-- Weightlifting & Nutrition Thread -- v9.0 Optimized

[Soldier Zero]

i just want to point out that the possibility of you becoming "huge" without doing steroids is almost none...

for the most part, the only way you are going to get "huge" is by doing steriods...so i wouldnt worry about getting huge...

im outi

Roberth

Depends, some people are just naturally big. My friend's really strict on what he does and he's 180 lbs. of all natural pure muscle. It's just you have to be determined to achieve your goal.

[MagnusMadness]

Depends, some people are just naturally big. My friend's really strict on what he does and he's 180 lbs. of all natural pure muscle. It's just you have to be determined to achieve your goal.


When me and Roberth think huge.....we are thinking 220+ shredded.....which is possible minus the steroids but would take a long time

[Soldier Zero]

When me and Roberth think huge.....we are thinking 220+ shredded.....which is possible minus the steroids but would take a long time

That's pretty beastly.

[denjin]

Which types of stretching do you guys do?

Stretch the group you just worked on?
Stretch the entire body?
Or...no stretching whatsoever?

[Kool-Aid Ryu]

Eating: Before or after a workout? Does it really matter?

[$|-|U(V)AYeL]

Both are important, before to power your work out and after for recovery.

Edit:

Anybody have any recipes or tips to improve certain foods?

Oatmeal
Chicken Breasts


Just started cutting.. lifting three times a week, interval training once a week..I'm around 14% bodyfat, aiming for around 7% by august. Keeping diet pretty clean.. so far.

Oatmeal
Brown rice
Brown bread
Broccoli
Chicken breast
Salmon
Tuna
Whey
Smoothies galore

I'm gonna start drinking some green tea... feeling so good eating healthy.. haven't cut calories yet, just eating healthy right now.

[Reidar]

Which types of stretching do you guys do?

Stretch the group you just worked on?
Stretch the entire body?
Or...no stretching whatsoever?

No stretching before or after lifting. Muscle fibers should be kept short during those periods. Stretching them elongates and reduces force output.

Dynamic stretching only before cardio. No static stretching.

I do static stretching for flexibility in the morning a little bit after breakfast.

Eating: Before or after a workout? Does it really matter?

Eat solid food around an hour to an hour and a half before you workout. After lifting, drink the whey protein shake with dextrose and maltodextrin.

After cardio, the nutritional demands aren't so specific. Just eat something with carbs and protein.

[HeaT]

When me and Roberth think huge.....we are thinking 220+ shredded.....which is possible minus the steroids but would take a long time

indeed, although i still think it is very unlikely lol...

im outi

Roberth

[thedude.com]

how to get shred quickly ?? especially the abs >_>

[denjin]

No stretching before or after lifting.

HOLY SHIT. That's CAN'T be right...right?

[Romie]

HOLY SHIT. That's CAN'T be right...right?

Warming up doing a set or two with light weight is better.

[Reidar]

HOLY SHIT. That's CAN'T be right...right?


Like Romie said, warming up for weightlifting is doing light sets. Stretching beforehand reduces force output because it elongates the muscle fibers, reducing the stored tension in them. Keep stretching and lifting seperated.

[MagnusMadness]

hard stretching post workout increases satelite cell proliferation. Or so I've read....

We stretch every client post workout as they probably will not stretch on their own time and certain muscles if too tight can cause pain or even injury (hamstrings) You don't stretch pre workout because as reidar said, it can kill strength...and can also increase the risk of injury by stretching cold ligaments and tendons before applying the rigorous stresses of weightlifting.

Anybody have any recipes or tips to improve certain foods?

Oatmeal
Chicken Breasts



Splenda in the oatmeal and just a lil salt and pepper on the chicken breast....this won't exactly be good or healthy but a little bbq sauce on the chicken breast is damned good....lol...or maybe marinate it in light italian dressing.

Question though...you say you haven't cut cals yet...are you eating anything besides what you listed?? Because if those are the only food items you're eating I can't imagine your caloric intake being very high at all....how many cals are you taking in now, and when you go to cut cals, how will you do this when you are already eating this clean? Just smaller portions? Or are you going to cut out a meal or two??

[bill_rizer]

dont you have to do some kind of weighted stretching, something to do with something around the muscles that stops it growing past a certain size.

I believe people that have gainned fat dont need to do this because that stuff around the muscles has already been stretched out.

I cant remember the name of this stuff, but it makes sense to me your body is going to have limits.

thedude for abs I do weighted crunches, the max amount I should be able to do each rep is 12 if your doing more the weight is not enough, of course each rep you will do less, Ive been doing this for a while and im starting to see results of course you need 12% body fat or less to see your abs.

My training is going well been going around 4months now gainned 20lbs and most of that is in muscle, I must be on the right track because I saw an old friend that noticed I gained weight, im aming for around 170-80 lbs.

Good luck to anyone trainning stick with it and you will get there in the end.

[$|-|U(V)AYeL]

hard stretching post workout increases satelite cell proliferation. Or so I've read....

We stretch every client post workout as they probably will not stretch on their own time and certain muscles if too tight can cause pain or even injury (hamstrings) You don't stretch pre workout because as reidar said, it can kill strength...and can also increase the risk of injury by stretching cold ligaments and tendons before applying the rigorous stresses of weightlifting.



Splenda in the oatmeal and just a lil salt and pepper on the chicken breast....this won't exactly be good or healthy but a little bbq sauce on the chicken breast is damned good....lol...or maybe marinate it in light italian dressing.

Question though...you say you haven't cut cals yet...are you eating anything besides what you listed?? Because if those are the only food items you're eating I can't imagine your caloric intake being very high at all....how many cals are you taking in now, and when you go to cut cals, how will you do this when you are already eating this clean? Just smaller portions? Or are you going to cut out a meal or two??

Yeah, I was thinking i'll just make it smaller portions? I'm not exactly counting calories i'm just eating healthy.. using this menshealth magazine approach. Hmmm...

An example of a meal: just one chicken breast and some broccoli.. that shit gets me pretty full, i'm not used to eating tons of protein regularly. Except after intense work outs i'm hungry as a fucking pig... eat like 2.5 cups of brown rice and 2 chicken breasts lol..

I'm actualy 165 lbs. with 15% bodyfat.. 6'1.. not in too good shape right now but working on it. Because i'm actually sticking with a regmin for the first time i know i'll lose fat and gain muscle so i'm hoping to get around 8% fat by end of august.. maybe put on a few pounds of muscle.

Edit:

I'm going to start keeping exact track of weight and body fat percentage every week.. and keep a food journal. Let's see if i can do this..

[MagnusMadness]

Yeah, I was thinking i'll just make it smaller portions? I'm not exactly counting calories i'm just eating healthy.. using this menshealth magazine approach. Hmmm...

An example of a meal: just one chicken breast and some broccoli.. that shit gets me pretty full, i'm not used to eating tons of protein regularly. Except after intense work outs i'm hungry as a fucking pig... eat like 2.5 cups of brown rice and 2 chicken breasts lol..

I'm actualy 165 lbs. with 15% bodyfat.. 6'1.. not in too good shape right now but working on it. Because i'm actually sticking with a regmin for the first time i know i'll lose fat and gain muscle so i'm hoping to get around 8% fat by end of august.. maybe put on a few pounds of muscle.

Edit:

I'm going to start keeping exact track of weight and body fat percentage every week.. and keep a food journal. Let's see if i can do this..


How bout this...Just weigh in regularly and start counting your calories...if you make all your meals this won't be hard. If you don't start losing weight after two weeks of eating clean, then start dropping your cals but slowly....we're shooting for a pound or two a week in weight loss...gonna do it slow. Also don't be scared to do some cardio...work your way up to 20 minutes of cardio 3 times a week maybe 4. Stay moving in the gym so as to keep ur heart rate up and this will also help in your quest for fat loss.

Also cutting your body fat percentage in half at your height and weight is going to leave you looking rail-like. You're going to be 6'1 and around 145-150lbs. You MAY want to try building for a little before cutting...even though it is summer now. Whatever you want to do though, build then cut, cut then build. I used to weigh 140lbs@ 5'10 4 years ago and I never want to be that small again.

[$|-|U(V)AYeL]

How bout this...Just weigh in regularly and start counting your calories...if you make all your meals this won't be hard. If you don't start losing weight after two weeks of eating clean, then start dropping your cals but slowly....we're shooting for a pound or two a week in weight loss...gonna do it slow. Also don't be scared to do some cardio...work your way up to 20 minutes of cardio 3 times a week maybe 4. Stay moving in the gym so as to keep ur heart rate up and this will also help in your quest for fat loss.

Also cutting your body fat percentage in half at your height and weight is going to leave you looking rail-like. You're going to be 6'1 and around 145-150lbs. You MAY want to try building for a little before cutting...even though it is summer now. Whatever you want to do though, build then cut, cut then build. I used to weigh 140lbs@ 5'10 4 years ago and I never want to be that small again.

Well because i'm a n00b i'm positive i'll build muscle plus i'm taking more protein then before plus a little bit of creatine as well. I'm doing interval training once a week BTW.. and I don't plan on cutting calories yet.. as you said, wait untiil i stop losing fat.

[MagnusMadness]

Well because i'm a n00b i'm positive i'll build muscle plus i'm taking more protein then before plus a little bit of creatine as well. I'm doing interval training once a week BTW.. and I don't plan on cutting calories yet.. as you said, wait untiil i stop losing fat.


Good luck with that. Cutting BF% in half in a month while building muscle is going to be tough, and will require a certain amount of precision in every aspect of bodybuilding and nutrition. You may have to up ur cals SLIGHTLY and try and hold ur bodyweight, hoping for a good body recomp.

What does your workout regimen look like??

[$|-|U(V)AYeL]

Good luck with that. Cutting BF% in half in a month while building muscle is going to be tough, and will require a certain amount of precision in every aspect of bodybuilding and nutrition. You may have to up ur cals SLIGHTLY and try and hold ur bodyweight, hoping for a good body recomp.

What does your workout regimen look like??

2.5 months, it'll just be a learning experience.. and i start to eat clean finally.. after i just lose a bit of flab, i'll start bulking.
Edit:

i'll post up work out regimen soon

[MagnusMadness]

2.5 months, it'll just be a learning experience.. and i start to eat clean finally.. after i just lose a bit of flab, i'll start bulking.
Edit:

i'll post up work out regimen soon


Might I recommend full body routines 3x a week??

Mon: 3 sets of 10
Wed: 2 sets of 20
Fri: 5 sets of 5

Maybe after 6 weeks switch to upper/lower splits:

Upper
Lower
Off
Upper
Lower
Off
Off

Periodizing rep schemes on a weekly basis.

Week 1: 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Week 2: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Week 3: 2 sets of 20
Repeat.

Change exercise selection after 3 cycles. Until then, keep exercises standard, recording reps completed and poundages, increasing resistance as necessary to remain within appropriate rep schemes.

indeed, although i still think it is very unlikely lol...

im outi

Roberth


Women are the worst about not lifting weights because they don't want to look like Arnold, like the shit will happen by accident...

