Weightlifting/Bodybuilding

[The Mandarin 0]

So I'm trying to add more pounds of RAW MUSCLE to my big, lanky frame. I'm sure some of you have tried to do this or at least whip yourselves into decent shape. Now, I'm not completely helpless (I gots MAD resources, yo) but just curious to what worked for you.

 

So for the weightlifters out there, how do you go about your routines?

[Red Baron 0]

Muscle.

 

Heavy weights, short reps, if you want muscle mass.

[Guest Brian]

Correct motion. That's where it all starts. Back straight if possible, focus on the muscle groups.

 

Really good strength building workouts are generally one group every day. I lift like this:

 

Monday: Chest

Tuesday: Biceps and Legs

Wenesday: Triceps

Thursday: Back and Legs

Friday: Chest

Saturday: Shoulders and Legs

 

Always work out for balance, as muscle groups tend to pair up (back-chest, triceps-biceps, abs-lower back). Your core is very important to lifting, so always put some time in one the abs and double it up with lower back repetitions. Eat well, lots of proteins. I can't really recommend how to lift from there, as diferent people have different body chemistries. For me, I've got to do between 15-20 sets per workout. I do a lot of different things, like pyramids, super-sets, and overloads, and I like to mix those up with my day's plan. Try to kepp your reps between 8-12 for buldge and 15-20 for lean mass. If oyu're interested in more, I can elaborate another time.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Don't overtrain, concentrate on the main lifts, rest well, be careful about neglecting certain bodyparts, use good form!!!!!!!!!!!! and eat healthy of course more times during the day.

 

What bodytype do you have?

[Internet Warfare 0]

Well, I just started lifting weights this year for Weight-lifting. This is basically our scheduale for the week.

 

Mondays: 3 sets of Bench, 3 sets of quats

 

Tues: 3 sets of Cleans, 3 sets of (forgot the name) its like the cleans but we lift the bar over our head.

 

Wed: Free Day

 

Thursday: 3 sets of cleans, 3 sets of squats

 

Friday: 3 sets of Cleans, 3 sets of (forgot the name) its like the cleans but we lift the bar over our head.

[Guest Brian]

I wouldn't recommend doing cleans two days in a row, or even cleans and squats. In general, when you commit to working out a muscle group, you need 48 hours of rest in between workouts. Muscles get tired, and tear to build new muscles, and that time off gives them time to rest and rebuild. When you work back, you tend to hit biceps, and similarily for the chest and triceps, as the motions are related. The way I put my workout together, I try to give muscles the appropriate rest, with chest and triceps on odds and back and biceps on evens. Angle's old offseason workout was something like chest and triceps one day, back and biceps the next, and legs on the third, and then repeat with a day off, in addition to a ton of cardio. I've found that in general, the best results come from going really hard once a week, and then giving the time to rest (though I lifted the twice a week chest from an old Swartzenegger routine).

[Guest wildpegasus]

Leave overtraining alone. The more you train and the stronger you get the more rest you'll need. DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF COPYING ARNOLD'S or OTHER STEROID BODYBUILDER ROUTINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the best advice anyone can ever get weightraining!! The massive bodybuilders can get away with training the way they do because they're genetically blessed and use drugs to help them recover faster thus letting them grow their muscle faster. Genetics are the be all and end all in bodybuilding. The guy who's signifigantly smaller can be a much smarter trainer than the bigger guy sitting right beside him.

 

I used to train with the multiple all out sets to failure and all that until I was pointed in the right direction when I was 18 years old at the end of highschool. Yes, it'll get you stronger to a point but after that initial gain of strenght you'll hit a roadblock and go nowhere unless you're one of the genetically blessed. Don't let this happen to you. *Once I cut down from doing multiple sets and started training once a week for bodyparts I was able to gain more muscle than I had previously plus have less tear on joints. Let it go out of your head that more time in the gym = bigger muscles. It's ingrained in people that the longer you work the better it is from the time we're born so of course people apply this to weightraining but it's not true.

 

Training a little bit more when you start in fine but don't overdo it. I cycle my intesnity with weighttraining right now but I wouldn't reccomend that to someone starting out.

 

Oh yeah, from experience DON"T TRAIN ON CEMENT or other surfaces that have no give. You may not feel it at first but trust me it does add up and you will feel it someday.

 

Use good form ALWAYS! It only takes one time to get hurt and only one possable bad rep to cause it. You never appreciate good health until it's gone.

