Forget about isolation movements. Stick with just the big compound lifts: squats, deadlifts, bench presses, overhead presses. Don't lift to failure. Keep rest between sets to around a minute. If you're looking for a good beginners book on strength training, get Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength.
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So the fact that i put on weight easily shouldn't deter diet?
Also im reading alot here to do things like squads deadlifts etc instead of having a pecs day biceps day etc. can u mix both? I generally have a couple hrs to work out in the morning. could i go thru the squats presses routine than do a focused muscle group part?
Forget the stupid isolation routines. Forget the stupid isolation movements. You don't need a couple of hours, an hour max is plenty. Do a few full body movements like squats, deads, and you'll muscle up.
So the fact that i put on weight easily shouldn't deter diet?
Also im reading alot here to do things like squads deadlifts etc instead of having a pecs day biceps day etc. can u mix both? I generally have a couple hrs to work out in the morning. could i go thru the squats presses routine than do a focused muscle group part?
You can do an upper body / lower body split.
Day 1 Chest [ Bench Press], Shoulders [Overhead Press ] , Triceps [ Close Grip Bench Press or Skull Crushers ]
Day 2 Rest + Eat
Day 3 Back [ Deadlift , Barbell Row and Pull Up] , Biceps [ Bicep Curl ]
Day 4 Rest + Eat
Day 5 Legs [Squat ] Abdominals [ Leg Raise ]
That's a basic template of only compound exercises. Make sure and have at least EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP especially on work out days.
Two hours after you work out, EAT A LARGE MEAL consisting of clean carbs and lean protein .
Two hours before working out, have a solid meal or a protein shake.
As long as your diet is clean , you new weight will be only muscle.
It's good to do other things too that require handling your body weight...like indoor rock climbing you can do overhang ladders, builds awesome core strength... do ramp climbs on the treadmill the days you are working your upper body when you are doing your warm up... go bicycling on your rest days, do some swimming or cross country skiing...work out to go ice climbing, so when you're working your arms on the weights that are on the cables... go to a boot camp class once in a while to shake it up a bit. Take a yoga class on your rest day, so you are really resting and stretching out.
I agree with muscle burning more calories. Except for my lovely female parts, I am pretty much muscle. 5'2" and 103 pounds and I don't worry about what I eat. I do like protein but eat a fair amount of carbs and believe it or not fats (I might need more fats because I have had a brain injury/oxygen deprivation.) I agree with the sleep. Your body's hormones that regulate the entire body need to be regular, and they require that resting state you get with sleep in order to have proper levels circulating, and it's all tied somehow with circadian rhythm. If you want to boost that a bit, go outside for 15 minutes at least at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. every day and go for a short walk in the evening.
Never skip breakfast.
Pullups are a great way to test how you're doing, and they're fun because they're impressive and build your confidence in progress...but remember this...pullups are only good for training for more pullups...once you understand that pullups are fun. (They do build great core strength if you do them slowly...)
Lift heavy and when you actually begin to fear the workouts , learn to push through . Google EDT bryce lane have it all w/o or his brute force he man w/o
because of time constrains and old habit I lift 3 times a week
mon.wed.fri and then the weekend off for rest and reward
I do a whole body work out takes 1hour 3 sets of each exercise.
squat
lat pull downs
calf raises
leg extension
leg curl
bench
tri extensions
flys
side arm raises
curl
wrist curl
1 min break between sets unless I'm going heavy then 3 min breaks.
if I have extra time I try to throw something else in or run the treadmill or the airydyne.
the key is consistancy try to never miss a day ...except when sick.
you will be surprised most time when I feel like blowing it off and force myself to go I have a great work out and you feel like wow I'm glad I went.
if you really don't feel like going tell your self I'll just do 1 set of everythinh and get the heck out of there...... but when you get there and start moving some plates around you'll say ..well I'm here and just do your normal routine.
Day 1 Chest [ Bench Press], Shoulders [Overhead Press ] , Triceps [ Close Grip Bench Press or Skull Crushers ]
Day 2 Rest + Eat
Day 3 Back [ Deadlift , Barbell Row and Pull Up] , Biceps [ Bicep Curl ]
Day 4 Rest + Eat
Day 5 Legs [Squat ] Abdominals [ Leg Raise ]
That's a basic template of only compound exercises. Make sure and have at least EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP especially on work out days.
Two hours after you work out, EAT A LARGE MEAL consisting of clean carbs and lean protein .
Two hours before working out, have a solid meal or a protein shake.
As long as your diet is clean , you new weight will be only muscle.