[Soldier Zero]

What's negative about shrimp? I was looking at the back and it's got a good amount of protein, but just a bit high in cholestrol.

[MagnusMadness]

Was training a client this morning.....it was a young guy who's trying to lose some weight....we're doing full body routines 2x a week....Had to superset alot today here's what it looked like

DB Press/DB Rows superset
Military Press/ Lat pulls
Swiss Ball Squats/DB SLDL's
Swiss Ball Crunches/Leg Raises


I think I pushed him a little too hard....he was like "this was pretty intense for a first workout" I was like "oops" hahahaha

He wasn't really sweating profusely or terribly short of breath, so I kept him moving....shows what I know hahahahaha...

[hn2682]

Yeah, I was thinking i'll just make it smaller portions? I'm not exactly counting calories i'm just eating healthy.. using this menshealth magazine approach. Hmmm...




What is the mens health approach?? Is it listed online somewhere?

[Soldier Zero]

I think I pushed him a little too hard....he was like "this was pretty intense for a first workout" I was like "oops" hahahaha

lol at you replying with oops.

[adonis_minus_20]

I need some advice. I have been cutting since the beginning of this year, and have lost 65 lbs. to date. I'm now 170 lbs. I'm very happy with my results so far, but now it seems that I'm stalling.

My goal is to get down to around 8% - 12% bodyfat. I'm like 18% or so now. I lift 3x/week - Chest/Biceps & Abs, Back/Triceps & Abs, and Legs & Abs. I typically do around 2 - 3 hours of intense cardio per week as well (on my non-lifting days). I have seen some good results from the lifting, with some increase in size and definition.

My diet consists mainly of high protein/low fat foods, and I drink a protein shake after my lifting workouts. I probably take in anywhere from 1600 - 2000 calories per day, with protein being anywhere from 150g - 200g per day.

My question is how do I lose the rest of this bodyfat? There's not that much left, I would probably say another 10 lbs. should do it, but it's being very stubborn. I've been developing my abs with all the ab work I've been doing, but I would like to be able to see them more fully.

Thanks.

Jim

[MagnusMadness]

I need some advice. I have been cutting since the beginning of this year, and have lost 65 lbs. to date. I'm now 170 lbs. I'm very happy with my results so far, but now it seems that I'm stalling.

My goal is to get down to around 8% - 12% bodyfat. I'm like 18% or so now. I lift 3x/week - Chest/Biceps & Abs, Back/Triceps & Abs, and Legs & Abs. I typically do around 2 - 3 hours of intense cardio per week as well (on my non-lifting days). I have seen some good results from the lifting, with some increase in size and definition.

My diet consists mainly of high protein/low fat foods, and I drink a protein shake after my lifting workouts. I probably take in anywhere from 1600 - 2000 calories per day, with protein being anywhere from 150g - 200g per day.

My question is how do I lose the rest of this bodyfat? There's not that much left, I would probably say another 10 lbs. should do it, but it's being very stubborn. I've been developing my abs with all the ab work I've been doing, but I would like to be able to see them more fully.

Thanks.

Jim


You might try refeeds or carb loading days...By loading up on fast burning carbs once or twice a week you get your metabolism goin again. Other than that I would just say to be patient and take your time...it does get harder to lose weight as your bodyfat % gets lower and lower.

[maxx]

ok i need help. i dunno how to get a damn visible six-pack. i'm up to 450 crunches...this is getting crazy. heres my crunches/legs routine routine

100-straight crunches
50-leg lifts
100-alternating elbow to knee
50-legs 6 inches off the cround spread them and bring them together
100-bycles
50-ankle grabs
100-straight crunches

wait ok thats 550...great..ya that makes me feel even better i do all this and still no real visible crunches...like its kinda visible..but not where i need it to be for the summer.

any suggestions? if its diet i need specifics cause i dunno how to diet for shit.

[MagnusMadness]

ok i need help. i dunno how to get a damn visible six-pack. i'm up to 450 crunches...this is getting crazy. heres my crunches/legs routine routine

100-straight crunches
50-leg lifts
100-alternating elbow to knee
50-legs 6 inches off the cround spread them and bring them together
100-bycles
50-ankle grabs
100-straight crunches

wait ok thats 550...great..ya that makes me feel even better i do all this and still no real visible crunches...like its kinda visible..but not where i need it to be for the summer.

any suggestions? if its diet i need specifics cause i dunno how to diet for shit.

Yes it's diet and cardio....diet means eat healthy low calorie foods and often throughout the day... You gotta shed the fat that's covering your abs up....only then will they be visible.

[denjin]

Not sure if this'll help:

I've seen a lot of guys do the 25-pound-plate-on-chest style crunches.

Come to think of it, does this sort of thing even help?
I'm going to start doing that just so I can finish my crunches faster. I am not at the 550 crunches level, but it's enough that it's kind of irking.

How do I deal with increasing neck pain during crunches?

[MagnusMadness]

Not sure if this'll help:

I've seen a lot of guys do the 25-pound-plate-on-chest style crunches.

Come to think of it, does this sort of thing even help?
I'm going to start doing that just so I can finish my crunches faster. I am not at the 550 crunches level, but it's enough that it's kind of irking.

How do I deal with increasing neck pain during crunches?


Having visible abs is 51% diet, 48%cardio, and 1% ab work....if a person is sitting at around 18% bodyfat, there is no amount of crunches they can do to get a six pack. A person sitting at around 6-8% bodyfat will have abs regardless of if they even workout...

[maxx]

what kinds of things do i need to eat.

right now i'm 5'8 and weight around 140-45..ugh i dont want to think about dropping down even more...but apparently i have to.

[MagnusMadness]

what kinds of things do i need to eat.

right now i'm 5'8 and weight around 140-45..ugh i dont want to think about dropping down even more...but apparently i have to.


Well if you're not doing any cardio, start with that....I'm not going to write out some meal plan unless it's completely necessary....just don't eat bullshit and start doing cardio 3-4 times a week...

[denjin]

For those of you that DO have a six pack, do you guys cook your own meals?

Also, how do you handle lunch? aka: When you're out at work and you have to get a meal to eat, have you been carrying around a bag of food the entire day?

[Soldier Zero]

I know at least 1/2 of the track team here had abs cause they always had to run in practice 5 days a week. Nothing can really top cardio plus some decent healthy eating. The food doesn't even have to be really strict, just cut back on a few things.

[maxx]

Well if you're not doing any cardio, start with that....I'm not going to write out some meal plan unless it's completely necessary....just don't eat bullshit and start doing cardio 3-4 times a week...

my cardio is my martial arts since i train 3 times a week. plus the stuff i do outside of class. I'm a physically fit person.


I really don't know what to eat..since i have never worried about it and ate everything under the sky. And have stayed in shape, i compete and spar so ya. Its not like im a fat kid starting out.

But i really dont know what kinds of things to eat for me to get a six pack.

[bill_rizer]

what kinds of things do i need to eat.

right now i'm 5'8 and weight around 140-45..ugh i dont want to think about dropping down even more...but apparently i have to.

you dont have to drop weight, muscle mass and fat are two different things you could weigh 180lbs and still have good visable abs, this is all to do with youre body fat which needs to be below 12%

I have been doing the weighted cruches for about 2 weeks now and I can see a change, havent checked my Body fat in awhile its between 6-12% though I weigh 140lbs still I want more muscle mass another 30lbs its going to take a while.

I've been stuck on this weight for awhile I need to get strickter with my diet.

[$|-|U(V)AYeL]

MagnusMadness:

I looked over my diet and i'm intaking about 2000 calories a day.. not too much.

My work out in a week:
Strength training (lifting weights) 3x
Interval training 1x
Cardio 3x a week
Weighted Abs 2x before a strength work out

I was looking over at bb.com and they said take your current weight.. (166) times it by appox. 15 to get your maintenance calories if you're working out..so, 2500 calories. I'm under about 500 calories, I think that would suffice for a cutting diet.

For strength training i'm doing the routine on this site:
http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/derek28.htm

I read somewhere that you should change up your routine every 3 weeks to keep your body guessing, now my second week is almost up and i'm perplexed to how to change my work out. Any help?

Goal:

Starting:
Tommorow
166 lbs. 15% bodyfat

End:
July 22nd
Maintaining same weight lowering to 10% body fat and a gain of 5 lbs. of muscle

Aiming for 1.5 lbs of fat loss a week.

I'm only assuming i will gain muscle because it's the first time i'm eating about 1 gram of protein per body weight, taking creatine, and consistently working out. Beginners growth..

Supplements i'm going to take:
Glutamine - teaspoon 3x a day
Kre-alkalyne Creatine- 1 tablespoon on strength and interval training days
CLA - whatever bottle recommends
Green tea - before a work out

Reading this over, what are your thoughts?

[Soldier Zero]

Need to buy a bench. I'm looking for inclined and declined positions with leg holder at the bottom (or whatever it's called). Recommendations on what brands to look into?

About to order this too.

http://www.prosource.net/product.jsp?path=-1|19482&id=14897

Anyone ever try it or heard anything about it?

[MagnusMadness]

MagnusMadness:

I looked over my diet and i'm intaking about 2000 calories a day.. not too much.

My work out in a week:
Strength training (lifting weights) 3x
Interval training 1x
Cardio 3x a week
Weighted Abs 2x before a strength work out

I was looking over at bb.com and they said take your current weight.. (166) times it by appox. 15 to get your maintenance calories if you're working out..so, 2500 calories. I'm under about 500 calories, I think that would suffice for a cutting diet.

For strength training i'm doing the routine on this site:
http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/derek28.htm

I read somewhere that you should change up your routine every 3 weeks to keep your body guessing, now my second week is almost up and i'm perplexed to how to change my work out. Any help?

Goal:

Starting:
Tommorow
166 lbs. 15% bodyfat

End:
July 22nd
Maintaining same weight lowering to 10% body fat and a gain of 5 lbs. of muscle

Aiming for 1.5 lbs of fat loss a week.

I'm only assuming i will gain muscle because it's the first time i'm eating about 1 gram of protein per body weight, taking creatine, and consistently working out. Beginners growth..

Supplements i'm going to take:
Glutamine - teaspoon 3x a day
Kre-alkalyne Creatine- 1 tablespoon on strength and interval training days
CLA - whatever bottle recommends
Green tea - before a work out

Reading this over, what are your thoughts?


2000 cals is fine....if you stop losing any weight, you may want to try carb loading a day or two...do a search for that on a bodybuilding site and get a better handle on how to do that...

As far as changing your workouts...first off, you don't have to change every 3 weeks...especially if you are changing up your rep ranges regularly....if you aren't changing rep ranges and want to change your routine up every 3 weeks...it can be as simple as changing the angle or the aparatus (sp?) of a certain exercise....for instance...you change the flat BB Bench Press to Decline DB Presses, you feel me? If you are staying with a certain type of workout already layed out for you, I feel this would be the best way of changing things up without totally getting away from a program. For instance....replace flying motions with different flying motions...don't replace a pressing movement with a flying movement, get it?? Replace back squats with front squats and so on and so forth...



