whats the diff between machines and metals ? Can u still gain muscles using machines?

lol of course you gain muscle or else they wouldn't put it in a gym...speaking of gym i haven't gone in like 2 weeks...I'm going now l8r all

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He was fucking with shady women and couldn't drop the habit...

free weights allow you to work a greater range of muscles but can also make you more prone to injury if you don't know what you are doing.

you should devolp a cicuit of machines and/or freeweights that work all the muscles in a particular group because if you build up unevenly you can really fuck things up for your body.

True, Also make sure to go thru everything with a Trainer first.

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He was fucking with shady women and couldn't drop the habit...

True...if you can, get a trainer for a few sessions to teach you form.
Form is much more important than the weight you can actually do.
Get into the habit of being conscious of your form.
If you develop bad habits now, you could really hurt yourself (permanently) later down the road when it comes to lifting heavier weights.
And oh yea, just because some musclehead has a good looking physique doesn't mean they necessarily know what they're talking about when it comes to form.
I've seen many 'built' guys that have horrible form; it will only be a matter of time before something happens to them.
Get a trainer, I did and it's absolutely worth the investment in yourself.

Oh...your question lol...(almost forgot)
Machines are usually good for beginners to work on their form.
Later on when your body becomes accustomed to the movement, you can move on to the free weights.
That's the general impression I get anyways...

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The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all change to silver glass...and then you see it...
...white shores...and beyond...the far green country under a swift sunrise."

well it depends if u r goin for mass or shape..if u wanna add bulk then use machines cause u can do more weights then using dumbells however free weights will allow a better shape..

Ive been working out for 5 years now. Use freeweights when you can! the freer the better! I use dumb bells for bench presses and my barbell has gone up soo much. I went from a skinny bitch MAXING at 135 lol to around 225 now. But I only do 180 max on DBs. They give you the greater range of motion and they work up your internal stabilizers in your arms and stuff. Youll notice the first time you do it you are wobbling all over the place and its miserable, but after that its great. There are few and I mean like 1 or 2 that give you the same work out free weights do. The brand brand new hammer strength and stairmaster stuff is pretty good in the imitations department. But if you do dumb bell curls your bar curls go up and so forth. The stabilizers, the extra motion, and all the slight variations you can do make them work out your muscles in a way that machines just cant. Machines are good at super high levels of weight to reduce risk of injury. but yeah, do free weights. I have a 3 two hour work outs that are pretty much all dumb bells. monday thurs is chest and back. tues fri is biceps triceps shoulders, and wed sat is legs. If you want the Bible of work outs get Arnold Shwarzeneggers 1998 encyclopedia. That man is a genius.

bulk work out is merely from high weight low rep low set (3 sets of 6 reps) the inbetween road gives you size and defininition (5 of 8) and the cutting road (which is sheedding excess scar tissue which makes your muscles bulky and gets rid of the crap floating around in your muscles so the fibers can lie against one another snugly) which is around 6 sets of 12. During a work out period try to do 4 exercises per muscle. so if its chest day do incline, decline, flys and cable cross overs. biceps would be standing db curls, standing curl bar curls, sitting db curls, and hammer curls...you get the point.

If you gots any questions shoot, Ive actually been a personal trainer

Last edited by Orbax on May-29-2002 at 23:52

I'm only going to get my upper body in shape i wanna be a ripped bitch by the beginning of next year. I'm gonna show all these skinny queers that saw look @ my abs and alll u see is bones...I already weigh 204 so the weight i have...can't wait

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He was fucking with shady women and couldn't drop the habit...

ayieie for the love of God dont do that. You dont want the look so many people do which is when they only do the muscles that are easy and you see huge results in. Most people do tons of bench and bicep curls and thats about it. You need to work out all the heads of the deltoid (shoulder) they all require different exercises. the horshoe of the tricep. Both heads of the bicep. and LEGs you gotta. In about 2 months if you work out hard youll have a fairly large and well defined upper body and these THINGS dangling below you. Ive seen it happen a lot and it isnt pretty. Legs are only an extra 30 mins 2 a week

How tall are you btw? you said you weigh 204 or something

The advice that people have already provided is top notch, so Im not going to write about the same stuff.

One thing that hasnt been mentioned (i think), and which has helped me out incredibly, is working out with a spotter, or a friend. My friend and I always go together, we critique eachothers form throughout our workouts, we keep eachother safe (form, and spotting), and we motivate eachother.

You and whoever you workout with should know what the proper forms are, and then have the discipline and schedule to go 3-4 times per week.

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I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
Albert Einstein

Yeah, about the legs thing

One of my friends is a Body builder, and says that if you workout your legs on a regular basis, because they are the largest muscle group, they will cause your body to release more testostorone, resulting in higher muscle building capacity. Ignoring legs will be a detriment to your workout routine.

Im 6'5", 210lbs.

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I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
Albert Einstein

glad you brought that up sarcoman. Yeah in the beginning a partner is almost a must. Not only do you push eachother and work out harder when you have someone watching you, but the spotting is handy. If youve ever had an 80lb dumb bell land on your head you know what im talking about. Not only that but those days where you just dont quite feel like going, and man there is a good movie on TV, when your parnter calls up and say meet you in 5 bitch hurry up, it helps you get motivated. I work out solo now, have for the last year or so, and now I have to go to the gym to feel like ive done something you know? Its hard finding a person who knows that when you are spotting on DB press you push their elbows forward at all because that makes them lose leverage and stuff. If you learn with a partner though youll get all the little things ironed out and youll know when they need help and how. Definitely a good idea.