Doing Weights

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Upgrayedd

Upgrayedd

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Anyone got any advice for me?
Im about 6'3" and 80sih kilos and just started, doing about 40 squats per day at 15 kilos since my family has a history of back problems so im not going to rush going onto heavier weights on that
Bench pressing im doing about 20 kilos, around 100-200 a day for the past few days, find i try to bulk it up to 30 to do about 50 but im just too tired to do so

any hints on how to take short cuts to beef up faster? anything i should know about squats/the recommended times you should do them per day/ should i rest for 1-2 days per week?
 

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I don't think RL was being sarcastic - It's not the weight - it's the reps.

I have also never heard of that many reps - I'm no expert but I'm not sure that's very good for you.

Gimme a sec and I'll find a good link.

Edit: This one has some good discussion and was useful to me a couple of years ago when I bought my weights and bench.

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=216249

Second Edit: It's also got a lot of crap but stick to the Groove and Carlos posts and you should be fine.
 
its your lucky day, im studying for this exact topic for pe as we speak

Component Weight Reps Sets Speed

Strength (80-90% max) 2-4 1-3 Slow

Power (60-80%max) 8-12 3-5 Medium

Endurance (40-60%max) 15-40 5+ Fast


If you want to beef up just eat lots of food, keep eating. eat protien rich foods (tuna, chicken, red meat etc) and protien powder after training really helps.

When doing weights what it does is make microscopic tears in the muscle and the proiten builds up over in layers and that is how you get bigger and stronger (not eating greens lol)

Dont train more than three times per week and have at least 1 full day before each session. a major factor in weight training is rest so make sure you get lts of it.
 
Doing that many reps is more for fat loss and tone as opposed to building muscle.

Try doing a reverse pyramid which goes 6 reps, 8 reps, 10 reps. Drop the weight a little each set (about 2.5-5kg).

Every week add about 1-2.5kg to your sets. It's not a lot but in the long run it adds up. Don't forget to do 1 or 2 warm up sets of about 1/3 to 2/3 of the weight.

Check out bodybuilding.com. They have endless amounts of information in articles and from users on their forum.

And always take at least 2 days rest before doing the same muscle group. A simple rule of thumb is if it's sore, then don't train it. Your muscles need time to repair.
 
I posted this a couple of year's ago in response to the same topic...

Having studied fitness and weight training, the amount of different info just blows my mind (as it has done since i got into training). There are so many theories and approaches, and what may work for one may not for another.

The dudes saying heavy weights/low reps built size for them has surprised me a little though. You will certainly build strength, no doubt, but strength training is actually the best form to minimise body fat of any exercise (including cardio) because of the effect it has on your metabolism.

If you train at peak intensity (big weight/low reps) for one hour a day, your body is working over-time for the other 23 hours as it tries to repair itself from the thrashing you've dished out to it at the gym.

I'll clarify that by saying you'll be chewing fat, and no doubt you'll see some increase in muscle size, but its not the best method to achieve pure bulk as such.

Hypertrophy (bulking up) training methods are significantly different to strength training methods by definition. If you cant lift whatever it is you're attempting more than 6-7 times, its too heavy for you to achieve your goal of building size. Yes, you will rip the bejesus out of the muscle and will certainly notice a change in your body shape and strength over time, but again its not the most efficient or effective way of achieving pure size.

But one thing i am very certain of: There is a very big difference between size and strength. If you were stuck in the middle of an alley way with an angry Kostya Zu (63kgs) at one end and an angry (and younger) Arnold Schwarzenegger (95-100 kgs) at the other and you had to get past one of them to escape, which would you choose? I know who i reckon would be the more functionally stronger out of the 2...

It all depends on what you're aiming for with your training results: functionality or pure asthetics. To achieve a balance of both involves years of high intensity training and constant revision and variety.

But for just size and bulk (hypertrophy) the general rules of thumb are:

Reps: 10-15

Sets: 3-4 per exercise (any more than 3-4 exercises per muscle group is excessive)

Rest periods: Short: 30-60 seconds between sets and exercises

Intensity: low to medium (believe it or not) 60-80% of your 1 rep maximum (easy method of working that out is if you can lift something 10 times before failure, that particular weight is around 75% of your 1RM. i.e, if you can bench press 60kg 10 times, your 1RM is about 80ish kgs - you can find a good calculator of this HERE

Training time: 45-60 minutes... any more and you really wont get the benefit (in this case, hypertrophy) from the effort you're exerting

Training frequency: 3-4 times per cycle. Try and get out of the mentality of training by the days in the week and break it down to a 3 or 4 session cycle with at least a day off between each session and preferably 72 hours off between working the same body part again. Break it down to 2 body parts per session but preferably 2 completely separate muscle groups.