Ok I just clicked the link...and I really don't like that routine...at all. If you are a beginner and want to train 3x a week....full body routines are the way to go. Alot more fun too. Notice in that workout they layed out, they do as much for biceps almost as they do for legs...and not just quads....but ur entire legs...with no calf work or core work. Do you work out at a gym with a good availability of equipment?? If not, post up what you have to work with...if you want, I wouldn't mind writing up full body routines, rep schemes and all.

Oh and gaining 5lbs and putting on 5lbs of muscle are two COMPLETELY different things....5-10lbs of muscle is what most put on in a year. Doesn't sound like a lot but it really is. Not saying you won't put on some lean mass while cutting, but to put on 5lbs of muscle and lose 10-15lbs of fat would be a feat, and a body recomp from hell..lol..a person would look completely different. That would be awesome.

Oh yeah, and I'm pretty sure you should be taking the creatine everyday...most creatines call for you to take doses daily but on days you lift, take a lil more....the creatine I use for example....calls for 1 scoop in water before and after lifting, on days you don't lift, just 1 scoop whenever.

[TheIlluminati]

Need to buy a bench. I'm looking for inclined and declined positions with leg holder at the bottom (or whatever it's called). Recommendations on what brands to look into?

About to order this too.

http://www.prosource.net/product.jsp?path=-1|19482&id=14897 (http://www.prosource.net/product.jsp?path=-1%7C19482&id=14897)

Anyone ever try it or heard anything about it? Taste-wise, it's okay.

How well it works, I can't comment, I only have only used like one other kind of protein, but it definitely digests better than what I -was- using, which was Prolab.

if you want, I wouldn't mind writing up full body routines, rep schemes and all. ... =D

I'd appreciate this, as I'm sure $|-|U(V)AYeL and many others would.
(http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/member.php?u=13987)

[denjin]

Do you work out at a gym with a good availability of equipment?? If not, post up what you have to work with...if you want, I wouldn't mind writing up full body routines, rep schemes and all.

I own the hexagon barbells. I think that's what they're called, they're the ones that don't require adding or removing plates. They also have numbers on them.

I own a bench. Slightly inclined, but at such a low angle that it's essentially a flat bench.

Okay, rep scheme and all please:-)

[Soldier Zero]

Need to buy a bench. I'm looking for inclined and declined positions with leg holder at the bottom (or whatever it's called). Recommendations on what brands to look into?

About to order this too.

http://www.prosource.net/product.jsp?path=-1|19482&id=14897

Anyone ever try it or heard anything about it?

I need a new set of dumbbells too now that I think of it. Ones where you put on plates to change weight or are the hexagonal fixed number ones better?

[$|-|U(V)AYeL]

2000 cals is fine....if you stop losing any weight, you may want to try carb loading a day or two...do a search for that on a bodybuilding site and get a better handle on how to do that...

As far as changing your workouts...first off, you don't have to change every 3 weeks...especially if you are changing up your rep ranges regularly....if you aren't changing rep ranges and want to change your routine up every 3 weeks...it can be as simple as changing the angle or the aparatus (sp?) of a certain exercise....for instance...you change the flat BB Bench Press to Decline DB Presses, you feel me? If you are staying with a certain type of workout already layed out for you, I feel this would be the best way of changing things up without totally getting away from a program. For instance....replace flying motions with different flying motions...don't replace a pressing movement with a flying movement, get it?? Replace back squats with front squats and so on and so forth...



Ok I just clicked the link...and I really don't like that routine...at all. If you are a beginner and want to train 3x a week....full body routines are the way to go. Alot more fun too. Notice in that workout they layed out, they do as much for biceps almost as they do for legs...and not just quads....but ur entire legs...with no calf work or core work. Do you work out at a gym with a good availability of equipment?? If not, post up what you have to work with...if you want, I wouldn't mind writing up full body routines, rep schemes and all.

Oh and gaining 5lbs and putting on 5lbs of muscle are two COMPLETELY different things....5-10lbs of muscle is what most put on in a year. Doesn't sound like a lot but it really is. Not saying you won't put on some lean mass while cutting, but to put on 5lbs of muscle and lose 10-15lbs of fat would be a feat, and a body recomp from hell..lol..a person would look completely different. That would be awesome.

Oh yeah, and I'm pretty sure you should be taking the creatine everyday...most creatines call for you to take doses daily but on days you lift, take a lil more....the creatine I use for example....calls for 1 scoop in water before and after lifting, on days you don't lift, just 1 scoop whenever.

Yeah yeah, i've like memorised bodybuiliding.com lol.. i'm just going to increase my calories by 500 one day from carbs.. should keep my thyroid running properly. :rofl:

I have a full gym facility it's got everything! so I would LOVE it if you could write me a full body work out with rep schemes! However, when i do work out i'm out of the gym in 40-45 min. so if i can finish it in that time then that would be great!

lol.. Fuck, eh? I guess i'll just aim to lose about 5 lbs. of fat first then i'll start bulking :annoy:

Creatine everyday? Okay done and done.

I'm going to be posting here more so everybody, call me 'shu.' Typing out my name must be a handfull lol..

[denjin]

Dumbbells versus plates.

Here's the way I look at it, I want my workouts to go as fast as possible. Putting on and removing plates gets OLD FAST.

On the flip side, there is a financial difference. If you do some math, you won't regret it.

I'd already own a bowflex if I had the space. Money is almost negligible (assuming the bowflex lasts a lifetime).

Anyone here got a bowflex?

About the reps and schemes, I went to a site called that had the words "home grown" thinking it'd be perfect for me, but it wasn't. It mentioned all types of cable work outs. I'd really appreciate a giant list of what to do.

[Soldier Zero]

Dumbbells versus plates.

Here's the way I look at it, I want my workouts to go as fast as possible. Putting on and removing plates gets OLD FAST.

On the flip side, there is a financial difference. If you do some math, you won't regret it.

That's what I was thinking of, since plates are cheaper than getting a bunch of dumbbells and get the job done the same, I thought I should get those. If the hexagonal dumbbells are somehow better, I won't mind dishing out a little extra cash to get them.

[$|-|U(V)AYeL]

Why don't you guys just join a gym? :S

Edit:

Easy for me to say considering my gym is in my university =p

[MagnusMadness]

Shu, I'm gonna write out full body routines 3x a week....45 minutes heh?? You will be supersetting a LOT... get ready to sweat.

Denjin....give me a minute....I'm gonna have to get creative with ur limited equipment....can you do pull ups where you are?? And do you have a way of getting under a bar to do squats?? Does it have the thing on the end of the bench to do leg extensions and leg curls?? Cuz If I write something out, you will be working out legs like everything else. But I do need to know....how many days a week do you want to workout?? What kinda split do you want?? I'm pretty good with full body routines, upper/lower splits, body part splits (boo) and can write a decent push/pull/lower split....

About the dumbells vs plates and all that jazz....I really recommend getting a gym membership...I think it's a better atmosphere, where you are surrounded by other people with similar goals who may be more experienced (motivation) and the only distractions are other people lifting. And they usually aren't that much a month...like 30 or 40 dollars at most places...sometimes even less. Say you spend a couple hundred bucks on workout equipment...that could be almost a years membership at just about any gym...

[JuiceM0nkey]

For those of you that DO have a six pack, do you guys cook your own meals?

Thats what girlfriends and wives are for:rofl: :rofl:

I have my old lady prepare all my meals every 2 days when I diet down for a show!

[maxx]

can anyone tell me wut to spefically eat or make a foodplan for me. i really am a dumbass in terms of food to get abs. i really want to get abs. i have no idea wut foods to eat.

[denjin]

Dumbbells versus plates.
Putting on and removing plates gets OLD FAST.

I have my old lady prepare all my meals every 2 days when I diet down for a show!

Wow. Good woman. You're a lucky guy, man. I saw a True Life special about prepping for a competition, she puts up with a lot.

i have no idea wut foods to eat.

Yo, man, changing your diet is a lifestyle change.

"Hey, let's all go McDonald's!"
thinking: (Am I really going to derail 7 guys' plans just so I can eat healthy?)

I know, there's salads at McDonald's, but you get my idea.

As a starting point, see if you can make yourself eat no/less chips. I've heard pizza is the world's worst food in a lot of ways, can you give that up?

It isn't so much as eating the proper foods that'll kill you, but it's giving up all the other stuff.

Why don't you guys just join a gym? :S

Edit:

Easy for me to say considering my gym is in my university =p

I have a strong anti-gym sentiment. I'll just hand you my top reason: I like working out alone.

Also, I've been. So I can't buy the "You can't trash it 'til you try it" mindset.

Denjin....give me a minute....I'm gonna have to get creative with ur limited equipment....can you do pull ups where you are?? And do you have a way of getting under a bar to do squats?? Does it have the thing on the end of the bench to do leg extensions and leg curls?? Cuz If I write something out, you will be working out legs like everything else. But I do need to know....how many days a week do you want to workout?? What kinda split do you want?? I'm pretty good with full body routines, upper/lower splits, body part splits (boo) and can write a decent push/pull/lower split.....

Yo, when I do squats, my back goes on FIRE. I'm certain that my form is off, but I have had the hardest damn time fixing that. One of my buddies looks like a short Romie (dude on the boards), so I'd ask him for help. Despite his advice, I can't un-curl my back. The solution I figured was I'd start doing lunges. My ass goes on fire. Good enough I figure.

I want as short a workout as possible. I currently average about an hour. Also, I would like to workout as infrequently as possible. Those two things don't go hand in hand, so I figure 4 times a week? Towards the end of the hour, I feel like commiting suicide so that's why I gotta keep the workouts short.

I do not have pull-ups as an option.

I don't know what leg extensions and leg curls are.

My current leg work is the tip-toeing thing and the squats.

MagnusMadness, here's the mix of stuff I currently do:

Toes on bed: pushup
Push ups
Flies
Benching

Barbell Behind Neck Press
Barbell Upright Row
Barbell Military Press (I do these seated)
Dumbbell Front Raise

Leg lifts
Knees to one side: crunches
Crunches, standard
Dumbbell Side Bend

Barbell Lunge
Barbell Rear Lunge
Barbell Side Lunge

Curls
Hammer Curls
Concentration curls

Shrugs

[Magnus Huang]

When's the most critical time to drink a protein shake? or solid protein like chicken/fish?

[Soldier Zero]

About the dumbells vs plates and all that jazz....I really recommend getting a gym membership...I think it's a better atmosphere, where you are surrounded by other people with similar goals who may be more experienced (motivation) and the only distractions are other people lifting. And they usually aren't that much a month...like 30 or 40 dollars at most places...sometimes even less. Say you spend a couple hundred bucks on workout equipment...that could be almost a years membership at just about any gym...

