Weightlifting/Bodybuilding

[mister foozel 0]

Who cares about losing wieght, how do you gain it?

eat , work out, and take as much roids as you can pump into your veins (just kidding, but a buddy of mine tells me he is going on roids soon, which is pretty damn ridiculous)

 

big weights, few reps

 

i personally eat whatever i can and workout whenever i can

Too few reps is actually more of a weightlifting routine. It adds strength more than mass when compared to having your reps between oh I don't know 6 to 20 reps. Can be hard on the joints too. YOu really have to be careful when doing 1 rep maximums or sets with very few reps. Lots of people don't even do 1 reps maximums for that very reason.

no, thats not what io meant at all

 

doing "1 rep maximums" would be totally useless

 

i usually make sure i can at least do 10 reps

[Guest Brian]

Man, I need to do another update for this.

 

Wenesday is triceps. Same routine from the other two days with the stretching, abs, and cardio. Triceps, like biceps, uses alot of the same motions but from different angles and set-ups. Basically, an arm extension where you straighten your arms out.

 

Like most days, I like to start triceps with free weights. Skullcrushers are, IMO, the best. Lately, at least from what I can remember, there's been a bit of a revolution as to how people do this exercise. The basic idea is you take a bar or dumbbells and start in a lying position. You lift the weight just by extending your arms, and then come back down to hwere your bicep flexes. When doing this with the bar, keep your palms up. Now, the old school version of this exercise is to bring the weight up on the extension to the point where the bar is near the extension of a chest press, and you bring it down to your forehead. The new way, which isolates better, gets the weight lower (more work), and keeps you from locking and/or resting at the top, is the way I recommend. After you bring the weight up from resting position, bring it down almost all the way to the bench. When you extend, rather than go straight in, keep it at the same distance (same lateral plane). Don't lock your elbows, just pause slightly and come down. Keep your elbows at about the same position, though the tend to jut out a little, but at least make sure they're angled-in slightly. With the dumbbells, pretty much the same idea except it's easier to control them when you give the hands a quarter turn, like a reverse hammer curl motion.

 

As for weight, I think the best way to do this as a beginner, and this goes for most beginners when switching to a new program, is to start in that 10-12 rep range, with 12 being the target. If you feel comfortable, I'd start light and add on the nickels or dimes in succession, building up, with two sets per increment on the barbell. I like the heavier barbell, which is a 45 lb., but I started out on the 15 lb. curl bar. I like to hit the singles, or shotguns (double-barrel) afterwards, with the idea that your going from a broader, double-armed lift to a focused, single-arm.

 

The other free weight bench exercise is the inside press, or tricep press, or other names_I_can't_think_of at the moment. Basically, you go from the wider grip of the bench press to bringing your hands further in. I think that the most comfortable is between about armpit distance and right next to each other. Keep your elbows in, about parallel, and lift from your triceps. I like to go heavy, but I also occasionally do this from the assisted squat (I'm at a loss for names today). It's the machine with the bar that's build into it, which often gets used for hack squats. You can also do this with the barbell, and I like to superset by doing the same weight with both exercises right after the other, usually with the idea being sets of 15 with theskullcrushers and 10 with the press. On occasion, I like to do this, and sometimes I use the press if I get to a weight I can't do sufficiently with the skullcrusher (sey I only do three on the skull crusher, I do the remaining five or so using the press).

 

As for other free weight workouts, you can do kickbacks, which are a standing extension. Bend your back, about a forty-five degree angle, and kick your arms back like an extension. Elbows in the same place, and don't rest on the way down. The idea is to get that motion, slightly lateral to give you the work.

 

As for cables, there's a lot to do. I like the overhead extension. Two way to go. You set the cable high, and lift out with that extension. I use the ropes, closed grips and you work stabilizer in the forearms to keep everything still. Think of it like a skull crusher in terms of lift. When you extend out with the rope, turn your wrists out, as this gets a full effect on the muscle. Keep you wrists in, then flex it all out. As for feet, I try to keep them together near the metal post of the cable machine. Back straight, legs slightly bent at the knees. The other way is to come out with one foot, still with a bent back. You tend to use the legs as leverage in this motion.

 

The other cable exercise is the pull-down extension. Stand straight, with the rope around your upper biceps. The idea is you don't drop the weight, and I should have mentioned this with prior cable and machine workouts. It's an extension down with elbows out, and when you go up on the non-lift, come up to about elbow level. Four sets of the moderate weight for both cable exercises is recommended. Like the biceps, you can do the same cable motions with the single-arm.