One example:
Session 1:
Shoulders, Traps, and a light biceps session, Abs

Session 2:
Chest, Lats, and a light lower back,

Session 3:
Biceps (heavier), Forearms, Calves, Abs

Session 4:
Triceps, Thighs, Lower back (Heavier)

That way you're giving each body part the required rest period to recover and rebuild and if your form and technique are correct, you wont be recruiting the same muscle groups any more frequently than once every 72 or so hours.

Yes, bi's and abs get doubled up, but they are the smallest muscle groups on the body and hence have a faster recovery time so you can pay them more attention. Glutes, chest and lats are the largest, hence need maximum recovery time, and tri's get worked twice because of the focus on them in session 4 and the fact they are the secondary muscle group getting worked when you train your chest.. i could go on for hours here!!!

And anything you do for your abs has to be at least matched by what you do for your lower back. If not, you will create an inbalance (same with any agonist/antagonist muscles i.e opposite muscle groups - chest/lats, biceps/triceps, glutes/quads) and ultimately do some potentially serious long term damage to yourself.

Recovery is everything as well. Always do a light (10 min) cardio session (walk, light swim etc) to allow your body to naturally process the lactic acid it builds up during your work out and try and get some quality Branch Chain Amino Acids and proteins into you as soon as you possibly can after you've done your last set.

In terms of diet, basically keep everything as lean as possible (minimal saturated fats, a moderate amount of mono-unsaturated, little bit of poly but not too much - fat is fat at the end of the day) and cut out as much sugar as you can.

Eat every couple of hours between the time you wake up til about 2 or so hours before you go to bed but keep it to medium size meals. Sure, you want to bulk up, but you dont want to become fat. Lean muscle is what you're after.

Lots of lean protein (try to include some in EVERY meal but dont over-do it - 6-7 grams every hour is fine with a little bit more required immediately after training when you're muscles need it most), lots of low sugar (Low GI) carbos during your active hours and plenty of fruit and veg.

Do some research in the internet about what food groups are the highest in lean protein, low GI carbs etc etc.

But under NO circumstances should you go on any fad diet. You MUST have a balanced intake of all the good things (protein, carbs, fats, minerals, vitamins) for your body to function properly, especially as you'll be putting it through some pretty intense treatment.

In terms of what weigh training exercises to do, ask a professional at your gym or buy some literature. As dorky as it might sound, a great resource is Arnold Schwarzenegger's Body Building Encyclopedia. But always get someone who knows what they're doing to show you and never do anything that feels too uncomfortable. Form is everything - if you cant do it properly, dont do it.

Good luck.
 
Hey Carlos that was a great post, I'm sure to revisit it a few times as it's very informative.

Out of interest (i've had a reaccurring argument on big footy over the years), what is your opinion on cardio v wieght training in terms of effective wieght/fat loss?
 
Theres so many different theories Nicky, but the one i lean towards is that strength (as opposed to hypertrophy) training is the most effective method of losing your fat for reasons i mentioned in the above post.

Lifting as heavy as you can go absolutely brutalises your body's metabolism into over drive and turns it into a fat burning machine for hour's after you've finished training.

Smart recovery methods and a healthy diet wont hurt either.

I'd never recommend against doing cardio though as its so good for you in so many other ways (including weight loss), but by itself, its not the most effective way to drop the chuch IMO.

But one thing is certain - what works for one person doesnt always work for others. And i enjoy doing all of the above too much to choose between them, hence why i do alot of weight training and alot of cardio and am in the best physical and mental shape of my life as a result.
 
Yeah that is what i believe too but the cardio heads jump on me for saying it.

Cardio for me is a given. I do 2 and half hours a day, so i'm not anti cardio, i see the benefits, I just find weight training is more effective for toning. At the moment i'm restricted to only doing cardio because i'm not a member of a gym.
 
Good post Carlos.

Here's a top routine for beginners:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224

I had been doing weights seriously for a good 6 months, but decided to change my routine up and followed the Rippetoe routine for about 3 months. I found that when I went back to hypertrophy (bulk) training I could maintain better technique and push more weight, and thus get a better workout.