I wish I could, closest to me is $50 a month and I don't have a lot of dough to dish out. :sad:

[MagnusMadness]

Matt's 15 Rules of Weight-training...(i.e. What I believe about training)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What I believe about training:

Virtually everything you’ve ever read from a bodybuilding magazine is heresy and should be regarded as not worth the paper it was printed on. The programs written by the so called superstars of the bodybuilding world were actually ghost written by some guy in a cubicle who doesn’t know a thing about proper training, programming, exercise phys, or periodization. If, by chance the program was actually written by the superstar you can rest easy as long as you are one of the most genetically gifted people in history AND you are on such a ridiculous amount of drugs that you have to tan to hide the yellowing of your skin due to liver failure.

The fact is that big, strong guys are a dime a dozen, and many of them get that way in spite of their training knowledge than because of it.

I know what I’m talking about in the world of training not because I’m the biggest or the strongest (although, at 270lbs and an 800 squat, 600 bench, and 700 dead lift I can hold my own), and not because I know the most about exercise phys (though I can hold my own there too), but because I have trained with and become friends with best. I have trained at Westside Barbell Club, with the Metal Militia, talk on a continual basis with the best strength coaches in the nation and world-wide, and the training methods I prescribe have been tested in the gym on literally hundreds and hundreds of regular, everyday athletes and shown to work. Period.

So here’s what I can stand before you today and say with great conviction what I know to be true about training:

1) I believe in general that the majority of people don’t work hard enough. If there’s one thing we can learn from the old Eastern Bloc countries, it’s that they worked harder than us, and that primarily, is why they always beat us in the Olympics. Work hard in the gym (even if your program sucks) and you will be rewarded.

2) I also believe that most people don’t put near enough emphasis on lower body and core work. The key to getting big is full squats and dead lifts. If you are looking at your routine and you see that you are training upper body 3 or 4 days per week and lower body once, you have a serious problem. The majority of athletes should live and die in the squat rack.

3) And for that matter, EVERYONE’S program should be centered around these exercises: Full Squat, Dead lifts (or cleans or both), heavy barbell rows, bench press, and Standing Barbell Military/Push Presses. Add pull ups, barbell curls, dips, heavy abdominal work, and some core work (back extensions, reverse hypers, or glute hams) and that should make up 95-100% of the total number of exercises you do. The most effective training is simple and hard.

4) Training a body part once per week (and one body part per day) is one of the worst ways to train. It will create a rut in your training that you can’t dig out of.

Training a bodypart twice per week has always been shown to be superior to once per week training of a muscle. The problem is with the influx of "Weider Principles" and other bodybuilding trash that's posted in the magazines, the masses have been stuck in the one-bodypart-per-day-per-week rut for years.

No strength athletes train a bodypart once per week. Most olympic lifters, powerlifters, and strongman train their backs at least four times per week, and last time I checked, they weren't lacking in back width.

The simple fact is that training using an upper/lower split or a push/pull split or 3 full body days will provide double or triple the training stimulus than training a muscle once per week and thus, if done correctly will lead to much, much greater growth and strength gains.


5) Training to near muscular failure has shown to induce identical hypertrophy gains than training to all out muscular failure. The reason you guys can’t train a muscle more than once per week is because you are destroying it when you do train it. Learn to hit or miss that last rep and then call it done. Don’t do ridiculous amounts of forced reps, negatives, etc. until you literally can’t move the muscle. Take it to near failure and then your muscles will recover enough so that you can train them again in 3-4 days.

Understand that there is a huge difference in training to near failure and not training hard. I would never advocate to not train hard. Actually, quite the opposite try to squat for 5 sets of 5 reps using only 10lbs less than your five rep max. That’s absolutely brutal. But when you get done, don’t go to the leg press machine and keep pounding out sets and stripping off weight until you literal can’t do a single leg press with only the sled. That’s absurd, and you can’t recover from it in 3 days.

6) Squat at least below parallel every time. Are you kidding me? I can’t believe some people are still quarter squatting and saying that riding a squat all the way to the ground is bad for your knees. Learn the facts. Stopping at or above parallel puts much more strain on your knees than going ass to grass. Plus going all the way down in an Olympic style back squat will put more mass on you than any other exercise. Period.

7) Isolation exercises are absolute crap. 90% of your routine should be made up of full squats, dead lifts or cleans, bench press, standing overhead press, heavy barbell rows, pull-ups, dips, and core work (abs, glute ham raises, back extensions, reverse hypers). Isolation exercises and machines are the worst thing that ever happened to the weight training world.

8) Quit using pyramid rep schemes like 10,8,6,4,2 – Instead, your time would be better served doing boring (but effective) gut busting sets of 5x5 or 4x8-10 using the SAME WEIGHT for each set. They WILL produce better results than the pyramid scheme. BTW, check your ego at the door when you do these.

9) I’ll quote my good friend, Glenn Pendlay (the best S&C coach in the nation) for the next one:

"Most athletes do too many exercises. Many times they look over other peoples programs like they are at a buffet. They pick a little of this and a little of that from a variety of programs, and end up with something useless. People think you have to train each muscle with a different specific exercise. Many guys in college athletics would do better if they would just randomly slash off half of what they are doing, and then work twice as hard on the half that is left."

10) Another of my favorites from Glenn:

"I’m so sick and tired of hearing people who just started training who say they can’t gain weight. Jeez I’ve heard this crap so often. Every day it seems I have some stupid kid ask me about how to gain weight... in restaurants, at the grocery store, you name it. For some reason there seems to be a sign on my back or something. Usually I know its worthless to talk to them, sometimes I actually waste my time. Talked to a kid at the golden corral a couple of days ago. took almost an hour when I should have been enjoying my all you can eat steak night... 3 days later I see him in the gym when I just happened to go in to talk to a friend who I knew was there... kid was there doing preacher curls. said hi to me, then said well I talked to my friend about what you said and he said he tried it once and overstrained so I decided to do this thing I read about... on the other hand about 6 months ago I talked to this 6' tall, 150lb kid who wanted to know about getting stronger. Kid had done well in judo, won some titles, also after that had done cycling, turned pro then quit a year later, quite a good road racer. He actually did what I told him I guess, about 3 months after I saw him the first time I saw him again, he weighed about 185... He wanted to try Olympic weightlifting so I let him train with the team I coach. Now he’s weighing 204 and clean and jerking about 300lbs, 54lbs gained in 6 months. No drugs. Olympic squat from 175lbs to 385lbs, front squat from 150lbs to 330lbs. hell be a good lifter, has a good work ethic. Needs to be 240 and fairly lean, will compete eventually in the 231 pound class. Will take about another 12-15 months I suppose. Why is a kid like this the exception and not the rule? Why will kids do the same old thing for years in the absence of results, and not try anything new? What the hell is wrong with people. There is a gym in town, I know the owner so I go and talk to him sometimes, there are all these kids in there, skinny little ****s, doing curls. They never progress, you see the same faces one year to the next, same bodies too."

11) Ultra slow reps or TUT is, for the most part completely worthless. Will it work? Yes. But the total amount of work that one can complete is much lower when utilizing slow reps. Just go natural. Don’t try to be super fast, and bouncy, and don’t try to go ultra slow. Just do it naturally and controlled.

12) The burn, the pump and the feel have nothing to do with the effectiveness of an exercise. Yes, even I have been caught on upper body days looking at myself in the mirror when I’m all blown up, but that has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the last exercise. You do hammer strength bench presses and flys for sets of 20 and I’ll do heavy barbell bench presses and deep dips. One of us will feel the pump more and the other one will grow.

13) Likewise, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) also gives no clue as to the effectiveness of a workout. It just means A) you have a ton of micro trauma in a muscle or B) a lot of lactic acid/ waste products. Congratulations.

14) Core stability training is not done on a swiss ball or a stability board. It’s done by pulling heavy dead lifts, standing overhead presses, full squats, heavy barbell rows, heavy farmers walks, Atlas stones, tire flipping, reverse hypers, heavy back extensions, glute ham raises, and heavy abdominal work.

15) A good gym has nothing to do with how nice the machines are or if they have a pool or tanning beds or even if it’s air conditioned. A good gym smells like a mix of body odor and liniment and supplies their members with a big box of chalk.

[denjin]

Matt's 15 Rules of Weight-training...(i.e. What I believe about training)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What I believe about training:

Virtually everything you’ve ever read from a bodybuilding magazine is heresy and should be regarded as not worth the paper it was printed on.

your time would be better served doing boring (but effective) gut busting sets of 5x5 or 4x8-10 using the SAME WEIGHT for each set. They WILL produce better results than the pyramid scheme. BTW, check your ego at the door when you do these.


I'm not familiar with a pyramid scheme, but it's probably first do 20 pounds then 25 pounds then 30 pounds right? That's my guess based on what everyone keeps telling me.

That's one of the things in your post that burned into my retinas.

I read the whole post, but have yet to let it all sink in. I know how taxing it is to write a giant post, so I'll do you the courtesy of trying my best to absorb it all.

[$|-|U(V)AYeL]

Magnus: Holy..shit. Way to spit the truth! I'm listening to everything you say from now on! *note: i'm a beginner.

Even though I call myself a "beginner" I will tell you this, i've done EXTENSIVE reading into building muscle/losing fat and I'm taking biology in university. EVERYTHING this guy has said makes sense, especially the part about training once a week is garbage. Your muscles ONLY grow for 48 hours after your work out then they stop, why make them sore for extra days? "Researchers in Taiwan found that performing heavy biceps curls with sore muscles didn't slow recovery from a bout of exercise 3 days earlier. And although soreness can linger for several days after you lift, previous research has shown that muscles grow for just 48 hours after a training session."^1

One thing however Magnus I am going to question.. i've read SEVERAL places it's best to go fast (2 seconds) when you're contracting, and slow (4 seconds) when you're relaxing in an exercise. Thoughts? Their reasoning is it breaks down more muscle.. but I guess the answer may lie in my previous paragraph.

I'm assuming the 3x full body work out will be based on all these rules? =p Do you have rules for nutrition as well?

1. http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&conitem=62268b5d0516b010VgnVCM100000cfe793cd____&cm_re=HP-_-Bulletins-_-Soreness%20Not%20Best%20Fitness%20Indicator

[MagnusMadness]

Alright shu, as promised ur full body program...to be done in this fashion...on/off/on/off/on/off/off.

