Wanna get more buffed!

jdhdiggs

Mac,

Kinda on subject, I am now going back to the gym and I'm trying to work my legs but my back doesn't handle squats. I max out the leg extension machine one legged and max out the sled and machines. Dead lifts aren't quite as bad. Any ideas?

MacLeod

Huh? You need a new gym my brother!

Even a run of the mill leg press will hold 1000 pounds and that should be plenty. And any average leg extension will go up well passed 200 pounds. If you can do 200 pound leg extensions with one leg you dont need any advice from me!

jdhdiggs

They go to 255 and 1600... I've just slowed down (40 time) since I gained weight and wanted to see if I could make it up with strength (Dieting sucks!). I guess playing hockey all the time keeps the legs in shape.

Now to get my bench over 250... Gah...

wingnut4772

Less is more. If you work out 4 -5 times a week you are just tearing down and not building up. I do weights 2 X a week and a lot of cardio since I don't want to get bulky My muscles respond wickedly well to weight training though and I am really strong so it's hard for me to go easy sometimes....but I do still want to look like a woman.:D

BIZILL

still waitin' on pics....

MSkeezer

What about us guys who want to slim down? I have been trying desperately to lose a couple of inches around my waste, but nothing seems to work. Pills, exercise, dieting, nothing is working. I have been doing a lot of weight lifting, and my arms, legs, chest, all of that is looking great. I just want to get rid of that friggin flab in the middle. I've been running a mile a day, I've drastically cut down on my calorie intake, switched to diet soda, I drink a lot of water now, but it only seems to get worse. Maybe if I had stayed in shape to begin with, my wife wouldn't have left me...

BIZILL

carb-cutting...potatoes, breads and pasta's go bye bye, not to mention refined sugars. but i luvs me some candy bars when i get the craving.

oh, and two miles and then add more...

Sami

ruffjustice wrote:

steriod. will kill you before the big one.. look @ foot players n so call pro wrestler... just my 2 cents !

Will kill you? Steroids, if correctly taken, are beneficially to health. Well, bodybuilders don't take them correctly most of the time...

Want to get big and you worry about protein? Take in plenty of complex carbs, that will help you use the protein for muscle grow. 1g for every kg of body weight of protein, no more than 40g at time, that should be enough for growth (unless juicing of course).

Sami

MSkeezer wrote:

What about us guys who want to slim down?

Cardio and cut down on all refined carbs. Complex carbs are good for you but when getting rid of those last ounces of fat you need to moderate them. A good guide to complex carbs is the nutritional label, check out the fibre content. The higher the better. Red and sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes. Whole wheat pasta instead of refined pasta. Fibre rich bread or wraps instead of white bread.

DO NOT get rid of carbs, just switch to complex.

Demiurge

Sami wrote:

Will kill you? Steroids, if correctly taken, are beneficially to health. Well, bodybuilders don't take them correctly most of the time...

Want to get big and you worry about protein? Take in plenty of complex carbs, that will help you use the protein for muscle grow. 1g for every kg of body weight of protein, no more than 40g at time, that should be enough for growth (unless juicing of course).

Yes, and when I scratch my balls I still want them to be there.

Sami

Demiurge wrote:

Yes, and when I scratch my balls I still want them to be there.

LOL. I am no steroid advocate but they really aren't as bad as some of you think. Yes, steroid ABUSE can lead to non-functional balls but that has to be very heavy abuse or just ignorance. Mild doses of testosterone can even help restore your own production. Anyways, this thread is not about AAS.

BIZILL

they can be safe. more dangerous is lack of planning for the post-cycle therapy. nolvadex, clomid, hgc, etc.

Sami

BIZILL wrote:

they can be safe. more dangerous is lack of planning for the post-cycle therapy. nolvadex, clomid, hgc, etc.

I'm not sure if lack of PCT is dangerous, your system will restore itself eventually with time if it hasn't been abused beyond that. Too long cycles, too large doses, those will get you.

AAS and HGH wisely used can be very healthy and reverse the symptoms of aging. It's just that the bodybuilding crowd has given it a bad name. My dad (for whom I started the whole research thing for) is in his early 50's and could use both (replacement therapy, low doses) but refuses to even talk to a doctor because of the reputation of AAS. It's really a shame as he could drastically improve his quality of life.

halo

Hi guys

Don't know if anyone mentioned this already but if you do go with the protein shakes or if you're stuffing mass quantities of natural (through food only) protein into your body it is very important to drink a lot of water as well as eating plenty of veggies and fruit. Balance makes things move - too much protein stops you up.

I go to a gym three times a week for two - two and a half hours each day. I've been doing it for at least three years now. When I started I didn't know what I was doing and just hit everything there. After a while I started getting advice from different people which allowed me to try different things.

The point in time when I put on the most mass I was doing "pyramids" and consuming a lot of protein. Working with a friend we figured out what my max was on the bench press. I started my routine by benching with a low weight at 12 reps for one set. Added weight but went down to ten reps and so on until I hit my max for at least 1 or 2 reps. Then I worked my way back down (reversed the way I went up) and finished with the starting weight at 12 reps. The next day I could hardly lift my arms. I kept at it and the weight increased very quickly - the number of reps stayed the same.

I used the same method with other excersizes also (curls, tricep extensions, etc.)

Eventually my body put a stop to that when I strained my rotator cuff. It probably happened because I didn't do enough of a warm up routine. So I went from weightlifting to rehabing instead.

