posted
With all the health & fitness related threads going on, it got me wondering what other people on Hatrack that lift weights seriously are doing for routines, nutrition, supplements, etc.
I'm especially interested in you 'hardgainers' (this means you twinky ). I've always had a difficult time putting on muscle mass. However, my metabolism has recently slowed down these last 5 years so these last 3 months I've been giving weightlifting another shot.
I'm 6'3, 200 lbs, with about 16% body fat (a bit high, I know, but I haven't began cutting yet). My strength gains have been awesome...so far 70 lb gains on bench, 90 lbs on squat, etc.
I'm using a routine made by Mark Rippetoe, been doing it for a month now. It's Mon, Wed, Fri, alternating workouts.
Basically you are supposed to go up 5 lbs every exercise every workout. So far I haven't maxed out yet. It's really increased my core strength, although I don't like that it has no direct arm workouts (although they are included due to compound exercises). Tuesday I do cardio and Thursdays an hour of Tai Chi, abs on both days. I used to do cardio every day, but I was losing weight so I stopped. Saturdays and Sundays are off. Total time in the gym is just under an hour a day.
I've struggled with the diet, I eat about 3500-4000 calories a day. I still feel like my size is lagging, which is frustrating. If anyone has some tips on this it would be awesome?
Supplements I take are: multivitamin, creatine monohydrate, and l-glutamine. I'm not too into trying a bunch of supplements at this point though-I'm more interested in timing. For example, right now I take the creatine with a dextrose drink immediately after working out. Is this the best time?
Anyways, some tips, personal experiences, knowledge, etc are much appreciated-especially if you're the type that struggles to put on muscle mass.
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
First of all, you're really neglecting a large muscle group -- your back. Barbell rows just aren't enough. I also don't like to see a workout that ignores the arms, shoulders, and traps. Yeah, they assist in compound lifts, but I'm not sure what your goal is with this split.
Are you just trying to gain mass or are you trying to gain strength, or power? Primarily, I mean.
Squatting 3 times a week just seems crazy, to me. If you can walk the day after you squat, you're not getting enough out of it, imo.
The split that I found worked best for overall musculature and strength gains was Mon - Bench, Tris, Abs Tues - Back, Bis Wed - Off Thurs - Shoulders (Power clean, military press, and specific supersets involving the three shoulder muscles) Fri - Legs (Squats, calf exercises, quad and hamstring extensions)
Generally I'd do the compound lift first, then finish up the workout with secondary lifts (which I always either supersetted or went to failure on). There's room to change up what you do for your primary lift each day, too. One week I'd do flat bench and incline db's, next week I'd do decline bench and flat db's, and so on.
With something like this, I did cardio whenever I felt like it, from 2-5 times a week. Varying it quite a bit, from stationary bike to jogging to basketball to jumping rope.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Mainly strength, but mass if important too. I thought the squats were crazy at first too. Oddly enough I did get used to it- the frequency really helped my recovery time. On my old routine, similar to yours, I used to hate leg days 'cause the squats made me want to puke. No change on that one, except now it's after every workout I want to puke (but I can still walk since I'm not doing leg presses, hyperextentions, leg curls, and calves like I was before). There's not much direct back work, you're right. Just the compound effects from squats & deadlifts.
One thing that was suggested for this program is some dips and chinups for arm work. Do you think that would be good?
Also this is by no means a permanent program. It's for about 6 months or so, just to get the core strength & mass going. The guy who did it owns a gym in Texas and beginners usually gain on average 30-40 lbs of muscle mass in a year.
After I begin to taper off on my progression on these core exercises, I'll move on to more direct work like you are talking about.
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Protein suppliments really work for me. They sneak some amino acids in there that are supposed to direct the protein to the muscles, and I like it.
3x5 is pretty harsh. I'm a 3x8 or 3x(8,6,4) guy myself, depending on how much it hurts. Granted, it's taken me a year to get my bench weight up 100 lbs, from a starting 115.
Wide grip chinups are crazy good for pretty ,uch everything from the core up to your head. They make me smile.
Posts: 1156 | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
What kind of protein suppliments airman? I have a scoop of whey with glass of milk twice a day...are you talking about pills? Also, you brought up a question I had...what amino acids will help protein utilization-and whate foods do I get them in?
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
When I do move up to a more intermediate type workout like the one you outlined, I had 2 questions: 1) What's a superset? 2) So have you found that doing the compound movements first followed by more direct work helped? Because they were all kind of mixed together in the routine I was using at first. That may have been why I was somewhat unhappy with my routine before.
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
A superset is generally used to refer to a number of sets piled one on the other with no rest.