Day 1:
Squats (quad dominant)
Bench Press (horizontal push)
Bent Rows (horizontal pull)
Hyper Extensions (hip/ham dominant)
Standing BB Military Press (vertical push)
Close Grip Lat Pulldowns (vertical pull)

Day2:
Deadlifts (hip/ham dominant)
Pull ups (assisted or weighted, just get the reps desired) (vertical pull)
Dips (vertical push)
Lunges (quad dominant)
Close Grip Pulley rows (horizontal pull)
Incline Press (not TOO steep) (Horizontal Push

Day3:
Front Squat or Hack Squat (quad dominant)
Seated DB Military Press (vertical push
Wide Grip Lat Pulls (vertical pull
Stiff Legged Deadlifts (hip/ham dominant)
Decline Press (horizontal push)
DB Rows (horizontal pull)

Since you are kinduva newb, I want you doing 12-15 rep sets the first couple weeks with this program....once you are CERTAIN that form is flawless and stabilizers are up to the challenge of heavier weights...periodize in this manner

Week 1: 3x6-8 reps
Week 2: 3x8-12
Week 3: 3x10, supersetting movements on opposing planes....for example...on day 1 week 3 you would superset bench presses and bent rows...and superset the arnolds and CG lat pulldowns.
Week 4 (UNLOAD): 2x15 light weights.
Repeat....except next week 4, instead of unloading...just take the week off. At this point, you might try a different program or a different form of periodization....If you like it alot, then after the third cycle, start changing exercises, keeping them on the corresponding movement planes..and definitely change forms of periodization...I like undulating periodization too. Or you could do linear too...here's a couple examples

Undulating:
Week 1: 3x10
Week 2: 5x5
Week 3: 4x8
Unload

Or

Linear: Accumulation
Week 1: 3x8
Week 2: 4x8
Week 3: 5x8
Unload.

The exercises that say BB or DB, I want you using that particular aparatus (sp?)....for some of those pressing exercises, it's up to you, barbell or dumbells whichever you prefer...I listed the different movement planes in italics so you can kind of see how I put together this program, also...if you want to change up exercises from time to time you can do so, just make sure the exercise you are swapping out is in the same movement plane, so as not to fuck up the program I laid out. For instance....You want to do dips instead of military presses....well they are both vertical pushing movements, so you could swap those out at will.

You don't have to train to failure, but with intensity...since you are periodizing rep schemes you will want to keep a journal so you know what weights you are using for what reps....feel me?

I think that's it...hope that helps...If I remember something else that's important I'll post up later.

[MagnusMadness]

Magnus: Holy..shit. Way to spit the truth! I'm listening to everything you say from now on! *note: i'm a beginner.

I'm assuming the 3x full body work out will be based on all these rules? =p Do you have rules for nutrition as well?


Heheh....although I do agree with everything I posted just then, I can't take credit for that post...I got that from the bodybuilding forum I frequent, that I recommend you all check out from time to time...IronMagazineForums.com....my name is Perry, not Matt LOL. I will post little gems like this as often as possible from now on.

And I thought u had ur diet in check already?? With the 2000 cals a day and a carb loading day or two a week right? Stick with that unless you aren't seeing what you want....you may want to zip over the diet and nutrition threads on IronMagazine.com and post ur diet up...there are licensed dieticians that will rip it apart I assure you...much better than I could.

About the rep tempo....placing excessive emphasis on eccentric phases of a lift does cause more muscle trauma, yes, and you will be more sore....but when working a muscle more than once a week, that may be counterproductive, we want to recover in 3 days. If you read that paragraph in the rules of weight training regarding TUT (time under tension) It doesn't advocate slower eccentrics because you can't do as much work....and advocates just going natural, not super slow but not super fast and bouncy.

[$|-|U(V)AYeL]

snip

Dude, I love you! I'm sortof scared because i've seen people do these exercises and they look TOUGH! But I love a challenge! :wink: Good thing i'm starting off with light weights..

Few questions:

1. How do I make sure not to hit failure? I'm thinking when I feel I can do one more just stop then? Would that be a good indicator?

2. Squats, quad dominant? How do you make them quad dominant? lol.. when I do them my glutes and hamstrings get most of the heat... ALSO, Free weights or machine??

3. Hyper extensions?!? :looney: What are those?

4. How close, is a close grip lat pulldown?

5. Never done deadlifts, and can you write up how to perform it with good form?

6. Lunges?

7. Hack squat?

8. Stiff legged deadlifts?

9. WtF is undulating and acclimiation?! and I'm confused as to what i'm suppopsed to do in week 3 and week 4.

I could probably google this.. but i'm lazy right now and hoping you're willing to answer.

[MagnusMadness]

I'm not familiar with a pyramid scheme, but it's probably first do 20 pounds then 25 pounds then 30 pounds right? That's my guess based on what everyone keeps telling me.

That's one of the things in your post that burned into my retinas.

I read the whole post, but have yet to let it all sink in. I know how taxing it is to write a giant post, so I'll do you the courtesy of trying my best to absorb it all.


Yes...you add weight each set and do less reps. It's pretty shitty, but a fuck ton of people do it...I used to do it....sometimes still getting caught up in it.

[MagnusMadness]

Dude, I love you! I'm sortof scared because i've seen people do these exercises and they look TOUGH! But I love a challenge! :wink: Good thing i'm starting off with light weights..

Few questions:

1. How do I make sure not to hit failure? I'm thinking when I feel I can do one more just stop then? Would that be a good indicator? The big thing is don't do a bunch of forced reps and negatives...if you hit failure, no big deal....if you hit failure before you got the desired number of reps then you need to drop the weight

2. Squats, quad dominant? How do you make them quad dominant? lol.. when I do them my glutes and hamstrings get most of the heat... ALSO, Free weights or machine?? The first thing you need to do is go ALL THE WAY DOWN when you squat and push off your heals, but yes you will feel this in just about every part of your legs/posterior chain....that's why they are so great!!!.....FREE WEIGHTS, some of the exercises I listed will be with machines..but if you can do it with dumbells or barbells then do it.

3. Hyper extensions?!? :looney: What are those? Google this, so you can see pics

4. How close, is a close grip lat pulldown? Hands almost together....use the same handle that you would use for the pulley rows, not the long bar

5. Never done deadlifts, and can you write up how to perform it with good form? Google this too, so you can really see it being done.....important thing is...try to get under it so you can lift with ur legs and DON'T ROUND YOUR BACK....this multiplies the pressure on your spine...If you have a hard time gripping the bar when you use heavier weights, you may want to get some straps....if you want to improve grip strength, then go strapless....also look into getting a weight belt for exercises like this and maybe even squats too.

6. Lunges? Google again...I want you to see these being done...

7. Hack squat? a hack squat will be a machine...you can do front squats with free weights though, and they are great too, google that as well if you want to see it being done....

8. Stiff legged deadlifts?Guess what...google...lol

9. WtF is undulating and acclimiation?! and I'm confused as to what i'm suppopsed to do in week 3 and week 4. Those are just the names for those forms of periodization. Stick to the first one that I outlined in detail....week 3 just do what I said....superset the corresponding exercises. Example: On day 1 you would set up ur bench for the bench press exercise, and set up a barbell for bent over rows....after you finish a set of bench presses, immediately go over to the barbell to do a set of bent over rows....this is called a superset...week 4 you are going to unload a little bit by only doing 2 sets of 12-15 reps with light weight...this gives your muscles somewhat of a break to more fully recover before you start the cycle over again. Still with me?

I could probably google this.. but i'm lazy right now and hoping you're willing to answer.


I answered the questions in your quote in bold....you do need to either google this shit or ask someone at the gym to show you these exercises...some of them aren't easy (bent rows, standing military press) so start light and really be careful....Hope this all wasn't too advanced.

[$|-|U(V)AYeL]

Magnus: Thanks bud.

[MagnusMadness]

Magnus: Thanks bud.


Also, This routine may be kinda tough for a somewhat beginner....if it proves difficult at first....you can cut back the volume by doing less sets or even leaving out an exercise here and there....just don't cut out the leg exercises ever....they are very important.

[Soldier Zero]

Matt's 15 Rules of Weight-training...(i.e. What I believe about training)
*SNIP*


Definitely a good read, I use to do pyramid every once in a while, but I won't anymore. I'll try to breakdown what I've been doing and re-create a new workout plan.

Big thanks man. :tup:

[denjin]

http://ironmagazine.com/FitnessMistakes.pdf

Page 15 is interesting reading.

+++

P-funk
P-side......the only side
Moderator:

upper push- bench (flat, incline, decline. barbell and DB), shoulder press (DB and BB), dips

upper pull- pulldowns (various grips), pull ups (various grips), bent over rows (barbells and DBs. Various grips), cable row, face pulls, shrugs (Db or BB)

lower body quad dominant- squat (back and front. no smith machine), lunges, bulgarian squat, one legged squat, multidirectinal lunges

lower body hip dominant- deadlifts, Romanian deadlift, Straight Legged deadlift, trap bar deadlifts, step ups, hyperextensions, glute ham raises, reverse hypers


with these exercises and all their varieties and progressions you can put together years of workouts. Be creative.

[MagnusMadness]

http://ironmagazine.com/FitnessMistakes.pdf

Page 15 is interesting reading.

+++

P-funk
P-side......the only side
Moderator:

upper push- bench (flat, incline, decline. barbell and DB), shoulder press (DB and BB), dips

upper pull- pulldowns (various grips), pull ups (various grips), bent over rows (barbells and DBs. Various grips), cable row, face pulls, shrugs (Db or BB)

lower body quad dominant- squat (back and front. no smith machine), lunges, bulgarian squat, one legged squat, multidirectinal lunges

lower body hip dominant- deadlifts, Romanian deadlift, Straight Legged deadlift, trap bar deadlifts, step ups, hyperextensions, glute ham raises, reverse hypers


with these exercises and all their varieties and progressions you can put together years of workouts. Be creative.

P-Funk and CowPimp are the fucking shit....their knowledge is just sick. Props for checkin out IronMagazine.

[denjin]

Matt's 15 Rules of Weight-training...(i.e. What I believe about training)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) And for that matter, EVERYONE’S program should be centered around these exercises: Full Squat, Dead lifts (or cleans or both), heavy barbell rows, bench press, and Standing Barbell Military/Push Presses. Add pull ups, barbell curls, dips, heavy abdominal work, and some core work (back extensions, reverse hypers, or glute hams) and that should make up 95-100% of the total number of exercises you do. The most effective training is simple and hard.

4) Training a body part once per week (and one body part per day) is one of the worst ways to train. It will create a rut in your training that you can’t dig out of.




Fuckin' search...is there a way to dig up posts by a certain user WITHIN a thread?

I've been digging through different places so I'm not sure if I read it here.

While I know you don't believe in full body workouts, Romie, is 95-100% of your workout in those items mentioned?

[Romie]

Fuckin' search...is there a way to dig up posts by a certain user WITHIN a thread?

I've been digging through different places so I'm not sure if I read it here.

While I know you don't believe in full body workouts, Romie, is 95-100% of your workout in those items mentioned?


Let's see:






4) Training a body part once per week (and one body part per day) is one of the worst ways to train. It will create a rut in your training that you can’t dig out of.

Training a bodypart twice per week has always been shown to be superior to once per week training of a muscle. The problem is with the influx of "Weider Principles" and other bodybuilding trash that's posted in the magazines, the masses have been stuck in the one-bodypart-per-day-per-week rut for years.

No strength athletes train a bodypart once per week. Most olympic lifters, powerlifters, and strongman train their backs at least four times per week, and last time I checked, they weren't lacking in back width.

The simple fact is that training using an upper/lower split or a push/pull split or 3 full body days will provide double or triple the training stimulus than training a muscle once per week and thus, if done correctly will lead to much, much greater growth and strength gains.