I'd suggest doing the above linked routine until you have a decent base to work with before you start worrying about bulk and size.
 
delirious,

Firstly, what is the purpose of your training...sport? aesthetics/looks?

Secondly, how good are you at bodyweight exercises - push ups, pull-ups, dips, glute bridges, kneeling bird dogs, walking lunges, single leg squats, dead bugs, prone and side planks etc. (google them if you haven't heard of them)? If you suck at them then you would definitely get more benefit out of working with bodyweight before introducing and progressing with (external) weights - when you're ready Mark Rippetoe's book "Starting Strength" is great book to help you get into weight training and dieting to build muscle (a nice summary of Rippetoe's work in the link D4E posted).

Before you get into heavy weight training properly, I'd also recommend working on hip mobility (will help with squatting depth, take load of the low back, general injury prevention and a lot of everyday activities - through drills like fire hydrants and hurdle step overs), ankle mobility (help take will help with squatting depth and take load of the knees), gluteal activation (improving recruitiment of the strongest group of muscles in your body, which will help take a lot of burden of the low back and hamstrings and improve general low body strength - through exercises like glute bridges, kneeling birddogs, hipflexor static stretching) and scapular stabilization (important for shoulder health before you begin heavy overhead and bench pressing - can be worked on through scapular wall slides, prone trap raises, pushups, face pulls), so your body can function properly and you can get the most benefit out of your training.
 

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daddy_4_eyes said:
I'd suggest doing the above linked routine until you have a decent base to work with before you start worrying about bulk and size.
Click to expand...
Thats the key. If you haven't trained much, then you need to get the basics right. And the great thing is, you'll still see noticable changes in your body shape when you've done basic weight training after a few months anyway.

Down the track, you'll be able to try different methods (Max OT is hands down the best way to achieve functional strength and great gains wihtout looking like a freak that i've ever experienced or taught other people) but daddy_4_eyes is right - get the basic stuff down first. I said a heap of stuff in my earlier post but the most important was that if you cant do it properly, then dont do it. Its pretty simple.
 
I have been reading with interest everyone's thoughts on weight training and would like any feedback or advice on what I am currently doing . I have been doing weights on and off for the past 10 or so years , in that time I have been at a gym too where I learnt supersets , drop sets and splitting programs up .

Currently I just train at home with a bench a dumbells and I also incorporate cardio as I train more for sport .
An example of what I do is the Dumbell Press . I do 3 x 12 at a heavier weight then drop the weight down for another 3 x 12 and then drop again to a light weight for 3 x 15 . I finish of by doing 3 sets of pushups to failure . I am always careful not to repeat that program for around 3 days , in fact I do 2 sessions of it per week .

I am just curious is what I am doing effective or is there a better more effective way I can do this . I don't want to be overloading myself too much if not neccessary .

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated !
 
GeneralDisarray said:
Doing that many reps is more for fat loss and tone as opposed to building muscle.
Click to expand...

The term 'tone' is a myth. To tone up simply means lose body fat, which then allows you to appear more muscular.

And always take at least 2 days rest before doing the same muscle group. A simple rule of thumb is if it's sore, then don't train it. Your muscles need time to repair.
Click to expand...

Wrong!

You can certainly train through soreness or DOMS. DOMS is a not a by-product of a good training session as some would lead you to believe, rather it is a result of infrequent training (eg: body part split; body building type routine).

If your new to weight training; stick to higher reps (10-12), thus, making it easier to ingrain good motor patterns (eg: technique / form). Moreover, there is no need to train more than 3x per week if you follow a properly constructed weight training program (Full body; equaly upper and lower body movements)
 
daddy_4_eyes said:
Good post Carlos.

Here's a top routine for beginners:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224

I had been doing weights seriously for a good 6 months, but decided to change my routine up and followed the Rippetoe routine for about 3 months. I found that when I went back to hypertrophy (bulk) training I could maintain better technique and push more weight, and thus get a better workout.

I'd suggest doing the above linked routine until you have a decent base to work with before you start worrying about bulk and size.
Click to expand...

The Rippetoe (3 x 5) is a really good 'beginners' program that enables you to build a solid foundation of strength in quality movements (squat, deadlift, press, bench press etc), whilst also shying away from the traditional body part split programs that most people follow.

However, prior to undertaking this program I would adhere to a adaptation phase first, which would consist of higher reps and relatively lighter weights to prepare the joints for the impending heavier loads.