For example, as my last tri lift I might do something like cable pulldowns supersetted with db extensions. I'd do my reps of cable first, then immediately move to dbs. When I finished, that would be one superset. I usually do three supersets.
It's a good exercise to end on because it really exhausts the muscle, in addition to attacking it from more than one angle.
If I don't superset to end the lift, I'd do a burnout, where after the last rep of the last set I reduce the weight by about 40% and do as many reps as I can to failure.
As for your second question, it's been my experience that it's best to get the compounds lifts out of the way first. I read it something like this: the secondary muscles are mainly used to stabilize the weight in your major lifts, but if they are fatigued when you start you might hit failure before your core muscles are actually there. So your chest might still be able to lift more, but if your tris or shoulders can't go on then you're done benching for the day. Plus this allows me to really fatigue the secondary muscle groups more than I would feel comfortable if I were hitting them first.
You strike me as someone who's serious about lifting, and I'd recommend you start reading Muscle&Fitness magazine. Don't be thrown by the covers; it's a serious mag, with routines designed by doctorates and excellent nutrition advice. It's too hardcore and in-depth for your average lifter, but I think you'd like it. It gets repetitive after a few months (only so many recipes you can cook up with grilled chicken breast), but it was a valuable resource for me.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Actually El JT de Spang, you stole my next question from me. I was going to ask what magazines, if any you would recommend. I looked through about 6 of them a couple weeks ago at the bookstore. I ended up picking up a copy of Fitness RX for men, and was only moderately impressed.
I'll have to check out Muscle & Fitness- thanks for the help.
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Oh, I doubt I'm out of your league. I'm just getting started these last few months, so if you have any suggestions, or what's worked for you, by all means post them.
Posts: 1412 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
See, I lift weights, but I do it for a somewhat different purpose, and I'm not male. But I do full body three times a week, unless I meet with my trainer.
But I have to be careful about back stuff because I have scoliosis, of which I am now going through a painful reminder. I really think it would feel SO GOOD to be hung upside down by my feet.
posted
Well, supersets always seemed to give me the best workout. After my core lifts, I usually did 3 different lifts per superset...maybe 2 or 3 supersets total. I usually saved dips and/or pull-ups for the burnout at the end.
In other words...what JT said.
So, nothing new here, but that's what's helped me gain strength in the past.
Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
I'm 5'9/5'10, and I fluctuate between 160 and 165. I do 4 to 5 lifts, 4 sets of 10. That sounds like a lot of sets to most people, but I've had the same workout since I ran track. The perks of doing 4 sets of 10 is that unless you look carefully, I'm 3 times stronger than I look, and I don't have to worry about it going to fat. It's not enough to draw attention to myself, but women are always pleasantly surprised. It's that what all guys want?
The exact kind of lifting varies from person to person, but I think that JT de Spang's schedule is a fine archtype. I may do too many reps for your taste, but I think that 3 sets of 5 is way too few, and you have to watchout about ignoring your back, all of that benching and inclining without counterbalancing with back work is going to screw up your posture. Your shoulders will start rolling over, and you could develop a hunch or more serious issues. I, personally, love working out my back. Doing four sets of 20 pull-ups makes me feel like a man. I feel the same way about dips. There is something about having complete control of your body weight that awesome, and if you ever do anything like capoeira or rock climbing, that kind of control gets even cooler.
Start slow, but for every front lift, do a back life. Your posture will thank you and you'll have a nice V shape.
I'd watch the supplements, but I've seen a lot of guys go to fat with those and I'm paranoid about supplements in general.
posted
You sound exaclty like me Irami. I'm 5'10, and I am pretty consitantly between 160 and 167. I work out 3 times a week, the first time i concentrate on biceps, and back, the second time on triceps and chest, and the third time on back and harder on abs (as I do light ab work every workout), plus if I was too lazy to do one of the previous ones I do that too. The rowing machine (erg) is perhaps my favortie cardio workout in the world. I was on the varsity rowing team in first year for a while (but quit because I couldn't handle the early mornings and it was killing my social life), and I never felt in better shape my whole life. Another thing I have started doing is after every workout I play squash for an hour-ish. I find it really loosens up your muscles (especially arms) after a hard workout.
And I have to agree with you, it's always been very nice to shock people when they first see you without a shirt on or flexing a muscle. I've won many arm wrestling bets that way! haha Getting huge is just not my interest. I'd much prefer to build strength and lean muscle. Ever seen those Cirque de Soleil guys that look like the male anatomy model in high school science class but are still very slim and flexible? That is my ideal.
Posts: 441 | Registered: Jun 2005
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). I've always had a difficult time putting on muscle mass. However, my metabolism has recently slowed down these last 5 years so these last 3 months I've been giving weightlifting another shot.
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