5) Training to near muscular failure has shown to induce identical hypertrophy gains than training to all out muscular failure. The reason you guys can’t train a muscle more than once per week is because you are destroying it when you do train it. Learn to hit or miss that last rep and then call it done. Don’t do ridiculous amounts of forced reps, negatives, etc. until you literally can’t move the muscle. Take it to near failure and then your muscles will recover enough so that you can train them again in 3-4 days.

Understand that there is a huge difference in training to near failure and not training hard. I would never advocate to not train hard. Actually, quite the opposite try to squat for 5 sets of 5 reps using only 10lbs less than your five rep max. That’s absolutely brutal. But when you get done, don’t go to the leg press machine and keep pounding out sets and stripping off weight until you literal can’t do a single leg press with only the sled. That’s absurd, and you can’t recover from it in 3 days.



7) Isolation exercises are absolute crap. 90% of your routine should be made up of full squats, dead lifts or cleans, bench press, standing overhead press, heavy barbell rows, pull-ups, dips, and core work (abs, glute ham raises, back extensions, reverse hypers). Isolation exercises and machines are the worst thing that ever happened to the weight training world.





These are the only ones I disagree with (I only disagree 50% with number 7, I'll explain later). Everything else is pretty much spot on. My workouts are centered around heavy, compound movements; squats, bench press, deadlifts, shoulder press, etc.

Only thing I found wrong with the article is 3 and 7 are somewhat contradictory, he says isolation work is crap but he mentions curls and back raises, which are isolation exercises.


Isolation exercises aren't useless. It's just another way of working out a muscle. Your triceps don't know the difference between heavy military presses and skull crushers. It won't react differently. It won't grow differently. Isolation exercises have their uses, but shouldn't be the focus of the routine. I agree with Magnus when it comes to building a workout around heavy compound movements.

As for training a each bodypart once a week... I've tried it, and I've gotten better results with the more traditional principles. I've tried a variety of different routines, HIT, HTST, twice a week full body routines, etc. and I've found what works for me. I'm 19, been working out since I was 14, and I can honestly say in only the past 2 years I've found what works for me. I started, kept adjusting and tweaking, trying different training methods, and kept going until I found out what makes my body grow the fastest. It's trial and error. If the first bodybuilding thread was still here, you'd see my routine last year was completely different from what I'm doing now.

[maxx]

Yo, man, changing your diet is a lifestyle change.

"Hey, let's all go McDonald's!"
thinking: (Am I really going to derail 7 guys' plans just so I can eat healthy?)

I know, there's salads at McDonald's, but you get my idea.

As a starting point, see if you can make yourself eat no/less chips. I've heard pizza is the world's worst food in a lot of ways, can you give that up?

It isn't so much as eating the proper foods that'll kill you, but it's giving up all the other stuff.


i wouldn't mind it as a lifestyle change, because it would help me get better at my gymnastics stuff i do in martial arts.

i dont like chips to begin with, i just eat them..cause well..its their in the house.

and if i stopped eating pizza it would be better for my body since im semi allergic to it..but still eat it cause i love pizza. i am alleric to lactate thats in milk products..it effects my asthma.

i need a starting point, i dont care about a lifestyle change...im already trying to work on it. but i know me eating less these past few weeks isnt the best idea..so instead of eating less i wanna eat healthy.

but have no idea whats healthy or not. i need specific foods i should be eating to cut my fat down. and maybe a meal plan if one of you is kind enough.

im willing to do the work i just need help getting started.

[Soldier Zero]

i wouldn't mind it as a lifestyle change, because it would help me get better at my gymnastics stuff i do in martial arts.

i dont like chips to begin with, i just eat them..cause well..its their in the house.

and if i stopped eating pizza it would be better for my body since im semi allergic to it..but still eat it cause i love pizza. i am alleric to lactate thats in milk products..it effects my asthma.

i need a starting point, i dont care about a lifestyle change...im already trying to work on it. but i know me eating less these past few weeks isnt the best idea..so instead of eating less i wanna eat healthy.

but have no idea whats healthy or not. i need specific foods i should be eating to cut my fat down. and maybe a meal plan if one of you is kind enough.

im willing to do the work i just need help getting started.

I can give you a whole list for what's good to eat. A couple of years ago, my health teacher wrote up a list of foods to eat and when to eat them to reduce body fat. If you follow it fully, you lose 1/4 a lb. a day which is pretty good without doing any type of cardio.


What's a good brand for benches? I went to a few stores today, but I'm still not sure which brands are good. I'm looking for an olympic-sized with inclined and declined positions. Suggestions or links I can check out?

[FallingEdge]

I can give you a whole list for what's good to eat. A couple of years ago, my health teacher wrote up a list of foods to eat and when to eat them to reduce body fat. If you follow it fully, you lose 1/4 a lb. a day which is pretty good without doing any type of cardio.


What's a good brand for benches? I went to a few stores today, but I'm still not sure which brands are good. I'm looking for an olympic-sized with inclined and declined positions. Suggestions or links I can check out?

Hook me up with that list. I need all the healthy food I can get. I been eating a lot of fruit lately whenever I am hungry but I would like to see what will be good for a meal.

[io]

i need a list of high-calorie foods. i really can't stand eating (just a little and i'm full). currently i'm getting probably 1700-1800 with around 170 g of protein and i don't think it's enough. i'm around 5'10" and 165ish

[HeaT]

another way to make your squat session more "quad" dominant is to do FRONT squats...

additionally, you can put like 10 lb plates on the floor and step on them with your just your heal while you are doing the squats...so basically it will be forcing you to stand on your tip toes...

that article was rediculous...for example #4, the first question that comes to mind is Why does it create a "rut" in your training that you cannot dig yourself out of???

he says nothing of why this is, just that it is...i would like at least something that would make sense...any emperical evidence??? studies???

also #11, what he calls TUT or ultra slow reps are not completely worthless at all, what they are good for is increasing strength...many studies have been done with athletes that have shown incredible strength gains...so how does this apply to bodybuilding, well if you want to increase strength to put up more weight for your 10 reps, then this is a good way to do it...

im outi

Roberth

ps...working out a body part 4 times a week as he mentioned is one of the most rediculous things i have ever heard...

[denjin]

another way to make your squat session more "quad" dominant is to do FRONT squats...

additionally, you can put like 10 lb plates on the floor and step on them with your just your heal while you are doing the squats...so basically it will be forcing you to stand on your tip toes...

that article was rediculous...for example #4, the first question that comes to mind is Why does it create a "rut" in your training that you cannot dig yourself out of???

he says nothing of why this is, just that it is...i would like at least something that would make sense...any emperical evidence??? studies???

also #11, what he calls TUT or ultra slow reps are not completely worthless at all, what they are good for is increasing strength...many studies have been done with athletes that have shown incredible strength gains...so how does this apply to bodybuilding, well if you want to increase strength to put up more weight for your 10 reps, then this is a good way to do it...

im outi

Roberth

ps...working out a body part 4 times a week as he mentioned is one of the most rediculous things i have ever heard...

Frustrating...so much conflicting information.

Despite that, it's good to hear various opinions.

Robert, can you elaborate the 10 lb plates thing? What are front squats?

Actually, can you elaborate on the whole post?






About changing your rep schemes, is there such a thing as changing too often?
e.g. Curls, 3x8, then next time I get back to curls, I do 5x5, then next time 3x15 or something? I ask 'cause I'm sure if I waited each month to change out my rep scheme, I'd forget to do it, so I'm just going to change it every time.

Does everyone agree that rep schemes should be changed often? (Unlike the other topics that can be debated.)

[maxx]

I can give you a whole list for what's good to eat. A couple of years ago, my health teacher wrote up a list of foods to eat and when to eat them to reduce body fat. If you follow it fully, you lose 1/4 a lb. a day which is pretty good without doing any type of cardio.


What's a good brand for benches? I went to a few stores today, but I'm still not sure which brands are good. I'm looking for an olympic-sized with inclined and declined positions. Suggestions or links I can check out?

most defintly hook me up with that list. i need new lunches so i can stop starving or ending up eating at burgerking.

i seriously am sick of doing 500 crunches every other night..i need to see some results....i need new foods.

[MagnusMadness]

This shit is not conflicting at all. Everybody just wants to follow ancient bodybuilding dogma without first realizing that these guys are on excessive amounts of drugs and they are also "perfect scenarios"....they workout, eat (alot), and rest....you could grow doing just about anything in the gym LOL....also people want to forget about ol' Lou Ferigno who did full body routines 3x a week when it comes to "empirical evidence".


that article was rediculous...for example #4, the first question that comes to mind is Why does it create a "rut" in your training that you cannot dig yourself out of???

he says nothing of why this is, just that it is...i would like at least something that would make sense...any emperical evidence??? studies???


It's easy to fall into training bodyparts instead of movements....once programmed most people become very close minded to different methods of training....especially if they have seen ANY results at all...And yes there are tons of studies...just people disregard them like you are now...The most basic study done states that when you provide stimulus to muscle tissue via resistance training, protein synthesis is elevated for a window of 48 hours...so by targeting a muscle once a week...that muscle is growing 2 days a week out of 7. If you go to T-Nation you can find ALL KINDS of articles written by elite fitness coaches who are completely against body part splits....mike boyle and alwyn cosgrove are two that come to mind...shoot them an email and they will be glad to provide you with all the studies and evidence you can stand.


also #11, what he calls TUT or ultra slow reps are not completely worthless at all, what they are good for is increasing strength...many studies have been done with athletes that have shown incredible strength gains...so how does this apply to bodybuilding, well if you want to increase strength to put up more weight for your 10 reps, then this is a good way to do it...

Yeah, they kinda are. Especially when training for strength...Reidar posted a link to a great article at Westside about that a little while ago...very enlightening indeed.


ps...working out a body part 4 times a week as he mentioned is one of the most rediculous things i have ever heard...

It's not though...Oly lifters and powerlifters alike all train certain movements multiple times a week. This comes back to people not wanting to be open minded....well what if I told you that your favorite body part split works shoulders 3 times a week? Chest one day....back another...shoulders on it's own day....all these days work shoulders, whether you want to admit it or not. Everytime you grab a dumbell or a barbell for a compound lift...you are working your shoulders, if ever so slightly...via shoulder adduction, abduction, or external rotation. This is one of the reasons shoulder injuries/imbalances are so common in the everyday gym.

Only thing I found wrong with the article is 3 and 7 are somewhat contradictory, he says isolation work is crap but he mentions curls and back raises, which are isolation exercises.

He briefly mentions "barbell" curls...which are much different than concentration or preacher curls...Just like he says nothing of arnold pressing...but standing push presses...Back raises? If you mean hyper extensions....they are as much an isolation exercise as Stiff Legged Deadlifts...Hypers work the entire posterior chain...grab a plate and let it really stretch you out and you will feel it in ur hams....it falls into the "hip/ham dominant movement" category.


