Add this, I love this exercice, since you do something else than just lifting weights, and then when you get good enough, you can add some weight with a belt.

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The current ideology (subject to change any day) is that no less than 20 seconds and no more than a minute between sets is ideal.

Also, on working out more than 4 times a week and trying to lift too much (this is from Men's Fitness)

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MISTAKE: WORKING OUT MORE THAN FOUR TIMES A WEEK
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Every time you lift, you dip into your body's energy reserves to fuel your muscles. Unfortunately, those are the same reserves used to build muscle after your workout. The more often you lift, the fewer raw materials you leave to create new muscle. Since your muscles grow when they're resting, hard-gainers need less work and more rest, not the other way around.

Limit your gym time to two upper and two lower body workouts per week. Better yet, try a 10 day rotation. Instead of performing all four of your workouts in a seven day period, spread them out over 10 days. (Your muscles don't care what day it is.) This ensures maximum recovery between workouts, and that means maximum muscle growth.

Tip: If you aren't gaining at least a pound a week, you aren't eating enough to replenish your energy reserves and provide a surplus of raw materials to build muscle.

Try to get nine hours of sleep a night. Since there's nothing else for you muscles to do, they grow fastest while you're sleeping

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MISTAKE: THINKING TOO BIG
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Guys always overestimate themselves, from the bedroom to the gym. They try to increase weight too much, too fast. That ultimately reduces the total amount of work muscles can perform and limits gains. Think of "work" as the amount of weight you lift multiplied by the total number of times you lift it. For instance, if you do three sets of 10 repetitions of 100 pounds, you're lifting a total of 3,000 pounds. Your goal should be to increase that amount every workout. When you increase the weight too fast, you force your muscles to lift more than they're ready for, causing them to fatigue early, thus decreasing the total amount lifted.

Increase the weight you lift for every workout, but by the smallest increment possible. Slap on two 5 pounds at the most. A five pound increase on a 100-pound load is so small, you'll hardly notice it. But the cumulative effect of adding it every workout will quickly increase the total amount of weight you're lifting. For example:

Week 1: 3 sets x 10 reps x 100 pounds = 3,000 pounds
Week 2: 3 sets x 10 reps x 105 pounds = 3,150 pounds
Week 3: 3 sets x 10 reps x 110 pounds = 3,300 pounds
Week 4: 3 sets x 10 reps x 115 pounds = 3,450 pounds

You've moved an additional 450 pounds in the last workout compared with the first in a four week period. And that's just one exercise. Do the same with four exercises and you'll force your body to handle an additional 1,800 pounds of weight. That's a tremendous increase in total poundage, and it will cause rapid increases in muscle mass.

Rest NO MORE than a minute between sets of the same exercise. Shorter rest periods boost levels of muscle-building hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone better than longer rests. (Note: Resting for less than one minute will significantly reduce the total amount of weight you can lift on the exercise.)



If you guys find that stuff helpful, i can continue to post it...

i think its ok to work out more than four days a week...as long as you do it right...you gotta be eating a shit load though...

quote:

Originally posted by Masonious =================================================== MISTAKE: WORKING OUT MORE THAN FOUR TIMES A WEEK ===================================================

Maybe for some, but it depends on the person.

I can train up to 10 times quite fine, and my body reacts really well to it, but some people will train 4 times and get sick...

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"The first stage of the great adventure has concluded happily, and here I am installed in Mexico, although I have no idea about the future" Che Guevara

aye, this is definitely a contentious issue...many differing opinions. I know that when i worked out every day, and sometimes twice a day, i got REALLY strong (450 on Incline Press) but my body didn't look like i wanted it to at all. I've since noticed gains in size by resting more often between muscle groups. Even though it's annoying as hell when you have all that energy, it seems to show benefits for me. But then, everyone's body is totally different ^.^

yeah i got strength from working out every day but not looks. the first pics of me 2 years ago was benchin around 280 incline now i doubt i could do 200 lol.

but thats what its all about well see what we all look like in 4 months! woot


edit: also this is you guys....this is the BEGINNERS thread noobs shouldnt push it that hard

Yea your definatley right orbax.. stabilizers are important lets not neglect them.. but getting used to form is very important as wel... its way to often that ive seen people doing bicep curls with their back, bench press with their shoulders.. etc

thats the reason why i suggest machines to start


bug this has been a very informative thread


leave it up to the BAX to get TA in shape

This is just the sort of thing I've been looking for. Without this, I doubt I would ever have tried to bulk up, as I'm too lazy to find any 'Weight Training For Dummies' guides myself.

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This is great. Cheers lads for taking the time to do this. I don't goto the gym anymore because I recently acquired a home gym so I want to use that. I'll try my best to explain what it's got but it might be a bit dodgy because I don't know correct terminology. It's got a peck deck, lat pulldown, bicep thing (bar connected to a rope near bottom that you pull up, you can disconnect the bar and attach it where the lat pulldown bar is too), and a sort of bench press type thing where you sit down and push it outwards. I've also got some old dumbells (goes up to 10kg each) and a really old bar (goes up to 30kg).

I'd fall into the first category you posted, Body Type: Lean, Goal: Gain Mass and was wondering what would be recommended considering the equipment I have access to.

Cheers for any help.

quote:

Originally posted by Orbax abs- hanging leg raises and kneeling rope crunches and side bends.

Can you explain the leg raise and side bends just to make sure I'm doing the same thing...

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quote:

Originally posted by bass drive newbie question is it true that "back lat pulldowns" is bad for the spine?

If you by back lat pulldowns" mean pulldowns behind your head, then yes they can fuck up you back. Atleast thats what new test results shows. Front lat Pulldowns on the other hand should do you no harm.

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Orbax: I'd say there's a lack of cardio in those toning programs you have made. Cardio right after weight training would be essential for losing fat. If you make sure you eat right it shouldn't be that hard to lose about a kilo (about 2,2 pounds) a week. A lot of people might feel that they're too exhausted to run after the weight training. The good thing is that cardio with low intensity (low pulse) is the best way to lose weight. Lifting weights has the same functions as interval cardio; it mobilizes your stored fat. Running with low intensity (say 9-10km/h) or walking fast burns the fat you have already released. So my tip for fat loss would be to run with low intesity or walk fast for 20-30 minutes after the weight training, or just do some own cardio days with 10-15 minutes of interval running and then rest for about 5 minutes and then run or walk for 20-30 mins.

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