How many reps and sets of each?
And this is enough? I'm not doubting you, but I have this idea in my head that you are basically eating proteins all the time and lifting ALOT. I never though that doing a few compound exercises every other day would work to that good of a effect (plus exercise).
I also have a question about squats. Whenever I do squats, I find it much easier on my knees (and safer I don't have spotters) to use the Smith Machine, but the little I've read really seems down on anything that doesn't allow complete free movement. So are Smith Machines counter-productive to the advice offered on this thread?
Effess,
This subject is kind of like religion, everyone has their own passionate beliefs, their own prophets they follow and their own Bibles. However, there is more than one way to enlightenment when it comes to weight training.
How tall are you and what's your body fat %? I know you're mid 30's @ 200. What you need to understand is that your testosterone has peaked and been slightly declining for about ten years. You can still build good muscle even into late life, but it gets slower and slower. You need to have realistic expectations or you'll get discouraged.
Knock off the cardio, it's a waste of time. Ignore P90X and muscle confusion, ignore plyometrics, ignore big balls and other commercially conceived bullski ****ski.
You can build plenty of muscle on barbells and you can build it on machines. Or you can do both as I did back in the 60's and 70's. Nowadays, I just use machines, mostly.
Forget supplements. The only ones that work are illegal, with one exception.
You can either lift to failure or not. I almost always do one set to failure of each exercise, sometimes I'll follow that with a quick drop set to failure. In the past I've used multi-sets, both to failure and not to failure. It really doesn't matter, just so you're really working hard for the last 3 reps in a set. I prefer lifting to failure as it gets me through a workout in about 15 minutes.
What does actually make a difference is your exercise selection, your diet, and your rest. If you don't lift heavy compounds you won't grow (unless you're on gear), but there is still a place for isolation movements (in conjunction with compounds) if you're primarily lifting for physique rather than just strength.
Also, I don't particularly like backsquats and I don't do them, however, I do use belt squats.
The main moves are squats of some kind, bench (I prefer decline bench), deadlifts, chins if you can or pull downs if you can't chin, bent over barbell row or a machine row, overhead press, dips. Do that 3X a week until you stop making progress. Make sure you get at least 8 hours of sleep or you won't be maxing your endogenous testosterone.
How many reps and sets of each?
And this is enough? I'm not doubting you, but I have this idea in my head that you are basically eating proteins all the time and lifting ALOT. I never though that doing a few compound exercises every other day would work to that good of a effect (plus exercise).
I also have a question about squats. Whenever I do squats, I find it much easier on my knees (and safer I don't have spotters) to use the Smith Machine, but the little I've read really seems down on anything that doesn't allow complete free movement. So are Smith Machines counter-productive to the advice offered on this thread?
You need to eat about 300 to 400 grams of protein per day. Smith machine is fine, Squat rack is fine, Belt squat is fine, whatever you do make sure you go to at least parallel.
How many reps and sets of each?
And this is enough? I'm not doubting you, but I have this idea in my head that you are basically eating proteins all the time and lifting ALOT. I never though that doing a few compound exercises every other day would work to that good of a effect (plus exercise).
I also have a question about squats. Whenever I do squats, I find it much easier on my knees (and safer I don't have spotters) to use the Smith Machine, but the little I've read really seems down on anything that doesn't allow complete free movement. So are Smith Machines counter-productive to the advice offered on this thread?
Get and read the Rippetoe book on Starting Strength. There are all sorts of aspects to training. There are all sorts of discussions one can have on sets and reps. But doing 5 sets of 5 is not a bad place to start. There are specific reasons for this.
One needs to understand that there are novices, intermediates, advanced and elite lifters. It is a continuum, but the takeway is that if a novice trains like one of the others they will not be doing the most effective program for them. That is the most common mistake. A novice doing an advanced training routine. Keep it simple. A novice will increase much faster following a novice program.
Squats, Deadlifts, Overhead Presses, and Bench Presses. Throw in certain assistance movements like Rows and Chins. If you did just these in a proper program you could be a monster. There are all sorts of variations to these movements. Novice programs often do full body routines for a while until they cannot recover and then one starts to split the routines up over time. That is when a lifter morphs into an intermediate. This is explained in Starting Strength.
Squats are not bad on your knees. I persoanlly have never injured myself with Squats. And I have done a lot of them.
One can get brutally strong by doing just a few compound movements per training session. Two to four times a week.
You might want to try the 5/3/1 methodology.
You can get the E-Book for $20 here -> Elite FTS
__________________
Rectitude--Courage--Benevolence--Respect--Honesty--Honor--Loyalty
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
"Why do we fall? So we might learn to pick ourselves up."