Isolation exercises aren't useless. It's just another way of working out a muscle. Your triceps don't know the difference between heavy military presses and skull crushers. It won't react differently. It won't grow differently. Isolation exercises have their uses, but shouldn't be the focus of the routine. I agree with Magnus when it comes to building a workout around heavy compound movements.

No they aren't completely useless....but when training movements in a high frequency routine they take up too much time. When using heavy compound lifts as the basis for a workout....isolation work not only takes a back seat, but isn't as necessary. People also want to fucking DESTROY small muscles like bi's and tri's when it just isn't necessary...At the end of an upper body routine you can superset bi's and tri's with one choice exercise for 3-4 sets and get the job done. Most people think more is better, and in the world of bodybuilding, it just isn't....train smart and hard, not long.


As for training a each bodypart once a week... I've tried it, and I've gotten better results with the more traditional principles. I've tried a variety of different routines, HIT, HTST, twice a week full body routines, etc. and I've found what works for me. I'm 19, been working out since I was 14, and I can honestly say in only the past 2 years I've found what works for me. I started, kept adjusting and tweaking, trying different training methods, and kept going until I found out what makes my body grow the fastest. It's trial and error. If the first bodybuilding thread was still here, you'd see my routine last year was completely different from what I'm doing now.

You know what....I've seen a lot of results with body part splits...I've also had shoulder and back problems too. I just choose not to ignore what's right in my face with what these fitness and strength coaches have been preaching as long as I've been listening. And what they say makes sense. Bottom line is most people are going to do what they want to....or what comes easy or natural to them...what they're used to...what their dumbass friend swears is the fucking truth...

Interestingly enough...I was talking to a guy the other day in the gym who competes and knows a few of the old school bodybuilders...he swears that ALL these guys are lying about what they did or what they are doing now...what they eat, how they workout, how often they workout....he swears they don't workout but every other day...eat whatever the fuck they want to...letting the growth hormone keep the fat off....then drop water before competition. Just a little food for thought....

[MagnusMadness]

10 Things I've Learned
Ramblings From a Mathematically
Challenged Fitness Coach
by Alwyn Cosgrove

Note: T-Nation asked Cosgrove to tell us his top ten tips. He gave us 34.

1. In training, the only thing that matters is the result. It doesn't matter what used to happen, what you think should happen, what a textbook tells you is happening, what the experts say, or what a bunch of borderline-retarded pencildicks on a forum post about.

What matters is actually what happens! Once a coach really understands this and can let go of any preconceived notions of what "should" have happened, he can really get results.

2. When designing training programs, resist the pressure to conform to any tradition or system of beliefs, no matter how dogmatically that tradition or those beliefs are presented, or how much you get "slammed" for not conforming. This applies to training and life. It's also why I stopped wearing kilts when I moved to America.

3. Take training advice only from guys who've trained themselves to a reasonably high level or make their living from getting results with real people. Be aware though that "doing" and "coaching" don't always exist in the same person!

The game changes when it's "put up or shut up" time and you have to actually get a result in order to put food on the table. A lot of people writing and talking about training have never had to do that. The same is true for business and life in general.

4. My favorite Bruce Lee quote is: "Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless." The full quote finishes with "... add what is specifically your own."

So just make sure you take any advice and tweak it based on your own experiences. A good coach will use all his knowledge and experience to help you; when you add in your ownknowledge and experience, then you've got something.

5. A good program performed poorly is worthless. A shitty program done with a ton of effort is worth a lot. But when you get a good program and a ton of effort, the results can be amazing.

6. Keep your own personal attitude pendulum in the center. In training, nutrition, and pretty much everything, we always see an overreaction to anything new in the short term and an under-reaction in the long term. Smart people do neither and take the information for what it is. We went through a massive overreaction – and are currently under-reacting – to static stretching, stability ball training, aerobic training, and overtraining. In other words:

Swiss balls are a useful tool. Don't ignore them.

Kettlebells are a useful tool. Don't ignore everything else.

Mr. Spielberg, Tom Cruise is a moderately competent actor. Don't put him in every damn film.



7. If your training is perfect, your nutrition is perfect, and your supplementation is perfect, and you still aren't making progress, it's likely your pickle consumption that's holding you back.

8. Research in training can only be used as a guide. Research is a perfectly controlled situation; the real world is different.

The best you can take from the research is that with group A for B weeks under C conditions, we experience D results to E stimulus. So under the exact same A, B, C, D, and E conditions, you might have something you can use. Otherwise it's more of a guide.

And, in any effect, research is typically playing catch up – studying (or trying to disprove) what coaches are already doing. Only a combination of the research and the real world will be useful.

9. A complete training program has to include movement preparation, flexibility work, injury prevention work, core work, cardiovascular work, strength training, and recovery/regeneration. Most programs cover, at best, two of those.

A lot of training programs only cover the strength training portion. Be well rounded; address everything. Adding in one stretching session per week and developing your own good warm-up routine will go a long way in helping your results.

10. "Methods are many, principles are few
Methods may change, but principles never do."

Keep this in your head when evaluating programs. The principles of boxing are pretty much written in stone, but the methods that Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson used are different. If your program violates the simple principles of training (such as overload) it doesn't matter how cool it looks, it won't work.

11. Regardless of pesticides, fructose levels, etc., people who eat the most fruits and vegetables are healthier than those who eat the least. You're going to have a hard time convincing me that the current obesity epidemic is a result of people eating too many apples!

12. Get a foam roller and use it. Don't worry about the strength, size, or flexibility of your muscles until you work on the quality of the tissue.



13. I've never gotten dumber from reading any book (with the possible exception of "My Life: The Paris Hilton Story"). It always makes me smile when I hear people asking, "Is this book worth it?" I can honestly say I've never read anything that didn't enhance my knowledge in some way. Knowledge is the only guaranteed slump-buster in any field.

Charlie Jones once said, "Five years from now, you will be exactly the same, apart from the people you meet and the books you've read." Read a book a week. Elite coach Mike Boyle once told me though, "Don't believe everything you read. But definitely don't just read what you believe."

14. Most beginners need to train more on a regular basis. Advanced guys need to train less but train harder.

15. No one ever improved from just training; they improved from recovering from training. Training plus recovery = results. Pay as much attention to both to really reap the rewards.

16. I got punched in the spine once in a Taekwon-Do match. Interesting thing is, my opponent went through my stomach and ribcage to do it. I got real interested in core training after that.

17. Your body can't differentiate between stressors. Stress is like water from hundreds of taps flowing into a bathtub. Financial stress, relationships, health, and training stress are all different taps. When all the other taps are flowing full blast, turn down the training tap a little bit so your tub doesn't overflow.

18. Ninety percent of all supplements out there don't do shit.

There are very few supplements that'll do anything. Supplements are what I consider "progress accelerators." If your current training and diet isn't getting you bigger or leaner or whatever your goal is, then adding a supplement won't help you. Supplements help to speed up the results you're already getting.

19. If you train lower body twice a week, unloading the spine in the second workout and doing dumbbell step-ups, split squats, glute-ham raises, etc. will make a big difference to your overall strength and recovery.

20. Most athletes and people in general need to focus more on unilateral (single leg) lower body work than bilateral (both legs) lower body work. For non-powerlifters, most of life occurs on one leg. As a result, the single leg versions are more muscularly specific. In addition, by loading only one leg, the load on the back is decreased by 50%, another huge advantage.

21. In training for power, there are two main sides to the debate. Komi suggests using sub-maximal load with fast repetitions. Schmidtbleicher suggests the intent to move the bar fast is more important than the actual bar speed. Both are probably right.

22. My Taekwon-do instructor, Derek Campbell, is in my opinion the single greatest coaching mind on the planet, and by far one of the single biggest influences on my thinking today.

I have no doubt he could've coached me for the first half of a fight and had me winning, and switched corners halfway and had the other guy beat me. He took a skinny no-talent kid like myself and turned him into a champion. He's the kind of person that changed someone's life for the better. What kind of person are you?

23. Skinny guys always think it's their training. Fat guys always think it's their diet. Usually skinny guys need a better diet and fat guys need a better training program.

24. The recent trend to do low reps for fat loss is interesting. Actually, a lot of coaches seem to recommend low reps for everything: strength, gaining size, gaining strength without size, fat loss... everything!

So basically it's just one program then, eh? Uh, no.

25. In all my years, I've never seen anyone lose these massive amounts of muscle that
everyone is talking about when dieting.

26. Training a body part once a week is dumb. The body responds better to frequent exposure. You don't eat once a week, take all your supplements once a week, or train your heart (cardio) once a week, so why treat the rest of your body any different?

You can't really split up a workout by body part very effectively anyway. For example, a bentover row is a "back" exercise, but a Romanian deadlift is a hamstring exercise, despite the fact that a bentover row involves one long isometric Romanian deadlift hold! So is it really a hamstring exercise instead? Do you see what I mean? The classification is flawed.




27. At some point, the time taken and risk involved to improve X lift by Y pounds won't be worth the benefit for most of us. But you may not be at that point yet.

28. Eighty percent of your results come from 20% of your efforts. It's a cliché, and it's been said a thousand times, but that doesn't make it any less true.

The real skill however is in finding out what the effective 20% of your efforts is. In training, it's pretty much squatting and deadlifting. Make sure, regardless of your goals, that your program includes some form of squats or deadlift variations.

29. Be real. It doesn't matter what people think of you. What matters is what you think of you. Of course, if I don't think much of you, you can pretty much take it to the bank.

30. Having cancer changed my attitude on everything. Unfortunately, it took being faced with death before I really appreciated life. As Margaretta Rockefeller said, "Once you've been confronted with a life and death situation, trivia no longer matters. Your perspective grows and you live at a deeper level. There is no time for pettiness."

31. Surround yourself with good people. You don't have to know it all; you just have to know who to ask to find out. I'm in a lucky position in that I can consider some of the best trainers on the planet my friends.

32. At some point, your parents will pass away. Treasure the times you have with them. You probably won't appreciate this advice until it's too late. So call your Mom on Sunday, you bastard.

33. In terms of getting results with people, in a head to head competition I think I could hang with anyone in the field. There are only a few coaches out there that I'd be concerned about. You are not one of them.

34. If this article is "exactly what you're looking for," then you are a mindless clown.

[Soldier Zero]

*snip*

Good read.


Alright, here's the diet program created by my former gym teacher (Michael Pollard).




QUICK FIX/QUICK START PROGRAM

The following program is designed to lose both bodyweight and body fat percentage. You must follow the program exactly as outlined; no changes or substitutions allowed.