 

As for machines, it'll depend what you have.

 

If you need more explanation, tell me. Some of the exercises are difficult to explain.

[iliketurtles 0]

Thanks Brian for all your advice...I've saved it onto computer and will definately use most of it.

[iliketurtles 0]

Bump for those who haven't seen this, considering Brian put a lot of time into typing this out...I'm sure I shouldn't be the only one benfiting from his advice.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Hey Brian I remember you saying that you train in some fighting art, like BJJ or something? What sort of workout do you get from that?

 

I started wrestling and kickboxing, so I don't really feel up to lifting weights, and from what I'm told about what the effects of those activities, I won't really have to.

[Guest Brian]

I've been working in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for a while, and I'm starting to delve into Muay Thai. My brother, through some exchange student at his high school, got in contact witrh this guy (I think his name is spelled Mau Rao?) who was one of Wanderlei's trainers and is looking to assemble some type of team to go over to Japan. Well, my brother's an amateur boxer out here, and he's going to start rounding out now that he's getting into the mixed martial arts. I'm trying to impart some mat game on him, and in return I'm reaping the benefits of getting to work with one of the top guys. This latter portion is all hopeful, as he's still in the process of trying out for this guy, but things are looking good, though I have no idea what he's doing in Seattle.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

What's the one with the sticks from the phillipines? I've seen it before, and it looks like a good form of asskicking.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Do you do it with the Gi or without? If you do it with one, what belt are you and what sort of knowledge/application did you have to know to obtain it?

[Guest Brian]

Resurrecting this thread for Damamaru. I've updated my workout big time, so at some point I'll talk about that.

 

Anyways, Paragaon, I'm gi, still white. It's a great way to get in shape, but I've missed six months because of my knee (which is now at about eighty percent of what the other is). Fuck, I am such a pussy right now when it comes to lifting with the legs.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Hmm that's interesting, how long have you been doing it? I know it takes longer to obtain a new belt in BJJ because they are one of the last martial arts where some credibility is placed on giving out belt rankings. I was actually thinking of going to a school where they don't have a belt system, it's just straight up no gi submission grappling.

 

When you say great way to get in shape, do you mean you get stronger from it, or is it more of an endurance sort of exercise?

[Guest Brian]

Endurance, cardio, lose weight. The minute I get back on the mat, I'll probably drop about twenty pounds in a few weeks, and I'll be back in top shape. I had about two years and was going to get a purple soon (for some reason we don't due blue), but now I have to re-work the technique. I was also going to start to compete, to get up to purple level, but now I'm back at the starting blocks.

[Damaramu 0]

I'm thinking that I should focus strictly on cardio and aerobics and forget the weights until the gut is gone. I don't want to put any muscle under the fat.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Yeah you do. If you dump a bunch of fat in a hurry without adding muscle and toning up, you'll have this big pouch of loose skin. I lost a ton of weight through boxing, and figured since I was just normally a big strong guy, I wouldn't need to lift really. When I was dissatisfied with some baggy looking spots, I hit the weights, and was pretty surprised with how weak I was. I don't think I would've had to deal with that if I'd just started lifting at the beginning. I like adding weight to my hands when I hit a bag. Nothing extreme, but I've definitely noticed a difference in toning since doing so.

[CanadianChick 0]

Besides, I'm pretty sure muscle burns fat.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Besides, I'm pretty sure muscle burns fat.

It does. The easiest way to burn fat is to build muscle.

 

That's cool about the training Brian. Who do you train under, and why do you skip a belt? I'm guessing that since there's no orange or yellow that they have a different ranking system than any other martial art.

[Guest Brian]

Wikipedia has a pretty decent write-up on BJJ. The school I go to is Gracie-Barra, at bjjseattle.com

 

Muscle helps to burn fat and raise your Basic Metabolic Rate, which basically means it takes more calories to maintain the weight your at. Most weightlifting routines are very aerobic in a calorie-burning sense, not an oxygen sense.

[Damaramu 0]

Me and a buddy are heading out to play basketball and lift weights. That should help me lose some weight hardcore.

[Guest Brian]

All I can say about doing cardio, being a big guy myself, is don't run for distance. Unless your built like a marathoner, it's not worth it. I'm assuming your built much like I was, only taller, so I can pretty safely assume that the wear and tear from distance running is going to be pretty bad on your knees. Stick to the crosstrainer, bike, and stair climber.