except it appears with squats).
-If your looking for strength lower reps higher weight. With strength comes size so prepare to bulge some. -Also I suggest doing Chest and Tri on the same day and Bi and back on a seperate day. They are antagonist muscles so doing them on the same day allows your exercises to overlap the same muscle groups. -Lift heavy on your legs and your body will release more testosterone. -If your looking for endurance muscle or slow twich higher reps and less weight. Depends on what you want really. Size and Strength or lean and quick/flexible. You can train for all which is what I reccomend but when you train for all areas the results takes much much longer to see. hope some of that helps
Duh, you're absolutely right! I completely forgot the distinction and betrayed my bias, I'm a much bigger fan of working out the former way.
What about nutrition? I have to admit that while I love vegetables, I probably don't eat enough. I'm a five or six meal a day guy. I eat a lot of low carb tortillas (very good), peanut butter (the natural kind), fish, chicken, protein shakes, silk soy milk, cheese, nuts and either an apple or an orange right after the work out. Very little wheat, rice, potatoes (though, I do have a sweet potato every now and then) and pasta. ~String
Carbs earlier in the day, fats later, with protein all throughout is what I follow. Here's an example of a typical day for me: 1. Egg white omelette with fat free or skim cheese, peppers, onions. -my workout- 2. Oatmeal or cereal with whey protein and fruit 3. A meat dish of some sort with veggies and a bit of whole wheat rice or noodles 4. A meat dish of some sort with veggies, no processed carbs 5. Whatever I feel like that day, maybe a whey shake, maybe nuts, maybe cottage cheese, maybe some sort of fun egg white dish 6. A grilled salmon patty before bed
It sounds like you eat very well, as in, you don't eat junk. If you want to bulk, however, I'd say keep doing what you're doing, but eat a lot. I know carbs is a dirty word for many, but if you don't get your energy from carbs, then you're going to end up using all the protein you're eating for energy instead of what you want to be using it for, growth. You eat pretty well, I'd just say to perhaps eat more if you want to grow, and don't be afraid of eating carbs.
That sounds like a toning work out. Power workouts you shouldn't be doing nearly that many reps. To build muscle, I usually do three different workouts for that muscle, and do three sets of six reps. For sustainment I'll do 8 reps, and once I get to be able to do 3x10reps I up to the next weight. (Sometimes it takes a while to get through that plateau. Sometimes you just need to grab that larger weight and throw it up three or four times to break through, then next time you might be ablet o get it) For my biceps it's: Bar Curls (Both hands on one bar) I was working my way towards using 90lb bars but since I just spent a month overseas away from the gym I'm back to using 70's. Dumbbell Curls (Three times - Hammer, Flat, and turn I call them) Hammer is when the weight is more vertical, like you could use it as a hammer. Flat, the back of your hand is facing the ground, and turn, where you start at a hammer and go to flat by the end of the individual rep. There's another kind of curl for dumbbells too that one of my buds showed me, but it's really awkward. Inverted curlsGrabbing a bar and facing your palms down rather than up. But don't limit yourself to just direct curls to focus on your biceps. A lot of back exercises need your bicep as a secondary muscle, as it required you to flex your arms and you pull the weight down or back. I.E. Lateral Pull downs. Pull ups and Chin ups. (Chin ups focus on the bicep more, but pull ups still require it). Even a some chest exercises with cables can use the biceps a lot. Triceps. Pretty much just throw a weight over your head and bend your arm back. You can use one hand with a lighter weight or two and get a pretty decent amount. I do sort of like a reverse curl, where I bend at the waist downward and start with my arm bent 90degrees at the elbow, then extend. Like a curl, just for the other half of the arm. Triceps are a pretty easy muscle to work because they're used for a lot. Bench press (more so with a bar than freeweights) needs a lot of power from the triceps. But 255 reps for a workout is not going to get you big. It may strengthen that part, or tone if very nicely, but much less reps with much more weight is the way to go to increase muscle mass. Pick an exercise, 3 sets, six reps. And pick enough weight that you can only do it three times, six times each. Then move onto the next exercise, and if you choose a third or fourth and final one. But everyones different, I'm not physical trainer, this is just from my personal experience
It does not mean its too light, it means that your muscles can handle the weight in a controlled and full motion which will give you very good muscle quality. Bodybuilders have to jerk and explode into there workouts lifting very heavy weights, where if they slowed the workout down they would fail to keep correct form through each reps motion due to weak muscle assists. It is acceptable I think to do some explosive jerking reps with heavy weights, but those protein/water filled bulky muscles are cosmetic in a sense. The quality of the muscle is much more important than the quantity of mass, I mean if you just want to look big and fill out more then its for you, in all forms of training weather it is martial arts, weightlifting, sports, athletics it's key to remember the basics, when we learn advanced tricks and shortcuts to improve certain aspects of our bodies we can sometimes forget to go back to the basics, Squats, Sit ups, Push ups, Pull ups, footwork, stance and form holding. I can curl 30 kilos 15s on each side quite easily with a jerk and explode, but When I try to take 30 seconds up and 30 seconds down I cant even do 1 full rep and continue, Thats why I use a lower weight for the slow reps and work my way up. Someday I most likly will be able to do slow reps witht hat weight hopefully, it's not like doing slow reps will stop and cease to advance as the days go by, just be consistent in doing the slow reps and gradualy you will improve like anything else you make the body adapt to while training. You will feel a different kind of srength from this type of training one that has endurance and a firm rooted foundation, I first did these slow rep lifting and holdig out infront of me in the shaolin temple, we used stone locks and sui shi balls (I have most likely spelled that wrong). stone locks are just like regular weights but like an iron instead with handle at the top, weight underneath. also I prefer them for delt raises and holding them out infront of me for periods of ime 2-3 mins, as the weight is further away from the hand it puts more tension on your arm and helped my wrists and forarms alot. peace.