FOODS TO AVOID

all beef products, whole milk products (cheese, milk, ice cream, yogurt, chocolate milk), all kinds of nuts except almonds and walnuts, all fried foods, white bread products, whole eggs, all pork products, mayonnaise, butter, soups made with corn starch (such as sea food chowders), sour cream, cream cheese, salt, sugar, all pies, cakes, and candy products, no cold cuts of any kid

FOODS TO INCLUDE

skinless chicken and turkey (white meat is less fatty than the dark meat), fish (tuna, salmon, sole, haddack, ect., no shrimp or lobster), veal, lamb. Remember that broiling, steaming, roasting are the only acceptable ways of cooking during this phase of the program. 1% milk products, Smart Beat spread is the best brand to use for flavoring bread and other things, egg whites, dark whole grain breads, English muffins, bagels (not the ones made with eggs, coffee, tea, all green and yellow vegetables, rice, baked potato, unsalted and unbuttered popcorn, beans of all kinds (lentils are the best), all fresh fruits, raisins, prunes, pancakes made with 100% whole wheat flour, soda.

THE BASIC PROGRAM
1. You must drink 8 eight ounce glasses of water a day. Space them out during the day, but start each meal with a glass of water before you start to eat.
2. The only cooking oil to use is CANOLA OIL- it has no fat, and no cholesterol whatsoever.
3. Serving sizes of meat or fish should limited to 8 ounces.
4, You must have both a cup of green and yellow vegetables at lunch and dinner.
5. Rice and a baked potato can be substituted for one of the green and/or yellow vegetables, no topping on the baked potato except Smart Beat spread.
6. Don't miss your metabolic enhancers - these are snacks that you can have between meals.

SAMPLE BREAKFAST PROGRAM

glass of water, glass of 1% milk, one serving of oatmeal mixed with 4 egg whites/3 pancakes made with 100% whol wheat flour/English muffin or bagel with melted low-fat cheese and low-fat tomato sauce/2 cups of fresh mixed fruit or canned fruit in natural juices/unlimited amount of hard-boiled egg whites.

LUNCH

a glass of water, one eight ounce serving of meat or fish/ sandwiches are made with whole grain dark breads only/one tossed salad mixed with cooked chicken, turkey, or fish/one cup each of a green and yellow vegetable, or one baked potato, or one cup of rice/one glass of 1% milk, or coffee, or tea/one cup of fresh fruit or canned fruit in natural juices.

DINNER

a glass of water, dinner is basically the same as lunch/two slices of cheese pizza can be eaten at dinner as a variety but only once a week during this phase of the program.

METABOLIC ENHANCERS

The most important aspect of this program is what you eat between major meals to keep your metabolism running high and burning fat. The following are the only acceptable metabolic enhancers:

fresh fruit, hard-boiled egg whites, one box of raisins, two celery stalks, two raw carrots, one eight ounce cup of unsalted and unbuttered popcorn, one-half bagel, one-half English muffin, one-half corn muffin, one-half bran muffin.

Between your breakfast and lunch, space out equally two metabolic enhancers, and the same between lunch and dinner. After dinner, your last metabolic enhancer should be two to three hours afterwards. You are to eat nothing after the evening metabolic enhancer, before you go to bed, make sure you have consumed all the water for that day.

Just some other things to also mention.

-If followed fully without doing any cadio, you lose 1/4 of a pound a day.
-I'm pretty sure 100% all natural fruit juices are acceptable drinks.
-100% whole wheat pancakes might taste like crap at first so start off with 50% regular flour and 50% whole wheat then change the ratio slowly to get use to the taste.
-Remember that all meat can only be prepared by steaming, broiling, and roasting.
-8 eight ounce glasses (64 ounces) of water a day is the minimum; you should really try to drink 1 ounce of water for every pound you weigh. If you have trouble doing that, just do the 8 eight ounce glasses.

That's all I can think of from the top of my head. I never really needed this (yet), but I did adopt some things from it just to be a healthier. Hope this helps for anyone who needs it. :tup:

[HeaT]

It's easy to fall into training bodyparts instead of movements....once programmed most people become very close minded to different methods of training....especially if they have seen ANY results at all...And yes there are tons of studies...just people disregard them like you are now...The most basic study done states that when you provide stimulus to muscle tissue via resistance training, protein synthesis is elevated for a window of 48 hours...so by targeting a muscle once a week...that muscle is growing 2 days a week out of 7. If you go to T-Nation you can find ALL KINDS of articles written by elite fitness coaches who are completely against body part splits....mike boyle and alwyn cosgrove are two that come to mind...shoot them an email and they will be glad to provide you with all the studies and evidence you can stand.


It's not though...Oly lifters and powerlifters alike all train certain movements multiple times a week. This comes back to people not wanting to be open minded....well what if I told you that your favorite body part split works shoulders 3 times a week? Chest one day....back another...shoulders on it's own day....all these days work shoulders, whether you want to admit it or not. Everytime you grab a dumbell or a barbell for a compound lift...you are working your shoulders, if ever so slightly...via shoulder adduction, abduction, or external rotation. This is one of the reasons shoulder injuries/imbalances are so common in the everyday gym.


here is the thing right, PRIMARILY working out something 4 times a weak for BODYBUILDING is not good, you are talking about powerlifters and olympic lifters who lift for different reasons...

im not disregarding anything, there are a tone of studies done and most of the ones i read said there is nothing wrong with only working out a body part per week...

the thing is, that most of this shit is dependent on the individual, for example you could find a study that says this is most effective but there will be a TONE of people who exist who that shit will not be the most effective for...

im outi

Roberth

ps...i get most of my information from my former boss when i worked at the uofa gym, who trains olympic athletes and has a masters in health sciences, he always gave a the newest articles and journals written about weight training, really interesting shit they find...

[MagnusMadness]

here is the thing right, PRIMARILY working out something 4 times a weak for BODYBUILDING is not good, you are talking about powerlifters and olympic lifters who lift for different reasons...

Regardless of why they lift, they are still, for the most part, doing the same exercises...and if they were overtraining they wouldn't keep getting stronger and stronger...they would peak and eventually injure themselves. They just train in different rep schemes to better cause neural adaptations to take place. And they train movements and not bodyparts...like we should...About primarily working a bodypart...if I do full body routines 3x a week, I'm primarily training my entire body 3x a week....are you saying something's wrong with that??


im not disregarding anything, there are a tone of studies done and most of the ones i read said there is nothing wrong with only working out a body part per week...

There isn't anything WRONG per say, with working a bodypart once a week....but it's far from the best thing for a bodybuilder to be doing now....show me studies that show conclusively that less hypertrophy is better for optimal growth...


the thing is, that most of this shit is dependent on the individual, for example you could find a study that says this is most effective but there will be a TONE of people who exist who that shit will not be the most effective for...

There are certain genetic factors and medical issues to be taken into consideration when training someone or training yourself....but we are not THAT much different....we all have chests and biceps...we should all be squatting and deadlifting our way to reaching our goals.


ps...i get most of my information from my former boss when i worked at the uofa gym, who trains olympic athletes and has a masters in health sciences, he always gave a the newest articles and journals written about weight training, really interesting shit they find...

Olympic LIFTERS?? Or olympic athletes?? There's a difference....and if he has oly lifters training body parts and not movements.....then he is a hack and I will tell him that to his face.

im outi

[MagnusMadness]

here's another article I found on t nation supporting high frequency routines for accelerated growth....see guys...this shit is not controversial...It's actually a pretty popular way of training among people in the know.

Perfect 10 Training
High Frequency Training for Hypertrophy
by Chad Waterbury


More is Better

As a former bouncer, I've encountered many esoteric individuals in my life. I guess anyone could say the same, but those who choose to spend the better part of their lives as bouncers are a bit abnormal. Moreover, I can honestly say that the bouncers I've worked with have given me some of the best (and worst) advice I've ever heard.

One of the more memorable axioms I've been told was from a bouncer in Chicago. He said, "CW, fighting ain't cool. Just remember, two wrongs don't make a right. Therefore, you should always hit 'em three times." That advice came in rather handy on an occasion or two, but honestly, I'm glad those days are long gone.

Since I now spend my days writing articles, I've found it useful to devise my own maxims. A well-designed program is useful, but general rules and philosophies will help readers more than any conglomeration of sets and reps. So what's my maxim? It's this:

If you seek hypertrophy (size gains) at the fastest possible rate, the more often you can train a muscle group the better.

I've made that statement on a few occasions, but I doubt most readers have made a diligent effort to apply and understand the veracity of it. Indeed, a properly periodized, high-frequency training plan will cause the fastest level of hypertrophy — bar none.


What High Frequency Training Means

The term "high frequency" is very vague. For some, this would probably mean that they should bump up their frequency of training each body part to three times per week. For others, high frequency training would mean nothing short of training each body part twice each day for six days a week.

Well, both parties are correct because everything in life (and training) is relative. If you've only been training each body part once every 5-7 days, then training every body part for three sessions each week would create an appreciable stimulus for hypertrophy.

On the other hand, those who currently train each body part for 3-4 sessions per week are advised to focus on multiple daily training sessions.

What's the point of this talk? The points are given in an effort to help you understand how complex this issue is to tackle since I must cater to thousands of readers (i.e. thousands of fitness levels). Indeed, the Perfect 10 program has been nothing short of an extraordinary undertaking. Before we get to the parameters, let me explain the genesis of this program.


The Cirque du Soleil Factor

As a physiologist, 2001 turned out to be a profoundly influential year in my life. Specifically, that was the year that I first attended the Cirque du Soleil show called Mystere. The show opened up my mind to accept training methodologies that I'd never previously considered. And it subsequently led to many of my most effective training regimes — regimes that I've never written about, until now.

I heard about the show through various clients of mine, but I never would've guessed what I was about to see. For those of you who aren't familiar with Cirque shows, I can tell you that they're some of the most invigorating, inspirational, and mind-blowing displays of physical prowess that you'll ever encounter. Not only do these performers possess remarkable levels of strength and flexibility, but they also have some of the most extraordinarily-developed bodies that you'll ever see.



As I sat through the show, I thought about their training regimens. I thought, how in the hell did these guys build such proportionally huge lats, delts, and upper arms? Was it Mentzer's Ayn Rand infused ranting that led them to this physique? Well, since their schedule consisted of up to twelve shows each week, I found it easy to dissolve that line of thinking.

Was it the incredible levels of training intensity with a primary focus on the eccentric muscle actions? After all, numerous skeletal muscle research studies have demonstrated the notion that the eccentric phase of training (the negative or lowering part of an exercise) leads to the most damage, thus the most perceived muscle growth. Nope, couldn't be since such training methods would leave them in a state of stiffness, soreness, and poor athletic performance (during the recovery phase).

Instead, they must have found a "sweet spot" within their training parameters that allowed them to induce a stimulus sufficient for muscle growth without burning out their skeletal and neural systems. Based on what virtually every strength coach, fitness writer, and muscle magazine recommended, such a training regime just didn't seem possible.

Hmmm, it seemed I'd stumbled upon a puzzle that had many missing pieces.


My Serendipitous Experience

That night I went back to my hotel room and decided to belly-up to the bar for a pre-bedtime toddy (usually I stick with ZMA, but this was Vegas, after all). The bartender opened up a conversation with, "What'd you do tonight?" I told him about the Cirque show and he replied, "Those two dudes who do incredible acrobatic tricks with each other? They're brothers and they're neighbors of mine."

He went on to explain th