Now I just isolate the muscle groups three days a week: Chest & Tri's (Monday), Back & Bi's (Wednesday), Legs & Shoulders (Friday). I do my abs MWF too. I don't do pyramids anymore but I still lift more weight with each set (4 sets @ 12 reps) and the weight is slowly increasing. I'm not after mass anymore - just maintaing. I also try to work some cardio in there too (that stuff wipes me out).

Good luck bro!

MacLeod

I never liked pyramids for strength gaining because I always believed that if you can do 200 pounds 10 times, why start with 100 for 15? By the time you get to 200 youre only going to be able to get 5-6 with it so youve cheated yourself out of 4-5 reps with the heavy weight. However pyramiding up is a good way to work out and is easier on the joints but I wouldnt recommend it for gaining maximum mass and strength.

Im not knocking you dude, different things work for different people.

As for losing flab, running a mile is good for the heart and lungs but not so great for losing fat. To lose fat you need to burn it off which mean keeping your heartrate up for as long as possible. These are rough numbers here but generally for the first 30 minutes of cardio youre burning off what youve eaten for the day (which is stored in your muscles as glycogen) and very little stored fat. 30 minutes to an hour youre burning off more stored fat and less of what youve eaten today. Anything over an hour and youre pretty much burning only stored fat. That doesnt mean you have to job for 2 hours but you should shoot for AT LEAST 45 minutes and preferably and hour.

Running a mile is over in under 10 minutes so youre not getting to your fat stores. Fat is a horrible energy source and because of that, its the last place youre body will turn for energy so you have to force it to by burning up all the other energy it uses first (glycogen).

So if you have access to a treadmill, I suggest using it. Walk briskly at no less than 3.5 mph with sprints and jogging mixed in for at least an hour as many times a week as you can stand. Unlike weightlifting, youre not tearing down muscle tissue so you dont have to worry about overtraining.

BIZILL

agreed on the pyramid, not for me. most do so with tremendous results. but i am like mac, i go right to it. my downfall is that i never even warm up first. i go right into the 370 decline press. (not bad for a smaller guy) and that is probably why i jack my wrists up. now i pay more attn. on the wrists than i do my triceps. i'm slowly ridding myself of the joint pain. again, not the kind that is smoked.

jet2001

Another method for bulking is 5X5. Take flat bench for example: 5 reps at 135, 5@140, 5@145, 5@150, 5@155....

Low reps, heavy weight will help get you big....lower weight, higher reps will help shed the flab.

2 more comments on working out:

Don't forget to do the big three each week: Benchpress, Deadlifts, and Squats.

Remember, muscles are not built in the gym, they are broken down in the gym....they are built at the dinner table and in your bed. Eat clean and get plenty of rest!

michael_w

double post

michael_w

This thread has come at the perfect time. I've just got back into lifting with a friend of mine. We did it last summer and I gained a little weight and quite a bit of strength but couldn't keep it going once we were back in school. We had a little routine where we would isolate certain muscles one day and others another day (3 days a week and it would take around two hours). We followed a pattern similar to that 5x5 one but did it more like 15@140, 10@150 etc... It seemed to work well but do you think it would be worth trying a different pattern? I felt a difference after a while of sticking to the routine but it didn't really make me much bigger (aside from gaining weight).

Any special tips for a smaller guy to gain some muscle? I'm about 5'8" and come in at around a whopping 135lbs I'll be definatly cutting down on the simple sugars and try eating some more meat, along with some of the other points brought up already.

btw I'm not really into the squats or other leg workouts. My legs are fine -- it's my upper body that needs a bit of work

Sami

Pyramid worked for me. I went up to 300lb on bench (I'm 180lb) in a short time when I started lifting heavy pyramids. A few warmups and then 10*225, 8*245, 6*255, 4*265, 2*275, 4*255. That's about 30lb increase in max in roughly 8 weeks. I was at a plateua even with varied routines but I had never went for such a long series before I started working out with a friend of mine.

We did everything by the long routine and my gains were amazing. Leg days were fun but painful, especially afterwards. He passed out for a second, I threw up (happened once). Now I'm missing a workout partner who pushes me hard and I've fallen off a little but planning to get back there before summer.

jet2001

btw I'm not really into the squats or other leg workouts. My legs are fine -- it's my upper body that needs a bit of work

Don't forget legs...if they hurt, just go lighter or just do body weight excersises. Doing squats, lunges, deadlifts work very large muscle groups...which in turn releases more growth hormone naturally in your body...which will help your upper body grow.

The body is a weird system to understand...but once you get it working, it's a whole lot of fun to see the gains.

MacLeod

Plus you dont want to have to California bodybuilder look with big upper body and skinny little legs. Dont be a girlie man, work your legs!

organ

OK, guys. Thanks again for the help and tips. I learned a lot from this thread.

Well, I told my boss about this and he gave me a whole box of this stuff called "Myoplex". It's chocolate flavored and packed with 42g of protein for each serving. I'll be taking it everytime after a workout, the two following days after, and once in a while before going to sleep. I just had one and it really filled me up. Taste isn't so great but it was easy to take in.

Maurice

Sami

Myoplex is one of the best tasting protein out there (minus the bars that are filled with sugar and should be avoided). I would take one before workout and one after. Do not take one before bedtime as you want to avoid the carbs that are on that one. Instead, get the carb sense from the same company. Less protein but no carbs. Or better yet, get some casein which is long acting and will provide your muscles protein through the night, because that's the only time your muscles are growing.

aaharvel

i say just juice and get it over with.