 

Use spotters especially on lifts like squats or benchpresses. Get someone to critique your technique (hopefully they know what they're talking about) or watch youself in a mirror if applicable. Don't look to the side when doing shrugs or benchpresses (a pet peeve of mine).

 

WP -- Who injured his eye benchpressing one time

 

Generally concentrate on stuff like squats, benches, chins, deadlifts instead of "puny" stuff like tricep kickbacks/pulldowns or lateral raises. I also think working on your grip and rear delts is a good idea.

 

Aerobic exercise can cut into your recovery time but it is good for you. I've heard bad things about too much running though especially if you're over a certain weight. Rest well when you're not training so your muscles can recover for the next workout. Sleep is your friend.

 

 

 

* I'm not blind. I have heard the theory of overtraining for awhile and than cutting down on the amount of training for a period of time will make you stronger. It may work, I'm not sure -- Eh, kind of going off here. The moral of the story is not to be blind to anything because if I didn't I wouldn't be quite as strong as I am right now. Just try to avoid overtraining is a good rule.

 

Edit -- Warming up is a very good idea. I like warming up with the same exercise movement that I'll be working on.

[Guest Brian]

I bike rather than run, better for the knees.

 

I actually am one of those genetically gifted.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

Ok, I think I fucked things up. I did some lifts for my biceps (poor form I'm sure to), and now I'm stricken with a fairly annoying pain in my elbows. It's a piss off to straighten out my arms now. Been this way for the last two days.

 

Ideas about this?

[Guest wildpegasus]

Ok, I think I fucked things up. I did some lifts for my biceps (poor form I'm sure to), and now I'm stricken with a fairly annoying pain in my elbows. It's a piss off to straighten out my arms now. Been this way for the last two days.

 

Ideas about this?

I wouldn't know what the problem is with your elbows and wouldn't really right saying anything.

 

May as well ask a few questions though. Did you feel it while you were training or only afterwards?

 

What exercise were you doing?

 

So it only hurts when you straighten out your arms (a tricep movement) and not when you curl them?

 

That's weird that you got injured in both elbows. Usually, if I ever get injured it's just on one side rather than both. I would guess you did an exercise wrong without *warming up or something. Is that the first time you've been training or have you been doing it for awhile? Was this a gradual thing? Sometimes with weightraining you can discover injuries you had in the past that you thought were gone (but are actually still there some) because you never required your body to dig down that deep before.

 

Some tricep movements can be tough on the elbows. Overhead tricep extensions (1 arm being worse than 2) for example but that's kind of a gradual thing.

 

*Warming up for weightraining is best when you warm up with the actual movement that you are going to do.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

You're probably just sore.

[geniusMoment 0]

I train under the supervision of my strength and conditioning coach, working the upper body 3 days a week and the lower body 2 times a week, with two days of just cardio and agility drills.

Day 1 starts off with riding a stationary bike, at the level of most resistance, for half an hour. I then start off with a light bench press, 150, with 12 reps. Then I move on to the rowing machine to work my biceps and shoulders for about 20 minutes. I then move back to the bench press where I move up to 180, generally 9 reps. After completing that I move to bicep curls with 35 pound dumbells and tricep extentions. I then hit my heaviest bench press, usually 240 with 6-7 reps depending on how motivated I can get.

*I should also mention that before bed I always do 100 push ups and 200 sit ups.

 

Right now I am a little over 6 feet tall and I weigh 210 with almost no body fat. I want to get up to 235, but I think I am going to need to take steriods to get there.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

*Wild Pegasus said some stuff*

 

yeah, I probably should have been more descriptive than I was. I was doing Bicep curls at the time. The pain actually started the next morning. The pain resides in my elbows at the point of were the biceps connect. I realize now that my warm up beforehand wasn't the best. I'm thinking now that it is either sleeping on my arms funny, or that it's a combo of not warming properly along with poor form/generally not being used to exerting like this and the pain from that.

 

On the whole, I've got no fucking clue about how to work out properly and I'm thinking that hitting the a gym a few blocks from here might be a good plan.

 

While I'm here...can someone recommend me a low impact leg work out? I've got one leg that is essentially full of blood clots but I would like to do some training on it beyond short bike jaunts, if possible.

[Guest Brian]

I get that bicep pain, though now as long. Once in a while.