Also, generally there is a correlation between strength and size provided you aren't doing singles or doubles, which for a novice are definitely not ideal.
 
sting said:
I have been reading with interest everyone's thoughts on weight training and would like any feedback or advice on what I am currently doing . I have been doing weights on and off for the past 10 or so years , in that time I have been at a gym too where I learnt supersets , drop sets and splitting programs up .

Currently I just train at home with a bench a dumbells and I also incorporate cardio as I train more for sport .
An example of what I do is the Dumbell Press . I do 3 x 12 at a heavier weight then drop the weight down for another 3 x 12 and then drop again to a light weight for 3 x 15 . I finish of by doing 3 sets of pushups to failure . I am always careful not to repeat that program for around 3 days , in fact I do 2 sessions of it per week .

I am just curious is what I am doing effective or is there a better more effective way I can do this . I don't want to be overloading myself too much if not neccessary .

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated !
Click to expand...

My take on weight training for athletes is you want to be achieving neural improvements (i.e. improved recruitment of high threshold motor units AKA fast twitch muscle fibres). "Endurance" training in the weights room (i.e. lifting light weights for a lot of reps) is useless IMO as endurance can be improved in lots more effective ways, whereas maximal strength can only be achieved in the weights room.

Weight training for athletes has different goals and requires a different approach to "bodybuilding training". With bodybuilding, you want to be producing as much muscle fatigue to as many muscle fibres (doesn't matter which type) as possible (i.e. 'lighter' weights, more reps and more volume - recruiting as many muscle fibres as possible, while still being able to produce more muscle damage). With weight training for athletes, you want to be producing as much force as possible i.e. moving a heavier weight, or accelerating a lighter weight as fast as possible, for less reps and less volume - for greatest fast twitch recruitment with limited muscle damage (depending on body composition goals). As a general rule athletes should always train with weights greater than 80-85% of their 1 rep max for the above to achieved, unless training a movement with max. speed, where 50-65% of 1RM is generally used with low reps.

In short, bodybuilders train to create as much muscle damage (microtraumas) as possible, while athletes train to improve recruitment of high threshold motor units/fast twitch muscle fibres without creating too much muscle damage (unless the athlete wants to gain more muscle mass).

Here's a 2 part article (Muscle For Athletes by Christian Thibaudeau) that explains it in more depth:
http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1633676&cr=
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1572045
 
nicky said:
Hey Carlos that was a great post, I'm sure to revisit it a few times as it's very informative.

Out of interest (i've had a reaccurring argument on big footy over the years), what is your opinion on cardio v wieght training in terms of effective wieght/fat loss?
Click to expand...

In terms of long term health benefits and fat loss, weight training wins hands down. Cardio (Long duration, steady state variety - aerobic) is catabolic by nature, which means it is counterproductive to weight training in that it actually eats away at your muscle tissue. If you don't believe me, have a look at the tour de France riders or marathon runners and have a look at how skinny they are. No muscle and body fat sitting around 10-12%; aesthetically not that pleasing IMO. However, that is the requirements for their chosen sports.

IMO you cannot beat a combination of cardio (Interval training; high intensity) and weight training for long term fat loss. The weight training component becomes even more important if you are following a calorie restricted diet, whereby you will be trying to mantain muscle mass whilst losing body fat.
 
Top Dog said:
In terms of long term health benefits and fat loss, weight training wins hands down. Cardio (Long duration, steady state variety - aerobic) is catabolic by nature, which means it is counterproductive to weight training in that it actually eats away at your muscle tissue. If you don't believe me, have a look at the tour de France riders or marathon runners and have a look at how skinny they are. No muscle and body fat sitting around 10-12%; aesthetically not that pleasing IMO. However, that is the requirements for their chosen sports.

IMO you cannot beat a combination of cardio (Interval training; high intensity) and weight training for long term fat loss. The weight training component becomes even more important if you are following a calorie restricted diet, whereby you will be trying to mantain muscle mass whilst losing body fat.
Click to expand...

Agree with this
 
The BB.com routine is a ok beginner routine. Very basic 3 x week whole body routine.

For most sports, the quick lifts are the way to go if you want explosive . The Power lifts : Power Cleans/Pulls/Snatches. The full olympic lifts. Presses, Push Presses. As well as the Squat.


Traning the whole body3+ times per week using these exercies is EXTREMELY benificial. Anyone who says otherwise needs to rethink.

Leave the bodybuilding routines for the pretty boys.....
 

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