"It’s not who we are underneath, but what we do that defines us."
Last edited by Entropy3000; 06-14-2012 at 12:09 AM.
You need to eat about 300 to 400 grams of protein per day. Smith machine is fine, Squat rack is fine, Belt squat is fine, whatever you do make sure you go to at least parallel.
If you don't have a partner, get one. I've trained with and without and you must be super motivated to train without one. If you choose to train alone, be aware of that. Also, use machines for the chest press when training alone.
Listen like it has been said forget the P90X bull and other TV gimmicks. Trust me I've tried some of them including P90X. Do your homework. Look at what the guys back in the 40's and 50's did to build their physiques. Most of them had some impressive physiques that most of us today won't love to have. Look at how they lifted (mostly basic lifts) and what they ate. They consumed mostly whole foods without using these "miracle" supps we have today. Think about it back in the 40's/50's it was all about buildng muscle and not about some company or yahoo trying to get you to "lose weight" by emptying your wallet with false claims. Google Paleo/Primal diets/lifestyle. I have been doing this for some time now and never have felt better. I am leaning out and building muscle and I take NO over the counter sups (i.e. junk) except for a zinc/melatonin sup to help with sleep. As far as daily calories to consume...dude eat until you are satiated and no more. Why would you eat past satisfaction just to reach a random number like 2500 or 3500? If you are satisfied at 250 cals at a meal it makes no sense to me keep eating cuz you think you need 350 cals or you'll just shrink! I have no idea how many cals I eat on a daily basis but all I know it the fat is melting off and my muscle are getting fuller and I am 38. As far as cardio is concerned I agree chronic long distance running will sabotage your muscle building goals. I lift weights 3 days a week and I take long walks (30-40 mins) like twice a week max. You should sprint at least once a week. Sprinting burns fat not muscle and in fact it helps build muscles (hams, quads, glutes, upper body). The next time you watch Olympic track and field check out the sprinters' physiques. Then check out the long distance runners "physiques". Which would you rather have? Lift "heavy" you have to challenge your muscles or they won't grow. Each workout try to do one more rep at a weight or add slightly more weight (2.5 - 5 lbs at a time) to your lift but don't kill yourself. To sum it all up go back to basics and what worked before in the past. It's all about being healthy and having good fitness then being bulky. Good luck
It's good to do other things too that require handling your body weight...like indoor rock climbing you can do overhang ladders, builds awesome core strength... do ramp climbs on the treadmill the days you are working your upper body when you are doing your warm up... go bicycling on your rest days, do some swimming or cross country skiing...work out to go ice climbing, so when you're working your arms on the weights that are on the cables... go to a boot camp class once in a while to shake it up a bit. Take a yoga class on your rest day, so you are really resting and stretching out.
Quite simply you build muscle by stressing it through use and then feeding it enough to build it. Providing enough protein is essential for building new muscle. There is an optimum window of 20-30 minutes after muscle use where the absorption of protein to build and replace muscle is most effective.
What is not essential is weight training. One can build muscle through any sort of activity that stresses muscle. Homemaker is completely correct in that body weight exercises are an effective way of building muscle. The real question is what do you want to do with your muscle? If all you want is to collect muscle bulk then weight lifting is probably the way to go. If you need muscle to perform specific activities like dance, gymnastics or climbing then you need to manage your exercises to avoid over building bulk by focusing on exercises that stress fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers in the appropriate ratio for you activity.
There is nothing wrong with weight training but it is not the only way.
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Re: How to build muscle? 
If you are satisfied at 250 cals at a meal it makes no sense to me keep eating cuz you think you need 350 cals or you'll just shrink! I have no idea how many cals I eat on a daily basis but all I know it the fat is melting off and my muscle are getting fuller and I am 38. As far as cardio is concerned I agree chronic long distance running will sabotage your muscle building goals. I lift weights 3 days a week and I take long walks (30-40 mins) like twice a week max. You should sprint at least once a week. Sprinting burns fat not muscle and in fact it helps build muscles (hams, quads, glutes, upper body). The next time you watch Olympic track and field check out the sprinters' physiques. Then check out the long distance runners "physiques". Which would you rather have?
Lift "heavy" you have to challenge your muscles or they won't grow. Each workout try to do one more rep at a weight or add slightly more weight (2.5 - 5 lbs at a time) to your lift but don't kill yourself. To sum it all up go back to basics and what worked before in the past. It's all about being healthy and having good fitness then being bulky. Good luck