[Guest wildpegasus]

*Wild Pegasus said some stuff*

 

yeah, I probably should have been more descriptive than I was. I was doing Bicep curls at the time. The pain actually started the next morning. The pain resides in my elbows at the point of were the biceps connect. I realize now that my warm up beforehand wasn't the best. I'm thinking now that it is either sleeping on my arms funny, or that it's a combo of not warming properly along with poor form/generally not being used to exerting like this and the pain from that.

 

On the whole, I've got no fucking clue about how to work out properly and I'm thinking that hitting the a gym a few blocks from here might be a good plan.

 

While I'm here...can someone recommend me a low impact leg work out? I've got one leg that is essentially full of blood clots but I would like to do some training on it beyond short bike jaunts, if possible.

Eh, I don't know. It's awful hard to tell what to do or what to say. When I think of the elbow though I always think of it as being on the tricep part of the arm. If you're injured maybe you should just rest for awhile or see what it feels like with very light weights. Are you sure it's the elbow and just not the lower part of your biceps which are sore? Are your arms or elbows sore at all when you curl them? Does it just happen when you straighten them out?

 

There should be proper technique descriptions on the internet. I've got lots of magazines and a few books so I never had to look for technique information but I've seen people display it once in awhile

 

 

Blood clots I know absolutely nothing about. Probably best to see a doctor about that or something.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Where's Sass when we really need him?...

[The Mandarin 0]

Right now I am a little over 6 feet tall and I weigh 210 with almost no body fat. I want to get up to 235, but I think I am going to need to take steriods to get there.

Right now I'm 6' and 140 with no body fat.

[Guest Wildbomb 4:20]

My Routine:

 

Day 1: Chest and Triceps

Day 2: Shoulders and Biceps

Day 3: Legs

Day 4: Cardio

Day 5: Day off

 

And then I just loop through it. It's really worked well, I've dropped about 55 pounds since the start of the year (240 down to 183), and put some good muscle on too.

 

When I work out, I'll take one exercise for one muscle group, and then do something on the other list, until I can only work from one group anymore. I've found it to be most effective.

[Mystery Eskimo 0]

I get occasional elbow pain from weights, I usually find an ice pack eases the problem.

[Guest Brian]

If I have that problem, I usually chock it up to poor joint lubrication. I've added oil-vinegar based dressings and taken out my caesar's, bleu cheeses, and such, and haven't had that problem in probably close to a year. You might want to have someone take a look at if you're locking your joints too much, thus causing unnecessary pressure. Also, if it's closer to the bicep, there is a slight chance it could be a a ligment or other damage in the elbow, and the pain is just fleshing out (happened to me when I hurt my miniscus, and went improperly diagnosed for nearly two months as a strained quadricep).

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

Yeah, my elbow hurts sometimes, but it's probably because I had Tommy John surgery on it

[Dr. Tom 0]

OMG Tyler throws harder than ever now!!!!11 MLB, here he comes!

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

ROOKIE OF THE YEEEAR!!!!!!!!!

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Makes sense to me, since everything from him comes out of left field...

[Guest bigm350]

Muscle.

 

Heavy weights, short reps, if you want muscle mass.

Thats what I do. I can benchpress 350 lbs at a bodyweight of around 210 lbs. Also can squat over 400 lbs.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Right now I am a little over 6 feet tall and I weigh 210 with almost no body fat.  I want to get up to 235, but I think I am going to need to take steriods to get there.

Right now I'm 6' and 140 with no body fat.

Jack Sprat.

[AndrewTS 0]

Mix up weight training and aerobics. Best of both.

 

Morning classes/staying up late has left me with little desire to exercise in a while, though. I need to get back into it, because it's embarassing having to cover up that you're winded from climbing stairs (even if there were a lot of them).

 

Would jogging with ankle-weights or wrist-weights be a good idea?

[Guest Brian]

I remember reading an article a while back about the ill effects of running with weights on the knees. If you're looking for ressitance, a harnessand sled or parachute are better IMO.

[AndrewTS 0]

I remember reading an article a while back about the ill effects of running with weights on the knees. If you're looking for ressitance, a harnessand sled or parachute are better IMO.

Then I guess it would be the same for ankles?

 

I guess it wouldn't hurt for the wrists, though.

[Matt Young 0]

I was just coming on here (after an extended hiatus) to post regarding this subject. I was fat til last year- 175 pounds or so at 5'8"- but I got down to 125-130. Now I'm trying to add muscle.

 

I just got a gym membership a couple weeks ago and am doing well, but these routines could definitely help me out.