Harnu made a good post up there (oorah dude) about maxing out in a power workout. I haven't lifted for bulk in a few years, but when I was looking to build mass, it was 5x5s all day long. Five sets of five reps each, with as much weight as I could complete them with. Like others have said, a 200+ rep workout isn't going to get you a John Cena physique. That is fucking cardio, and will take you toward the Bruce Lee end of the spectrum. Does anybody here load up with Creatine? I've been using it a couple times a year during periods of intense training (triathlons, rugby) or just when I felt like I was being really hard on my body. Not much recently since I've been nursing a wounded shoulder. It was all the rage around the turn of the millenium, but I know a lot of people that still use and recommend it (within reason of course).
This thread could help me. I’ve been frustrated by soreness lately and I don’t know if I’m working too hard (or too long) or it’s just to be expected at that stage I’m at. I’ve put on about 4kgs in the last year which isn’t much but we’re talking about going from 60ks – 64kgs. (132- 141lbs) I'm pretty lean so it shows. I’m basically doing chest/tri, rest, legs, rest, back/bic, rest. Where I have put ‘rest’ may be more than one day though. I mentioned bicep and tricep but I'm only doing one set for each. My arms have been getting bigger with the basic overhead press, bench press, rows ect. Anyway my problem is that my arms are often sore for about 4 or even 5 days after doing the chest or back workouts. Not so sore that it hurts during the day. But sore enough that I can feel I’m not going to lift as much as I should be able to. I have found myself resting an extra day a lot lately. I have also been getting more results lately so maybe I'm answering my own stupid questions. Without getting into the details of reps (I keep them low), diet and stuff, does this sound normal for someone whose body is still getting used to it? I have noticed that I’m still getting bigger so maybe I shouldn’t worry. I’m pretty sure I’m getting enough protein. I certainly don't have a high carb diet. I probably don't get enough. I take creatine before working out. Should I be taking it more often? I read somewhere about BCAAs. Would they help?
Yes again, for fast twitch muscles, I shadow box, because that is the application I want to train for. When lifting weights, I do it slowly, to mimic resistance to grappling, because again that is the application where I will use the strength I have built. I guess if folks just want bulk, they can get on a machine and do a few heavy reps, but I don't see how that translates into anything useful. Free weights, mimicking real word situations is what I aim for. Plus I work on balance, core strength, and hand eye co-ordination. My latest fun workout is juggling while standing on an 'Indo-board'!
My cousin is an award winning body builder and model. I'll have to ask him about his diet and workouts next time I have the chance. What I can tell you off the top of my head is that he has a very strict diet. He has 12 egg whites per day, with one yolk. And I think 8 chicken breasts. One day of the week he will have a chocolate bar or some sort of sweet.
Creatine was pretty popular when I was in high school during that time. It fell off its fame pretty quickly though. Don't know too much about it, other than a lot of hte people that took at say it just makes your muscles bigger, but not always that much stronger. Right now the only people I see that use or even buy the stuff are those yoke up folks you'll see at the gym. You know, the ones that work out for exactly two hours thirty three minutes and five second, then go eat three almonds and a tablespoon of oatmeal and a protein shake, creatine, gakic pills, lipo 6 pills, and half a gallon of water Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Hey I do that aswell, (not the juggling part lol) if you want to try something I do I think you would like it and see results. Its purey for what you train for anyway. Get 1 light weight in each hand (very light only 1-3 kgs) and some ankle weights strapped on, then in very slow motion go through some basic combat drills of your choice for long persiods of time. when throwing punches whilst holding weights don't fully lock out your arms when you strike it's bad for your joints. Try and mix up the range of motions and stances you take throughout, go down into a low squat position and walk as slowly as you can while staying as low as you can, while walking throw very slow punches out infront and to the left and the right. But you have to keep very low, as low as you possibly can but without sitting down or resting your legs in a folding position. Hold heavier weights and strap a few weights onto your legs, then go through a simulated fight that you visualise in your mind, act out slowly every movement and position that you visualise could happen in a fight. including you getting struck and going back off balence. slowed down grappling, anything that would and or could happen. trying laying down and half kneeling type positions too. peace.
